sticksandbones | EVENT & TDM 020

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EVENT & TDM 020

WAKES AND AWAKENINGS

Are you one to find yourself plagued with nightmares? Do you dream at all? Well, worry not, because tonight you find yourself in a somewhat alarming peace. You’re asleep. You’re aware of this. Yet, you feel incredibly lucid, all the same.

You hear the sound of water, like you’re under the ocean waves. You don’t see anything, but it’s almost as if you can feel others around you, despite not touching anything at all. They’re your… family? No. Friends? No. You don’t seem to be able to find a word to describe them. They’re important to you! …You think. Who are they, again?

You think they’re trying to speak to you, but all you can hear is the sound of gentle currents and air bubbles. Or maybe this is what they’re saying to you? You don’t know. Dreams are weird, aren’t they? But then they sing. It’s the prettiest sound you’ve heard. It’s the most haunting sound you’ve heard. It encourages you to move, at last. You didn’t realize you could. There’s a light that filters through the surface of the water…

…and you wake up. You feel strangely refreshed, like that’s the best sleep you’ve gotten in ages! You also feel… distantly sad, like you’ve just remembered something horrible that happened a long time ago.

It’s probably nothing.

For the rest of the month, you find sleep comes easy, and dreams are soothing. How uncharacteristically nice! Maybe don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

A BITTER ARRIVAL

You wake up to bitter cold. It's dark, the winds howling and whipping through the air, snow battering anything not sturdy enough to stand tall against it... and even the trees seem like one more push could knock them over. This isn't a forest you know, yet it seems like home. If you're not prepared for the cold, the warm lights of a small town will guide you, call to you, and your heart yearns for warmth. As you stumble through the heavy snow and harsh winds, something heavy hangs from your neck and the winds begin to form words with your own voice- SACRIFICE... END THIS WINTER WITH SACRIFICE.

As more voices join the wretched wails, your eyes feel heavier. You're almost to the town, though. Is it one of the houses that you wind up knocking on? Or do you manage to get to the inn, big and tall and radiating more warmth than anything you've ever felt? Regardless, you are no longer alone, but the cold still aches and clings, and something with your voice still calls it's omens outside. Only when you melt the heavy snowflake-shaped amulet hanging around your neck in the fires does the cold abate and the foreign copy of your voice fall silent.

A COLD RECEPTION

In the forest of the lost, the worst winter you've ever seen has finally set in full. The lake and river are both frozen over completely, and even the most hardy of beasts have hidden away from the cruel blizzard. The sky is dark, the winds are sharp and the freezing temperatures permeate most buildings, creeping in like a thief ready to steal the breath from your lungs if you aren't careful. Even fires seem to bend to this cold, save for the ever-burning, ever-blinding light of the fireplace in the inn- though she's long since gone, it seems one woman's faith still protects those in the Grove. Shadows haunt the clearing and amongst the winds and even the deafest ears can hear the voices howling alongside the storm, always demanding the same thing: a sacrifice.

When shadows flicker across the window, that is when you know you aren't alone. Ghastly wraiths of frost and ragged sleet fly through the air, and it's hard to tell if they are commanding the winter winds or if they are working in tandem. Regardless, the cold seems to be enhanced by their presence and if they catch you alone outside, they curse you with a frost so deep it pierces the heart and spreads. To some, it may be familiar, like turning to ice from within. To others it may be entirely new. But it spreads slowly and with agony while the wraiths make their demand once more and then vanish. Thankfully, a bit of kindness can melt the ice, but the winter wraiths are always willing to inflict the curse again...

... But you are not powerless. So long as you don't go alone, so long as you have a weapon, you can fend these things off, for a time. But they will be back.

They must have their sacrifice, after all.

BEACONS

Not everyone can fight though. Not everyone should. The only peace that can be found is in the sleep that follows that odd dream... but eventually the large shadow woman known as the Trader, Ydalir, makes her way through the snow to find you. With a warm furry blanket and a cup of tea, she gives you a small kit.

"Build these lanterns and hang them in the window. Be a light in the dark, loves." Is what she says.

The lanterns consist of wood, paper and a little cup for a candle. They can be in any shape and color, and when you hang them in the window the candle sparks into light. As frost clings on the other side of the window and the snow shrouds the outside world and veils what lies beyond, you can see other lights. Other lanterns, shining brightly. It may not be much, but it is still a sign. A reminder. You are not alone in this blizzard.

Spark Notes

summary

wakes and awakenings will bring you into a strange dream of being with many being, important ones, and a haunting song. Despite the melancholy feeling, it also brings a month of restful sleep no matter what.

a bitter arrival is how our new arrivals find themselves: lost in the woods in the middle of a terrible blizzard with only the faint lights of the Grove to guide you to safety. While you wear the snowflake amulet, the winter wraiths can use a mimicry of your voice to make their demands and curse you with a lingering freeze- only melting the amulets in a fire will set you free and silence the copy of your voice in the cacophony.

a cold reception shows just how bad the winter's gotten, with impenetrable ice freezing both the lake and the river solid. the wraiths curse whoever they see with turning to ice from within, but a genuine act of kindness or love will save their victims. the wraiths can be fought, but only with a companion or two, and definitely not with your bare hands. ... they will return though, again and again.

beacons grants perhaps a bit of hope in this dark winter- ydalir brings people supplies as best she can since the cold doesn't affect her shadowy body and there is nothing for the wraith to freeze, and she also brings a gift- a lantern to craft and hang in the window to show the others in town that you're all still here, cutting through the darkness.

out of character

Welcome to the first TDM of 2025! Regular AC resumes this month and as you can see, we're changing things up a little. TDMers are welcome and encouraged to reach out on our plotting post linked below. We're so excited to start the new year with everyone, and may the horrors stay in writing... because they are resuming now.

updates

❖ AFFOGATO COOKIE has used a magical artifact as a sacrifice. This has resulted in the blizzard lessening but still being present and the wraiths being banished from the grove, but still haunting the forest. There are further effects but they will come in to play during a player plot. ... Get your sacrifices in still though.
❖ MAYOI'S prayer to Ourania the day of the fight with Suri invoked a blessing: an aurora shines through the sky, and anyone in it's lights will be gradually healed and soothed.

submissions

❖ Questions
❖ January Plotting (Open to TDMers)
❖ Sacrifices (Plot relevant, open to all)
❖ Past Life Plotting (Closed to Game Members)
❖ Investigations

code

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh...so we're not going back out today, then?

[Elysium rolls over a tiny bit, looking up at Thorns with his big eyes. Ah, he really is so pretty...so handsome. Especially with the way the slight bit of light comes in through the window, even with how cloudy and overcast it is with all the snow...]

I don't mind that. I've missed you...so it's nice to just spend time with you.

[He's toying a little with the loose edge of Thorns' shirt as he admits this, his thin fingers rubbing over one of his shirt buttons. Like this is not something a straight person does to their "friend".]

I haven't slept in... [........] Some days, I think, [scrunches his nose up,] and as much as I'd like to continue investigating, I think the fatigue will kill me before the cold does.

[And yet he still feels so fucking wired... which means he definitely chugged one of his little potions he keeps on his belt earlier. Why would you do this.]

Not that I'm ready to fall asleep yet. [Go to bed.] Surely you're just as exhausted? Weren't you out all day?

[He is Watching Elysium play with his shirt, by the way. Curious. Why is he doing that.]

[Rubbing that button...idly tugs Thorns' shirt open a little more like hmm hmm...]

I was, but...then I found you. And it was like all my exhaustion went away.

[You're gay? You're gay.

Elysium sighs, huffing on a soft coo under his breath. Coo coo. He is content, but also a little nervous feeling, for obvious reasons.]

So you want to, ah...just stay here with me? Talking about nothing into our pillows like teenagers, heh...

[Well Elysium, you'd better undo some buttons if you want it all the way open. Good lord man.

Thorns has his arms crossed up behind his head, so that's helping pull it up a bit. He doesn't realise he's like, voguing on the bed or whatever. This is normally how he slept in the hammocks aboard the ship, so he's grown used to it now.]

Pretty much.

[The cooing is nice. His head turns, tilts, and he regards Elysium with a definitely-clueless golden stare.]

I'm sure you have some sort of gossip to share from the landship like always.

[Well I mean...if Thorns shows no sighs of discomfort, or trying to stop him...?

He will. It's a little hesitant at first, from idle button-toying to actually reaching both hands over to pull one of the buttons open. Then another...]

Haha, sorry. Just figure you might be more comfortable without this tight thing squeezing you...

[Squeezing...ur titties...]

But I guess I wouldn't say there's a whole lot by way of gossip to talk about. The Doctor is the same as they always are...being wonderful and amazing at their job and everything. I actually went to one of my scheduled physicals with Warfarin last week, are you proud of me? She said my health was "acceptable".

[Sir.]

It's not that tight.

[It's actually a fairly loose fit when untucked, but sure, whatever. Completely nonplussed over here, he will continue lying down with his shirt open. Like.

At some point you'd think he'd realise, but no. Nope, brain off. Obliviousness on. There's no fucking way. The only time he seems to be Aware of things is when it relates to the terms of a bet. If Elysium had made some stupid bet like "I bet I'll ask to marry you first" Thorns WOULD HAVE made this a contest.

Alas.

He snorts.]

"Acceptable", huh? Are you taking your meds?

["It's not that tight," what? Sorry he can't hear you he's unbuttoning, unbuttoning...slowly, still a bit hesitantly, but Thorns? Is not stopping him, soooooooooo...

His eyes glance up at Thorns, as if to make sure he isn't glaring at him or something and just being polite and not saying anything, before he goes back at it and finishes unbuttoning the buttons. It is unbuttoned, he is free, his chest is out. He is...going to be EVEN COLDER there's no logic behind Elysium doing this at all beyond wanting to see his chest and not thinking about the consequences.

H. Hh. At least he closed the door when they came in.]

I am. Don't worry.

[He doesn't really like to think about it. Or talk about it. Thorns probably knows this quite well, how he plays off his infection and just acts like it's not real, even though everyone with eyeballs knows he's hella eaten up with Oripathy. Like, if you can see it crystalized on your body, you're not doing well.

But that doesn't mean he isn't letting himself be treated for it. He has things to do. He can't be leaving yet.

Anyway. His hand, fingers curled into his palm, hovers awkwardly for a moment before he carefully lowers it and lets it rest on Thorns' chest. Then...he lays his head on his shoulder, literally laying against him like a lover would. Like CHRIST Elysium.]

It's not so bad when it's routine.

[Elysium Arknights—

As far as non-platonic cuddling goes, he's fine with this. Rhodes Island has dormitories, they have bunk beds, and after about a week together sleeping in their own bed, these two assholes were bunking on the bottom bunk together. It was after a particularly rough mission, injuries made it difficult to climb up that ladder, but after that it stuck. ...and got worse. And now they're just like this.

So yeah, Elysium lays on him, and Thorns thinks nothing of it, because of course he doesn't think anything of it. This is an Unusually Cuddly Liberi, as far as Thorns is concerned.

Still, he strays a hand to Elysium's hip, where his coat and shirt cover the worst of his Oripathy.]

There's a clinic here. You'll have to see if they have the proper medication. I haven't seen the Doctor, Warfarin, Kal'tsit... the usual lot.

[No Jordi :( ]

[Thing is...Elysium isn't super confident they do. Why would they? This isn't Terra, it's not Rhodes...and he's fortunate that he's working somewhere that has proper treatment for him. Most people don't have that...and now, Elysium may not have it either.

Thorns puts a hand along his hip, and Elysium's feathers rise up reflexively even more. They're practically trembling at attention now as his fingers very lightly press against that toned chest of his as he stares across it at the far wall, thinking to himself what are you doing while at the same time berating himself for not doing what he wishes he could. Thorns could disappear again for another six months, and then where would he be? Lonely...sad, without him.

His expression tenses as he curls up closer, feeling warm and save in the curve of Thorns' side.]

Haha...yeah. I'm not too worried about that right now. I don't think they're here, but...it's not like they could do much anyway.

[Not without their equipment, the proper medication...sighs.

Elysium doesn't want to think about nerve-wracking stuff like Oripathy, though. He is vibrating internally, his eyes slowly shifting up to look at Thorns through his bangs. His fingers slowly trace their way up his chest a little, up towards his collar...he finds that longer section of his hair once he reaches up far enough, playing with it a bit with his fingertips.]

I really missed you.

[Ooh. That... that tickles a bit, the way fingers ghost over his skin. And he's starting to feel the least bit cold, too. Maybe trying to be casual so he could lay down comfortably was a bad idea.

He'll totally blame the brief shiver on that. Nothing else happening here. Good lord you two have tension enough to cut it into bricks and build a house with it.]

It's been lonely without your yapping. [Negative rizz over here.] ...you kept the mood up even while we were under attack, and I couldn't have found the willpower to repair the Compass without you.

[Okay, maybe a little more rizz now.]

I understand why you had to go back to Rhodes Island, but it's been strange sleeping alone.

[Thorns. Thorns do you hear yourself.]

[Thorns doesn’t even realize how gorgeous he is, does he? He’s an Adonis of a person and he just doesn’t know. Elysium thinks these things as he toys with his hair now, which is very likely his vain attempt to keep his hands from wandering too far elsewhere.

And yet…

Thorns may have negative rizz at the best of times, but he sure knows how to make Elysium feel like a lovesick puppy in over his head, despite the fact they’re cuddling like lovers right now. The Liberi exhales on another breathless laugh.]

I know you’re…not supposed to be here. I’m not, either. But…

[…]

Are you still happy being here, with me?

[No, he's not half as vain as you are, Elysium.]

What a weird question.

[He exhales a breath, which might sound like a laugh if Elysium is listening closely enough. Given their position, he probably is. It'll tickle his wrist, the one that's by his face.

They're, uh... close enough to where anyone who saw this, and thank god they won't, would think they're interrupting the romance arc of the century here. Or something more salacious. ...probably something more salacious.]

Do you even need to ask? If you sailed out to sea to rejoin the crew, I don't think I'd let you go back to Rhodes.

[Thorns so casually admitting that he wouldn’t have let him go back if he chased him out to see makes Elysium INSANE. Even Thorns should notice the way his eyes widen and that soft little chirp he makes in surprise, like !?!?!

Marry him. Literally marry him right now you won’t.

His fingers curl, and his hand moves now from Thorns’ hair…to rest against his cheek. He’s not really thinking now, more acting on impulse than anything as his fingers trace the line of his jaw.]

Yeah…?

[Elysium is laying on him like he’s in a classical painting, guiding Thorns’ head down towards him. Salacious doesn’t even begin to describe it, and even with this angle they’re plenty close enough that he barely has to move at all to feel the light warmth of the Aegir’s breath against his skin.

And…suddenly he’s forgotten the cold.

He catches Thorns by the chin, tugging him lightly forward as if to whisper a secret in his ear. Except, his lips do not go to his ear. Oh no.

His lips meet Thorns’, the fingers holding his chin ever so subtly trembling. His heart feels like it’s going to explode, and a soft cooing is trying to erupt from his chest but he won’t let it.

Mostly.]

[He would if you weren't a PUSSY—

...but to say he was expecting this would be a wild fucking lie. He's not, at all, expecting to be kissed so suddenly. There's a moment, two, three, where he sort of just blinks off into the space behind Elysium's head like he's not quite sure if this is real or not. Maybe his brain made it up. Maybe he really did die that one time he fell off the ship, and this is some kind of hyperspecific (very cold) heaven.

...

Heaven, huh.

Why is the Liberi subtly shaking like that, he wonders? Because it's cold? Nervous? But this feels like the most natural followup to years of doing whatever the hell they've been doing for the last few years, so...?

His eyes close, and the fingers of his flesh-and-blood hand brush back through Elysium's hair.

Yeah. This is good.]

[Elysium has snapped, he's lost his mind, he's hauled off and kissed the most important person in his life and now he's ruined everything aaaaaAAAAAAAAAAA-

Elysium very nearly pulls away as the anxiety tries to win, but...it's Thorns returning the kiss that immediately fixes him. Well, no, he's not being fixed, if anything he's becoming even more abnormal because of this, but the fears have lessened. His shoulders relax, and his hand moves from Thorns' chin to the side of his face, just in time for Thorns to cradle the back of his head.

That causes the Liberi to gasp against his lips and open his eyes, looking back at him with his pupils fucking dilated. He's pulled away just a fraction, just a little...but then it's immediately right back into kissing.

More. More kissing, less tentative now as he leans fully into Thorns' space, halfway sprawled across his chest now as they lock lips.]

[Don't you pull away wtf— oh, good, nevermind he's gone back to it. Thorns was honestly about to flip this man over and keep going now that the ice has been broken. Like, no, he wasn't going to make the first move (too oblivious, too good with what was currently happening, wanting but not actually going for it due to some strange mental block) but he will make the first flip.

...

Actually yeah he's going to flip them. Sorry not sorry, he's sitting square on Elysium now and leaning down to give him what Thorns thinks is a real kiss, because everything's a contest with these two. Except this fucking idiot has never kissed in his life, so it's... it's sloppy.

It's real sloppy. Sorry.]

[Oh, as if Elysium was going to stop. This is all he's wanted for years. Now that he has it, he's not sure he could stop even if he wanted to, but...

He doesn't have to think long about that, because Thorns suddenly takes that decision to stop or go from him.

When Thorns flips their positions, Elysium squeaks in the most undignified way he possibly could have, and whatever rizz he had going completely evaporates along with any reservations he'd previously had. His shoulders his the mattress, and when Thorns sits on top of him, he exhales a quick-]

Oh, God-

[That's just. Desperate, debauched like he's a parched man being given water for the first time, before Thorns ducks his head down to give him a "real" kiss that is too much teeth and too wet.

...okay they need to work on this. But this is fine. He's not mad about it, he's just scrunching up his nose a little as he reaches up to throw his arms around Thorns' neck so he can try to wrangle him into a better position.]

Mm-! Mmh-

[Look. You see one movie one time (many movies many times) and think: Yeah that looks easy. I can totally kiss my homie like that.

Anyway, he thinks he's suffocating the Liberi, so he'll sit back and stare down at him, wiping off the excess saliva on the back of his hand.]

How long have you been thinking about that?

[Bro, how did you Not Realise Sooner—]

[Honestly? Elysium really isn't as good at kissing as he thinks he is. He likes to brag about how much of a smooth guy he is, about how handsome he is, how much people want him. But the truth is...it's Elysium wanting others (Aegir), and sort of just lusting after that connection as opposed to actually reaching for it.

But no, no. He is not suffocating, and even if he was, he'd thank Thorns for it. He's laughing faintly by the time he pulls away, looking up at Thorns with an expression that can only be described as dreamy.]

So...so long...haha...

[His fingers twine in the back of his hair, threading through those long, dark locks. Haha hiiiii.]

Sorry...I just couldn't hold back anymore.

[He goes from sitting on Elysium in a way that's probably familiar (but unfamiliar at the same time, since this is far more heated than, say, trying to smack him in the face with something because those were the terms of the bet at the time) to lying across him, chin propped up in his hand, balanced precariously to one side.]

Really?

[And you didn't SAY ANYTHING??? Thinks local man who also didn't say shit.]

Yes.

[He doesn't just say "Yes". He sighs it like he's falling onto a fainting couch, or sinking into warm water. It's a relief to be able to say so, insomuch as these two have already been all over each other the entire time they've been friends. Thorns laying across Elysium the way he is right now? That's not abnormal. It's just...very much charged now in a way that it wouldn't have been if Elysium hadn't just kissed him.

And now, all he can do is think about kissing him again as he plays with the back of his hair.]

Sometimes...sometimes I don't think you realize just how irresistible you really are, Estimado.

I had no idea. [About... any of that.] It's not as though I put much effort into my appearance.

[Yes, Mr. Wears-his-shirts-inside-out, we know. Everyone knows. Oblivious to himself, oblivious to everyone else... truly a mental match made in hell.]

You're the one who spends an hour in front of the mirror every morning. [Thorns.]

[Yeah Elysium it's not like you made it obvious...though, even if you did, Thorns wouldn't have known. You know the kind of person he is.

The retort gets a laugh out of Elysium because yeah, he can't argue with him there...but god, all he can think about is how much he wants to kiss him again. He is STARING at his lips and barely managing to be normal-]

I have to look my best. Not just for me.

[It's for you too, goes unsaid as Elysium flutters his light eyelashes in Thorns' direction.]

You're really so...

[He huffs, and really he's just...oozing love and adoration for this man. Like, good god, it's gross.]

Can you kiss me again? ...please?

[Honestly, if it weren't for Elysium having a morning regimen, Thorns would probably simply roll over and just get started on work half-dressed. Which, truth be told, he absolutely does when the man isn't there. He'll roll out of bed, hair a mess, braid still in from the prior day, chug coffee... and just. Work. God willing he'll be wearing a shirt when it happens. At Rhodes, usually someone turns him around before he gets far down the hallway.

Usually.

It's not that they're co-dependent (they're co-dependent). Thorns just has severely undiagnosed ADHD or something like that. Nothing about this man is diagnosed, really.

He breathes out a very soft, breathy laugh through his nose at the question.]

Yeah.

[Still laying on Elysium, he'll press their lips together again.]

[Listen...you can have ADHD, and autism, AND be highly co-dependent on your partner who just might actually be your soulmate. Like oops! Whoops! Elysium has been let off his leash and now he's never coming back.

The moment Thorns starts to kiss him again, Elysium's tailfeathers go crazy. They fluff up and tremble in a genuinely excited way that Thorns has probably not seen in a while, and with the way the feathers on his head are all fluffy, it makes him look comically large as he kisses Thorns back with the eagerness of a golden retriever. He'll even make a soft sound as they kiss, another sort of bird-like coo in his chest as he toys with the hair at the nape of Thorns' neck.

Sigh. He sighs through his nose. This is the best fucking day of his whole damn life, he's convinced.]

EVENT & TDM 020

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