acatalepsy_logs | Don't Skip Your Flu Shot

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Don't Skip Your Flu Shot

Who: Everyone! It's a mingle post for the first week of Struxta sickness!!
Where: All around the temple
When: During the first week of the sickness
Rating PG?? At most??
What: Curry, blankets and pillow forts, and other assorted sick things

[With the Struxta illness sweeping through the temple like a wildfire, and with so many new arrivals trying to get adjusted to temple living, it's probably no surprise that things around the Astoria's little pocket of space have gotten a little hectic. Feeling under the weather? Looking for something warm to soothe that scratchy throat? Just want to curl up underneath a pile of blankets and not move for like, seven hours or so? Never fear! A Mysterious Helper (TM) has you covered]

A. Curry in the Kitchen

[The kitchen smells extremely nice during lunchtime this week, the only meal of the day that isn't pre-prepared by the misty servants. Like the scent of coffee intermingled with complementary spices. Those who take the initiative to investigate will find something pleasant waiting for them. A few pots of fresh made curry and steamed rice; a few pots of miso soup (a. . . little on the salty side, sorry); and some freshly brewed coffee already poured into individual mugs, along with cream and sugar and whatever additives your heart desires. It's all strewn out across the counter tops with a handwritten note pinned against the wall above the stove:]

Help yourself, and get well soon.

[There isn't any sign of the mysterious chef when you enter the kitchen, and if you arrive near the end of lunch hour, some of the food and coffee miiiiight be a bit cold. But hey! This might be a good chance to mingle with some of your new coworkers who are also seeking out a warm meal to help quell some of their cold symptoms. Just please don't sneeze into the curry pot, thanks. . .]

[Lunch will be laid out in the kitchen every day at lunchtime for the entire first week of the sickness. Help yourselves!]

B. The Temple Hallways

[THERE ARE BLANKETS AND PILLOWS EVERYWHERE]

[. . . no, seriously. For some reason, it's like you can't even walk down a hallway without tripping over a bundled up blanket or a pillow. What's up with that! For the most part, they're normal bedtime accessories, although you may find a bundle of pillows and blankets stacked up into an ENTIRE PILLOW FORT if you're lucky.]

[Pinned to the walls of the hallways (not every hallway, but enough of them that it should be easy to find one of the signs without wandering for too long) are more handwritten signs:]

Whoever can build the tallest pillow fort will receive one (1) high five as a grand prize. Good luck. Blanket provider is not responsible for anyone accidentally falling asleep in the hallways and blocking your route back to your bedroom.

[Hm. Well, that's weird. Anyway! You can build a pillow fort if you want, grab some blankets to take back to your room, or. . . nap in the hallways. Or do whatever! They're all free for the taking. Maybe you could even team up with another Circle member to try and win that extremely coveted high five??]

C. Wildcard

[Don't feel like interacting with any of the above? That's okay! Make your own prompt based on the event stuff over here, or just use this post for. . . whatever you want! It's totally and completely open for mingling for new and old characters alike, so. HAVE FUN ♥]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Still chuckling, he settles back against the pillows again. He could try to tickle her again, but it does seem ill-advised given his condition...

He'll wait until he can see again and properly destroy her her tickling. :) ]

Sure, suuuure! That was just an unexpected reaction, that's —

[ But he can't quite spit out the last couple of words, his lungs seizing up, his breath swallowed up in a rough coughing fit that lasts for several long moments. He curls forward, hand curled against his mouth, tears gathering at the corner of his eyes. ]

Ugh...s-sorry...

[ yeah things would likely end badly for him if he attempted the tickles right now..

.. though he seems to be having a difficult enough time of it, even on his own. the joviality of the moment fades immediately, and with a gasp alisaie lunges forward again, one hand settled against his back, the other on his elbow.

but there is naught to do but wait. she can do nothing for him, as per usual. once he is able to breathe properly again, she leans back to lift a glass of water from the night stand, bringing it forward to press to his lips. ]

Here, drink. Carefully..

[ His breath rushes, pained and shallow, as she lifts the glass to his lips, a tremor running down the length of his body, but her touch and voice are calming, and after a moment, he takes the glass from her so he can lift it to his lips and sip from it carefully, its contents sliding down his burning, corroded throat. ]

Hnnng...th-thanks...

[ A few more sips go down, before he lets her take the glass back. Gods, what a mess he is...when will it let up?

He spends a few long moments then just breathing, before he sinks back against the pillows again, his eyes fluttering shut as he sniffles. ]

Hey...will you tell me more about your world, Alisaie?

[ It is what he wanted to do with her today, after all. And after that coughing fit, better that he does more listening than talking. ]

[ to think, she had been laughing moments ago..

swallowing around a tight throat, alisaie gently helps to guide him back, one hand smoothing the hair from his brow to look into his unseeing eyes, her expression tight with worry. for all she tries to ease his pain, he is getting no better.. ]

Of.. of course.

[ she answers through a thick veil of emotion. if a few silly stories will help in any way, she will provide them. ]

What would you like to know?

[ With her gentle touch easing him, it's easier to settle, to focus on breathing as evenly and clearly as possible. He's beyond tired...but he doesn't want to fall asleep. He's slept so much lately. He'd rather stay awake and listen to the sound of her voice.

...Man, he really is in deep, isn't he? ]

Can you tell me...more about the Scions? About what you were doing with them?

Mm.. the Scions.

[ that is an easy enough topic, though it makes her chest tighten in quiet fear, a reminder that they are here with her, withering away just like prompto. the scions are her family, she is so, so afraid..

but no. he asked for her to tell him stories, and she knows that they must be happy ones, warm and uplifting. he does not need the burden of her heart to weigh him down atop all the rest. and so she hums, leaning against the headboard. ]

My grandfather founded the Scions, when I was very young. While I do not necessarily work well in groups, I am proud to be among them now, all of these years later. Hydaelyn is a world divided, countries and creeds vying for power, but the Scions look to bigger threads, to safeguard no singular nation, but the star in its entirety, and eliminate whatever threatens her, to the best of our ability.

[ It's so very easy to just shut his eyes and listen to her, her words rolling gently through his mind, and while they don't quite make him drowsy, they make him...peaceful. Like he's listening to music, or the breeze by the sea. That's not to say he doesn't listen to what she says, either — rather, he hangs on every word, letting them paint a picture of her world and what she might have been doing there. ]

So...you were like some kinda superhero team. Protecting the whole world. That's so cool...your grandfather started it?

[ he asked about the g-word!! ]

Aye.

[ she says that single word around a smile, with an enormous amount of fondness, a softness to the edges of her voice. there are no memories warmer, or dearer to her heart, than those of her grandfather. time to check off that bingo box.. ]

He was wonderful, the strongest, wisest person I have ever known. Sharlayan, where I am from - we are a nation of scholars, and it is generally our creed to watch, and record, but never intervene. History is not to be tampered with.

[ she waves a hand. ]

But he did not believe in that. He thought that if there were those who could be helped, that they should be. And so he left the motherland, his pupils not far behind. Together they formed the scions.

And you followed in his footsteps.

[ It's not so much a statement as a question. It's not hard to see the influence her grandfather has had in her life, even after only hearing this much about him. He sounds exactly like the sort of person that Alisaie would look up to.

A soft smile turns the corners of his mouth. ]

Bet you make him proud, joining in a cause that was so important to him.

.. I certainly hope so.

[ there's no greater honor, she thinks, than to have been loved by louisoix leveilleur, and she strives still every single day to make him proud, to be the person he would have hoped she would be. she knows now that she must follow her own path, make her own choices, but nevertheless he is always at the back of her mind, always lingering in her heart when she finds herself presented with a difficult decision. ]

But yes, the moment I was of age I left Sharlayan to follow him, to.. find answers. It was not until much later that I became a Scion in name as well as deed.

[ He recalls her telling him something similar before, and about how she had difficulty making friends. That's still hard for him to believe, because for as tough as uncompromising as she can sometimes be, she is also...incredibly warm. How she's stuck by his side through this is a testament enough to that.

Maybe he shouldn't ask, but...his defenses are down, and they've shared so much over the last two days. She can always tell him no, if she doesn't want to share. Even if that...might sting a bit, all things considered. ]

...What answers were you looking for? If...if you're okay talking about it.

[ it's a natural question to ask, so she knows it is coming before he even voices it, but still.. one might think that so much time later, she might have gotten over it a bit better, that it would be easier to think about, to talk about. and.. it is, in a sense. she does not break down in sobs just speaking his name as she might have years ago.

but gods, it still hurts. it always will, she suspects. ]

Answers for his death. I had to know why. I had to be sure that he was gone. I had to see the world he had left me for, and learn whether or not it had been worth it.

[ ...Oh.

Oh, he hadn't realized...he'd thought Alisaie meant he was still at the head of the Scions when she joined. But if she'd lost someone so important to her, it's no surprise that she would want answers, would do everything she could to seek them out. Alisaie isn't the type to sit around and let things happen to her.

His brow tightens, and though he cannot look at her, he turns his head towards her, expression etched with worry. ]

I-I'm sorry. I didn't know... [ He lets a moment pass in silence before speaking up again. ] But you got the answers you were looking for, didn't you? That it was worth it.

[ What she had told him before makes that seem almost certainly the case. ]

[ a dismissive wave of her hand. ]

Of course you did not know. How could you?

[ she'd not told him, and it's hardly something to guess at. she shakes her head, moving past it. ]

And.. I did. It took some time. I was.. angry, I had felt so betrayed. He was all I loved in the world and yet he left me behind for there.. petty, squabbling peoples. I.. do still doubt myself, sometimes, that it is worth it..

[ for all the scions' hard work, people are still people, nations are still selfish and petty and small. ]

.. but there is far too much good in the world worth fighting for. I know that, now.

[ That's right, Mr. Frodo...

His smile widens at the conviction in her words. Maybe it had taken her awhile to reach that conclusion, but she knows it's the right one, and he does, too. Prompto has always had an upbeat outlook on the world around him, but it wasn't until he left home and really, truly saw what was out there that he understood what they were fighting for. Eos and her people...Lucians and Imperials alike.

It is worth it. ]

So you joined up with the Scions...bet you get to do all sorts of interesting jobs on a team like that.

[ Perhaps things more thrilling than tomato delivery. ]

Oh, that's certainly a word for it. There's quite a lot of traveling involved, which it one of the better parts, I've wager. I've seen far more of the world than I ever expected to, surely more than I ever would have, had I not left home.

[ though even if louisoix had not left the motherland, alisaie believes than in time, she would have moved on. she had never been like her peers, and her desire to see beyond sharlayan's borders had predated her grandfather's departure. that had only hurried it along. ]

But it is.. dangerous, as well. We have lost many along the way.

...I can imagine.

[ After all, that's how it was for them, too. Jared, King Regis, Lunafreya...and Ignis had lost his sight. He'd often wondered if the price was worth it, if it was right for people to lose their lives like that, even if it meant protecting Noct...

But he's come to realize that it was their choice to do so, just as it's his to stick by his friend's side. If that costs him his life, too, then...that's that.

But he doesn't dwell on that thought, his brain too cottony to do so, anyway. ]

Well...why don't you tell me about one of your missions?

[ Stop being so vague, Alisaie!! ]

Well, they aren't quite missions..

[ she says, with a chuckle; that makes it sound far more organized than it truly is. ]

We all sort of move about on our own as we see fit. [ but that's not really what he's asking after - ] I suppose.. the last satisfying thing I accomplished was helping to wrest the imperial yoke from Doma and Ala Mhigo.

Ah, imperials...sounds familiar.

[ As she well knows by now. It's not exactly surprising that her world has an Empire terrorizing it as well, all things considered. ]

How'd you do that? Don't tell me it was a bunch of boring politics.

[ That doesn't seem like her way of getting things done, anyway. ]

[ there's no world out there without annoying imperials.. ]

Oh, there was plenty of that, but I kept my nose well out of it.

[ as best as she could, at least. she'd attended a few meetings, but when it came to strategy.. she left that to alphinaud. her job was the pointy sword bit. ]

Mostly we helped the townsfolk, killed a few kojin, some wild beasts, and provoked a primal or two.

[ you know.. the usual.. ]

[ He lifts a brow at her, a slight note of amusement in his voice when he speaks again. ]

Sounds like you know how to keep busy. Kojin? Primals?

[ They haven't had the whole "my gods are your primals" chat yet... ]

[ right. she'd grown so used to the similarities between their worlds that she'd just assumed he knew. ]

Kojin are a tribe of beastmen. Primals are.. a far greater threat.

[ and one that is much more difficult to explain. she frowns thoughtfully, silent for a moment; urianger or y'shtola or alphinaud would be able to put it to words far more eloquently.. ]

They are.. creatures of aether and will, summoned into being by those who call them. They are incredibly powerful and immensely dangerous both to those around them, and the very land itself. The Scions' primary purpose is their destruction, and preventative measures taken to keep them from being summoned.

[ He hums a low, quiet note of understanding. ]

Sounds like they're real trouble. The only thing we've got like that are the Astrals... [ And the only ones trying to destroy them are the imperials, so, you know, you can't draw any conclusions about the Astrals based off of that. ]

Are the primals only summoned by...you know...bad people?

[ Couldn't they be helpful, in certain situations? ]

No. In fact, usually they are not. They are summoned by people who are afraid, or angry, or despairing.

[ she knows the feeling all too well, she's seen it, seen how people have ached, how they have lost, how they have feared, and it's no wonder they turned to summoning as their last resort.

still, that does not condone it. alisaie shakes her head. ]

But no matter the intentions, primals cannot be suffered to exist. Their presence alone drains the land of aether, and their influence over all around them is severe and unshakable. Once a primal tempers their followers they are lost, and will blindly serve their liege forever. Only in death may they be freed.

[ ask alphinaud how she was almost tempered once!! because she mouthed off to a primal.. ]

[ So, definitely not like Astrals then, in the way Noctis is able to summon them after forming contracts. As powerful and terrible as they could be, they still retained their essence, even when fighting alongside the prince. What Alisaie is describing sounds...horrible.

A solemn nod. ]

I understand. Are there a lot of 'em?

[ No wonder their work is so essential... ]

Don't Skip Your Flu Shot

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