JUMP TO MONTHLY PROMPT ↓
A TRAIN COMES INTO THE STATION.
You wake up on a train.
Your phone is buzzing. It's in your pocket, in your hand, on the seat next to you. It's a normal phone, and you're on a normal train car. One of the lights flickers, a little further down. The world is very quiet. It feels like you're right where you're meant to be. On the phone's surface is a white screen and the words—
WELCOME TO THE CITY. BEGIN ORIENTATION?
▶ NO
Please take a moment to complete your orientation.
Once you're finished, the subway doors slide open to let you out onto the train platform. To your right, the platform continues on and eventually ends; to the left is a set of stairs that will lead you up into the station itself. The platform is quiet, clean, empty—there's no one else around, and the only sounds you can hear are your own footsteps, your own breaths, and the occasional faraway sound of a creaking pipe or rush of air. The train you disembarked will stay there as long as you do, its doors still open, until you finally decide to venture up into this new locale.
As you make your way up the stairs to your left, you find yourself in the belly of City Hall station. The station is large, a sprawling underground mini-metropolis of corridors and storefronts. Here, you may find others like you, freshly-arrived city residents from other realms (or even your own). There is also a subway map, which will give you an idea of the layout of the neighborhood, and ticketing machines, which can currently only be used to buy tickets to a handful of stations located on lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9.
If you're hungry or in need of any kind of supplies, there are plenty of storefronts inside the subway station as well—snack stands, convenience stores, restaurants, clothing stores, a pharmacy, and a variety of empty shops that may or may not have ever been in use. Everything is unlocked, and you can take whatever you need.
Characters may stay on the train platform indefinitely, and may re-board and re-disembark from the subway as many times as they like, but the train will not depart nor will the doors close. Once they go up the stairs into the train station, they may hear the train doors closing and the train departing. Another train will not arrive, no matter how long the character waits. Only once they come up the stairs into the station itself may characters encounter their fellow newly-arrived residents and take advantage of what the city has to offer.
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WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
The station is located in the city center. It has three major exits that lead to areas of interest in the district, but there are several other smaller exits that lead in other directions around the neighborhood. You are welcome to use any of them, but may find the north, southwest, and east exits to be the most welcoming.
TO THE NORTH
The northern entrance to the station leads up into the sunlight and puts you out in a brickwork plaza. There's a modest building in front of you, three or four stories of stone with a welcoming facade. There's a sign above the entryway—it says City Hall. You may be tempted to explore, if you're interested in learning more about the city and how it functions, but prepare to find yourself disappointed—the folders in the records rooms are full of empty, blank sheets of paper, and the logbooks and balance sheets are similarly devoid of information.
Immediately to the southwest of City Hall, you will find a small building that houses the tourist information kiosk. It looks welcoming, with an inviting glass facade and a sign above the entryway announcing it as the "TOURIST CENTER." It's a humble building with a receptionist's desk on the back wall opposite the entrance, empty magazine shelves lining the side walls, and a few spinning brochure racks full of blank pamphlets. Anyone is welcome to peruse the tourist literature, though they won't offer much information, being primarily filled with pictures of the surrounding area—City Hall, the park, a statue garden, and the surprisingly heavily-featured cemetery. There are a few sentences sprinkled throughout about basic offerings of the city, such as apartment complexes and office buildings, as well as a few maps with the same limited scope as the larger version on the wall behind the receptionist's desk.
The main feature of the tourist center is the interactive kiosk installed dead in the center, right in the middle of a few rows of uncomfortable chairs that fill the small room. It's noticeably in the way of any would-be foot traffic through the tourist center, and something about the technology seems a little more modern than the computer behind the desk or the landline phone on the wall. The kiosk is a tall silver rectangle, about average adult height, and the upper half is a screen welcoming visitors to touch it to activate the kiosk. If you were to touch it, the screen would come to life with simple dialogue inviting visitors to ask it their questions.
However, residents should note that the kiosk is only programmed to assist with exploration within the available areas of the city. It may not be able to answer every question, and tampering with the kiosk may result in unreliable or inaccurate answers!
TO THE SOUTHWEST
The western exit of the station takes you up into a city park, lush and green with a very light fog still hanging about the trees. There are lampposts on the walkways and benches where you could rest, and plenty of flora, although you can neither see nor hear any signs of animal life. You walk the paths that meander idly through the verdant grass and you feel a sense of peace, some of your unease about this place easing into a pleasant calm. The air smells fresh, like it's recently rained, and you'll find the grass ever so slightly damp should you decide to take a seat.
As you make your way deeper into the park, the trees grow denser and the smell of soil and plant life grows stronger. This is the older part of the park, very nearly a forest, with ivy climbing the trunks of the trees and plants and shrubs growing riotously around their bases. As you turn a corner, you find yourself first in the statue garden, although the statues are harder to see now, choked as they are with ivy. There are many statues, some partially obscured, some fully—very few of them still stand free of the vines and clinging roots. (It doesn't feel quite as peaceful here.) If a statue's face looks a little bit familiar, you may not want to look at it too long.
Continue down the path and you will find yourself in a graveyard, one that seems centuries old. Most of the headstones are worn away by time and covered in moss, rendering them impossible to read. The few that are free of moss are blank, or bear only suggestions of names too faint to be understood. (Was that the name of—no, it couldn't have been. Could it?) Many of the headstones stand at an angle or are toppled over completely, having been subjected to either strong winds or the roots of the trees that grow up from some of the graves, spreading branches toward the sky.
TO THE EAST
The final exit of the station, to the east, puts you out on a quiet surface street. Are you hungry? Or are you paralyzed by choice? There are plenty of restaurants, offering options of almost any food you can imagine. You could try a convenience store—it's well stocked, and the items there seem free for the taking. How about a restaurant? There's no one to take your order, but when you look in the kitchen, there's something on the stove, and it's just what you've been craving. Imagine that.
A few blocks down, you come in through the lobby of a tall building and find yourself in a corporate office. The fluorescent lights are steady and unforgiving, and the cubicles and offices are empty. There are a few pieces of paper on desks, a few folders left in organizers, but everything is perfectly blank. Despite how empty and quiet the office is, it nonetheless gives you the feeling that just a few minutes ago, this place was bustling with workers going about their daily business.
You enter another building and find yourself in the lobby of an apartment complex—finally, a place to rest. The first door you try opens easily into a completely empty living room, freshly vacuumed but without a single piece of furniture. It's a nice apartment, quiet, but with a little too much echo for your taste, maybe. Still, and perhaps oddly, you have no trouble envisioning what life here would be like.
The second door you open leads to an apartment that feels lived-in. Why does it feel lived-in? It's fully furnished with items that seem to go together perfectly, true, but the feeling is more than that—the room feels like someone was just here, maybe standing right in the kitchen only moments before you swung the door open. The air is a perfectly comfortable temperature, and it somehow smells like home despite that you've never once set foot here before. The refrigerator is stocked, and the cabinets are full of spices and flatware and kitchen utensils.
As you look around the living room, you find that there are pictures in frames on the walls and some of the flat surfaces—a seascape, a field, a shot of a city park bench. In each of the photos there's something just slightly wrong with the angle, as though the photographer were aiming for a subject that can no longer be seen.
Characters are welcome to explore the district around the City Hall subway station to their heart's content. The City Hall building itself contains several floors of offices and file rooms, but none of them contain any particularly interesting information. Nonetheless, characters may wish to team up with other newcomers and try to find some hints about the nature of the city. They can also spend a while in the park, the statue garden, or the graveyard. In the blocks surrounding the station there are plenty of options for food and housing, as well as office buildings, storefronts, and alleyways to look around. There are no workers in any of the buildings, and there does not seem to be an honor system for payment, nor any consequences for taking food from the stores or setting up camp in an apartment or office building.
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THE POISON'S IN THE DETAILS.
CONTENT WARNINGS: Monthly prompt includes the potential for body horror, including: mold or fungus; spores; and hanahaki-like symptoms. It also includes the potential for violence, mutilation, or death. Please label potentially triggering content in subject headers and interact responsibly with threads!
With the cacophony of the fun fair now gone, packed up and sent away for another year, the southern half of the park is now empty. That doesn't mean that the park itself is without attractions, though: up in the northern corner, sprawling out across the green, is a curious garden full of winding paths and draping trees, and within it, the smaller poison garden, where a variety of different flowers blossom and bloom along the gravel path. From roses to gladiolus, tulips to belladonna, this garden has many flora that residents may recognize from their homes, and some that they most certainly will not. As residents walk along the paths, observing and smelling and—for the brave—touching these plants, they will encounter a long wooden table, stretched out in the midst of fresh cut green grass.
This table has been decorated for a party, though it seems that all the guests must be late. A strange variety of different sized chairs and cushions have been set out along the long length of the table; it seems to fit at least twenty people, maybe even more. Small dishes and porcelain tea cups lay in random design across the off-white table cloth, used flower doilies and half-folded napkins tucked here and there as though someone left in a hurry. Even stranger still, there are six large, ornate pots of tea, scattered about the table, each warm to the touch and, you guessed it: full of tea. You suddenly find yourself craving a cup, and tuck into one of the chairs to pour yourself some...
...but you didn't think that it would be that easy, did you? Once you've swallowed a mouthful, or even your whole cup, your body starts to feel strange. Depending on the color—or flavor—of the tea you're drinking, you're going to experience some side effects:
| Color |
Flavor |
Effect |
| Red |
Hibiscus: This tart and fruity tea is naturally sweet. |
You will begin vomiting blood. The amount is up to your body's reaction. The correct antidote will fix you. |
| Yellow |
Jasmine: This tea has a light, floral note, and is slightly sweet. |
You will hallucinate something terrifying near you, and may lash out and attack those around you. The correct antidote will fix you. |
| Blue |
Pea Flower: This brilliantly-colored tea has a very delicate, woody flavor. |
You will gradually begin losing one of your senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch). The correct antidote will fix you. |
| Black |
English Breakfast: This is a full body tea, with rich undertones and a bold flavor. |
Something very terrible will begin happening to your body: your hair may start falling out, you may become covered in hives, or your skin may start opening into sores. The correct antidote will fix you. |
| Green |
Green: This tea has a very clean, grassy flavor, like the earth. |
You will begin to transform into a terrifying creature or animal of your choosing. The correct antidote will fix you. |
| Orange |
Ginger: This is a tea with a warming, slightly spicy taste. |
After drinking, you will suddenly fall into a death-like coma. A kiss may wake you, or the correct antidote. |
In a panic, you look for something to help you. Just beyond the table, tucked away into a wall of ivy, is an old wooden shelf, the lettering nearly worn all away on it. Little packets of seeds line the tiered shelves; there are no pictures on them, but the packets themselves seem to all be different colors—and you may notice that the colors match the colors of the various teas on the table.
Ripping open the packet that matches the color of your tea, you find it contains actual seeds—will you swallow them and risk a plant growing in your stomach, just to see if it will counteract the effects of the tea? Oh, surely that's the stuff of fairytales, isn't it?
Residents are welcome to explore the various paths around the outside of the garden, observing plants and flowers of their choosing. The tea party is open to all, and the tea will continue to be brewed somehow, no matter how many people drink it. Players can choose the extent of the negative effects on their character, or have their character remain unaffected by the tea entirely. In order to get rid of the negative effects, characters must either find the correct seed packet that matches their tea and eat the seeds, or wait twenty-four hours for the symptoms to subside. The seeds will not do anything but cure the character—though they're welcome to think something awful might happen.
The tea party cannot be destroyed, and items that are moved from the table can only be moved within the perimeter of the poison garden. Characters are unable to steal things from the tea party; they will mysteriously return back to the table if taken beyond the aforementioned border. The tea party will remain there permanently, though the negative effects of the tea will mysteriously disappear after November 1st.
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A DROP OF BLOOD OR A DROP OF EGO.
At the apex of the path that winds around the poison garden is a large greenhouse that looks like it has seen better days. The panels are filthy, covered in dust and dirt and grime, and the doors creak on their hinges when you open them. Inside, the air is hot and musty, but the smell of herbs and spices fill your senses, letting you enjoy the atmosphere. The greenhouse is clearly separated into two different paths: the one to the left has a hanging sign which reads "DEADLY BEAUTIES" and the one to the right has a hanging sign which reads "BEAUTIFUL DEADLIES".
Heading to the left, you decide to observe the various plants there. Shelf upon shelf of various potted plants watch you as you go past; some of them snap at the air, veiny teeth grasping for the delicious meat of fruit flies and ants, and some of them threaten to touch you, with vines that roll and curl outward for just a shivering touch. Overhead, tangles of vined plants and spiked ivy mix together, an oppressive shadow that makes you feel as though you're trapped in this place as you walk through. Be careful: these carnivorous plants might be beautiful, but they won't hesitate to get a little too friendly with you. The floor is caked with dirt, but some of those brown stains might not just be from mud and dust, smeared by shoe heels and work boots. These plants might want a taste of blood.
Heading to the right, you find yourself in a beautiful space, the flowers so large they seem almost overwhelming. Have the plants gotten bigger, or have you simply gotten smaller? Gorgeous purple blossoms, pink petals, bright blue flowers and speckled white flowers cower and bend to cast you under them, like a flower-patterned umbrella sheltering you from the rain. The further you walk under them, however, the more you get the feeling that they're not just there to watch over you: they're there to explore you. At first, it's just a few gossipy whispers, so quiet you might not think they're real; then it's full-blown voices, the flowers bending and twisting as though to speak to each other in harsh, judgmental tones. What are they talking about? Well, they're talking about you—your secrets, your opinions, the things you don't want anyone else to know. These flowers are spilling your tea, and anyone walking along with you is going to hear it.
The back of the greenhouse—if you make it there—has the same doors as the front. They open back out onto the winding, circular path of the poison garden, where you can head back home...or experience the whole thing over again.
The greenhouse is rather large, and characters are welcome to walk through it along any path they wish. The carnivorous plants will possibly nip and bite at your characters, or try to restrain them, but they aren't very strong and can easily be broken away from. Feel free to imagine as much of a struggle as you wish, but they will not inflict any kind of mortal wounds on characters.
The giant, oversized flowers will tell your character's secrets or their deepest darkest opinions—this is open to player choice. The flowers cannot be attacked or hurt, and the only way to get them to be quiet is for someone OTHER than the character they're talking about to scold them or tell them to be quiet. Alternatively, if you can walk the path hand in hand with another character, this will also cause them to go quiet.
Plants cannot be taken from the greenhouse or killed, and they cannot be dug up from their pots. The greenhouse itself also cannot be destroyed, and any fire lit in the greenhouse will be immediately extinguished by an overhead sprinkler system. This place is meant for enjoyment and admiration, not crime!
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WILDCARD.
The city is by no means small, and there are plenty of things for you to see. There are even some places that other residents have created! There's no rush in exploring, so feel free to take your time looking around and peering into various nooks and crannies and alleyways—and don't worry, you're not very likely to find anything peering back.
If none of the above prompts appeal, feel free to check out the Locations and Maps pages and write your own freestyle prompt using one or many of the available locations. We highly recommend checking out the Character-Run Locations as well - they might be great places for new characters to get started!
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citylogs2023-10-01 08:38 pm
chesed | library of ruina
[ There doesn't appear to be any clear indications on whether this subway train is divided into business class and the rest of this city's rabble.
Fascinating.
While others might feel alarmed about landing in unfamiliar circumstances, Chesed's never been able to resist the allure of something new. As the subway pulls into the platform, he rises without a word. Its doors creak open, allowing him the freedom to step over the gap and onto solid concrete.
It seems there's nowhere to go but up. He alights up the stairs, immediately heading for the glowing subway map. ]
Numbered lines... It seems the architect of this station was not known for their impeccable naming senses.
[ It's a statement one might expect to be attributed to an irritated person, but instead, Chesed punctuates the ending with a light laugh. ]
b. welcome to the neighborhood, to the southwest.
[ He'd simply selected the first exit his eyes landed upon.
It's silent. Eerie. If it weren't for the rich greenery and soft damp grass rustling beneath his shoes, Chesed might even consider it spooky. Instead, he stops to occasionally inhale the scent of dew.
The fresh smell and silence is something of a rarity, a privilege.
He's more than content to continue wandering down the meandering path, finally pausing at the sight of a cemetery in disarray. But that's not necessarily a correct description, he thinks to himself. It is not disarray for Mother Nature to reclaim a space that had once belonged to her.
Chesed crouches by a crumbling headstone, thin fingers carefully clearing away ivy vines. Even in this clandestine cemetery, humanity finds its own way of interfering with the natural world.
It's a simpler compulsion that has him working in silence. To be forgotten -- it is a sad thing indeed. ]
c. the poison's in the details.
[ Yet another reason why, between coffee and tea, it's coffee that's the superior beverage. Why Chesed finds himself craving tea of all things is beyond him, but he's too busy pouring himself a cup of tea to contemplate where that strong compulsion is coming from.
...and why on earth is the liquid landing in the teacup blue?
Instead of spending more time dwelling on that thought, he lifts the cup to his lips and drains it of its contents. It tastes... fine, actually, and he even appreciates the delicate flavor washing over his tongue.
What he doesn't appreciate is how his vision grows hazier by the second, objects blurring into shapes and colors blending into one another. It's unfortunate, Chesed thinks, given how he hadn't had the chance to properly appreciate the garden. Now, it seems he's being robbed of the ability to do so.
He lifts the empty cup in his hands to his nose and takes a cautious sniff. The gentle scent of the tea lingers. Good. If he can't appreciate the visual splendor of the gardens, at least he can appreciate each flower's smell. ]
d. wildcard.
[ Feel free to throw something at me if none of these starters are working for you! My permissions page isn't set up, but tbh I'll generally roll with anything. ]
b.... 1/2..... god.... gomen
Well, so much for that plan, because she gets maybe ten steps in, spots that head of blue hair... ]
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[ Hi, Chesed! ]
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Haha, hello to you too, Gebura.
[ Chesed wipes a palm over the weathered letter carvings of the dusty headstone. There are still plenty of vines clinging to its surface, but at least he's managed to unearth some of its epitaphs are visible yet again.
He glances over his shoulder at her with a carefree smile. ]
Smoking someplace with plenty of combustible greenery... That's a fire hazard, you do know?
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[ Spoken through the cigarette clenched between her teeth as though that is the only thing keeping her from biting his head off. Why is he here?
-- Rather, why is it increasingly becoming more Librarians here than back home? If Binah shows up next, she's really going to have to join Netzach for a heavy drinking session. ]
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[ Truly, that cigarette is probably the only thing standing between Chesed and a thorough chewing-out from Gebura. Good job, little cigarette. ]
Isn't it curious, that we should yet again encounter one another in a place intimately acquainted with death?
[ He returns to his task of unwinding ivy from the ancient headstone. The worn text is impossible to read, perhaps making Chesed's efforts seem futile to an onlooker. It's about the principle of the matter though, and not necessarily about the practicality of the task. ]
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c... hesed.
...Even then, she's still glad to see him, a little bit.
She'll join him at the table, albeit not sitting down quite yet. )
Binah would love to see you enjoying tea, I'm sure. A shame she isn't here. I'll have to tell her all about it if she turns up the way you have.
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That voice --
His lips twist themselves into a wry grin. ]
Now, can't this stay our little secret, Angela?
[ Should Binah ever catch wind of the fact that he'd been spotted not sipping away at tea, but gulping down the entire cup, he'd never hear the end of it. He sets the teacup upon its designated saucer and sighs. ]
I suppose it would be unfair of me to expect coffee from a tea party though.
[ He squints as the blurs of cyan and deep violet begin to blend into one another. ]
It appears the drink possesses some unusual side effects. Although you might have caught me sipping on tea today, my opinions on which is the better drink remains unchanged. It may be confirmation bias, but I've never needed to worry about my eyesight failing after a cup of coffee~
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And when this city starts adding new effects to their seasonal line-up of flavors, Chesed, I'll call on you to see what they are. ( She has no faith in this place NOT to fuck up another food. There was ice cream at that one parlor, and there's tea here... it's only a matter of time.
Though the urge to partake is strong, she's setting her hands in her lap and Not Doing That. They smell pretty divine, though—her gaze catches on the something-or-other in an old ivy wall just a bit off, and she considers it... she will continue to think about it while she talks. ) It could have been worse. You can live without your eyesight fairly easily. I assume by now your head's uselessly filled with how coffee grounds smell and feel so precisely that you'd never need to glance at their names anyway.
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[ It tasted fine. One might even say it tasted good, where even Chesed's taste buds discerned it was a high quality tea.
His expression turns pensive. He's giving Angela's suggestions some serious consideration. ]
It would be dreadful to lose one's sense of smell and their taste. The shade of a bean can provide insight into how long it's been roasted, but you're correct that I differentiate my blends mostly according to smell.
[ It's too late for Angela. She's opened the door for him to talk about coffee, and he'll take any opportunity or excuse available to make some. ]
Ah, perhaps if I can obtain the proper equipment once again and some coffee beans, I would be happy to prepare a fresh cup for you. Surely, my hands will know what to do without the guidance of vision.
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There are coffee shops around here and at least once person who likes that sort of work as well, so I'm sure you'll manage. ( What was that girl's name again..? She's sure Roland's mentioned it off-hand before. She's pretty sure she's seen her before too. Hmm. Later problems. ) You'll be disappointed to find out that I've found I prefer tea though.
( This is mostly because it's what she makes. She doesn't go out of her way to get coffee. )
...But I suppose ( begrudgingly ) I'm open to new experiences, so if you wanted to make me something you think I'd like, I'd try it. I may as well, now that I can taste things.
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b
[hey there.
this happens to be one of the places netzach frequents, when he's out and around; there's a certain draw to it, the greenery and the quiet, and the eerieness has never bothered him much. they've all seen stranger atmospheres than this. it's a nice place to nap when he feels like being outside (which he just might have been, if the rumpled and slightly damp state of his jacket is any indication), but for the moment, he's upright, leaning down to peer at the headstone chesed is crouched by.]
I didn't think we'd end up seeing you here, too.
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Netzach.
[ He acknowledges his old coworker with a simple recitation of his name. ]
Ah, well, I didn't think I'd end up seeing you here either. One does not typically wander into a graveyard expecting to stumble upon something alive and well, let alone run into a familiar face.
[ He looks up to offer Netzach one of his easy, ever-available smiles. ]
You speak in the second-person plural. Am I to believe the others have made their way here too?
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[he shrugs, pausing to reach up and cover his mouth as he yawns. maybe he'll take another nap after this...]
Nobody's figured out how to get back out of the city again, though.
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Oh. That is quite a few of us.
[ He returns to his task, methodically plucking vines off the headstone. He works meticulously, not unlike how he approached sorting books in the Library. Given the number of familiar faces who'd called this mysterious city their home, he supposes it was only a matter of time before he ran into someone from the past. The sooner the better, he supposes, and Netzach's plenty good company.
He hums thoughtfully. ]
From one city to another. Perhaps there is no way back. Perhaps this is simply our next destination.
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[-that's a whole new host of problems, isn't it? what about the light, then, if they're trapped here, especially if angela stays trapped here? what happens to the library and to the others, in that case?
...no telling, really, and therefore no sense dwelling on it.]
Well, it's like a break, if nothing else. Kind of nice to be outside again.
[kidnapping or vacation, you decide... he's been touching so much grass since he got here.]
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b heheh grips
malkuth, tiph, hod, and binah are all girls... chesed and hokma were the boys left... she has a fifty-fifty shot, does he look like someone who enjoys coffee or, and she quotes in her mind, "a fool". ]
Hail and well-met, good ser!!!!!!!!!
[ nonetheless, she's calling out loudly with a wave of her hand. don'll figure it out in time. ]
Bother not with the headstones, for they shall be covered again no matter how often one cleans them! As sad as it is to say, of course.
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Ah. It seems his initial assessment of the cemetery was incorrect. There does appear to be a sign of life not attributed to the flora. He waves back with a smile, though the expression shifts to one of bewilderment upon hearing the young lady's words. ]
Oh my. Is that so?
[ That gives Chesed pause. Even if he managed to successfully clear the ivy off the headstone, it would simply be back the next day. ]
Hm. So it is a futile task then.
[ The smile returns. ]
I do have experience with those kinds of activities. Rest assured, it does not bother me to know my efforts will be in vain, though I appreciate the information.
[ And because he's completely serious about not being bothered about the vines returning the next day, Chesed returns to his task while keeping his focus on the newcomer. ]
A hail and well-met to you as well. My name is Chesed. Might I have the pleasure of knowing your name?
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don'll come to sit at a headstone next to him, picking at the ivy herself. he has a familiar sense off the bat, and she's liked all the librarians so far... she's certain they'll get along too. ]
Don Quixote, Fixer of the ever-heroic Limbus Company from the very City which we hail, and also employed at the wondrous Bookstore here in this city! It is a pleasure to make the acquaintance of another one of Mistress Gebura's companions, Ser Chesed.
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Is that so? It's quite reassuring to have stumbled upon someone familiar with the City.
[ The familiar name has him arching his other brow. There's plenty of information to glean from Don Quixote's final statement. "Make the acquaintance," "another one," and "Mistress Gebura," for starters. ]
The others have made their way here as well then, I see.
[ His brows have returned to their proper heights as he offers Don an easy smile. ]
And how have those companions been faring?
c for no coffee
Fortunately, at least for Yesod, the presence of the figure already there and sampling the tea brings him fully to his senses. ]
Chesed—
[ And given the timing and the number of people from their City collected here, he can be fairly certain that this is indeed Chesed himself, despite the unusual scene to witness. The cup is drained, at any rate. All that Yesod can observe is Chesed's apparent appreciation for the tea, as if drinking it has replaced his mind with Binah's.
That... is probably unlikely. ]
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Ah, Yesod. So nice to see -- or rather, to hear from you.
[ He sets the cup down a little too hastily, and it lands upon its saucer with a small "clink." That wasn't a teacup in his hand. Nope. And he definitely didn't drink any of that suspicious blue tea.
Yesod's nothing more than a dark purple blur against a verdant green backdrop.
He grins crookedly at his old coworker, knowing the exact sort of scene Yesod had just stumbled upon. ]
Let's keep this between us, shall we? I suppose sometimes even I find myself wishing for a cup of tea over some coffee.
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Yesod's gaze drops to the empty teacup now resting on its saucer. The faint ring of residue within it is blue. ]
Its influence is potent, if even you succumbed to it.
[ Glancing back up, he resumes studying Chesed, who seems outwardly unruffled, the circumstances made nothing to question. ]
And your vision was affected after you finished the cup?
no subject
[ The other Librarian posits it like a simple fact. Chesed merely sighs, accepting his current fate for now. He's not too pressed about it, not when there's a familiar and reliable coworker nearby. ]
Yes, it seems so. It's like I'm seeing the world through a pane of frosted glass. Perhaps it will wear off in a bit. In the meantime, I would highly recommend you avoid drinking any of this prepared tea, haha.
[ Who knows what effects the other beverages might have... Chesed's not too keen on finding out. ]
no subject
I am not in the habit of drinking anything produced by an unknown source.
[ But he seats himself in a chair beside Chesed, placing his notebook down in front of him, his pen next to it. For the time being, they can only wait and monitor any changes in Chesed's condition. ]
Do you have any questions before I ask mine?
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