Day 2: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: April 14th - April 22nd, 2019 ]

Unfortunately for everyone, the second day's events are far less rewarding than the first day's. Now that things are starting to get real, there are consequences for what's taken place. Both monsters caused a bit of damage and a mess with their departure, but the locals on the island are trying to stay positive. Sometimes things just get messy, they've dealt with this for forty years it's fine.

But the heroes are sure to have a lot on their mind. Injuries mean it's less of a game and more likely to sink in as real. How will your hero cope tonight? The Princess and her two knights are due for a rendezvous with the Protector and, on the other hand, there are some evil-allured knights due for some private time with the Wizard. What will come of that?

The Weather
Still.
61°F / 16°C
An eerie calm has fallen over the island.

Prompts:

05:00pm Clean-up Crews: Both Bamborough and Craydon were left with big neon-green splashes of blood that aren't going to just wash off. Numerous locals in both areas are hard at work cleaning up after the second monsters, scrubbing at buildings and assessing the damage to the island. In Bamborough, the locals are hard at work trying to salvage the damage to the boardwalk or put up caution tape around the destroyed areas. Is your hero lending a hand in all this? Is someone else helping? Bond over picking up the pieces, but hey... it could be worse, right?

5:30pm, Craydon: Despite being largely untouched by the monster's arrival, the citizens of Craydon have dropped by the train station to check in on the heroes. Anyone in the area will be given a small care package of items and offered a free coupon for any restaurant in the area. Will your hero go alone and run into someone who was craving the same food they were, or will they team up with their fellow heroes to drop by a restaurant together? Everyone needs to unwind, after all!

5:30pm, Bamborough: Despite the boardwalk damage, the Bamborough oceanfront diner is offering 'monster margaritas' tonight. They're set up as an open-air bar tonight, doors and windows open to let in the cool sea air. Every hero gets their first monster margarita free if they can stomach the bright green color, and they've got deep fried bar foods for half off. Come in, indulge, have a drink to get your mind off of the events of the day, heroes!

5:30pm, Far Haven: The Far Haven clinic has advertised that its doors are open to any hero injured, or just in need of a check-up, for the rest of the evening. They want to check in on all the heroes and make sure they're okay. Did your hero come alone and run into someone here? Or did they come together to get stitched up? Or maybe they just need to be reassured that everything will be okay.

8:30pm, 9:05pm, 9:40pm, Train station(s): As always, Social media is incredibly quick to report Wizard appearances. At 8:00pm they report that the Wizard is waiting for the train in Bamborough station. She does, in fact, board the train at 8:30pm and they start theorizing where her destination is. Social media points out that her train will be arriving in Craydon at 9:05pm, then it will get to Far Haven by 9:40pm. If a hero tries to find her when the train arrives back in the Bamborough station at 10:15pm, though, the train will be empty. Where will your hero find her? Bamborough between 8 and 8:30pm? On the train in Craydon at 9:05pm? Or when she disembarks in Far Haven at 9:40pm?

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

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Garrot knows that if he pushes the situation too hard, it'll break. He knew before, but it was at the back of his mind, ignored in favor of friendship and a grandiose preconception of how this night was going to go. So he sees Zafika's subtle retreat, he hears them say they don't deserve a gift, and he just exhales softly through his nose. He's not going to sigh, not at all that.

"I have four wonderful, flawed children. I know what an accident looks like." One hell of an accident, but he doesn't sound angry about it. Instead, he's calm. Accepting. It's not like they can go back in time. "Nobody's ever going to know this happened. Besides, people have gotten me gifts even after I've done stupid things, so why are you any different?" You're not, Zafika. Besides, Garrot decides if you deserve this gift, that's why he's giving it.

"But if you're not comfortable thinking of it as a gift," Garrot pulls the box from his pocket, opening it slightly and holding something from it in one hand, "consider it the doctor's orders." Of course, he's got a knowing, smug little smile that's every bit as warm as he's trying to be. Garrot reaches over halfway across the couch with one hand, gently holding holding the box so its untouched by his claws. "Take it. Please."

Zafika watches Garrot carefully, now once again in the mode of trying to read his expressions, meaning they get to watch his expression as he exhales softly through his nose. And they feel like if he wasn't, apparently trying to fix this, that would have been a sigh.

Then he brings up his children, and they're mentally reeling, because of course Garrot is a father, and this means that he has people waiting for him at home in Koskenkorva. They still end up averting their eyes, because their accident could have been lethal, so having Garrot be so calm and accepting about it now, after that outburst, it manages to make them feel even more guilty. But he's right, nobody's ever going to know this happened. They don't want to cause discourse between the Knights, so they'll take this to the grave, with all the emotions they're suppressing still. It's not healthy, but that's not important. They've made it this far suppressing and bottling everything up, they can get through this death game too.

They look up at Garrot when he mentions them possibly being uncomfortable with the idea of this being a gift, and oh look, there's the tiniest smile tugging at the corner of their mouth at Garrot and their now-routine 'doctor's orders' bit. They look at the slightly opened the box, before they exhale and at least reach over to open the box properly.

And actually physicall reel back when they see the contents of it, because what the fuck!? Are those? Yes! Yes they are! "Garrot...! I, wh- what the hell those are expensive where, how-" Congratulations Garrot, you have rendered the assassin speechless. They very, very carefully pick up the glasses, rotating them in their hands and holding them like they'll break any second. Because there are one of the few things that can block the Basilisks' petrification ability, and they are very, very expensive. They've never had them, of course, because of that, besides, as a kid and teen they never really, believed? That these would work?

Garrot just gets this smug little grin as the assassin is completely and utterly bamboozled. He scoffs, going so far as to roll his eyes, loosing his tranquility's grip on his expression just enough to have some fun with this.

"The how is easy." He sounds confident, like he's making a business pitch. "That button that's flush next to the right hinge turns on a little magitek battery that sends a weak electric current through the frames. It causes a reaction with a chemical in the lens coatings that scrambles and disconnects the petrifying part of a Basilisk's gaze, but not their eyes. So you could put them on, turn on the blocker," he pushes a button on the little remote in his hand, and the button is pressed automatically, which causes the glasses to faintly hum, "and we could have a staring contest. Right now. And they're waterproof, so you don't need to worry about rain or the ocean or monster blood shutting them down."

But then Garrot chuckles and lets out a mirthful sigh, knowing full well that being cagey and indirect doesn't help either of them right now, even though he's better than the instruction manual. But he still sounds a little smug because he realizes Zafika hasn't done their research, and doesn't know who he really is. They're speechless, so he might as well keep going and get it over with.

"You can keep calling me Garrot, but my full name is Hruggarrot Murtakhor." He knows the name alone shouldn't ring bells for an assassin who's been in a cage for years. Or for most people outside industry or high society. "I'm the heir to the Murtakhor estate, and I'm the Director of Research and Development for the family business, MurtaCorp. Yes, that MurtaCorp." Garrot smiles, always tickled by the cheesy play on words his parents came up with. Even with as much of a recluse as Zafika is, they'd know MurtaCorp as that globe-spanning corporation that ran remote clinics, hospitals, and carried out cutting edge research.

"And I got the most brilliant person I've ever met to build these by hand for you." Then he just reclines a bit in his corner of the couch, the smugness fading away to a nice serene smile as he lets all that sink in. It's not like he has anything to prove here, at least not about himself. Garrot knows how awesome and powerful and important he is, but none of that matters if he doesn't leverage it to help people. "He's going to be crushed if you don't try those on."

Zafika glances up at Garrot when they hear him scoff, but for most of his explanation on how the glasses work, they're inspecting them closely. Hearing the 'how' behind on them makes them, less doubtful about if they'll actually work or not, but after the petrifying incident, they're not very eager to try them out.

So it's probably understandable how their tail curls up tightly around them when Garrot suggests a staring contest, and they're naturally even visibly hesitant about the idea. Yesterday, trying out wether Gyre would be immune to their paralysing power had been stressful, but after they petrified Garrot's clone? The idea of having a staring contest with him to try out the glasses seems even worse. They can hear and feel the humming in the glasses, but they don't want to take the risk.

They spend the silence that follows Garrot's explanation worrying, meaning they don't get to say anything before he's speaking again. And only when he gives them his full name do they realise that, they actually never knew who exactly Garrot is. They had figured out he's someone important, with the way he talks and carries himself, and thanks to his habit of wearing suits. But to hear that he's the Director of Research and Development for MurtaCorp? They're shocked, and even more speechless.

They know exactly what MurtaCorp is, they've done research on it, and the company has their respect. It's one of the few that has nothing shady going on, it's an honest company that provides the best medical care one can get. Even in the middle of fuck-nowhere. Or, in as many places in the middle of fuck-nowhere as they can.

It's a lot to take in. Who Garrot really is, the fact that he's so easily giving them something like this, and the fact that he had someone make these glasses specifically for them. They let the silence stretch for longer as they process everyhting, looking at Garrot few times but, mostly they stare at the glasses they're still holding like the most precious, fragile crystal ever. They have a hard time believing that any of this is really happening, but it is.

"Thank you." They don't know how else to put everything they're feeling right now into words. They're extremely grateful, even though they feel like they still don't deserve this, and there's a whirlwind of emotions just, swirling inside them, but those two words are as genuine as can be. Even after what they did to him -what they've done before this- Garrot still wants to help them.

Garrot just watches the emotions unfold, a calm little smile on his face. He only got two words, but they're nice words. Genuine. This was absolutely the right choice.

"Zafika, if you were really thankful..." The tone in his voice has shifted to something more... expectant. Garrot's smile starts to widen, like a Cheshire Cat. "You'd actually put them on!" He's pivoted back into being eager as the zen starts to fade- he's really excited for this.

"We gotta see good you look!" And if they fit, let's not forget. "If you're worried, I mean-" He clicks a button on the remote, and the humming increases ever so slightly. "I just locked it so the blocker is on all the time." And then he just smiles, eagerly awaiting a response.

Put them on. Put them on. Put them on!!

Despite the shift in Garrot's voice, they worry for a bit when he speaks again, but oh, right, of course he wants them to actually put the glasses on. They're hesitant to test if they work, but putting them on isn't a stressful thing. So, they put the glasses on, and, okay, this feels a little weird.

They've never had a reason to wear glasses before, and these are something too expensive anyway, so it's odd to have anything else but their blindfold on their face. They even swear they can feel the humming of the glasses too, but they figure they'll be able to ignore it soon. As well as, how everything is now coloured differently, thanks to the dark gray colour of the glasses. That's going to fuck them over for a while.

"Okay, well, this is, something. They fit almost perfectly, and you know what? I'm not going to ask how they fit so well... though getting used to them will take a while." They decide to look around the house a little and oh, oh yeah having a grey screen over everything is so disorienting, especially since they still see bits that are normal. Mostly right beneath the glasses, but still.

Garrot leans in a foot or two, staring a Zafika's face as they look around the room. He has a little smirk from how well they fit, but he says nothing about it. He's clearly having fun, and it's like their little accident never happened... except for the couch length of distance between them.

"It took me a while to get used to my glasses. But I think they look great on you!" He nods, wishing he could snatch Zafika up in a hug or give them a high five or something. The damn couch should be shorter! "But do... do you like them? They're made of some real tough stuff, so you can even wear them in a fight! If- if you want." Sure, it's a good and exciting gift, but with that out of the way Garrot's getting antsy about the reflexive-attack elephant in the room.

Zafika looks at Garrot quickly, nodding at his words a bit. They, do sort of, ignore the compliment, they're bad with reacting to those. However, they note how he's leaning closer to them, despite still remaining in his end of the couch. It's bit odd how easily he seems to be acting like the accident never happened.

"I like them. I really do, you don't have to worry about that.. and, I'm very grateful that you actually... went out of your way and had someone make these for you... thank you. Please tell your friend that I'm grateful for these as well." It'll take them a moment to get used to the fact that... they can now look at people without having to be so careful, but the idea that they'll be able to do that? It makes them happy, and relieved.

"G-good! I'm glad you like them!" He sounds relieved, since it would sure be a pain if Sly went to all this trouble for a flop. Plus, they might have had a bet about how this would all go...

"Plus, you know what this means?" Garrot finds himself leaning back into his corner of the couch, with a bit of a cheeky smile on his face. "Next time someone surprises you, there's only one accident instead of two." Yep, he's talking about freaking out and petrifying someone. But then he gets a confused look on his face, because...

"I mean, unless you just make someone piss themselves instead." Considering he sounds proud when he says that, Garrot's making some kind of joke or trying to lighten the mood. He knows this isn't an easy thing to talk about, after all.

Hearing Garrot stutter is so odd, odd enough for Zafika to stop to stare for a second or two, but that's all the staring they do before they go back to looking around. Sorry Garrot, they're slightly distracted by how the glasses warp all the colours, nothing personal!

They turn to look at him again though as he speaks again. Right in time for him to see their expression as he mentions the freaking out and petrifying. The reminder feels like a slap in the face, they still hate themselves for doing that.

They sigh as they shift their position so that they can lean their side to the couch's backrest, so they're facing Garrot without having to look at him too directly. "I'm, still so sorry about that... I didn't mean to hurt you like that. Or, well, at all..."

Garrot smiles, and just rolls his eyes. "If you keep apologizing, it might cheapen it." So he leans forwards a bit, closing the distance as much as the situation will allow. "It happened, you apologized, and we're moving on. It was a good reason to give you the glasses, too!" Garrot just chuckles, because he does get it, and once he processed his anger he was fine.

"I told you I've been a fighter for longer than you've been alive, so I want you to imagine how many times I've slipped up like that over the years." He spreads the fingers on one hand out, and then quickly curls them into a fist. Garrot doesn't want to say that he's knocked people out, because that should tell them the whole thing. But then he stifles a laugh.

"One time about eighteen months ago, my youngest dropped from an air vent onto my head." Garrot's hand gestures are very emphatic. This happened. "I freaked out, and threw her right into the couch! She was six." But then he just starts laughing, before forcing himself to wheeze out "And she was fine. She laughed about it too!" as he sighed the mirth from his system. After another breath, he looks right at Zafika's eyes, right at those glasses.

"We could work on that reflex, if you wanted." The words are compassionate, soothing, just a little pleading. "To make up for losing my temper around you twice in just as many days." But now Garrot's the one looking away, straight to the floor. Zafika isn't the only one who's made sudden and unexpected mistakes that hurt people.

Zafika just looks a bit more guilty, they don't know how else they could make this up for Garrot than apologising! So telling them that if they keep apologising it'll cheapen it and ruin it, it's not really helping. At all.

But then Garrot explains that he's slipped up like them, and they watch him curl his hand into a fist. And, it's actually weirdly relieving to hear that even he's made this kind of mistake before, and more than just once. And imagining a full power punch coming from Garrot, yeah, that sounds about just as bad as being petrified. One is painful and one just, a horrible experience, really.

They tilt their head to the side when they hear him stifle a laugh, and they quickly end up having to stifle a chuckle of their own. What kind of kid drops from an air vent like that!? Hearing that he tossed her on the couch worries them for a split second, but, then they remember how much kids love being tossed. Hell, they even remember how much they loved that.

And then. Then there's those few seconds of eye contact as Garrot speaks again, offering to work on their, aggressive defence reflex, and they're too busy being shocked by the offer to realise that the six second mark is approaching, until it has passed. Yet Garrot is still okay, he's still able to look away from them. It was an accidental test, honestly, but it worked well in showing them that the glasses do work.

"I... honestly, I'd appreciate that. I can usually hear if someone approaches me, so... your clone just, appearing behind me, it did freak me out. But i can't just rely on hearing people... I need to break this habit, like you said." They give Garrot this tiny, understanding smile though. "But you don't have to do this to make up for losing your temper. I told you that you were allowed to get mad, right? And, I do know what Basilisk petrifying does, I know how awful it feels, you can't exactly think logically at that moment or right after it."

"Fine." His tone is faux-defensive, because they're both willing to explain things away for as long as it takes for them to get nowhere. Garrot would be more willing to indulge in that if they were snuggled up in the couch, maybe under a comfy blanket, but. They aren't.

"If you don't want me to do it as an apology, it'll be part of my job." Garrot's gaze turns playful again, and he's got this vicious little smirk. "Doctors can get involved in their patients' rehabilitation, and you've been locked up for a long time. Of course you're jumpy!" At least he isn't employing doctor's orders this time. But he does let out a smug little chuckle. "Besides, that's what friends are for!" They were almost literally at each others' throats and nobody died, that means they're friends now.

Luckily the faux-defenciveness does come across as faux-defenciveness, meaning Zafika doesn't have to be concerned about stepping over a line somewhere in here again, they really don't want that to happen and further turn this to a disaster.

Now, Garrot helping them deal with being jumpy and reacting poorly to being startled as a part of his job? That's fine, better than him trying to do it out of feeling bad for having gotten mad at them. "Well, being jumpy doesn't excuse attacking an ally, so... I definitely need to work on that reflex." And then there's that word. 'Friends'. They could have killed him if they hadn't gone for petrifying instead of stabbing, and Garrot's still calling them his friend? Zafika really can't follow at all what he's thinking. "But, I really appreciate the help. Thank you. I'll uh... keep these glasses on for that bit though to avoid accidents... and you might want to grab some protective gear first few times at least..."

"And you will work on it, Zafika." Garrot sounds warm and kind, though the word will has about as much cut as a military knife. He sees a problem, and they're going to fix it. Together. "We'll both be fine, I mean I'll just use my guys..." He snaps his fingers, and there's a little puff of golden-bronze smoke. Nothing happens, no Garrots appear, but it doesn't seem hard for him to use.

"They ignore some pain, and they tap out when it's too much, so they'll be fine." He chuckles to himself for a moment, and then he leans in a few inches, sliding back into concern. Accidents are a scary thing, given the topic! "I won't do anything in crowds," because the scene caused in private was bad enough, "and there'll be at least two of me whenever I try to startle you, so if something goes wrong I can keep everything... calm." He nods, acknowledging that he's just as responsible for whatever happens as they are.

"Is... is all that okay with you?" If Garrot's going to trigger a trained assassin's twitchy reflexes, he's going to make sure that Zafika's okay with whatever he's gonna try. Plus, this could be a great way to work on training his power!

"Of course I will. I don't want to hurt anyone innocent, never mind the Princess and the other Knights... and, well... if I don't have to go back to jail after this, all the more reason to get rid of this habit, right?" Zafika tries not to sound hopeful, but, after few days of freedom, they can't help but to wish and hope they'll get to keep the said freedom.

Their hands twitch, just a little, when Garrot snaps his fingers, but they relax again when there's only a puff of golden-bronze smokes, but no extra Garrots. They really don't want to freak out twice because of a surprise clone, once was bad enough. Still, they listen to Garrot's explanation, relieved that the clones tap out on their own apparently, and that he won't do anything in public. Not that they'd let him, honestly.

"Yeah... yeah I think that'll be fine." For the sake of this plan they'll temporarily forget what Garrot's clone had said about breaking their neck, that'd make letting him touch them to spook them a lot harder. "I'll, try to avoid any extra mishaps. Meaning, I'm going to leave my, equipment, far, far from myself for this, well, I guess you could call this training..."

"It's absolutely training." His tone takes a bit of playful deadpan with that remark. If Zafika wants to call it training, then that's their choice and he'll absolutely run with it! "I mean, that's why we're setting the rules this time, right?" No, they're setting the rules because they just had a disastrous mishap and don't want to repeat it, Garrot. But he's at least trying to keep things positive and upbeat? Harder to do with a subject like this. "You'll be fine, I promise."

But then he starts to lean forward just a little, still keeping his distance as he rests his elbows on his legs and cradles his head in his hands. "You know, this was supposed to be dinner. You wanna... take a breather, eat something?" Garrot just nods towards that paella for a second. "I mean, I know I'm pretty hungry."

The playful deadpan tone earns Garrot a very quiet chuckle from Zafika, oh look they can still at least appreciate his humour if nothing else. "Yeah, yeah I guess so.. rules and safety precautions are required for this at least." They absolutely don't want to actually hurt Garrot, after all. "And... thank you. Again."

They just get to thank Garrot, when he brings the attention back to the food waiting on the table next to the couch, and oh, right. This was supposed to be a dinner. Huh. Now that they're reminded of that, have they even eaten anything today? Probably not, unless energy bars count from the morning's training. Better not admit that out loud though. "Oh, yeah, sounds good." And they are curious to try that paella.

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Day 2: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

The Weather

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