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polarvoidWELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CHARACTER NAME/ALIAS. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 *** CHARACTER NAME/ALIAS has joined 018.07.154.55 <Daisy>This is Basil! I'm not around right now, but if you leave a message I'll get back to it as soon as I can. <BANNED USER> SCREENED MESSAGE. UNSCREEN? Y/N -- sample for when you ban someone <USERNAME> First sentence of message. <USERNAME> First sentence of message. | ||||
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Date: 2023-07-24 04:03 am (UTC)For obvious reasons, he hasn't spoken of it. And Max hasn't asked, not wanting to push or pry. Besides the hunt he did specifically for her...she's been there for each one after. If and only if he wants to tell her, he can. They've had enough of their traumas and secrets dredged up by this place.
Her dragon feet touchdown on hardwood floor just as Basil suggests...that. And Max tightens her grip on his hand. ]
...I can't ask you to do that.
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Date: 2023-07-24 04:18 am (UTC)As they step off the staircase onto the main floor, Basil's ears flick up and forward when he feels Max change her grip on his hand. He had a feeling she might say that...and really, it's hard to argue. There's definitely a part of him that wants to concede immediately and let Max deal with it, while the side of him that's trying to keep the burden off her wants anything but.]
I know. But...one of us has to, right?
[And if that's true, then why not let it be him? He's already done it so many times now.
Even before coming here.]
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Date: 2023-07-24 04:38 am (UTC)I-I can...do some...weird hypnosis thing, I...think. I mean, in theory.
[ She hasn't tried any of her Fae powers, essentially. Not a single one. Which is...probably bad. ]
Let me try, okay? And...if it starts going...bad, then...
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Date: 2023-07-24 04:46 am (UTC)Basil sighs, realizing that he's probably not going to be able to convince Max otherwise on this one. But there's only so much he wants to press her on right now, so...he inclines his head, ears drooping a little.]
Okay. You can try.
[If it works, then maybe this will be a bit more painless than the alternative. After all, Basil had no such powers as a Gargoyle. The best he could hope for was to make a death as quick and painless as possible...but if someone could be hypnotized, unaware of what was going on...
Well. He won't think too hard about it now.]
Let's just get there first...for now.
cw: mild suicidal ideation
Date: 2023-07-24 05:13 am (UTC)She pulls him along. She'll have to do this. She does not want to force him to do this. She can't.
All the while, Max snaps her mouth shut, because she's terrified she'll blurt out something else, something too vulnerable and too soft and too honest, something like i would rather die again than make you do that, which is dangerously dangling on the tip of her forked tongue.
Her faerie ring is off to the side of the Palazzo, around where the halfpipe Max started and still has not completed sits under a tarp. It really is just a ring of mushrooms, oddly conspicuous on the ground. ]
Okay, uh. I've never done this before, so... Hold on tight.
[ Like she'd even let him let go in the first place.
Max steps into the faerie ring, leading Basil with her, and after a few hazy seconds—
They're standing near Libeccio, in the city itself. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-07-24 05:39 am (UTC)Still, they both move to stand within the ring, and for a brief moment nothing seems to happen.
Then, Basil blinks, and they're in a new location entirely. This is enough to actually startle him into taking a reflexive breath, wobbling for a second on precarious legs before he manages to catch himself to stay upright, ears perked high by his antlers as he looks ahead at Libeccio in the distance.]
W-woah...
[Max...was not kidding when she said she could teleport.]
cw: homicidal ideation as per hunting instincts
Date: 2023-07-24 06:21 am (UTC)Easy, easy.
[ Even though she's not exactly quick on her feet either...it's hard to feel anything but the bloodlust inside her. Gosh, he's so close, close enough that she could clamp her jaws around his neck—
Okay. Now she feels woozy. And now, only now, does she let go of Basil's hand. ]
P- park, there's- one shouldn't be too far, I- I think?
[ She's turned around and slightly panicked. Worried that if this is how she's reacting to another monster, that if she sees any human, it'll be just like that day by the lake, and she'll strip someone to the bone. ]
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Date: 2023-07-24 06:34 am (UTC)Once they're both steady and Max has let his hand go, Basil takes the iniative to see where they are. He recognizes Libeccio, obviously, which means he can easily map out a path straight to the park from here.]
I know which way to go. Follow me, okay?
[It would be a lot easier if they could both fly, but their positions have been reversed as far as that goes. Hoofing it will just have to do.]
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Date: 2023-07-24 08:37 am (UTC)She simply nods, jaws clamped shut, and follows Basil. She's too worried to even speak now. ]
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Date: 2023-07-25 01:05 am (UTC)It's comforting, in that way, just as much as it feels wrong to be going there for this purpose. He doesn't allow himself to falter though, not slowing even as the park entrance comes into view.]
cw: cannibalism discussions, ethical consumption under cannibalism
Date: 2023-07-25 04:08 am (UTC)There are a few factors there, it's night, it's a fog night, specifically—but when they arrive at the park and Max can't smell any humans around, nor see or hear any sign of conflict. ]
...Crap. [ She fiddles. Claws tapping and curling, eyes on the ground— ] Okay. Okay, I can- here, um.
[ Her shaking hands extend, and the mouth on her collarbone tenses. After a moment, a perfect ring of mushrooms sprouts, just in front of them, a little into the park. ]
Just have to get s- someone here, and it's fine. So- so, I'll see if I can find...someone nearby.
[ They tend to go for criminals. "Criminals," a shorthand for—a person causing trouble. Max lays awake sometimes thinking about it, wondering if the times they've gone on hunts, few as they have been, they've targeted someone in the midst of a misunderstanding.
It's ultimately better for her than going after whoever's close. Whoever's nearby, like near the lake. If she can pretend, maybe...
It sucks to justify it. But it's normal for her thoughts to go in that direction. So it might as well suck a little goddamn less, and if she sees some asshole harassing a woman on the street, someone pulling a gun on some unassuming people—she'll go for it.
...They'll go for it. ]
That sounds- does that sound right?
[ Like a hamster running in a wheel, Max's mind goes in circles. She's starved, not for food, but for the violence that goes hand-in-hand with it. ]
ITS OKAY I feel u
Date: 2023-07-25 04:44 am (UTC)And besides, Basil has felt like a murderer for a solid fourth of his life, now. It’s only up from there.
As Max falters once she’s made the ring, Basil realizes with a sinking feeling what issue they’re having. It’s not like many locals visit the park this time of night.]
Yeah. Do…should I stay here?
[He could come with her, but two monsters traveling together seems suspicious. At the very least, he could hang back potentially and keep watch…]
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Date: 2023-07-25 06:32 am (UTC)They'll hear. [ And she gestures quickly at his tree-like feet. ] And they'll probably figure, if they see two of us...
[ They're having the same thought processes. Even if Max is having a hard time voicing hers. ]
...But... I mean, if you hang back, maybe...
[ Ultimately, she still...really doesn't want to be alone. She's not sure if she trusts herself. ]
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Date: 2023-07-26 01:26 am (UTC)Basil wants nothing more than for this to be easy, for Max, even though he knows it's not possible for it to be.]
I'll stay right near the park entrance. If you need help...I'll be able to hear you if you call for me, like this.
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Date: 2023-07-26 06:01 am (UTC)Max nods with a jerky kind of motion. ]
Right. Yeah. If something's- if I need to, I can just...call your name.
[ She wants to do or say something else. Doesn't want to leave it on that, should give him something else because she knows he must be freaking out too, but—
But Max has to hunt. She has to.
So. Very quickly, she turns and leaves the part, claws lightly clacking on the concrete but generally quieter than hooves or Basil's current set up. And Max does what girls are not advised to do, in general, she wanders the dark city streets at night.
That never scared her when she lived in San Diego. Okay, she didn't go out of her way to—but she's walked on the beach under the pier, stayed out until the sun had long gone down, walked home with fireflies as her only light. It's never scared her before, yet now...
Now, what she fears isn't some kind of external threat. It isn't muggers or perverts or anything like that—it's that she may come across a perfectly innocent person and snap.
For that reason, she's remarkably careful. Remarkably selective on where she walks. Jaw clenched tight, Max finds herself going down the nearest alleyways she can find, fully disregarding every single city lecture she's ever sat through. ]
Come out, come out...wherever you are... [ Max murmurs under her breath. Involuntarily, her tongue swipes across her muzzle as she starts weaving through the alleys.
From Basil's perspective, almost ten minutes have passed, and Max hasn't returned. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-07-26 11:23 pm (UTC)Besides, you're in danger during the day, too. It often matters little for the people here, even when they try to be careful.
He's diligent, standing at the park entrance with his hands together, nervously twisting his fingers as he occasionally looks up and down the street to see if anybody is coming. Max, someone else...but there's nothing.
Ten whole minutes of nothing.
Basil starts to pace, his wooden feet clomping against the sidewalk as he goes. Another moment passes. Then another...]
Oh, Maaaax....where are you?
cw: violence + threats against teenagers, mild unreality
Date: 2023-07-27 07:09 am (UTC)That's the complicated part. But at least this time, she's aware as a human foolishly approaches her, this one with a knife. He gets a small slash across the membrane of the wing attacked to the arm reaching for him—slashing him across the chest. It isn't foolish in motive, as his goal is to stop the trance Max has his uppity, fast-talking leader caught in. The trance... The trance, that Max is so completely unprepared for. Has never once attempted. Wait, rewind, it's—
It would be very noble to say Max found a trio of twentysomethings menacing some innocent kid or a lady in the wrong part of town. But no, they're just loitering, lingering, talking big and talking shit. One of them catches the light reflecting off the bits of her body that are not scales, are instead a pastel carapace, and yes, he does shoot off some charged things that Max will not repeat, and he does start towards her with a threat to skin her like the beast she is—
But even before that. The moment she lays eyes on them, a bunch of assholes who're sneering and wearing too much denim, hair a little too curly and eyes a little too eccentric but sleepy, smile a little too tight, it's a foregone conclusion. One of these men is going to be who she hunts tonight. Before the threats. Before the trance. Before one nicks a wing. Before the other throws a metal trash can at her that she slaps back with her tail. Before she's walking backwards, barely able to keep track of the lackeys as her whole attention and focus is on this guy with dirty blonde hair and a bad attitude, who reminds her in so many superficial fucking ways of the brother she lost July 4th, 1985, at Starcourt Mall.
Time continues to stretch on. Until there's a noise, a soft one normally, but for Basil's ears...? Well.
It's the clatter of two sets of footsteps, distant but quickly approaching, and notable in how quickly. They almost cover up the slower ones, one with the same general weight and sound—of shoes on concrete, step, step, step—and the other scratchier and heavier—scales, claws, clack, clack, clack—that are closer, down the hall, down a nearby alley.
They don't cover up the small gasp, though. Nor the heavy breathing, or the wince, all familiar in voice.
Max backs out of an alley, eyes wide by force and watering. She looks dazed but determined, like her very hold on her sense of self is floating away. Red, living blood runs from a small cut on her left Gargoyle wing, and she's gritting her teeth. Both sets of teeth, clenched to a soundless snarl, save for her struggles.
She's been doing this for nearly six minutes, all the while being assailed and distracted, and for a first time with no practice... That is, about, her limit. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-07-27 11:33 pm (UTC)And so, he does. He stands shrouded in the flickering light of a streetlamp, his ears flicking every so often when a bug buzzes past them. Sometimes he'll lift his head and look stiffly in one direction, thinking he'd heard something. Is that her? Is it something else? He wants to go look, but he can't. Close enough that he could cause problems if he intervened, yet far enough away that he can't actually hear Max anymore. If she's found someone, it's out of reach.
But then, over twenty minutes later...Basil's head snaps to look down the street, his eyes wide and reflecting the light oddly as he cranes his neck when he hears the sound of twin footsteps headed in his direction. He can hear, he hears almost too much, but he can't see-]
--Max-!
[He hisses under his breath when she finally emerges from the darkness, and honestly it's such a relief to see her his knees almost buckle. That relief is short lived, however, when he spots that she's been wounded- not badly, but there's been an altercation of some kind already- and just ahead of her following against their will...is a human. A young man.
Basil never met Max's brother, obviously. He doesn't even really know what he looked like, moreso what kind of person he was. The kind of car he drived. What he meant to Max, and all of the complexity therein.
The fact that her chosen target...is someone who could very well be the same isn't lost on Basil, yet he doesn't want to think about why right now, nor does he imagine Max is either. He just steps forward a little, waving her in.]
Over here! This way, hurry!
no subject
Date: 2023-07-28 06:31 am (UTC)Through her teeth, she mutters: ] No- Basil, I- I can't—
[ The young man is out of the alley too—but so are his friends. One moment, there's two blurs approaching, and the next, a glass bottle flies in Max's direction and explodes at her feet.
She yelps, and she jumps back, back still to Basil—and blinks.
The human Max has been leading shakes his head and shouts. He's a moment from backing away, a moment from charging, and it's impossible to tell which he'll do. ]
Sh- shit!
cw: cannibalism, suicidal imagery, major omori spoilers
Date: 2023-07-29 03:17 am (UTC)She, intentionally, impulsively, or accidentally, led multiple people back here...and that's a problem, when they could only feasibly share one human between them. It's a problem, because even though that one person she led here seemed under her control initially, all of a sudden it seems like he isn't anymore the moment Max's concentration breaks. He snaps out of it, and begins to realize what's going on.
Basil feels panic threaten to flood his system, and for a very real moment, he thinks he might turn and bolt on instinct. He wants to run, run, run away until he's somewhere far away from here, somewhere he doesn't have to deal with this. He doesn't want to fight these people. He doesn't want to kill these people. And he doesn't want to die.
And Max...
They're all focused on her. He's not sure if they've even noticed him yet or not, too focused on the Gargoyle that assaulted them in the first place. A smarter person would be grabbing Max by the hand and trying to get her to come with, to run until this gets worse. They could always try again later, somewhere else, with someONE else...
But Basil once more is finding himself trapped between a rock and a hard place. He's once more standing tentatively at the top of the stairs, looking through her bedroom door, seeing Sunny curled up beside her bed, mortified and unresponsive. In that moment, even before he'd come up with a plan, Basil knew he had to do something to save him. To protect his best friend.
And it's happening again. In another world. Another life.
Basil is still standing behind Max's shoulder when it happens, a split-second response born of a desire to protect her above all else. He barely even notices it happening as the long, rope-line vines that trail from the backs of his shoulders suddenly rush out of him all at once, whipping through the air and lashing forward with all of the speed of a striking cobra. They rush at the boy in the front- the one Max lured here- and snap themselves around his limbs. One attaches to his forearm. Another loops tight around his torso. The third, his upper thigh.
The fourth snags him around the neck, tightening like a noose.]
cw: ptsd, flashbacks, mentions of past abuse
Date: 2023-07-29 04:01 am (UTC)So in that mindset, it's no wonder that the moment a vine shoots past her, she gasps. Her arms can't feel goosebumps anymore, but the scales find a similar sensation regardless, one that's so incredibly cold.
The park's fenced in. They're alongside that, on the sidewalk. Max, remembering the feel of the vines at her wrists and armpits, curling around her ankle, squeezing her neck—she stumbles back into it with a clang, just as she watches the young man she was luring to his doom who reminds her vaguely of her deceased brother choke and gasp, like she once had. Her claws grope blindly for the fence, clattering against it, and she looks not in the direction of her prey but where the threat is coming from, eyes wide and dazed.
The stature isn't right. Nor the height. Nothing is, but it's all shapes and vague colors, and Max's brain just screams: DANGER.
And wouldn't you know it, her body responds, all the cold replaced with warm burning hot, rising from her stomach up her esophagus, throat glowing brightly.
Max is, in a moment where she is not standing on the streets of Bavan, mere seconds away from unleashing her fire on Basil. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-07-29 04:46 am (UTC)The chain-link fence rattles as Max runs into it, just in time for the other two boys to suddenly come rushing forwards, one of them running towards their friend while the other angles themselves at Basil, though Basil can't tell what they might be planning to do if they can get to him. They could all have weapons on their person for all he knows- knives, if Max's wound is anything to go by- and they're probably just bold (and scared) enough to act irrationally.
Like now, happening to move in just as Max's throat begins to glow. Basil spots the flash of light out of the corner of his eye, like the headlights of a car rushing right for him. He goes very still, flinching backwards.
It feels like time is passing slowly, but right this moment before Max is Basil, the three boys, and a several foot-long gap between the four comprised of Basil's vines. And Basil, at what quite possibly is the very last second, is trying to get out of the way.]
cw: immolation, breathing difficulties
Date: 2023-07-29 06:44 am (UTC)And Max would never hurt Basil. She could never.
Her jaws shudder, and Max jerks her head in the opposite direction Basil's inching in.
Right at the boy moving in on Basil, engulfing him entirely. The ear-splitting screams he emits chill Max to the bone—and will become a new fixture in her nightmares, she's sure. The other newcomer yells in shock and fear, while the initial boy chokes in Basil's vines.
Max can't aim. She can barely see beyond a blur of flame. But she knows her fire's burning the boy, cooking him like a steak. And the most fucked up part? Some part of her starts to feel good.
Satisfied. ]
cw: immolation, death
Date: 2023-07-29 10:20 pm (UTC)All at once, one of those boys is most certainly dead. One other is alive but disoriented, choking as he takes in huge gulps of air to catch his breath again. The third is, as of this moment, unharmed...but it looks like he's seconds from running away at this point.
As it happens, Basil...can do nothing. He can't stop her, nor can he get any closer to pull that other boy away from the flames as he watches his friend die in front of him. He can only look on, once more trapped in headlights.]
cw: immolation, dissociation via hunting instincts
Date: 2023-07-30 03:10 am (UTC)Away? No. No, that won't do.
She snaps her jaws closed, ceasing the flame, and the boy she'd caught in the blast—his charred body drops to the sidewalk. In the same moment, she starts forward, jerking her head toward the remaining humans, and reopens her mouth. Fire spews out just a little too far to the right for it catch both of them...or even the entirety of one of them. The boy preparing to run has his lower body and right arm completely aflame, screaming in horror as he collapses.
And Max...isn't done. No, a screech emits from her jaws, one that's much more animalistic than not. Her eyes are set on the last target standing, the one she'd gone after to begin with...but there's a problem.
In her state, she's forgotten that energy feeders require live prey, not dead. Energy feeder, that is what she partly is. That is what her body's hungering for...yet the hunting instincts tell her to kill.
One boy wails in agony, quickly going into shock. He'll be dead soon. The other, choking, is Max's next target. If both die, they'll have to find someone new. ]
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