fascinating rhythms [open]

[rudelanguage]

WHO: Knife (as Antigone and Pending), ota
WHEN: August/September, post-mission 10
WHERE: assorted areas (marked in prompts)
WHAT: quite a number of efforts to stave off misery and madness
NOTES\WARNINGS: mentions of blood/violence, some suicidal ideation


as pending:

o1. pantomime thread [location: leafless valley, richland]
[cords have been strung between a few pairs of tree trunks within this verdant area of Etraya, and hung upon them are assorted lengths of fabrics and clothing in various states of repair (or disrepair).

if this sight is not piquing curiosity enough already, perhaps then noticing the grungy half-orc moving amid them, picking at this or that, making alterations, mending, merging, manipulating...fashion is happening here.]



o2. the hurt dumpster [location: near ebbets field, dewpoint]
[THOKK.

TNNK.

impact sounds on metal ring out off-rhythm somewhere in the night. following the bouncing noise leads toward a trio of misplaced dumpsters lined up and painted with colored markings of varying sizes and patterns. the bodies of these receptacles have been dented and skewered - some implements still sticking within the body - and the perpetrator is some yards away, flipping a bread knife in his hand.

he catches it by the handle after a flip and turns his attention to whomever is encroaching, eyes glinting in the dark like some nocturnal animal's. they...seem chill, but inwardly Knife is screeching like an angry nocturnal animal.

Can I fucking catch a goddamn break here WHAT DO YOU WANT?!?

Pending is gracefully holding that thought to see what's up with this interloper.]

---

as antigone:

o1. binge after reading[location: kwik trip, nova city]

Scuze.

[peculiar scraping that had begun an aisle over has approached this one, and now a basket dragged across the linoleum is stopped near one's feet. it was hauled by the little gal, stuffed to spilling over, but she's still going. she'll get another fucking basket, watch her!

but first. YOU, tall one.

she points up.] Gimme some of that stuff up there. I can't reach.



o2. antigone of a fall [location: the library, alexandria; cw: suicidal ideation]
[she's already scaled this thing twice before and found the rooftop areas suitable for some magical mapping, so this is...sort of old hat. but while repetition is good for memory, it's also bad for the mood. this shit is just...killing time. killing Knife.

This doesn't fucking matter.

but she's doing it anyway.

except one missed handhold leads to a slip, a skid, and then the little kitsune is dropping from the side of the fourth story.

one of two things can happen. either:

-Antigone just lets it happen, and someone with the reflexes and capability sees and subsequently does a cool rescue (damsel strat)

or

-Antigone snaps the fuck out of it, twists herself and casts a Misty Step...directly onto someone to cushion her fall (this is advanced crash-into-hello tech)

player's choice!]

Comments

[reincarnesiac]

( Alex lifts both eyebrows at that particular quirk of logic, still rubbing at her diaphragm. That sounds so peak child logic she can't even be mad. )

But why were you falling from deadly heights today?

( Okay. Okay. Time to rally... to stand. Yeah. Standing time. )

[rudelanguage]

[she waits until this girl is on two flat feet and not about to teeter or topple on top of her (Antigone is squishier, but she does not want to be a cushion).

blink.]

I mean. I fell. [that felt obvious, but hey. some real freaks here.]

[reincarnesiac]

Doing... what?

( we're all freaks here tbh )

[rudelanguage]

[an ear twitches.] Climbing? [What's with the third degree? How's it your business aside from the crashing part?!]

[reincarnesiac]

Oh. Did you need someone to spot you next time? Or help you out with climbing ropes?

( you fell small furry child??? )

[rudelanguage]

[Girl I will kill you and leave no witnesses.]

I--n, no I don't, y--wh, what is this! [exasperated:] What, like I'm gonna make a habit outta droppin' outta the sky or somethin'?! Gimme a break! One accident and I gotta make a thousand countermeasures?! I coulda not cast that spell and hit you at terminal, you know! So you're welcome, we're both not dead!

[reincarnesiac]

( slowly lifting her eyebrows at the outpouring here. )

I'd prefer to avoid the you falling thing at all, yeah. Glad you didn't kill us both, might have gotten a little messy if you had, but I guess at least you'd not have woken up alone in the hospital.

( #positivity )

[rudelanguage]

If at all. [she cocks an eyebrow, some of the ire abating.] You believe in that junk, then? The revivify? I haven't even seen diamonds around, let alone the dust to cast with...

[reincarnesiac]

Mmm, a couple people have talked about dying and coming back still here, in Etraya. Is yours usually a spell where you're from? I'm not sure what Aurora does here, but it doesn't sound like it uses diamonds...

( Alex, who has her own bullshit revivify, doesn't opt to mention... that. Rather explosive possibility.

Thank you for not killing her, tiny furry girl, because if you had, you'd have helped take out the block and then some. Probably. Harold might... might... be mad. )

[rudelanguage]

I'm no necromancer, so I dunno all the gnarly ways people can get fit back together. [she busies herself with dusting off, as if doing so deflects any responsibility for her words or knowhow or lack thereof.] Liches, phylacteries, fancypants clerics and their rituals... You'd have to talk to one-a them types, not me.

[reincarnesiac]

( she blinks, making a sort of ooooh like she's just understanding things now. )

Yeah, didn't even think about those kinds. We just get science revivals back home... sort of. So I was wondering if here it might be something like that, or repairing the body... still can't figure out how the consciousness and soul gets poured back in other than it being trapped here first.

[rudelanguage]

Jars or whatever. Evil amulets. [she waves her hand dismissively, then stops.

she squints.

Why the fuck am I talking about this right now as if we're--

the squint trails up Alex.]

Right. Did you have something better to do or what?

[reincarnesiac]

Kind of wishing I had an amulet to keep my soul away from other people.

( she says, knowing her soul is partly and mysterious bound to a criminal overlord back home. hell if she knows why. it just is. )

Better? Mmm... it's not one of my days cooking at the Nyx. Have you been by there before for meals? We do lunches and dinners every day of the week, Chrissy is the main chef, she's pretty great!

( ............. fuzzy kids need to eat, right? )

[rudelanguage]

Uh. Maybe? What's it look like?

[reincarnesiac]

( insert a fairly accurate description of the Nyx community center from the outside, along with Alex raising her eyebrows like, small furry child, does any of this sound familiar? )

I can always show you if you like, home cooked meals are just... nice to have, you know?

[rudelanguage]

[I mean...I guess. it's not like Knife hasn't been in a home, eaten a meal. and it's not like that wasn't actually surprisingly good and safe-seeming after a point. but that's not here!

as for the building itself, Antigone looks blank; might be a mile or two out of the range she's wandered or bothered poking her nose into. it doesn't sound like the place Heather works at, so...]

Beats trash, I guess.

[reincarnesiac]

( Oh, furry child, why are you trash diving... )

Yeah! Usually does. Chrissy's cooking for sure. Mine's pretty good too.

( She gestures with a hand, since she does know pretty easily how to get to Nyx, on foot or motorcycle. Her's is around the other side of the building. )

Want to walk that way with me? Or we can ride over, if you trust me to drive a motorcycle.

( In her experience kids are more likely to be wise to stranger danger unless they Want Something Out Of You, so she assumes that'll be a no. )

[rudelanguage]

[Knife knows what those are now and they are awful. Antigone shakes her head.]

Nah, no. I'm good. I'm...not hungry. [Probably? she didn't really key into that, what with being busy near-falling to death and near-killing a person in the process. she's more tired than anything, since adrenaline comes at a cost.] Maybe some other time. Or, ah...or, or something.

[it's lame-sounding aloud, but there's nothing for it.]

[reincarnesiac]

Sure, anytime!

( Alex reaches up to tap by her earpiece. )

You can call me on here or just shout for Alex, I'll hear you one way or another eventually. Do you like hanging around the library and the blocks around here?

[rudelanguage]

[it's hard to try and not stare at her like the fucking oddity she is - to keep the context she knows as Pending out of this.

You're just...fucking like this, aren't you?]

I, uh...I guess so? [Antigone's supposed to be smarter than Pending, and books are smarter than not-books.] I mean, I'm not trying to make a routine of anything here or anything--

[reincarnesiac]

Of course, you don't have to! It can feel a lot like giving in, can't it?

( Alex offers a smile, smaller than earlier. She's been struggling with that herself, so... )

But there are habits I'm still carrying from when I was back home, so I am sadly kind of a routines person. Like running? Which hey, I tend to do a few miles every day, but I can see about switching up where I run so you can see if you feel like getting anything to eat for lunch, and head by the library around midday.

( So this fuzzy girl who is probably not a raccoon or red panda can decide if she feels hungry then, and if she wants to do a lunch thing. Alex wouldn't be set back so much as long as her meal prep for her days is done ahead of time... yeah. That should work. )

[rudelanguage]

[Antigone turns her head to peer up at her sidelong.

uncertainly:] Why would you do that? [I mean. I almost fuckin' killed you? Isn't that cause to avoid me?]

[reincarnesiac]

Because I like eating food. Especially with others.

( Alex smiles, looking forward along the sidewalk. )

It's one of the things that makes me feel a little more grounded in a universe that really doesn't care how I feel at all.

[rudelanguage]

[this is still not computing, as much open-handed, uncomplicated kindness doesn't compute for Knife.

warily:] It don't...cost anything, you know. Right? So it's not like I can pay you back for almost killing you that way.

[reincarnesiac]

Who said you needed to?

( she looks genuinely surprised. )

Besides, isn't the best thing we can give each other here pretty much just our time?