Day 8: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: April 1st - April 15th, 2020 ]

The light rain has changed into a downpour, coating the island, its forests, and its people in a constant barrage of water. After the events of the afternoon, it's like it's all being washed away.

Except it isn't, because the events of the day all happened. They're all real. And social media is abuzz about the loss of Harsen Island's mountain. Now, it's all just flat. There are forests, but Craydon is no longer a mountain-side town. Instead, they have a cog train that rolls horizontally across the flat ground from the main train station and over into their very flat town in the woods. Bamborough's hillside hotels with dozens of floors higher up for an ocean view are now down with the rest of the buildings, and only the highest floors can see out over the touristy area to the water. Far Haven, in contrast, has barely changed. You can't flatten something that's already flat. The only textures left on the island are the silver humps of two ships, one near Far Haven and the other near Bamborough. There's also a hump at the center, the cave entrance, leading down into the cave where the bodies were. For anyone who goes to look, there's a new body there now.

- [1] -

The participants in the fight against "Eight" put up a valiant fight, eventually defeating it in a show of heroic justice somewhere along the tracks. In all the rain, its yellowed body is disappearing away into the ground as it washes away.

- [2] -

#childlost

Sxicq is... somewhere. The internet lost them again. Wherever they're at, it's not out on the surface of the island.

- [3] -

The monsters, meanwhile, have returned back to their home in the garden. At least, the ones who seem to live there.

Five and Six are in their rooms on the main floor with the doors open. Five is laying on her bed, tacking away on her flip phone. Six is in his room, sitting on the edge of the bed, also on his phone. If there's anyone in Four's room, it's unknown due to the closed door. Also on the main floor is the Wizard. She's casually sitting in one of the more plain of the thirteen chairs, reading an unnamed book. There's a steaming mug of cocoa on the coffee table in front of her.

On the second floor, Ten's room is the only one open. The doors for Seven, Nine, and Twelve are all shut. If anyone heads in to look for Ten, they'll find him writing in a small notebook with the title "Chef Notes" on the front.

On the top floor, Eight's door is shut but has a small "Text me" sign dangling off of the handle.

- [4] -

If anyone goes looking for the newly surfaced space ships, all they'll find is the smooth metallic surfaces of them rounding out of the terrain. If there's a way in, it's not obvious to others

The Weather
Heavy rain.
59°F / 15°C
A constant wind.

Prompts:

5:00pm Onward: Monster House, The Garden: For any heroes who are up for meeting any of the monsters, this is their opportunity. Some closed doors will have no one behind them, but the open doors are a guaranteed someone to talk to. Will they talk to the monsters, each other, or the Wizard downstairs in the sitting area?

5:00pm Train Station, All cities: All trains have been suspended, citing the "unknown conditions of the island's tracks" after the events of the day. No one is allowed to ride the rails, no one is allowed to go anywhere. Is your hero trapped at a train station waiting for an uber? Does another hero come to their rescue? What's the deal?

?:00pm General Post, Anywhere: Does your character go to investigate things around the island? Do they meet with other heroes somewhere over coffee? How are they handling being cut off from the world? Their family? Their loved ones? How do they feel seemingly being made the enemy of all people of the world?

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.

OOC Mortality Warning: Any hero who actively seeks out the Protector IC will be at a high risk of death in some manner. He is on the move, tread carefully!

Activity Check: April 2020

[ IRL Timeframe: April 1st - April 30th, 2020 ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

When Gyre returns to the room, the most important thing he'll find is that the room has un-flipped and the majority of the mess on the floor has been cleaned up. There are still some dark stains, but there's no standing water. He'll find that Seven has been freed from the marshmallow fluff and both Nine and Five are gone. He'd passed their rooms and the doors were closed, though, so maybe that's where they went? But Ten is still here and he gives a little wave upon Gyre's return. He's in the middle of... fiddling with something? Seven is uh... back to their gargoyle pose with all four limbs perched on the floor. They look ready to pounce, all of their fingers look sharper than knives and are dug into the floor.

Their messy ferrofluid-like hair shifts and bobs in the air away from their head, most of the metallic mass staying draped down their back. Gyre's timing couldn't be better, because the moment they see the platter of food all of their eyes are on it... When he offers it closer, they reach one hand out to be given the platter. They won't abruptly take it, but they are clearly moving to get it--

And then Luka arrives, too, escorted from somewhere else with a new face at his side. To Luka's right is a figure who's exactly the same height as the Princess.

They're wearing a suit (or is it religious clothing?) consisting of a lot of black with white accents. There's a glowing white necklace dangling around their neck. Their skin isn't the normal bright yellow of the other monsters, instead it's a slightly tanned human complexion. They've got hair, too, black that's short and well-kept. They're in the middle of explaining to Luka in their deep, gravelly voice as they turn the corner to see Gyre, Seven, and Ten.

"We're here. The floor is slippery and Seven is watching you." They explain to Luka before turning to look at Gyre. With their arrival comes a waft of scents: bergamot, cedar, melon, and thyme.

"I think you brought some of their favorite food." They comment with a slight smile appearing on their face. They look happy, proud? Just unmistakably pleased at this turn of events.

If Luka takes a look past Gyre, he might be able to pick up on Seven's body being a deep yellow with swirls of black running through it like scars. Actually, they are scars. They're almost perfectly precise, lined up in sets of five all over their body, all the same length. The only scar that's any different is the circular one right on the back of their neck. Their eyes form a crescent moon all the way around their face, one on their forehead with three on each side, ending on both sides of their mouth. Fortunately right now they're not baring their bright orange fangs like they were when they first came out. Rough! The air around them has the same notes of oil and phosphorous, with an undercurrent of rendered chicken fat. But there's also a side scent of... roses?

Edited 2020-04-28 04:49 (UTC)

Gyre is very careful as he approaches Seven, waiting until they've seen the platter before he even begins to get closer. Even when he's moving, it's always carefully, quietly, pausing if ever Seven starts to get nervous again. Finally he offers the platter out to them, going still when they do to look at the door.

He's uh pretty startled to see Luka, and even more so the person beside him. He tilts his head, and begins to straighten slightly, pulling the food away from Seven as he considers this newbie. Is this Eleven? After everyone saying they had no idea where they were, they just showed up in the same room as him?? There's a part of him that's certain that it can't be that easy.

And then he remembers what he was actually here for, and he turns suddenly back to Seven. "Sorry, ki'ta, here you go," he says, putting the platter of food into their hand and taking a step away once they have it. He pauses a beat there, and then shifts to lower himself onto the ground near them, "Do you mind if I sit with you?"

The relatively short walk to the room where Seven was recovering seems to take ages to Luka. He wants to ask the stranger escorting him all kinds of questions about who exactly they were, but can't make the words form correctly. Instead he's casually cordial as the stranger leads him there, though he analyzes their deep, unfamiliar voice curiously every time they speak and his gaze drifts unconsciously toward whatever shiny thing hung around their neck.

When the pair finally reach their destination, and the stranger casually mentions Seven his watching him, Luka's rendered speechless again.

"...Seven's awake?" He manages to sputter out quietly after a moment passes. This was unexpected, and he hadn't mentally prepared what he was going to greet the monster with at all.

Then the wave of various scents hits him - though he's almost accustomed to this, now - as he steps into the room with mild trepidation. The sound of Gyre speaking softly provides some reassurance that perhaps Seven was not feeling angry or violent, but Luka's aware his own appearance was liable to change that at any moment.

"Seven!" He says, mustering up a fake confidence as he steps in further onto the slippery, damp floor. "I'm glad you're okay. I'm sorry about yesterday."

Gyre. Give them. The food. Stop having it not be given. Seven looks very much like they're going to pounce to take the food when it's moved away? But then things settle when they see Eleven and the food is offered again and--

They grab the platter, giving him a 'Mmmm' of presumably affirmation in response to his question. Do they mind? Probably not, apparently, because they're using their other hand to shove food into their spiky teeth-filled mouth. The sounds of munching fill the air as Luka enters the room, separating from Eleven at the door.

But as Luka approaches, Seven's movements slow and their eyes all settle on him. They watch curiously, apprehensively, waiting to see what he's going to say--

And then he says that.

"Not killed. Done. Better." They speak in a voice that sounds forced, like every word takes incredible effort. Their voice is like what someone would get if they dragged steel wool down a chalkboard while speaking with a voice that sounded like it was rough and ragged due to a cold. They seem to relax slightly, though, glancing down at Gyre and then back to Luka before they start shovelling more food back into their mouth.

Behind all of this, Ten gives a little wave towards the door at Eleven as they depart. Looks like they just dropped by to bring Luka here? Was that all? Where are they going now? Away from here, apparently.

Gyre can't help but flinch slightly when Seven's voice hits his ears at first, pausing halfway down to the ground so he can actually process what they even said. What a horrifying sound. He wonders if they're still healing, or if this is what the Protector has done to them.

At least they're eating well, he supposes, and he takes his attention off them, smiling faintly up at Luka instead. The apology was sweet, and he'll learn to deal with their voice, and Eleven is here and--

Wait. His eyes focus past Luka just in time to see the new person disappear past the door frame. His whole body freezes up there. He needs to talk to them, and his first impulse is to run after them. But he doesn't want to startle Seven. He could yell after them, but it'd wreck his voice, and he doesn't want to startle Seven. There's a second here where he has no idea what to do.

And then he jerks to his feet again, shuffling the first couple steps so Seven has the faintest chance of knowing what he's doing, before he just absolutely darts across the room, dipping around Luka as he goes. He gets to the doorway as quickly as he can, grabbing it and swinging himself around it and into the hallway outside.

"Eleven??" he calls out, trying to catch this person before they get too far. Assuming they're even there at all.

The sound of Seven's voice similarly sends a prickling wave of discomfort up through Luka's body, nearly stopping him in his tracks as he approaches. The sensation makes him recall how harsh and painful Sxicq's voice had been back when they'd first spoken at the restaurant.

He's considering how to respond to Seven's words when Gyre seems to suddenly rush past him, toward the door. He turns in that direction as the other breezes by, wondering what the hurry is when Gyre calls out Eleven's name.

Oh.

It's so obvious, Luka! There were few options as to who that person could have actually been, and Eleven makes the most sense. He lets the thought pass, however embarrassing, and leaves it to be dealt with later as he again focuses on Seven.

"You're not mad about it?" He says, surprised. It was an assumption on his part - Seven hadn't said much about their feelings - but Luka had braced himself for more anger.

Seven has a piece of fish halfway into their mouth when Gyre finally makes a decision and scrambles to his feet. They watch him go, two of their eyes narrowing as they evaluate what he's doing. He's going in the opposite direction, quickly... They're working through the reasons why when he calls out to Eleven and then, well, it's just obvious. So they go back to wolfing down the fish. At least until Luka asks his question and they have to swallow first before they answer.

"No. Grateful. And you?" They answer, the inflection of their horribly grating voice changing slightly... possibly implying that that last part is a question? Why else would they be saying 'and you'?

Outside the room, Gyre turns the corner and--

He finds Five kneeling, moving to pick something up? But he definitely startles her and she tumbles backwards, one of her hands whipping out a little knife from her boot. She's watching him, wide-eyed with all five of her eyes for a moment before she relaxes and just flops back on the floor on her back.

"Ugggggh don't SURPRISE me like that!" She groans, annoyed, one hand laying atop her with a little post-it note in it. Gyre will be able to see it, and it says "Be back soon. ~11" in very fancy handwriting and gorgeous gold ink.

He halts his momentum the moment he sees her, jerking a step back so that he doesn't just trample over her. His eyes are bugged slightly, and he doesn't know what to do with himself for a moment. The last person he expected to see out here was Five, and he goes to the banister to look down the stairs before he even says anything to her.

But he doesn't see Eleven at all. And Five is groaning, and he can't chase a ghost right now. He sighs faintly, irritated, and turns to her.

"Are you alright?" he asks gently, bending down to offer his hand and help her up. "I was trying to catch, uh, a person. I think it was Eleven?" He offers this as an explanation, giving her a slight shrug of his shoulders as an apology for startling her. As he's pulling her to her feet though, his eyes flick to the post-it note and he gestures down at it.

"What's that?"

Back inside the room, Luka's ignorant to the commotion in the hallway, having tuned out the background noise to focus on Seven's words.

'Grateful' was far from what Luka had expected, but he's realizing that almost nothing lately is playing to his expectations and that he should, perhaps, stop having them entirely.

"I, uh..." Luka hovers awkwardly near the entrance, unsure of the room around him and not particularly eager to sort it out in the moment. He's surprised the monster asked about his feelings, in all honesty, and the question has caught him off guard. "I feel... guilty. For attacking you. Gyre, that guy who was just here - he told me not to. But I thought you were going to kill me, so..."

Any air of confidence he had once been projecting is beginning to crumble as he stumbles over how to navigate this situation.

"Well, whatever. I'm just glad it worked out. I'm glad I didn't end up killing you, after all." He sighs heavily. "Do you remember... all of that? Yesterday?"

Seven is uh... still munching on the varying foods that had been provided by Gyre for the entire time that Luka's speaking. They're watching, listening, curious what point he's getting to. And then he asks a question at the end and they pause mid-nottato to consider it. They shift a foot on the ground, their claws scraping across the wooden floor.

"Yes. Remember. Saved. Better now." They answer... a moment before their body just makes the world's worst gurgling sound? It's the kind of sound that a human's intestines make a moment before they go rushing to the bathroom for an hour. Or the kind of sound a human's throat makes a moment before they throw up. Or both, at once.

And then they make a horribly biological sound as their body throws up a big black ball of spiky tar onto the floor. It lands with just... the worst plop and promptly acts all prickly at the air around it. Seven speaks again a few moments later, their voice sounding much less... ragged. It's still rough, but the steel wool effect is reduced to more like... dragging a washcloth over a blackboard.

"Better slowly." They add.

In the hallway, meanwhile, Five's being helped up by Gyre and he's asking the most obvious question--

"You missed them, it says they'll be back." She answers him, offering the post-it out right into Gyre's face. Take this, doofus, it's for you.

"...what was that sound...?" She follows, glancing towards the door of Seven's room. The sound in question, of course, was the vomit experience that Seven just had and shared with Luka only a moment ago. What an awful sound to hear but not know where it came from!

Gyre takes the little note, squinting at the gold ink and the fancy writing. His eyes immediately rebel from the script and he puts the note into his coat pocket instead. If they'll be back then he can focus on the situation at hand a little better.

"I hope they stay this time," he murmurs, a moment before that sound hits his ears. His skin prickles, adrenaline shooting up his spine. What a terrible noise!

"We should check on them." He turns as he speaks, darting around the door frame and back into Seven's room. The sight of the black goop prickling on the ground makes his stomach turn and he glances nervously between Luka and Seven.

"Is everything alright?"

Luka's frozen in place and grimacing in disgust, still reeling from the noises he just heard. Somewhere deep inside him is relief that Seven's voice noticeably improved after the act, but its currently buried under layers and layers of surprised horror.

It's Gyre's voice that brings him back into the present moment and he manages a response, however minimal.

"Better." Luka echoes, gingerly taking a step back from the scene. "We were just talking about yesterday. How eventful that was. Is Eleven with you?"

Seven is in the middle of wiping at their maw as Gyre enters and asks and, well, they're quick to answer in their slightly-better voice.

"Am fine." They chime in, bringing the platter back up near their face so they can resume eating the leftover veggies. There isn't much left and it'll all be gone before long.

From behind Gyre, Five follows him and then abruptly pushes past him. She quickly approaches Seven, stepping hard across the floor as she rummages in a pocket. Then she kneels with an abrupt thud by Seven, swinging a big glass bottle down atop the black blob. Seven barely acknowledges her, apparently they expected her to do that? Maybe she's done it before. But she's holding the bottle down on the black blob, watching it prickle its way around the bottle.

"Ugh, gross." She comments, apparently ignoring the new Princess in the room.

Gyre makes a low grunt of a noise when Five shoves past him, watching her in silence for a bit as she contains the black goop. He's so entranced with what she's doing that he almost doesn't hear Luka for a moment, and there's a long, weird beat here where he doesn't answer.

He realizes this after a moment though, jumping slightly and taking a step to Luka's side. He touches his arm softly to let him know where he is.

"They left a note. They'll be back," he says, scanning the room again. He's starting to feel vaguely useless again, unsure how to care for Seven now that they're eating and Five has dealt with... that... thing...

"Did that black stuff come from you, Seven?" he asks softly, remembering the noise they'd made a moment ago. Then he glances between Ten and Five, adding, "What is it?"

"Hm. Must be busy, then. I wonder why they took time out of their day to escort me here?" Luka muses to himself, unaware of whatever it is Five is doing with the bottle and the strange black vomit goo.

He's not thrilled that Five apparently decided to completely ignore his existence, but it's decidedly better than a petty fight breaking out between the two and Seven getting a bad impression of them both.

"If you're still feeling hungry, Seven, you should try some of Ten's stew he made." Luka suggests. He didn't help much, but he helped some, and for that Luka's proud of the little bit he did to contribute. "It's good. Right, Five?"

He had more questions for Seven - about their encounter in the streets yesterday, about the video on Seth's social media, and about the Protector. But those were heavy topics, and Seven had only just woken up and met everyone. He files those away under 'for later'.

Thankfully Gyre snaps Ten out of his staring. He'd been absolutely floored by 1) Seeing Eleven, 2) Seven vomiting up more black goop, and 3) Luka being here now? Was there a 'come visit Seven' memo that he'd missed? He got so preoccupied trying to make sense of it that he uh... just sort of tapped out into his own thoughts.

Seven's more on top of it than Ten is and answers before either he or Five can chime in.

"Bad. From monster. Not mine." They growl out the 'not mine' as they drop the now-empty platter to their side. It frees up their hands so they can curl low and peer suspiciously into the bottle. But then Luka's mentioning food and one of their eyes snaps up to him as they inquire: "Stew?"

"Nine disposes of this stuff." Five answers a moment before Seven asks about the stew, and then she glances down at them with one eye while the other settles on Luka.

"The stew is better every time Ten makes it." She answers, one of her other eyes settling on Gyre as she follows up by asking both of them:

"You both got some, right?" She asks as her last eye snaps to Ten, getting an affirmative nod from him in response. That's good at least.

Gyre watches the way they move, crouched low like that and eyeing a thing that came out of their own body. It's chilling! He doesn't want to think about it! And so he jumps onto the next topic as it's offered, glancing at Ten and grinning as everyone starts praising his stew.

"If you can walk, ki'ta, we can go to the kitchen to get some," he offers, turning his attention back to the focus of everyone's attention. He approaches Seven a little more quickly then before, noting that the monster doesn't seem quite as anxious as he might have expected. It'll make things easier if they're not scared at least.

He bends to pick up the platter so he can return it at least, and he offers his arm to them for support while he's down here. If they need it. "I can help you?"

"In that case I want to be there to taste his next batch, too." Luka says, offering a smile.

He listens as Gyre proposes moving to the kitchen to Seven. They've been surprisingly chill so far, so Luka's not overly worried about their reaction to the idea.

Instead, he continues trying to hold a conversation with Five. They didn't have much in common, but they both liked Ten. That was a start.

"Do you think he'd want to cook something for Sxicq?" He inquires as he leans toward her. "The Wizard said they were kind of friends."

Seven's eyes snap to Gyre when he says they can go to the kitchen to get some. Immediately they're rising up to their feet, going from a curled few feet on the ground to their full height--

A full two feet, eight inches taller than Gyre.

They look awkward to be standing at this height, but now that they're upright their hair seems to be billowing out around their head. All of their eyes are on Gyre. Looks like they didn't need his help? But even so, they take his hand in both of theirs, their claws getting uh... dangerously close? To his arms?

"Yes." They agree, even as Ten shuffles behind them to make sure everyone is alright? He flashes Gyre a thumbs up with a clear confusion on his face. You okay, Gyre?

Five, meanwhile, makes a face at Luka talking to her? She knows he can't see the face so it gives her a moment to work through her emotions before she responds to him.

"He's already thinking about something to cook for them. It's been pretty good." She answers, trying to uh... not be mean. But one of her eyes is practically locked to the side, watching Seven tower over Gyre.

Gyre glances over at Five, watching her watch him as Luka talks to her. He's clearly ready to jump in if she decides to snap, raising a pointed eyebrow at her when she makes that face. Be nice, daughter.

It's not until she starts to answer the question with information rather then sass that he turns to see what Seven is up to, and uh well if he had a heart, it would've stopped. It takes him a beat to realize he staring at their chest and not their crouched body or their face. His head snaps up and back in surprise, looking up at them.

"Oh you're... tall, huh?" he asks, and he makes this delighted little laugh of a sound. His eyes go to their claws around his arm after that, and he smiles and nods at Ten.

"I'm alright, Ten." He shifts his hand a little, wrapping it around one of Seven's thumbs since he uh can't really hold their whole giant hand in his. This is fine. He can make this work, and he starts to pull them along towards the door, moving slowly for now so they can get their balance underneath them.

"Princess, Seven and I are going to the kitchen. Come with us?"

"Mm, sure, I'll come." Luka smiles, turning in the direction of Gyre's voice. "I came all this way to visit Seven, anyway. It would be a waste to part ways so soon."

He gives parting nod to Five, thankful that she answered his question. It wasn't the conversation he was really looking to have, but it was a step in the right direction. Luka would see off Ten as well, but he's still unaware entirely of the other monster's presence in the room.

"I think I remember how to get there!" He continues, taking a few steps over until he feels he's within appropriate range. "Though, I doubt you will need me to lead."

Well, Ten watches all of this unfold and... really can't find any opportunities to jump in? He watches Seven being led to the door by Gyre and Luka. He watches Five helplessly as she gives him a huge shrug? He doesn't even have Eleven here to chat with. So he does the only thing he can think of...?

"See you when you get back." He offers after them, giving a slight wave.

Five, meanwhile, is not going to follow. She watches them go before turning to Ten with her hands on her hips.

"Are you okay?" She can be heard asking Ten as Gyre, Luka, and Seven depart.

Seven is uh... insistently following, or trying to lead, Gyre towards the stairs and downstairs. Their voice comes as a low rumble at both Luka and Gyre:

"Hungry."

"We'll be back soon," he says over his shoulder, trying to give Ten a smile before he's hustled out the door. He keeps thinking Seven is going to be worse off then they are. He's happy they're better at least, but it also means he can only glance over his shoulder when Five asks if Ten is alright. Is something wrong? He was so focused on Seven, he didn't notice.

This realization means he's quiet for a bit as he heads down the stairs, trying to keep up with Seven's pace ahead of them. "If you push me any faster, ki'ta, I'm going to fall down the stairs," he says with a gentle tease in his voice as he rounds the corner onto the final stairs down into the main entryway.

"Have you been able to eat today, Luka?" he calls over his shoulder, both out of curiosity and to let the poor dude know where he is as he's rushed towards the kitchen.

Luka's surprised when Ten speaks up (!), having accidentally glossed over his presence in the room entirely after getting caught up in the commotion of meeting Seven and everything it entailed.

His cheeks flush as he floods with embarrassment over having spoken about him while he was right there! At the very least, nothing he said was anything he wouldn't want Ten to hear. It was just one of those dumb things that sometimes happened to him that most other people didn't have to deal with.

"Yeah! Back soon." He calls back to the two monsters, following on Gyre's promise of return on their way out.

Luka remains a few steps behind, keeping a cautious distance but still able to keep pace.

"Not since before the meeting this morning." He replies. Everything after that meeting was a downhill tumble, and even if Luka had found time to eat a meal, he'd had no appetite the entire day. "I could go for some of that stew, if Seven's willing to share?"

Well, unfortunately for Gyre, his words just encourage Seven to break away from him. Like an overeager dog, they double over themselves and drop onto all fours at the top of the final staircase. Luka's asking if they're willing to share and, well--

"Mine first." They declare, their claws digging into the wood of the stairs as they sprint down them.

The air fills with the sounds of scraping claws against wood, scrambling limbs, and speed as Seven disappears down the stairs. They skid at the landing, slowing their body so they can sprint to the back of the house to the kitchen. They're going to be there first.

When Gyre and Luka make their way back there, they'll find Seven hunched in a corner with a bowl of stew gripped in their hands and held right up to their face. They're waiting for the bubbles. They know.

... Who told them?

The Weather

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