Post-Event Blues

[lucetimods]

Who: Everybody, everybody!
What: The battle is won. Now what?
When: The eleventh, twelfth, and onward
Where: Luceti
Summary: With Zompano dead and the cultists routed, Luceti is restored. Kind of.
Rating: F for Feels

On the eleventh, things were slowly breaking down. Memories of their true lives were breaking through. The village, scarred by the battle with the cultists, began to rebuild itself. Community buildings that had vanished were returned to their rightful places. The battle dome was uncovered from the earth that had covered it. Hundreds and hundreds of fake homes slowly faded away. Paved roads gave way to trees and grass. It was an incredible sight for anyone who was willing to sit aroun and watch it happen.

Things wouldn't be easy for the villagers, though. The memories perpetuated by the last ten days would not be easily removed. The feelings and hatreds it had created would take time to conquer and remove. Perhaps, in a way, that was Zompano's nastiest trick of all. The village itself may heal from his invasion, but it would take far more than a few Shifts to fix the people left behind.

Towards the end of the day, their wings returned. Much like some of the buildings, they seemed to just reappear, as if they had never been gone. Their barcodes became visible again as a singular reminder that they were, ultimately, just the property of another entity who as a whole were not much better than Count Zompano.

By the twelfth, the village looked as though nothing had ever happened. Sure, the contents of buildings might have been messed up or destroyed during the battles, but things were otherwise as they were supposed to be. The night before, people would have had to find their old beds to go sleep in, as they no longer possessed the old ones granted to them in another life.

The village was peaceful.

Modly Note: That wraps up the event. As noted in the prose above, you have the option to play up the after effects of the event more than in other ones. While it won't have the same impact universally, the Shift was constructed in such a way that people may have difficulty shaking off the emotions they developed during the event. In effect, it was a cruel send off to Luceti so they would have to deal with the loathing and hatred that came with the less desirable parts of it. Of course, that means the feelings of familial bonds will also persist for awhile as well. It's up to you, as players, to decide how much or little to play with it!

Comments

[tearmeanewone]

[Can't hide that from her, Gai. Elizabeth pulls the washcloth back and frowns.]

Is there anything I can do?

[voidseeing]

Just stay here with me.

[She isn't the only one who has been having nightmares after that. To be honest, it's been a long time since he's felt quite this off-kilter emotionally, and it bothers him.]

[tearmeanewone]

Well that's easy enough. [Elizabeth smiles warily, still not completely convinced that she can't do something for him.] It's my bed you're in after all. If Booker came home and found you here, it would be more than a little strange.

[voidseeing]

[Now he makes a sound that's something akin to a laugh.]

He is going to have to find out about us eventually. We can't keep hiding it from him forever, even if he'd probably rather we did.

[tearmeanewone]

I know... [She sighs and fixes Gai's bangs, pushing them off of his forehead so she can get to it with the washcloth.]

Now just seems like the worst time to mention it. I was his daughter last week, but the truth is that he lost his wife and child. He has to be hurting in ways he won't tell me about.

[voidseeing]

[... ah. That Gai can understand too. Having a "family" after losing his own real family as a child... it did hurt now that he remembers the truth, dredged up memories that he thought he'd put behind him.]

What's to say you couldn't still be his daughter if that's what the two of you want?

[tearmeanewone]

[Good point. Though Elizabeth has considered this option and wondered if she could bring it up to Booker. Maybe he didn't want another daughter. Maybe it would only be painful.]

I think he's been alone too long for me to be able to help him. [She puts the washcloth on Gai's forehead.] I don't know if Booker would want me to call him my father. The previous 'father' I had was...

[voidseeing]

... like mine?

[Even though he'd only told her the Cliff Notes version of what Keido had done, he's pretty sure she's still got the general idea. Calling him a "father" in any sense of the word would be far too generous.]

And you think he wouldn't want to be associated with that.

[tearmeanewone]

I don't know. Is locking me in a tower for years even close to what happened to you? [Elizabeth, she thinks, had a better deal than Gai had. She wasn't a child soldier (not for want of trying on Comstock's part). She wasn't experimented on (regularly...).]

I've never been able to predict how Booker will react to things. I'm afraid to ask him.

[voidseeing]

[Gai is quiet for a moment. In retrospect, he probably shouldn't have phrased it like that-- it only made sense for her to ask questions, and right now it's a subject that he really doesn't want to talk about. How would she react if she knew that what he was suffering right now was a result of his stepfather's actions? Keido deserved hatred, that much was certain. But the last thing Elizabeth needed was to get worked up over something that was in the past and couldn't be changed.]

... I'd rather not talk about it.

[tearmeanewone]

[And this was one of the things the two of them had talked about. There would be things that both of them wouldn't want to discuss, and Elizabeth wouldn't ever press.]

[She pulls the washcloth away and brushes her fingers over Gai's forehead and cheek.]

[voidseeing]

[And Gai leans into that touch, allowing his eyes to slide shut. He's exhausted, oh so exhausted, but he doesn't want to fall asleep yet. He came here for her, after all. What good would that do if he's the one who falls asleep first?]

[tearmeanewone]

[Meanwhile, Elizabeth really does want Gai to rest if he can. He scared her half to death with his nearly collapsing on top of her. He needs rest more than she does.]

Sleep, Gai. I'll watch over you.

[voidseeing]

I'm not going to sleep until you promise to get some rest yourself.

[Sorry, Elizabeth. Gai drives a hard bargain when he feels like it, and he knows damn well that she needs the rest as much as he does.]

[tearmeanewone]

I'm resting! Look. [She raises her hands and indicates the bed.] I'm sitting on my bed. That's resting.

[voidseeing]

I meant lying down.

[And he pats the bed next to him to indicate that she should lie down there. Though he won't admit it, he wants the physical contact if he's going to end up falling asleep. His dreams have been... darker than usual as of late.]

[tearmeanewone]

Well you should have been specific. [Elizabeth grins, poking him in the knee.]

[But she relents and lays down in the indicated spot, curling into Gai.] Is this alright?

[voidseeing]

It's perfect.

[He shifts a little to allow this, sliding his non-crystallized arm around her to hold her against him in the most comfortable position he can manage. Even if it's painful to him, he can bear it for her sake. At least the morphine will be good for something...]

[amonglions]

[It probably would have continued to be perfect if Booker hadn't walked in at that exact moment. He hadn't been at the apartment before Gai came over and collapsed into bed with Elizabeth, but he'd come back after they retired therein.

So this was, naturally, a shock. Having never seen hide or tail of this...man in his daughter's bed or ever even heard of him (to his memory)...he was less than happy.]

...

['Course actually saying something was an entirely different matter at this point. He was sort of hoping this was a mental breakdown instead of reality.]

You wanna explain this?

[To Elizabeth]

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth was quite happy to be curled up with Gai for some rest. So happy that she's forgotten, oh right, she doesn't live alone. And she's unwell. So it's completely understandable that Booker would check on her.]

[But she still leaps up when Booker speaks, almost standing up completely on her bed.]

OhmyGod, Booker! [Her hands clamp over her mouth briefly. Explain? Explain? What was there to explain? She looks between Gai and Booker--she really didn't want to do this right this second.]

He's... Booker, this is Gai. He came to make sure I was alright after the battle and made himself worse in the process. I brought him in here to rest.

[AND NOTHING ELSE.]

[voidseeing]

[... ah, so this is Booker. Not a complete pushover, from the looks of things, but certainly not much of a threat either. If he weren't in such bad shape, he'd be more than willing to test his luck against this man.

Bad shape or not, though, he's in pain and exhausted and he just had his chance at some nice quiet cuddling interrupted, meaning that he is decidedly cranky and snappier than he would normally be. Which is... probably not a good thing.]

I've heard about you. Elizabeth was just telling me about how you'd react if you came home and found the two of us here like this.

[Yeah, he's tempting fate and at this point he doesn't really care.]

[amonglions]

Well that's nice, because I haven't heard jack about you.

[Booker shouldn't be adapting so successfully to the 'protective father' persona, but after everything that had happened ... well it was probably better he was (so far) concerned and not homicidal.

Still, he knows he left his shotgun under his bed.]

When exactly do you think I was gonna hear about him?

[We're pointedly ignoring the grown man in your bed Elizabeth.]

[tearmeanewone]

[Somehow, watching three or four gunships descend on The Hand of the Prophet was more relaxing than this is right now. Elizabeth hadn't expected all of Booker's reaction to zero in on her--she'd clearly been more worried for Gai than for herself. And isn't that ironic now? Gai is clearly edgy and Booker has always been a bit of a powderkeg. So diffusing the situation is probably falling on her right now.]

Soon...? [Oh that was reassuring. Clearly Elizabeth hasn't entirely shaken that sense of Booker as her father and she can't help the question mark that comes at the end of that intended-to-be-statement.]

[She slides around Gai's legs and off the bed, coming closer to Booker.]

I met him before you or Robert were brought here--and then after you arrived there was so much going on, and then this invasion happened and I thought...

[Elizabeth casts an apologetic look back at Gai. This is going to get intensely personal, and he's more or less immobile for the conversation.] I couldn't figure out if you would think I was abandoning you for him. I didn't know how to tell you that I'd met someone.

[voidseeing]

[Edgy though he may be, Gai is also well aware of the fact that he's pretty much helpless at the moment, and thus provoking Booker too far isn't in his best interest. And he hates it-- he hates being reduced to this, unable even to get up out of the bed to respond to the man directly. Instead, all he can do is lie there and watch and hope that Elizabeth can handle things on her own.

When she looks back at him, he responds with a slight nod, signalling her to go ahead. It's not as if he can do much in this situation, after all, and she's the one who knows Booker, not him. He'll just remain quiet for the time being and let the two of them talk it out... though that's not to say that he won't speak up if he feels it's necessary.]

[amonglions]

[Booker bristles as time passes, it seems to be something completely unaffected by the logic of Elizabeth's pleas for him to understand despite him making a very serious effort to not be a father in this moment.

He tries to tell himself there are worse things, that he's seen worse things and really is it so bad that she has someone?

A part of himself says yes.]

Elizabeth....

[He just...can't find the right words for this. He is not properly equipped for this and he's missed 20 years of prep work. So Booker simply sighs and tries to be as little of a dad as he can possibly manage.

He's still going to have a talk with this kid though.]