open | everybody knows that the captain lied

[abeautifulgame]

Who: Damien Brenks + You
What: Prompts below.
Where: All over the place.
When: Mostly centered around the event, to start, but if you want something before or after, hit me up!
Content Warnings: Body horror as per the event.

Comments

MARKETzone + BATHzone

[abeautifulgame]

[with the way things have been going lately, Damien's really not that surprised when, on his birthday (or close enough to, given that the whole start of the calendar year thing isn't an exact science), he wakes up feeling like shit. it's just a headache, just a tightness in his chest, just a bit of a chill that makes him reach for the coat he's been wearing, on and off again, since he showed up here in it. it's just an annoyance, to start, but Jesus, can't a guy catch a fucking break?]

[already irate then, he heads into the mountain, to the bathhouse, figuring that a nice, hot bath can't hurt anything, and finds it changed, this the first time he's been since the beginning of the month. that's enough to sour his mood a little more, and the fact that he apparently has to have a dance off with the shower to take one, a little more still, to the point where, once he's gone back for his clothes, he takes the marker he's been carrying around, lately, and writes THIS IS FUCKING ABLEIST over one of the screens. he doesn't expect it will last and that's even more annoying]

[by the time he stomps out into the Market proper again, he doesn't look happy to see anyone or anything. maybe you can brighten his mood? or at least give him a light, as he seems to be struggling with a hand-rolled cigarette that, yes, he's going to smoke despite the fact that his chest already hurts. fight him]

[pinwheels]

[ Rinoa's been hanging around the market, just outside the newly-named BATHzone, offering dancing lessons to anyone who seemed like they might need them. After all, she's lucky enough that she can dance - but it's true that not everyone is the same. That seems to be especially the case for the man she sees emerging from the bathhouse with angry, forceful steps; the brace on his leg tells her that dancing might not be as possible for him as it is for the other inhabitants of the Void. It's a thought that makes her frown in empathetic irritation just before she stands up and approaches him with a small smile. ]

I've seen you around the place, but I don't think we've met properly before, right? I', Rinoa. Sorry I don't have a light.

[ Rinoa, who is already trying to think of ways that she could possibly help him with the problem he's having. Despite the division of the space, the rules don't seem to force men and women to use different sides; maybe she could complete the game for him? Or maybe one of the more scientific minds in the place - someone like Kaiba, or the Professor - could put something together to hold, so he could play with his hands, or... ]

The changes are frustrating, but we'll work something out, okay?

[abeautifulgame]

[if he weren't feeling so miserable, he might be able to figure something out for himself -- probably some kind of controller, for all that that seems right up his alley. but he's tired and feels like shit and has a hard time of things, this last month (and it's only going to get worse), and yeah. he doesn't have the patience for this, right now]

[he's scowling, then, as he looks up from trying to light his cigarette] It's the principle of the thing. It was a joke, getting up here in the first place -- [since there was no way he could climb this part of the mountain, before Kaiba and his walkways] -- and now this? [a frustrated gesture follows, then he tries the cigarette again, and ha! he finally gets it lit! at least there's that!]

[he'll hate to find out that his tobacco supplier is going to disappear, too, if he hasn't already]

[pinwheels]

[ She nods. Climbing mountains is frustrating even for those who don't have injuries or disabilities that prevent them from doing so. It's easier, in the Void, thanks to the lack of physical exertion needed, but if it ever learns how that works, they're all going to have to find ways to make things easier for themselves, more than just walkways.

And she can hardly blame him for being angry about things being made even harder. It's another reason why it's frustrating for her not to have her healing capabilities here. If she had her powers, she could take away the injury that plagues him, for good. But as it is, she's entirely unable to do anything of the sort, and despite this being the first time she's met him properly, it continues to make her annoyed.

(If she had her powers, she could light his cigarette too, but it looks like he's got that one under control for now.) ]

I'm sorry. I'm not great with, um, science-y stuff, but I'm sure we could get someone to kind of change one of the stalls, you know?

[abeautifulgame]

[he hums, taking a drag off of his cigarette, and exhales it through his nose, a small sound on the end of it as it tickles something in the back of his throat. it's not a cough, not yet, but of course. of course, on top of just feeling a little shitty and not being able to use the bathhouse, whatever this is might be moving into his chest. just his luck]

[shaking his head, he exhales a heavy breath -- and then shakes his head again, this time more decisively] If I didn't wake up feeling like death warmed over, this morning, I might try something, myself. As it is ... [whatever. maybe later. he'll just continue to be grumpy about it now]

heavenly blanc

[abeautifulgame]

[for the next few days, and for want of a Walgreens, Damien has holed up at Heavenly Blanc with tea in lieu of his usual coffee, sometimes spiked, sometimes not, and soup, though none of it seems to be working. if anything, he looks worse, now, than he did that first day. if anything, he feels worse, for all that he's coughing steadily, now. he should probably be at home, resting -- or at least not potentially getting anyone else sick, assuming he's contagious -- but well. he's getting there. he'll work up the motivation, one of these days]

[so, maybe you catch him while he's still sitting there, all but oozing into the table. or maybe you catch him later, when, after a particularly violent string of coughs, he comes up with a handful of petals. he stares at them for a long moment, beautiful, bloodied things that they are, and then, of no one in particular, asks:] ... what?

[bridge_princess]

[She was about to say something that she thought was witty, and that almost nobody else ever did. When the dirty-blonde's mouth opened, however, she descended into a coughing fit of her own, hand whipping up and going to her mouth to cover it at the very least. Flecks of blood were there on the cloth in her hand, and little yellow and red rose petals trickled down before she picked them off of the floor and ...

just sat down in his booth on the opposite side. Never you mind she didn't ask permission first. Another hack and she eyed him over the cloth.]

You too, eh? You ok agreeing not to talk about the elephant in the room?

[abeautifulgame]

[he looks up sharply from where he staring at the petals in his hand, and while he seems startled by her sudden appearance, he doesn't seem particularly bothered by it. this isn't the first time someone's plopped down in a booth with him. just mind the leg, Parsee]

I wasn't aware there was an elephant in the room.

[he wasn't aware that this, whatever this is, wasn't just him. he isn't sure if it makes him feel better or worse, knowing that it's not. probably better. at least the Void isn't just screwing him]

[bridge_princess]

[She reached over and plucked one of those petals up, looking it over quietly and blowing on it, wincing a little bit in the process before letting it flutter away and looking over at him, her own legs curled up under her as they chatted. she tended to, thankfully, sit compactly so there wouldn't be space issues.]

Oh, believe me. There's elephants in the room if we're coughing these up. Ngh... but like I said. Not talking about mine.

Name's Parsee... I guess there's still people here I haven't really met. [Because she was an antisocial, envy focused little snit most days.]

[abeautifulgame]

[he might ask what she means by that, hanahaki not really something he's familiar with -- he might still, here in a few minutes -- but first? first, he tilts his head to one side, something like recognition coming to his features. they may not have met, but]

You're the girl that lives at the shrine.

[Ren's mentioned her]

[bridge_princess]

[Her understanding of Hanahaki was a little more limited than what they were actually dealing with, as she thought it was all about unrequited romance, when "Overgrowth" wasn't quite so limited. But she could still maybe be helpful.]

Mmhmm. I actually live with Watanuki right now. His place is big enough, and better than me living by the bridge. But the shrine is mine. All the other stone crud that's around it is Viridi's fault... well, Mel too, but she's not here anymore.

[starshower]

[With the fevers cropping up left and right about the Void, Tifa's been taking extra steps to err on the side of caution—vitamins when she can find them, eating more greens and less meat, and wandering up to Heavenly Blanc to make herself some green tea when she has a free moment. She's spent most of the remainder of her time locked up in her apartment or in the confines of the Market, away from the busiest and more crowded places in the Void, but the growing numbers and severity is concerning, especially so when she hears that string of coughs coming from Damien's end of the bar.

She turns to look, just in time to catch him looking up from the... bloodied petals in his hand?

It really should have been a slower, more cautious approach, especially with a steaming cup of tea in her hand, but she scurries out from behind the counter.]

What do you mean 'what'?

[You just coughed up a bunch of blood and flowers, and all you have to say is "what"? WHAT?]

Damien. You okay?

[... Clearly not.]

[abeautifulgame]

[he holds out a hand, showing off the petals. this. this is what he means by 'what', because well, WHAT]

Apparently not. [a beat] I haven't been feeling well since my birthday, and then there's this. [his fingers close around the petals, then, that said. there still there, much to his dismay, when he reopens his hand]

[starshower]

[She hasn't seen anyone coughing up blood... or petals... yet, and it's only now when horror finally descends on her face. There's something very, very wrong about all of this. First the small coughs, then the fevers, and now...

This world just keeps getting worse.

Tifa reaches back for a napkin off the counter, offering it to Damien.]

Please go back home to rest...

[Her eyes remain fixed on the petals, still not quite sure how to address them besides more what.]

[abeautifulgame]

[he makes a small noise, almost a laugh, that threaten to turn into another coughing fit. he holds up a hand, then, just in case, and when the feeling passes, reaches for the napkin to tuck the petals into it]

I've been trying to work up the motivation for the last -- however long.

[this time, it's less about time being weird and more about him not being sure how long he's been trying to talk himself into getting up]

[starshower]

I can help you with that.

[However, she takes the seat next to him, setting her tea down beside his.]

How about you finish up your drink and I'll walk back with you?

[You know, to make sure that he actually goes to his apartment and gets some proper rest? She's not going to babysit him, but she sure as hell is going to see to it that the people that are sick do what they can to fight off whatever bug is spreading around.]

This thing's pretty nasty, huh...? I've seen a lot of stuff, but nothing like... that.

hammerlocke citadel ruins

[abeautifulgame]

[sooner or later, Damien clues into what the problem is -- and isn't this fucking laughable? secrets. of course it's about fucking secrets, when he plays things so close to the chest. he knows, then, that to survive, he needs to talk, but even if he wanted to (and maybe he does, his self-preservation instincts at least marginally better than his need to hold onto his precious secrets), he's so damn tired. the fact that everything hurts doesn't help]

[it takes him some time, then, to manage to drag himself to one of the ley lines, the one in Hammerlocke Citadel, to be exact, though he can't quite remember how he got there. he picks up the payphone there, then, and into it, sighs:] I'm waiting in that castle. Come find me.

[he doesn't seem to care that that little announcement just went to the whole of the Void. all he really cares about, right now, is going out into the snow, to sit and wait. it's nice and cool out here and he's so terribly hot with fever. at least he can't freeze to death, right?]

[simulatio]

[The second Akechi had started hacking up petals, he'd all but locked himself in his Kichijoji apartment. Knowing a little about common tropes was a self-imposed necessity from his time in the celebrity limelight, and while he can't be certain this is the exact "hanahaki" girls his age seemed to love the idea of, he doesn't want anything to do with it. For one thing, it's absolutely absurd. He's already acknowledged his feelings for Ren, privately to the other boy if not publicly, so what the fuck does the Void think it's doing now?

There are very few people he would allow himself to leave the apartment for. Damien is, unfortunately, one of them. If Akechi would lend the older man a gun in the Metaverse, it perhaps isn't surprising that he'd drag himself out of his apartment and make his way to Hammerlocke. Even in his winter coat, he's shivering, gloved hands tucked under opposite arms as he swallows another cough and tastes blood.]

Damien-san?

[Slogging through the snow in loafers is a miserable task, but he manages it, reaching the other man's side and crouching down to his level, brow furrowed with concern he can't quite muster the composure to hide.]

I heard your message. What are you doing up here?

[abeautifulgame]

[at current, he's sitting in a puddle where his body heat has started to melt the snow around him, toying with a full bloom, twirling it between bloodied fingers. he looks up when Akechi crouches down next to him, though, his eyes half-lidded and glassy. tired]

Dying, apparently. [a beat] So much for my avoiding fate.

[has it come up that he dies, thinks he dies, back home? he can't remember. sorry if that's news]

[simulatio]

[People like us aren't fated for happy endings, Akechi had told him once. Honestly, he still believes it. As "well" as things have been going for him as of late, here and in the real world, he doubts he's fully escaped the sword of Damocles hanging above his head.]

You and I both know this place won't do us the courtesy of letting us die.

[Akechi extends a gloved hand, but just as quickly has to retract it to cough into his sleeve. The fabric comes away spotted with blood. He snorts with annoyance, than immediately regrets it as a petal threatens to come up the back of his throat and into his sinuses. Fucking hell.

He continues, voice hoarser from the effort of speaking past the mass of flowers he can feel blocking his windpipe,]

Are you familiar with the Japanese trope "hanahaki?"

[abeautifulgame]

You never know.

[it let Akechi die in Mementos. maybe it's learned, since then. either way, though, Damien starts to reach for Akechi's hand as he holds it out, not sure he'll be able to stand, at this point, without help -- and then snaps his fingers back when Akechi starts to cough. oh, not him, too]

[he offers him a tired, sympathetic look, before shaking his head]

No. [a beat] But I imagine this has relevance to the fucking flower shop I'm trying to open here.

[rotomphone]

[ since they took on their new form, Raihan has taken to exploring the citadel ruins when he has some free time. the tall towers, empty as they are, have some interesting selfie lighting, and despite Noctis' disappearance, he wants to see what the castle's interior is like so they can talk about it when (or rather, if) he returns.

he's also here, however, because of the cold. it's giving at least some relief to the fever he's been running for the past few days, but it hasn't done much for the cough, nor the strange dandelion petals he's been hacking up. he's been trying to ignore it, but after a particularly rough coughing spell, he decides that maybe he shouldn't be running around too much.

he actually doesn't hear Damien's ley line callout - rather, he hears him audibly as he descends from one of the staircases leading into the empty towers. ]

Hey. [ he blinks, surprised, but with an interested smile and casual wave. ] Fancy seeing you here! Not many people bother coming around - unless they're me, anyway. What's-

[ he cuts himself off, thanks to the coughing fit he's now engaged in. it's a little more violent than the ones he's been fighting off since he got up today, but it's fine! at least there's no petals this time. ]

...Sorry. [ he clears his throat. ] What's up?

[abeautifulgame]

Oh, you know. [listlessly, he waves a full fucking flower he coughed up, earlier, at Raihan] Trying to decide whether or not this would be a good place to start my flower shop.

[it's probably some kind of miracle he can still joke about this, but -- well, what else is there to do, really? he's too fatigued to be worried, right now. between the fever and the coughing, he really hasn't been sleeping well, if at all]

Maybe we could be partners.

[he noticed you coughing, Raihan]

[rotomphone]

[ woof. Raihan hasn't choked up any full flowers yet, but he does have a winding vine with a flower bud that's begun to spindle up his wrist. it was painful enough to cut out the first time, but it's returned with a vengeance and has grown twice as fast than its predecessor. it's only confirmed that whatever is wrong with him is getting worse, and he's clearly not the only one it's affecting. ]

With the way things are going, why pick one spot? We could go mobile.

[ he grins, but it has a wry tinge to it as he shoves his hands in his hoodie pockets. things don't look too good for them as it stands, but he refuses to keep a negative attitude about it. joking is probably the best way to keep up that hope. ]

As far as sicknesses go, I can appreciate the aesthetic. [ gross as it is, coughing up flowers feels oddly romantic. he looks at the flower he's held up, momentarily curious. ] Doesn't look like anything I've been hacking up... you think they're different for each person?

[abeautifulgame]

[that earns Raihan a bark of a laugh -- and another coughing fit from Damien, as it turns out his lungs don't seem to like that much. he reaches up to cover his mouth, then holds the for a second or two, once he tapers off, just in case. thankfully, he doesn't start hacking again. thankfully, he didn't cough up another flower, this time, though there was petals, blood]

[sighing, he drops his hand to the ground, to wipe the latter off in the snow, then returns his attentions back to the flower] All things considered, it's possible. [a beat] There's someone here who has a thing for what they all mean. Maybe they'd be able to tell us something. [if what they're hacking up matters as much as the why does, anyway]