sticksandbones

Who: Allen + You!
What: Holy clown boy coming to a Grove near you!
When: Beginning of March
Where: ??? Around
Warnings: None yet, will be in headers as the pop up.

I. I've tasted all your sin (Forest entrance)

[ There is, perhaps, not a single person who would say arriving in the Grove isn't jarring. Some woke up here from their own slumber back home, and that is perhaps the smoothest transition you can get, even even that has yet to be graceful. For Allen, one moment he's holding the hand of his friend, trying to wake him up from what he could only assume was a horrific coma, and then next he's... here. His hand clasps in on itself, and he's suddenly looking around in a panic. He knew that the place he'd ended up may very well kick him out of his consciousness. May lend just the right amount of strength for Nea to pull him out of the "driver's seat", so to speak, but... is that what's happening now? Now, when he was so close to saving his friend?

No.

No, no, no.

The panic sets in as he darts from out of the trees, attempting to look for something, anything that might help him figure out how to get back. It's once he gets into the Grove proper that his eye activates. He has his own questions about that - if he's not in control, where is that coming from? What would his eye see... in his own head? Before he can ponder it for too long, he at least gets one of his answers. What does his eye see? Well.

Death.

It's the first time Allen's seeing souls not attached to something else, but Allen doesn't have time to process that part. Rather, he is trying to remember how to breathe again, because as of now, seeing the horrible visions in front of him - death of his friends, of those he loves, of a fire that isn't really there - all has the air he's trying to get out caught in his throat. It's only once his eye deactivates, the sclera turning from black to white and the red of his eye back to a silvery gray, does he finally have some kind of reprieve from the overwhelm. It's not much. The panic has only gotten worse, after all.

He falls to his knees, gasping for air as if he'd been held underwater for too long. ]

II. You've lost your appetite (for sacrifice) (Timcanpy, the Inn)

[ Timcanpy is a little golden golem. He is here! He isn't sure why he's here, but he is! How exciting! He's gonna...! He's...!!!

...

Where is this!!!!!!!!!! He is going to float out of the inn room he Spawned(tm) in and??? chew on the first person he sees. Hello. ]

III. How can we terminate this parasite (Around the Grove)

[ Fortunately, although the panic attack hits Allen like a train, the fact that he's so fucking hungry does as well. Which means... this is definitely his body. He's not stuck in his head. That's?? Good. Probably. Well, it's not good that he doesn't know where he is, but it's good he's still Him. Does this make sense? No. It doesn't. Fuck, he's SO hungry-

He will very hastily try to find the first person he can and catch their attention with a friendly wave of his normal-looking hand, and in a thick, British accent: ] Cheers! Uh, I have a lot of questions, but... most important, do you know where a bloke might find some food? Preferably, a lot of it?

...

Oh, also, what is that? [ He's, uh, pointing at Moder. ]

IV. If you keep digging up the Host? (Wildcard)
HMU if you wanna do something else pls I have such a strong muse for my baby boy I'm gonna be SO annoying-

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah I... Sorry.

[ He knows, reasonably the annoyance isn't aimed at him, but he feels like he probably should have approached that better. ]

Oh, um. Not a hanky, but I do have a tissue pack...

[ Yes, he carries travel tissues. It felt more sanitary, and it was useful for situations like this. He tugs it out of his pocket and gives him a couple of them just in case he needs them. ]

Ah, no, don’t apologize. You helped me a lot. And continue to, thank you.

[ He graciously takes the tissues with a little bow of his head, and uses them to start cleaning his face off. ]

You seem accustomed to this? How long have you been here?

It'll be a year come May, so... in two months give or take. Time's a little funny here. But yeah I've seen a lot of people arrive here by now. If nothing else, you're definitely not alone.

[ Maybe a bit of projecting there- that had been his biggest fear when he arrived. He's never handled loneliness well. ]

[ Allen always thought he dealt with loneliness well. He had it all growing up, after all. But he had a taste of being with a found family, to have friends that genuinely love him, to be around people who care… and it has been especially damaging to him to try and push people away. Because he realizes just how painful loneliness is.

He does look a little pensive here, however. ] Funny… how? As in repeats itself…? Or…

Not repeating, just... It's hard to tell how much time has passed.

[ He's not really sure how to explain that part. He can vaguely tell what month it is, or the season, but anything precise? nah. He wouldn't put it past the Forest to put them in a time loop though. ]

I take... that means it moves weird, and not just "clocks don't exist", right...? [ He lets out a very deep exhale. ]

Please tell me there's at least... some good news?

Uh... the goddesses are nice, and so are the other people here for the most part?

[ He looks so soggy. He's not sure exactly what to say here. ]

It's not horrible all the time, either.

[ Aira is truly doing his best. And Allen does appreciate it for what that's worth!!! He even notices the increasingly somber posture he takes and immediately straightens himself at it. Allen might still be puffy-eyed and red from crying earlier, but he doesn't let that stop him from putting on his best smile. He doesn't want people to be sad, even if he doesn't have anything to smile about right now.

There is a small wince at "Goddesses" that makes his thoughts stutter a bit in confusion, but ultimately decides to file that under "deal with later". ]

...In that case, thank you, Aira. I appreciate all of this! I can't imagine I'd be doing well at all feeling all this out on my own. I'm lucky to have run into you.

[ If anything he feels kind of complacent for having not asked many questions and just rolled with it, but it had been better on his poor mind at the time to just trust his friend and try to establish himself in his new prison. It had been too much after thinking he was going to go home.

He's a performer himself, he can tell a less than genuine smile when he sees one and feels a bit guilty Allen feels the need to pretend due to his own failing. ]

I'm just sorry I can't give you any comforting information. I know this is a lot... um. Do you want to head to the Inn and get a room in the mean time? Or you could rest at the Moon Shrine where I live while you get your bearings?

Ah, that's nothing to apologize for. It's not like you're the one who put me here. Don't worry yourself too much - I truly am grateful I had someone here to help me figure at least some of this out.

What do you mean by "Moon Shrine", though...?

Oh, well, one of the goddesses I mentioned before is the goddess of the moon, Ourania-sama. I live at her shrine and maintain it. It's very peaceful there.

[ He's never been a religious guy and that hasn't really changed. He talks about her like she's a regular person ]

The other one is the goddess of the sun.

Ah… Yes, I suppose deities based on celestial bodies isn’t unheard of? So it’s like a church? Are you like… a priest? Or…?

[ Like maybe a shrine maiden, but whatever the gender neutral term for that is. Allen doesn’t know, he’s from the 1800s, help— ]

Uh... well.

[ He averts his eyes ]

The priest and his partner were very close friends of mine and they both died a couple months ago and haven't revived... so I guess I'm filling in until they do. I was looking after the shrine and helping out before that, though so you're not wrong. An attendant is probably a good word for it.

[ Allen is seconds from giving his condolences until he says THAT. Hello? What the fuck? ]

R…revived? [ As in resurrection? As in the thing only Jesus Christ himself has done??? Help, girl, what do you MEAN— ]

Right, um... generally speaking, we can't... die? Not permanently.

[ another one of those things he really doesn't understand that well but rolls with. ]

I think someone made a deal with the forest about it because us dying was unfair or... something? But that's also why something is usually taken from us if we ever do die.

[ The absolute look of horror that crosses Allen’s face here… ]

…Is this Hell?

Not technically... though I can see why you'd jump to that conclusion. It's more like... when it's bad it's really bad, but most of the time it's pretty normal day-to-day life?

That sounds like Hell????????

[ The fact that Aira has no soul currently is probably not helping this issue. ]

I can't... really speak for what hell was in your world, but we aren't in hell. And we're working on fixing things it's just... slow going. Not really easy convincing an angry entity to let go of a grudge.

…Yeah, at least that much I’m well aware of.

[ Ugh, he thinks he’s getting a migraine. Can he, like, nap for the next 20 years? ]

Sorry, I know I’m getting proper pissed. It’s not at you, love. Promise.

🤡

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