OCTOBER MINGLE

[etrayamods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: October 25th - Early November
WHERE: Etraya
WHAT: The arrival of newcomers, and some holiday fun!
NOTES\WARNINGS: Supernatural elements, temporary physical alterations, mild horror and jump scares, spooky scary skeleton robots, mild suggestion of compulsion or loss of control, mild body horror.

⏵ arrival ⏴ Welcome to Etraya! Everything is fine now. 😊 Arrival goes expected - or it does for the most part. Aurora greets newcomers in the hospital as they awaken, offers a brief explanation and gives them their earpiece so they can communicate with one another. Around the hospital and outside of it, Companion Bots are hard at work decorating the city for Halloween—complete with festive touches like pumpkins, cobwebs, and glowing ghost decorations. The atmosphere is fun, light-hearted, and maybe just a little spooky. 🎃👻 Some carry buckets of candy, and offer those they come across a trick or treat. Except both options are, in fact, treats. 🍬 Tricks are treats specifically wrapped in a green wrapper that very clearly declares that they are tricks. Treats are wrapped in orange, and labeled with treat! Companion bots will recommend that those who do want to take a trick take them when they're beside their friends. There won't be any permanent effects from these, nor will they be terrible tricks - just fun ones! All effects last roughly 24 hours. Giggle Drops cause uncontrollable giggling that bubbles up randomly, even during serious conversations. Beasty Bites cause characters to grow small fangs, and they will begin craving red foods - apples, cherries, etc. Bat Gummies cause small, bat-like shadows to follow characters around wherever they wander. These shadows are harmless, and super cute. Pumpkin Puff is a cotton-candy-like treat, that causes their voices to change dramatically. Either becoming significantly deeper or perhaps very high-pitched, as if they've recently inhaled helium. Floating Fudge gives characters the ability to float in the air! Just a few feet off the ground, but it's still fun. Right? ⏵ getting spooky! ⏴ Etraya is embracing the season - and maybe even going a little overboard. Around the hospital, a few small pop-up shops are manned by festively dressed companion bots. They offer samples to everyone - although sampling isn't really necessary. After all, everything here is free! Candy Shops: Perfect for stocking up on sweets and treats for the upcoming trick-or-treating event. These will not stock the tricks the companion bots offer around Etraya, but instead only carry harmless sweets. They do take custom requests, too, and are happy to create the treats others want! Costume Shops: Find the perfect costume for Halloween! But beware... rumor has it, if you wear a costume, you might become whatever you dressed up as for a few hours. Those who put on vampire costumes may find themselves suddenly craving blood and growing fangs - those with werewolf costumes may find themselves feeling a little wolfish. These effects may last a few hours, up to a few days. ⏵ masquerade ⏴ In the spirit of mystery, Etraya will be hosting a Masquerade Ball outside the hospital through the nights of October 26th and 27th. Dance anonymously with other attendees and make new friends under the cover of your disguise. Everyone receives a single rose they can exchange with someone else throughout the evening. At the stroke of midnight, the roses will reveal the true identities of your masked dance partners. 🌹 ⏵ all hallow's eve ⏴ On October 31st, multiple companion bots set up shop along one of the walkways through the larger island towards the center. With chairs and small booths set up, they offer candies out to trick-or-treaters who wander around through the first part of the night. Some of them will request trick-or-treaters to do a trick for them, to earn a bigger treat! They may ask characters to dance, sing, or show a talent unique to them. Can your character bend themselves into a pretzel? They want to see it, and will offer them a nice bracelet in exchange! Can they whistle super loud? Maybe they'll get a nice piece of kevlar armor after showing off. This can be anything within reason - bike parts, small weaponry, armor pieces, toys, canvases for painting. Please request these items HERE. Not everything is as light-hearted as it seems, however. Aurora issues a warning to the citizens of Etraya: Do not stay outside after midnight. Strange happenings have been reported, and those who disobey may start seeing visions of past loved ones. The visions are compelling—guiding people away from the safety of the buildings and into the mysterious mist surrounding the outskirts. But be careful, these spirits may not be as friendly as they seem. If you come into contact with these ghosts, you’ll feel a chilling cold, leading to hypothermia-like symptoms. The longer you’re exposed, the worse it gets. Treatment? You’ll need to be warmed up quickly. ⏵ skellys! ⏴ The Companion Bots wanted to join in on the fun, so they painted themselves with glow-in-the-dark paint to look like skeletons. But in the dead of night, for those already suffering from the chilling touch of the ghosts, seeing glowing skeletons approach from the darkness might not be the most comforting sight. 🤖💀 Stay safe, warm up, and enjoy the festivities! ⏵ NOTES ⏴ For all questions relating to this log, please refer to the mod queries comment. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ. ⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Comments

[nitropowered]

It's something that the people Katsuki cares about have in common - pushing him back when he pushes them. Izuku. Eijiro. People who don't go easy on him, who challenge him, who make him try. That's what really gets him, people who make him try. All this time, while they've been in this place and bonding a little more than they had back home by merit of being around each other almost constantly, he's been thinking slowly of Izuku as more of a friend than just a rival. Someone who he can rely on, who'll always be there for him - and Katsuki doesn't have a lot of people like that in his life.

All that time, he's been thinking of Izuku as a friend without realizing how different this feeling is from what he feels for Eijiro, the only other person he really thinks of as a friend. Eijiro makes him feel supported and safe, like he'll always be there, sure. But with Izuku, there's something else. It's not just supported and safe, though Izuku makes him feel those things too, but other stuff. The protective instinct he gets, the fact that he likes the scent of Izuku's sweat, the fact that he likes being held by him and isn't protesting. He should be protesting. He's actually pretty angry at himself for not protesting.

But then, as he's winding himself up to push away from his comfortable position in Izuku's arms and insist he doesn't need him, Izuku says that he's not scared of getting hurt, but if anything bad happens to Katsuki, he stops thinking. That makes his heart beat hard, almost painful in his chest, and he takes a deep breath that shakes more than he'd like it to. From fear. From excitement. Sloppy.

"You're like that with everyone." he says, his voice low and alert, a little curt, "This is what I mean when I say it freaks me out that you put everyone else ahead of yourself." He realizes his hand is shaking a little bit against Izuku's belly, because he's feeling it so hard, that feeling he gets when he thinks about Izuku throwing himself into danger just to protect some asshole who doesn't deserve it. To protect Katsuki. It was a lot worse, when Izuku was completely helpless, Quirkless, but it still comes now, that wave of emotion, making the retorts and sniping comments and bullying feel all too easy because those things mean pushing Izuku away. Pushing him away had always been what he wanted, deep down, because feeling this is too much, it hurts, this combination of fear and admiration and respect and affection, because Izuku's voice is wobbling and he's being sweet and Katsuki knows now that that doesn't mean he's looking down on him.

"Who's supposed to protect you, when you need it?" he asks, his voice still rough, hoarse, and curt, and he pushes a hand against Izuku's shoulder, shaking a little, his face still hidden in the crook of the other boy's neck, "Who's supposed to make sure you're eating and drinking and taking care of yourself, huh? Your mom won't always be around, you know. Do you expect me to do it or something?"

[wannasmash]

Izuku had to get used to the idea of having people as friends. How could he presume? He didn't have any before. But he loves them with his whole heart, and Katsuki is one of them. There's a joy in their rivalry that's thoroughly mixed up in friendship, and whatever the nature of their relationship, it is of tantamount importance to Izuku. It beats in his chest strong as his heart, stronger than any fleeting hormonal embarrassment—though that is there too.

It's all mixed up with Izuku's strong emotions, but having them internally and figuring them out externally are entirely different things for him. He can't presume; some part of him still doesn't take himself into account. Still getting used to the idea that people will be there for him, it doesn't cross his mind that someone might want to change the nature of their relationship. He wouldn't know what to do if someone flirted with him (of all people!), and Katsuki hasn't given any indication anyway. It's a non-starter. It has to be.

Is Katsuki shivering again? Izuku grasps his hand to check the temperature of his fingers. Not as cold as he expected.

All Might told him off for putting himself in danger. Now he's hearing it from Katsuki—not from an elder whose job it is to care for him, but from a friend. Izuku never heard this in so many words from him so clearly. Katsuki only said that he moved without thinking. That was what he meant... He experienced the same fear of not being able to save someone that Izuku always did.

His eyes fill with tears, but with effort he wills himself not to cry. He's supposed to be taking care of Katsuki, and he can't do that if he sobs all over him. Instead, his throat hurts.

"It's different with you." Izuku would put himself in danger for others, sure, but when it comes to Katsuki, something malfunctions in a bigger way. He gets sloppy. His hand around him trembles as he lightly touches his shoulder around where he saw his bandages after that battle.

"I never meant to worry you. I'm sorry, Kacchan, for causing you trouble." Apologizing is reflex for Izuku, as much as acting tough is for Katsuki. They have their bad habits. "If it's too much of a pain, you don't have to do all that for me."

[nitropowered]

'It's different with you.' Izuku insists, and Katsuki's heart stutters in his chest a little, which is...not a familiar feeling for him. Maybe he's felt it before, mostly in Izuku's presence, but it's not familiar. It's different, with him? Not just Izuku's usual self-neglect, not just his instinct to take care of others before himself, but something else. That's all that Izuku says but for a moment Katsuki is dead still, just breathing against Izuku's throat, considering the fact that there's something about him that's different for Izuku than his other friends.

Swallowing hard, he exhales a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, and he pulls his head back to look at Izuku for a moment. At this angle, he can tell that the other boy is holding back on tears, and for a moment he's not sure what he's done to cause that to happen again. Izuku's hands tremble as he touches old wounds, and Katsuki's scars feel almost painfully sensitive under those fingertips.

"Of course I'm going to worry about you. Don't apologize for it either." he says, his voice brusque, his red eyes locked on Izuku's face, and almost without thinking, he brings a hand up to push aside some of Izuku's hair, rough fingertips brushing gently against Izuku's forehead and the side of his face before he drops his hand, "And don't tell me what to do, nerd."

The brusqueness has dropped from his voice now, it's still rough but more low-key now, less growly, more soft and hoarse.

[wannasmash]

If Izuku hadn't been trying to be so strong all on his own, Katsuki might not have had to save him. There are times when Izuku slips back into his old ways of thinking, and people have to tell him multiple times to look after himself better. He has got to stop apologizing for things he doesn't need to apologize for.

Izuku hardly breathes. He goes very still, eyes round and watchful. His face is warm, and his heart feels like it will explode. Only his mother might touch his hair like this. It's not a way he and Katsuki usually interact.

"Okay," he breathes.

Don't tell me what to do activates something in him. It's the thing that pushes back in their gravitic dance, two stars circling each other. It wakes him up. It calls him as strongly as that light touch to his hair, his face, and Izuku always answers when he is called.

He sits up straighter, heedless of the lack of distance between them. His voice is still thick, but his eyes are bright and intent.

"But I will when it has to do with making sure you're okay. Let me get you something warm to drink at least. Stay the night so I can watch over you. Will you do that?"

[nitropowered]

Katsuki's fingers tingle where he touched Izuku's cheek and hair. It's probably stupid, touching him like that, he's going to give away what's on his mind immediately, before he has a chance to chew it over in his mind and figure out how to address it. Izuku definitely noticed, Katsuki can tell because the other boy is looking at him as if he grew a second head suddenly, not breathing as he stares at him with those wide eyes.

Breath catching in his throat, Katsuki bites at the inside of his lip as Izuku looks up at him and says 'okay' in that breathy voice. There's something between them, in that moment, and Katsuki finds himself painfully tempted to lean in and kiss the other boy, can feel the tension of a kiss between them, but then Izuku sits up straight and asks him those questions.

Swallowing hard, Katsuki occupies himself with pulling the blanket up closer around his shoulders, looking away from Izuku, "Yeah yeah. Sure. You do that. I'll just stay here. And yeah, whatever, I'll stay the night, as long as you don't fuss too much! I'm fine."

[wannasmash]

With a slow, relieved breath, he lets it go, whatever it was that held them suspended like flies trapped in amber. He has to close his eyes for a moment. His scalp still tingles.

Then he makes good on his promise, and he's going to show him mercy. He companionably bumps Katsuki's shoulder with his own as he reluctantly disentangles himself from the warm blanket cocoon.

"You'd better be."

He has a hot water boiler ready to brew green tea, spare clothes and house slippers, everything he needs to make sure Katsuki stays warm. He feels like he's going to vibrate out of his skin as he pours some tea, and his throat but his hands are steady. They always are when he's doing something for someone else.