acatalepsy_logs | [OPEN] Well. That Didn't Go Quite As Planned

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[OPEN] Well. That Didn't Go Quite As Planned

Who: EVERYONE
Where: The Temple of Beginnings
When: Immediately After The End.
Rating: PG-13, may vary by thread
What: You fall, you pick yourself back up and you move on. Or at least, you try.

Fished Out Of Water
One minute, you are witnessing the fabric of an entire world implode as it is literally ripped apart by powers unknown. The next, that tell-tale twist somewhere beneath your sternum, before you are bodily YANKED away from Akvos, away from the ocean and the Queen and the King and the Princess.

And land back on (mostly) solid, dry ground.

Welcome back to the Temple of Beginnings. Don't worry, there's no hurry for you to get back up just yet.

Hey, Howya Doin'?
Once you do get back up, now is the time to be taking stock of the situation - yours, your friends, and even those new merfolk neighbours (who may need a hand getting their fins back into the water). There is also the missing members of the Circle to consider: people who disappeared on the journey to Akvos, and those who never made it back..

(There's also that small matter with a certain 'witchess-san' that may be a cause for concern to some more than others.)

Whatever the case, it's a lot to process right now. Take the time you have, because you don't know if it'll be enough for what you need.

[[ OOC: Here's an open post for threads reacting to the end of the Akvos world hop. Feel free to use the above prompts, and/or make your own! ]]

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[Hank’s shoulders hunch up. It’s not just a casual conversational topic to him - but what the hell. He already feels shitty anyway. And it’s not like he can’t pretend it’s casual, and maybe even halfway sort of sound it.]

Yeah, uh- no point anymore, it’s not like I got to feed anyone.

[Even that’s uncomfortable though, not to exactly something he wants to add to today’s ‘things to feel like shit about’ pile, and after a second he adds something else with a little more life shoved into his voice.]

What, doesn’t all this- [Here he tilts his head at the rest of the room, indicating the mess,] -look like the work of a professional five star chef to you?

Look, it's all just to be fair. What I'm saying is that if I had to deal with the embarrassing stuff everyone else has to.

[....yes.]

I would hope not.

[ ..But it's hard on all of us, and hardly his fault. It takes a bit of effort, but Vex retracts her (verbal) claws. A little. ]

It's hard to...comprehend. The sheer scale. I think we'll all need time.

[Sheryl's not expecting the change in position and it catches her off guard, but aside from a moment of stiffness in her posture there's no hesitation or uncertainty. Konoha is warm, and her arms are strong, and even if it feels a little odd to have two sets of limbs around her, she's not going to complain. Not as she buries her face into Konoha's shoulder, tears hot and angry and sad and bitter flowing from the corners of her eyes.

She doesn't say anything, her fingertips pressing into Konoha's human back, the sound of her tears wet and sloppy and not at all the image of the cool, practiced idol. She grieves, and that's all she can do for the moment.

Just one more. Would that have been so hard? Such an impossible task for an omnipotent witch?

She's not sure how long they weep together. But eventually, tears cry themselves out, and she's left sniffling as the fire burns behind her.] I don't know... what I'll do if that happens again, Konoha.

I can't let it happen again. I won't. I'm not going to!

[But what can she realistically do about it?]

Yeah, just a bit. I've seen large scale losses but a whole world. That's tough.

I'm sure there will be the chance for that again. Given what I've seen of the magic in this place.

I'm probably due.

[Not that he knows anything about magic.]

Looks like more than I could do, honestly.

[Learning to cook wasn't much of a priority after all, and there wasn't exactly a place where they could on the Mother of Invention. Or on the road.]

I wouldn't know what to do with most of this stuff.

[Every time she thinks that she hasn’t anymore tears left... Konoha manages to find some. In spades, now, with the thought of the children in her mind. It’s different from the stories she’d heard growing up, different from the suffering she was familiar with... so abrupt, so sudden, such a violent and final clash and end that she still can’t even fully understand it.

But it’s comforting to know she’s not alone. That Sheryl grieves too, that she isn’t alone with these emotions in a sea of people too jaded or too afraid of being weak to cry.

She keeps her face buried against the other girl’s shoulder still even as her cheeks begin to dry, nodding to the words. The conviction, even if she also doesn’t know what exactly can be done by the likes of them.]

I don’t know either... So many people said I should learn to fight, that I’m strong... but I don’t-

[Swallowing, she wrestles with the guilt, with the selfishness of wanting to be protected instead of learning to fight herself. For thinking that fighting shouldn’t solve everything.]

I don’t want to use my strength like that...

[Tries to, indeed. The thing about androids is that their brains are literally computers. That means faster processing abilities, faster reaction times, and — a large capacity for getting pissed off like North isn't the one stirring the pot here. North will take a step back before Sheryl's hand can make contact, visible startled... before her shock and surprise gives way to anger.

Almost immediately, North is going to be reaching out for Sheryl's wrist in retaliation. If she manages to get a hold of it, she's going to dig her nails in and twist, her grip hard enough to hurt but not enough to cause any significant damage. Regardless of whether or not she succeeds, though, she practically spits out her next words.]

Who the fuck do you think you are?

[Even though she's the shitstirrer in this situation, she still looks like she's ready to throttle her if she tries anything else. Bad.]

No. But I’m trying to save you future digestive issues — you shouldn’t eat nor drink anything in that position.

[“No”, he says, not coming here to lecture… while he lectures a little. Such as Connor is.]

But I’m here because I thought— because commiseration might bring you some comfort. In this instance, encouragement to do better the next time seems… ineffective, currently. And I don’t think you want that, anyway.

Edited 2019-01-29 14:57 (UTC)

Well, the first step's throwin it all around till you can't find what you're lookin for, obviously.

[Yeah. Hank knows fucking this room up wasn't exactly the best idea if he really wanted to find shit. Doesn't mean he's going to clean it up- - or even help the guy look, yet.]

I guess we're lucky those uh, freaky weirdoes cook every day, a bunch of us'd probably be fucked otherwise.

Commiseration with what?

[He looks down, grimacing, at the ground, taking a slow, guilty breath. He wonders if he should be feeling guilty, if something with no emotions can care that he's just reminded it it doesn't have emotions, then decides to shove the energy he's wasting wondering into just trying to sound normal.]

Take a load off, Connor. At least try to look like you're relaxing. If I'm gonna teach you how to fake sympathy you gotta look like you actually want to hang out with me first.

I take it you weren't familiar with magic before hand, then?

[ Lucky for him. He'll just go right back then to flipping his paper over, tapping his pen against the surface of the table and thinking about what to even write down here. ]

[It had been honestly a spur-of-the-moment thought. Sheryl isn't the type to just strike someone without any good reason to do it, and the reaction had been immediate and instinctive.

So she's surprised when instead of connecting with the woman's face, her hand whiffs through empty air. She spins further than she'd intended, losing balance, which makes it very easy for North to grab her wrist in turn. Before she knows it, her arm's being twisted and squeezed, pain shooting up from her wrist that leaves her staggering, almost falling to her knees as she actually yelps.

She tries to pull her hand away, but between the woman's grip and the bad angle, she has no leverage.] Let-- go of me!

Are you crazy?!

[Misery loves company.

Perhaps that saying wasn't made for times like this, but it does help, in a way, to grieve together. To know that the pain isn't theirs to bear alone, even if they all feel it in different ways.

Maybe it's just that they needed a good all-out cry to dull the ache in their hearts. She's not sure.

She does, weirdly, feel better. Not much better. But better.] If you don't want to fight, nobody can make you fight. You shouldn't let anyone make you fight.

That can't be the only thing we can do, can it?

[She touches her forehead to Konoha's shoulder another time before leaning back so she can get a little more air.]

I tried to learn how to fly like Alto does. To fight like he does. ...I wasn't very good at it.

[There's a beat, and then — she scoffs. Bitterly. Tone dripping with disbelief.]

Really? [Really? There's a part of her that's seething with anger, and another that's just outright recoiling with disgust. The audacity of this human, when her knee-jerk reaction to hearing some nasty words was to physically lash out. God.] You couldn't be any less self-aware if you tried.

[... The fact that North's behavior was pretty nasty itself is 100% lost on her, but. Details. Her grip on Sheryl's wrist tightens ever-so-slightly, almost like she's considering twisting it all the way... before she lets go of her, shoving her arm away like she's come into contact with something particularly putrid.]

Try something like that again, and I'll make sure you lose that hand. Do you understand?

[ tony laughs, even as he pets sumo. ]

Your dad runs a mean shitshow, did you know that? Yeah, I'm serious, it's like, the best one I've ever been to and I've been to a lot over the years. Maybe not that many I remember, but.

[ he gives hank an uncharacteristically soft look, fingers still hooked in sumo's warm fur as he nods. ]

Magic is bullshit, I'm glad we agree on something.

He won't bite. Or if he does, I'll make him wear the dunce cap.

[ enchantment gets a laugh even as he realizes she's serious, turning back to the stove to shut off the burner. ]

Hydraulics, mainly. And I'm just saying we should probably take a shot before we start eating.

It can’t be...

[Can it... ? Not everything should... so surely not everything could be solved with violence. She wants to believe that.

Konoha pulls a hand back to grope about at her waist until she can find the pouch worn at her waist, pulling out a worn but clean cloth that she offers to Sheryl before beginning to wipe at her own face with her sleeve. ... She needed to do laundry already anyway.]

We’re not good at fighting but- Surely there’s something we can do...

[Because she’s never felt as powerless or as useless as she had the moment the rift closed. The moment it had sunk in that that entire world was lost.]

But every world is so different and I don’t even know what will do good and what won’t...

[Connor is quiet for a moment, android-still, considering. Then he seems to acquiesce, if the way bends down to sit next to Hank is of any indication. Holding his tie flat against him as he does, when he’s finally seated on the ground, he’s still back-straight and all manner of unrelaxed, acute angles.

His voice drops only a degree.]

Commiserate about our losses, Hank.

Nope. [There are sounds of G11 rummaging around, but eventually she returns with a butter sandwich. Empty carbs are the best comfort food. She makes herself comfortable in a chair across from him, already stuffing her face and talking around her food:]

Merfmai's wre juff fwom faiwy 'ales back hwome.

[Hank frowns at him for a couple seconds, but- right. This guy’s one of those people who calls their dog their kid. Right.

That mystery solved, Hank sits forward and tries to - what the fuck is it you’re supposed to do? Clear your mind or some shit? But his mind keeps going, settling in on that ‘magic is bullshit’ track and running with it.]

What the fuck were we even- what the hell do I know about magic anyway? I don’t even play D&D, what the fuck was I supposed to do about- god. Why were we even there, what the hell did we miss? Motherfuck. Fuck.

[He chokes off his body’s try at coughing, eyes closed, hitting his fist a couple times against his thigh. That’s not what they’re doing here. They’re just talking - and not talking about that either, not if he doesn’t want this stupid shit to get worse. Okay.]

So.

[He clears his throat, and his voice doesn’t crack this time.]

I don’t know if this is a good show like you think, man. The- the acoustics suck, no snacks, no chairs, gotta sit your ass down in the sand. I’d ask for my, uh, for my money back.

[There’s a young woman standing a few feet behind him on the lake. She doesn’t have much of a presence, almost as if she were a ghost.

(She’s not)

She’d been internally debating weather or not to speak up, but there’s something particularly upsetting about an older man hugging a dog. Or anyone hugging a dog.]

It’s a good dog.

It definitely understands you weren’t aiming at it. [she takes a few cautious steps forward]

Do you mind...? [mind what, exactly? Well, this guy can determine that.]

[Hank frowns at him, still feeling sour about the whole commiseration thing, still feeling weird about it.

His arm’s getting tired of holding him up so he thinks about that instead, for a second. If he lays back down he’ll be looking up at Connor at an awkward angle; if he sits up, he’ll be giving in to Connor’s stupid little lecture. He flops down onto his back.]

What do you mean when you say that? You’re a machine, Connor, what the fuck do your ‘losses’ even look like?

[Then he adds, defensive-]

I mean, I’m sorry, but that’s what you are. You told me enough times. How the hell would you even know what loss means?

[A young woman ends up hanging over him as he stares up at the sky.]

Levity following a catastrophe is always welcome. [this might be sarcasm, but it also might be completely genuine. Her tone is hard to read, but...she probably means it.]

Can you stand? Not that I’m probably strong enough to pull you up myself...

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[OPEN] Well. That Didn't Go Quite As Planned

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r i p girls..... lmk if this is ok, tho!

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lbr she deserves it

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3c

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A