[OPEN]

[justscribing]

WHO: (justscribing) & you!

WHAT: October Catch-All (open + closed)

WHERE: Poison garden, University, Around

WHEN: all through October

WARNINGS: TBA + marked in threads as necessary




OPEN PROMPT LINKS [UPDATED AS ADDED]

Poison Garden

University

Feel free to reach me by PM or plurk (monochromic) if you want to plot for something specific!

Comments

[justscribing]

[Look, if other people are going to drink the tea he might as well make notes so they know the consequences and cures in the future, and for an awareness of what this place seeks to inflict them with.]

There's six: a red tea, yellow, blue, black, green, and orange. I don't know their flavors since the teas themselves aren't labeled. The black tea seems to change the material state of your body. It turned someone from being flesh to metal. The green tea turns you into an animal. The others I've yet to witness.

Also, being in the vicinity fills you with an urge to drink it. Not unlike the urge to talk about those mementos from the bank.

[If he was not made entirely of self control, he might've had an issue. But he's nothing if not stubborn.]

[fussiest]

[ detailed, kaveh thinks. it's the sort of work that alhaitham excels at, the way that the details can be tweezed apart, recorded and witnessed. bound in ink and parchment. kaveh hadn't known any of these things. and to think tsuruno would have had to learn all of this in a way that took away her agency, were it not for those who experienced it first.

kaveh slowly shakes his head. ]

Given that you are neither an animal nor made of metal, it's good that you were able to resist that urge. Of anyone, it would be you. [ ... ] Wasn't there a story about this, however? A sailor out at sea wanting to hear the call of a monster, but not wanting to fall prey to it.

[justscribing]

[Of anyone, it would be Alhaitham, who stubbornly refuses to be forced into what he doesn't want to do. Alhaitham, whose mind is always thinking of the now and later, of actions and consequences.

He looks sidelong at Kaveh.] Are you comparing me to the sailor?

[fussiest]

I'm saying that perhaps that the sailor had the right of it, and you could use a bit of extra precaution. [ kaveh's brow lifts into the blond of his hair. ] Cuffed hands; I wouldn't even be opposed to helping you find a muzzle.

[justscribing]

If you think I need to be tied and muzzled so I don't drink tea, then you must be planning to avoid that area entirely.

[The return quirk of a brow.] As a precaution.

[fussiest]

You- [ kaveh, scowls, ] And here I was as your Senior, worrying, but clearly you've made it extraneous. I wouldn't drink that tea even without a pair of cuffs to my name.

[justscribing]

Neither would I. [The shrug of his shoulder on their joined hands.] So your worry is, in fact, extraneous.

[fussiest]

You've called everything from emotional emancipation to altruism extraneous. Just for that, I refuse not to worry.

[justscribing]

Expecting you not to worry is a hopeless task. I'm just pointing out it's unnecessary.

[fussiest]

And I'm pointing out that you calling it unnecessary is unnecessary. [ ... ] You were reckless regardless, running in here.

[justscribing]

Are you going to admit your own recklessness, or do you really believe you gave more thought to investigating this place than I did?

[fussiest]

In truth, I didn't want to come. This is clearly another one of the traps laid by the city for its compulsions; the best that can be done for the place is to wall up the front and be done with it. I have all the firebrick to achieve it, even.

[justscribing]

Do you think this place would let you? [He tilts his head. It's a needless question: it wouldn't, and it might put him in handcuffs for his trouble.] It's better we're aware now that the stakes have changed, because this won't be the last time.

[That people are compulsed into action. That now their bodies can be twisted along with their minds. That nothing is safe, or sacred.]

Tsuruno and Robby have had a similar idea of avoiding the next change in the city. They plan to throw some sort of party, I believe.

[fussiest]

[ there's an answer on the tip of kaveh's tongue. as usual, the tip of kaveh's tongue is swallowed in the act. it's swallowed in guilt. it's swallowed in contrition. who wouldn't be humbled, kaveh thinks, as his expression softens. ]

... that would do it. The boredom and inherent unease of the place drives people towards the odd and the uncanny. But having something of a distraction helps, doesn't it? It takes away that edge of it. Keeps it manageable.

[ ... it's cold, what sinks in. ] And if this place punishes them for it, I wouldn't be surprised either. An experiment can't run if there is a confounding factor.

[justscribing]

They've considered that. In addition to the distraction, they're curious if it'll earn any retaliation.

[They're smart kids. Put most older adults than even him to shame in his opinion.] They'll let me know the specifics when they have them. They want to keep it word of mouth, so you'll have a lot of running around to do if you want to help.

[fussiest]

[ pride swells in him. kaveh looks. ]

I'll ask Tsuruno to see if she'd like a pair of meddling hands in it, but if she and Robby has it handled, then this is something they will see through.

Ah, but have you volunteered your services already?

[justscribing]

I volunteered to tell you. [Of course he's not going to help set up a party. He's not even going to attend.

But he may stay home, if the university is simply another mall. That is similarly an act of refusal.]

[fussiest]

[ kaveh gives alhaitham's hand a squeeze. it's not a friendly squeeze. ]

Lazy. By word of mouth, did they strictly mean so? Surely this could be a good time to introduce the Haravan script, have it be a pilot round for a proper code to pass along pertinent information.

[justscribing]

[Alhaitham squeezes back.] Their intention is to keep it off the network. I suspect our experimenters will know what's happening anyway, but the precaution doesn't hurt in this case.

Do you need copies of the chart?

[fussiest]

If I said no, you'd simply absolve yourself of all responsibility. No, make three copies. What else was your training in archival work good for? Your handwriting is one of your few good points.

I'll pass on the information. Whether they use it or not is up to them, but it never hurts to have it as an option. We've so little of it here anyway.

[justscribing]

[Alhaitham hums. He spares a glance down at their joined hands. Kaveh's is warm in his.

They have so little options here.]

Fine. [Since he's not using any of that training for anything more productive. Like helping the bookstore.]

[fussiest]

Good. [ says kaveh, whose hand is still in alhaitham's. the flowers sway. they bloom profusely, as if soaking in the fragrance of a late spring. kaveh thinks -

and nearly says -

but doesn't say - ]

I do so hate it here, Alhaitham.

[ 'thank you'. ]

[justscribing]

[Alhaitham looks.

Though he never did anything for gratitude-]

I know. ['You're welcome'.]

Don't tell me it's because it's making us hold hands now. You used to drag me around like this all the time.

[And often by his wrist, when he refused to release whatever book he was holding.]

[fussiest]

You were easier to drag, back then. [ says kaveh, warming to the nostalgia. ] Smaller, more compact. You never went anywhere unless you were dragged, and when you got there, you never moved.

They called you a lunatic, but what they should have called you was a sea urchin.

[justscribing]

We couldn't both be urchins. [Kaveh warms. Alhaitham's expression, too, warms.] And you've never been good at keeping still.