lucetilogs | Chaos Plot Reactions!

Entry tags:

Chaos Plot Reactions!

Who: Anyone/Everyone affected by Helios' nasty bout of Possession Sickness
What: Picking up the pieces
When: August 11th/12th
Where: Wherever there was bad mojo!
Summary: Apep, an Egyptian god of Chaos, possessed Helios and wrecked havoc. Those involved are going to have to cope with their injuries, mental traumas, and newfound night terrors!
Rating: R, for possible trigger warnings for descriptions of violence and bad language.

Nothing is ever easy for them House 46 folks. Gawddamn!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...

That. That monstrosity. That gigantic stuffed thing is what she found to give you?

[It just. She can't. Give her a moment to just double over and crack up with much needed laughter.]

So it was your fault!

[He grins anyway--seeing her laugh like that was worth it.]

...

It is terribly ironic, you realize. Bringing a stuffed Kraken to the home of the Kraken-Slayer.

I- it was during the festival, right after my performance!

[Given into giggling, laughing hard enough to hiccup. It almost hurts. Almost.]

I. I told her you weren't well and needed cheering up. And that squids would pull a strong reaction from you. She took it to mean it would make you smile.

[Really?]

She's Grune! How did you expect her to take it when you used such ambiguous wording?

I intended for her to take it that way! I know how you feel about squids and if I told her the whole truth she'd have never gone along with it.

I figured~

[He doesn't have it in him to be angry at her, not like this. She had seemed almost like she was still stuck in Apep's nightmare in the hours and days after the encounter. The smile was enough.]

Enough on Wilhelmina. She'll find her uses, and the cats seem to like her right now.

You brought coffee, and you wanted to tell me something?

[Adele wipes at her eyes, still hiccuping as she offered Lupin his coffee. Black, sweet, and hot. Her own was twice as dark and twice as bitter as usual.]

I had to do something for you forcing me to perform Lupin.

[Her smile fades now that they're on more somber topics. She clears her throat and looks back out, away from Lupin.]

He didn't just throw me into a wall. Were it that and that alone- I'd be better off.

[She knew she loved it!

--but, in seriousness...]

I passed out after you distracted him. [Helios. Apep. He didn't care to say either name.] So, I'm sketchy on the details. What all happened to you?

[Having explained this to Ben once already- having more or less discussed it with Luke and Saori has helped her learn how to phrase this.]

He reached into my mind and forced me to experience everything I have ever feared. And it hasn't stopped.

[That caught his attention too quickly, and his brows furrowed in agitation. Arm be damned, he wanted to find that dark god and do the deed himself.

It was impossible, he knew. Lupin took a deep, calming breath.]

...shit. That? Shit. How are you handling it?

Typically when I lock up and my eyes glaze over it's because I'm not. Here. I'm wherever it is those visions take me. If I was only seeing it that would be one thing. I could endure it. But I hear everything, I smell it. I can feel my hands slick with blood that belongs to you or Luke or Ben and you're all dying and I can't stop it-

[She scrubs her face with her hands, shoulders locking up and she shudders. Lost for a few seconds and for the first time- it's not a shadowy figure doing violence to someone she cares for. The blood's on her hands not for her inability to save them, but because she's the one that's cut into them. Left them to die. And watched.]

[There it was again, her mind locked in a battle that wasn't there. No longer under the gun and living on a steady diet of cigarettes and coffee, nor in pain with every movement, he notices it better--

and has the mind to try something. Awkwardly, given that it was his off hand, Lupin closes in and gives her a hug.]

You know that we're here for you, right?

[It's Lupin. It's someone she knows, someone she trusts, but locked as she is somewhere else- somewhere horrid- Adele jerks away. Flinches and huddles inward as she had the first time Lupin had reached out to her months ago.

And that only makes this all the more frustrating. She was over this. She could sleep at night. She could take being touched without flinching. She'd gotten past it and now it's all unraveled.]

I know. I know- but it doesn't stop. It's happened less and less since the day of but. I can't sleep. I see it.

[He squeezed her as best as he could with one arm and propped his head on her's, silently vowing that he would find a way to make this better. Unfortunately, he was just a man that wasn't well versed in therapeutic techniques or alternative methods.

He could listen. That was all.]

Have you tried sedatives? Have you spoken with someone?

They don't keep me from seeing it. I've spoken to Luke and Ben, and now with you but. I just need more time. It's not real. It won't happen. I'm rationalizing my way through it as best I can.

[She leans against Lupin and hooks an arm around his waist. Settles close and listens to him breathe. Alive and well.]

...when I came around the corner and he had that sword I thought I was too late.

This sounds a little like PTSD--what you need is a counselor.

[But that hug was enough, and all he could offer her. Having witnessed his partners tortured and experienced it himself, he knew that just being available as an emotional support was better than nothing.

Her words pulled an echo of his momentary fear to the surface. That twinge of uncertainty when faced before a god that intended to kill him was enough to lock him up. Beyond the pain and the raging vertigo, he knew in that second that he was in over his head.

Fear was always fuel for him, and he would use it as fuel again. The moment a man in his profession loses respect for the risks taken is the moment he ends up imprisoned--or worse.]

That wasn't the first time I've stared death in the face, Angel. And it won't be the last.

It wouldn't have been worth anything- it wouldn't have accomplished anything for you to die there. If you or anyone has to die in this place it should count for something. It shouldn't be because of. That bastard.

[She scrubs her face with her hands and squeezes her eyes shut. Lupin's alive and well. Breathing. Wounded but present and she'll be able to cope in time. It'll get better. She can't stay like this. She can't let people know she's cracked. It was a point of pride, even with as exhausted as she felt now.]

Compounding effects would be a pain in the ass too...

[Said mildly, with a touch of bitterness. He idly toyed with the beads dangling from her hairpin as he mused over their friendship--two flighty kites, both in need of an anchor and both trying to be one for the other. It was a recipe for disaster, but he had to stay strong for now.

For her.]

[There's something soothing in that slow click and slide of beads in her hair. It's soft, but certainly something she wouldn't be hearing in one of those visions. It helps her relax enough to not brace herself for another. She's been fine thusfar and...it upsets Lupin to see her like this.]

...when I can stand it. When I can walk through the front door without feeling sick- I think it may be best for me to move into house 46.

It is one of the safest places to stay in the village--why do you think I didn't argue with Luke when he offered? [Beyond the practicalities of it, the decision all boiled down to one factor: as he currently stood in Luceti, Lupin was ill-equipped to properly defend himself. He still retained his skills, but actually pulling off his stunts was more frustration than it was worth.]

Just take your time. Luke's taking his, and we need to get everything cleaned up. The actual building is repaired, but its a mess.

Hell, I don't mind helping you with your things, if you want. [Just...no heavy lifting. Not for a good while at this rate.]

I don't have much...and I won't be moving everything over. It's just until I can...until this is gone. Until I'm well.

[Admitting that she wasn't quite right was more difficult than she'd anticipated. How was she to work like this? To focus? She can't even sleep without enduring a variable cycle of strangeness.

For the moment she sets it aside. Rests her cheek against Lupin's shoulder and murmurs.]

...did you scream when you saw the squid?

[In her state? That could very well be a while. Adele, while resilient, wasn't known for handling stress well--and this took the cake. He held her quietly, and offered a small laugh at her question.]

You know? I wanted to--but couldn't when I saw Grune's face. She's such a gentle person that I hate seeing her upset. I ended up laughing instead, because it was so absurd.

...

She knows. She knows everything, as best as she can.

Edited 2012-08-16 00:56 (UTC)

I figured the contradictory elements would either delay or alter your reaction entirely. I'm only disappointed I couldn't see it for myself.

[It twists a laugh out of her, that thought. After everything that's happened, she more or less had something to cheer him up he was in dire need of delivered. There couldn' be a better time for Grune to have brought the squid.]

...I was vague when she asked because it wasn't mine to tell. And I did not want to upset her.

Saori saw it too. She can give you the details.

[Another reason his reaction was shifted. Her and Law--he wasn't sure how the pirate would have reacted if he had jumped too high. He would always wonder about Grune, but thank whatever luck he had for her wisdom and oddly opportune sense of timing. Her smile could warm anyone's day.]

I told her during the Shift, when I ended up in her kitchen. She...damn near threatened the Malnosso in the way that only she can. When I told her that they couldn't be bargained with for a while...she understood. Somewhere in that sweet, fluffy head of her's, she understood.

Funny. I've known her since Christmas, but never thought to tell her anything about myself.

There is something...interesting about Grune that I don't have a word or explanation for. She's sweet but there feels as though there is more to her at times than that which we are able to see. I don't think about it overmuch- because she is kind, and sweet, and endlessly compassionate. having someone like her in the village, and among my friends, makes living here easier.

[Feeling a little more herself, Adele sits up straighter and sips her now lukewarm coffee.]

She's not one for secrets, I do not think. But it won't hurt to have her a little closer.

Chaos Plot Reactions!

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]