acatalepsy_logs | need the sun to break

Entry tags:

need the sun to break

Who: mako, ota otherwise! please bring me your babies c:
Where: various places
When: throughout the sickness event, the last prompt can cover any time period in it as mako won't progress past the first stage.
Rating pg for now! will update if it changes. some mention of a lightning-based injury tho!
What: settling in and maybe trying to mother-hen other sick people who need it. please toss me a pm or hmu on discord (violynnist#8733!) if you would like something custom for you, or to try another situation/scenario also! This was my intro post on the CR meme as well if that's easier to poke at c:

𝐏𝐑𝐄-𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒;

𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚;

( he's no stranger to the fey and fantastic. being friends with the avatar has meant years of encountering things that might have otherwise been beyond belief. he has a healthy threshold of tolerance for the scope and scale of strange than most people would probably expect of a no-nonsense cop.

his first thought is spirit wilds. even astoria herself sort of seems like one, though she looks human (he's heard stories of koh) and the misty phantasms that roam the temple grounds certainly don't disabuse that notion. mako is. quiet. taking it all in, listening, learning. he jots down notes, which is difficult to do when one arm is an out-of-commission ruin, strapped into a sling that pinions it to his body. he sort of rests the notepad in the hollow of his wrist, over the fabric of the sling and scribbles everything in police short-hand.

thrown into a new situation? doesn't know anyone or anything beyond astoria's welcoming spiel? time to wander the grounds of the temple. when he runs into other people, he'll approach them politely and introduce himself, )

I know it probably doesn't matter here, but I'm a Detective with the Republic City Police back home. My name's Mako. I'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's all right?

( he gestures with his notepad, obviously intending on writing things down. feel free to talk with him, refuse a statement, agree but only off the record, etc. he's a mostly-amicable (if. sometimes humorless) guy! )

𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛;

( he can't feel the sun. it's there, visible, a low-hanging presence on the cusp of dawn. it's a slightly different color than the one he's used to, and he can feel its rays on his skin, but there's. nothing. no energy, no... deep, abiding warmth that sinks down into the bones and drags the life and breath of fire to life through the conduit of his physical body.

it lends further credence to the thought he must be in the spirit world, or something very like it. he finds his way to the fighting ring and, still with his left arm in its sling, he tries a few right-handed jabs at one of the training dummies. nothing. nothing. he's stayed calm through everything else, being recruited — kidnapped, essentially — to someone else's fight, the whole thing. but this? it reminds him too much of amon.

out of frustration, he kicks at the air, the sort of slicing motion that would have swept fire away from him in an arc. and.

to his complete and utter surprise, a column of rock juts up out of the earth and launches the dummy several yards away. mako, instinctively, turns to look for bolin or korra or even beifong, the earthbenders whose company he spends the most time in, but. he's alone.

except, perhaps, for your character. mako looks a little sheepish at having been caught unawares — he's usually a little harder to sneak up on, so he's rubbing the back of his neck as he asks, )

Did you do that?

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐗𝐓𝐀'𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒;

( he hates getting sick. firebenders are pretty hardy, all things considered. they tend to run hot. mako isn't used to feeling ill, it's only happened a couple times in memory, and. his default state is ignore all physical discomfort. he doesn't seem to be badly off, either, given what everyone else is going through.

so. a case of the sniffles. he sucks it up. pitches in around the kitchens, makes himself available to anyone who seems to be suffering. he even tries to go out into the forest of the fey to see if there is anything out there, some plant or herb that can be used as a remedy.

if your character needs some looking after during the event, mako's your guy. he will dutifully help total strangers, tuck people in, carry them off to a bed and help them through the loss of their senses should it come to that! let him big-brother you. it's the squishiest you'll ever see him. )

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[North jumps at the sound and turns to see a large column of earth suddenly there. Where it certainly wasn't a few moments ago.]

No...I don't think that was me.

If it was, I couldn't tell you how.

( what is that. what mako had assumed was another of the training dummies, albeit a little oddly formed, actually speaks, and jumps and generally moves in a very. human way.

but. it doesn't look human at all. some kind of mech? he resists the urge to just go knock on the helmet like a yokel, because that's definitely his first instinct, here. that's not a detective thing, that's more like... 'the guy who had no childhood remembers childish things once in a while' thing. mako. coughs. and straightens up. he relaxes his stance, and the rock crumbles, loud enough it makes him flinch at the sound. he's. still navigating this earthbending thing, but at least he's sure now it is earthbending. )

Sorry. Uh. I think it's me. New powers. Thanks, Astoria.

( that last little bit is delivered with a deadpan sort of sarcasm. he really doesn't like the meddling, but at least he still has some way to defend himself. )

[ The thing about being in armour most of the time, and being around other people in armour most of the time, is that North can sometimes forget that it's not a normal thing for the average person. Still, he's relaxed about it, knowing he stands out.

New powers? Right, someone had mentioned something about powers, but in getting his bearings, North hadn't quite tried to figure out what his was.]

I'm guessing that wasn't an intentional test, then?

You seemed kind of spooked.

( at least now that he's identified the source and reason... he can start reordering his thoughts to include earthbending forms. he knows just about everything there is to know about it thanks to growing up alongside bo, but. that doesn't mean he'll master it overnight, either. )

Not so much, no.

( when he was younger, he would've tried to wave off the bit of fluster as nothing. but now? mako has lost that last bit of chill. in a total deadpan, )

Well, I'm not used to talking to... is there a person in there, or are you more like a sentient mech?

Oh, yeah, no. I'm a person.

[And he'll take off his helmet, revealing a human man underneath. He smiles, somewhere between sheepish and awkward. Normally he'd introduce Theta at this point, but his AI didn't come along for the ride.]

Sorry. I'm used to wearing it, so I forget how much it stands out sometimes.

Hi.

( huh. all he can think is that asami would love to get her hands on that. whatever it is. it's almost as a duty to her that he sort of visually inspects the armor a little more closely. not so much as to be rude, but. enough that it's obvious he's curious about it. )

Uh. Hi. I'm Mako.

[North pretty much expects people to be curious. It's become pretty clear that this place is very different from the place he calls his home.]

Agent North Dakota, but friends call me North. Nice to meet you, Mako.

So, I'm guessing you haven't always been able to do the whole rock thing...

( well that cements what mako's going to call him. the guy's friendly and all, but mako — by contrast — is a bit on the prickly side. he'll default to 'agent' until otherwise corrected, because he's a cop and it's what they do. the only reason he didn't bother introducing himself as a detective is because he's way, way outside of his jurisdiction.

north just gets a sort of acknowledging nod at the introduction. )

No. The earthbending's new. ( his expression is. not sour, but a little on the pensive side. ) I could manipulate fire back home.

( and he misses it. a bender's element is a significant portion of their identity, and to be bereft of his... yeah. he's. unsettled. more that than upset. )

[If North is being honest, he's not really sure why he goes by the codename these days anyway. He left the Project that it was associated with, and really he should be back to Nathan Reilley. Old habits die hard, he supposes. He's more likely to respond to North anyway.

But he has other things to ponder right now.]

What caused the switch?

( mako just. gestures around himself. )

This place. Astoria does something when we come here. I've heard that if you're... ( he isn't quite sure of the normal terminology. back home it would be non-bender, but here? he can't say normal, because normal to him is bending. ) — that if you don't have any abilities back home, this place gives you one. And if you do... it swaps it for something else.

( it's only just occurred to him that it might be a way of leveling the playing field. everyone starting from zero. but again, it makes no sense if what she's looking for is... warriors. mako would be a much more effective fighter if he had firebending, but maybe it's less about what he was good at and more about... becoming good at something new, surrounded by new people. a way of building a fighting force instead of an individual.

it's an odd thought, but. possible, at least. )

Is...that so? Like a magic power or something?

[It's the closest reference he's got. The only ability he's really armed with is his dome shield, and he can't really use that without Theta. Or at least, he's reluctant to. He's used his one shot already and can't rely on another one.]

I can't say I've really tried to figure that out.

( he shrugs a bit. )

For some people, it probably looks like magic.

( the man lives among spirits, has a healthy respect and understanding for incomprehensible things, but there's a strong scientific bent to his mind. he doesn't really like the word magic. spirits are just something between animals and humans, a natural part of the world. bending is the focused direction of energy and chi. but magic? miss him with that concept. )

( a guy in armor like that is probably a fighter of some kind, mako can't imagine anyone willingly walking around in what's probably an uncomfortable exo-suit without expecting combat, so he tips his head towards the ring. )

We could spar. You might be able to figure out what you can do now.

[North hails from a world that is mostly science. Science that can allow cool shit to happen, like AIs and armour enhancements. North might not necessarily understand the science behind it, but he can appreciate it.

But stuff like creating earth pillars and things like that. That's a bit beyond him, and so falls into the magic category. Because he does have a well of popular culture he can pull from. Also he's a bit of a nerd. He's down for it though, especially in lieu of the fact that he can't use his armour enhancement here.]

I guess you can count me in that camp.

But...yeah, sure. I would like to know what I can do. If I've got it.

We'll take it easy though.

( he gestures for north to stand opposite him in the ring. he's not interested in anything serious, but a light session isn't all that taxing. )

Just try to stay away from my left arm.

( he's a pretty good judge of people, and north doesn't strike him as the sort that would deliberately go for an obvious weakness. mako's left arm is bound up in a sling, what's visible of the skin of his hand is heavily scarred and discolored. electrical injury. fairly recent, by the state of it. )

I can leave the earthbending out of it if you want. You want to take the armor off or leave it?

( the armor's... substantial, but mako doesn't want to risk damaging it with a skill he doesn't quite control yet since his guess is... it can't be readily fixed or replaced. but by the same stroke, maybe whatever new ability he has involves the armor. hard to say, mako will leave it up to him. )

Sure thing.

[If it's a friendly spar, North wouldn't go after an injury. And he probably wouldn't even if it wasn't. He's got a sense of fairness that way.]

I think I'll take it off. Give me a sec'

[It takes a bit to remove the armour piece by piece and he relishes being out of it for a bit. All that's left is the undersuit, which will work for now. There's a brief moment where he pauses, missing the familiar voice of Theta in the back of his head before he gives his head a shake and moves into the arena]

Okay, ready when you are. Uh, if you're not used to using your power, don't worry about it.

( he occupies himself looking elsewhere as the armor comes off. no point staring. he does a few more bending moves, just to keep himself limber. fire more than earth, just because of the ease and familiarity of the motions, even if his connection to his native element has gone dark.

once north is ready, he pivots on his heel back to face him and gives him a rather traditional martial artist's bow. )

I could manage. ( he's new at it, but when you're the brother to one of the best earthbenders in the world, you sort of pick up a few things. mako's not concerned he'd hurt anyone else with his bending accidentally — he has too much self-discipline and control for that. ) But I'm fine without it. Come at me, let's see what you've got.

( mako's a big guy by most standards, 6'3 and built like someone who's been fighting most of his life. he makes light, quick motions look easy, but he's not in any hurry to make this out to be the real thing. he'll give north the first shot. )

[North has a similar build. He's probably a bit taller than Mako, having been described as a Sasquatch by some of the members of his team. Namely his sister.

He nods, and then takes up a boxer's stance, going in for a punch. Hopefully he's not too rusty with hand to hand stuff. Usually he's attacking from a distance.]

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need the sun to break

pre-sick, B

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