Teenagers Scare the Living Shit Out Of Me etc. etc.

[dyingtohealyou]

[Characters passing by the bulletin board may notice a new message tacked to it!]

Drinking party at the bar at 8pm. Under 21 only. Adults will be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Fun and games included, party hats optional. Don’t be late!

[Sure enough, there’s a gathering of teens (and maybe some not-so-teens?) to be found in the bar! While the posting mentions this is a teen only event, adults are in fact allowed as long as they are cool. OOCLY please be aware there are going to be teens drinking alcohol and possibly smoking! Also additionally, please let the teens/players have fun; again, adults are allowed but only if they’re cool enough to play along without snitching them out!

All party game top levels are going to be made under Ahito’s account but please assume ICly that Akira instigated/explained them! Once the game toplevels are up you can also post your own toplevels to mingle freely if you like IDK IT’S A PARTY HAVE FUN]

Comments

[dyingtohealyou]

Compared to all the other worlds here? Not even a little.

Memories, sound, dreams - even your life or soul could be the price for each spell you cast, and no one gets to pick what it turns out to be.

Imagine my surprise, showing up here and finding out that's not the case in this world or any other.

[troublereduction]

[ Phil looks wonderful painted in joy, Day thinks. He wants to keep giving Phil as much joy as he can, and maybe one day Phil will be able to find serenity within himself. A meaningful happiness after a lifetime of disappointment and digging the hole for oneself.

He leans down to whisper in Phil's ear, just a thing between the two of them: ]

We'll do more later, 'kay?

[ Because they're already as grossly PDA as is, and Day would rather they get to bask in finally being together without everyone else's eyes on them. The things Day wants to do are not ones he wants to share with anyone else, either. ]

[fellheart]

What an oddly weighted exchange. In most worlds, it does seem exchange of some sort still tends to be the basis of anything resembling magic, but the price for yours seems strikingly steep compared to some of the others represented.

You may take another truth, if you like.

[mirristry]

[No sooner do those words leave Day's mouth than Phil becomes painted in scarlet as well, his cheeks flushing bright both at the implication itself and the realization of just how much he wants that "more" that Day is offering so freely.

He opens his mouth, then closes it again and just nods silently, too shy to give an actual voice to his desires yet wanting to make them clear nonetheless. It's a strange and almost unsettling thing, being allowed to hope - to look forward to something - like this, and he lets that thought roll around in his mind for a few moments until it finds a place to settle.

The warmth that spreads through him now can't be entirely attributed to the alcohol...]

[troublereduction]

[ Does it make it better or worse that Day's reaction to Phil's response is to laugh, low and pleased? Ah, Phil is cute. He hopes he'll get to see more of it and keep it to himself. The idea that he will remain in Phil's heart is almost too much.

He leans down to press a quick kiss to Phil's forehead—more gross PDA, but an innocent one, and one he wants to get in because he can't contain all this affection for Phil completely. ]

[mirristry]

[Phil allows it, burying his face in Day's shirt to hide his luminescent blush. The kiss is very much welcome; it's the having an audience part that he's not wild about either. Still, he can hold out for a little while longer, though that may be a challenging task with the way his imagination has already started meandering down previously untrodden paths.

He'll just have to make sure Day understands exactly what he's responsible for later.]

[fellheart]

[ perhaps, if the gods truly did wish to see humanity grow, what was left of their minds would have them cede their positions willingly ... he cannot say. he cannot speak for the gods who were gone centuries before his own wings spread to span the skies of what would later be the nation that devoted itself to his worship. all he has is his own experience and the dusty, forgotten tomes and scrolls he's studied. ]

There are some in every age. There are those who are willing to try, but their reach limited, at best.

[ but what an interesting approach these vampires took in attempting to cull the herd, even if not for the correct motives. humanity is a rotten, sickened thing. how does one rescue the healthy, salvageable fruit from the diseased tree? and even if they could, can anyone say they should be the arbiter of who should be allowed to live, if they condemn the rest to die?

no, anyone who would claim to be able to hold the title— they are the last person who would deserve or suit it. is the only thing for it then to burn the entire tree down, and let the ashes feed whatever new bloom follows? ]

So then the question becomes: how does one move the human heart? How does one reach the hearts of many, and make it last?

[ the future is built upon the past. if the past is nothing but strife, ancient animosities, long-established prejudices and grudges, and none will choose to learn from it, is it not better to wipe the slate clean and start anew? ]

[lighthaus]

Which is?

[fellheart]

Oh, probably that I emerged from the bowels of the earth intent on ridding the world of humanity from the start, because I was created wicked and cruel and with a thirst for destruction, and so of course it should be ordained that her chosen bloodline would be sworn to combat me with her divinely blessed toothpick, sworn duty and all that drivel. I don't keep up with whatever the current scriptures are to know their exact wordings.

[lighthaus]

[ khun grins with a small huff. ]

Isn't that a mouthful.

One more truth for me to make us even. [ and then he'll probably excuse himself to go pester kurapika or something. ]

[mirristry]

[The mention of the moon rock makes him wince slightly, though he tries to keep his expression level.]

No, none of us did. We got near it, but we avoided coming into direct contact with it. Although... the way it felt...

[Like it was trying to tear into his very soul somehow.]

[troublereduction]

[ Unfortunately, Robin is more right than he would ever want to be, though not entirely. ]

Funny how destiny has a way with things even 'fore I became a professional.

[ A dry joke. Day goes quiet after, however, mulling over a question and wondering if he should even ask it. ]

...You got any plans what you wanna do after all this is over?

[fellheart]

[ a blink goes long. then for a few heartbeats more. he's ... resisting the compulsion, at least as long as it takes for him to try to find the best way to word his answer. least committal, least weight.

when his eyes reopen the rest of his expression is blank. ]

... I thought I had.

[troublereduction]

[ ...Day slowly sips his drink. ]

I see. So it's up in the air now?

[ Is this an improvement? Day can't tell. ]

[dyingtohealyou]

Give me five people or things you enjoy about this place.

[fellheart]

Five?

[ uggghhhhhhh does he really have to ]

[dyingtohealyou]

Five.

[Tehe ☆]

[fullspbar]

[ Painless for YOU.

He's already taking his seat again when he registers the question, and he pauses mid-reach for his abandoned drink to pull his hand back to rub at his neck instead. ]

'S not like it was something I was jumping to do.

[ Because, well, Khun is right. Shinjiro is NOT a party person. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. ]

Just came to make sure nobody was doing anything stupid. I don't sleep early, anyway.

[fellheart]

You make it sound like such a nebulous thing. But I suppose that's not wrong.

[ ... ]

I am not a kind creature. There is a role I am expected to play. The worst that people have to offer still sickens me to the core. The fact of the matter is, I've done things I cannot take back.

But at the same time ... I do not belong in the world I was summoned from. Still, I cannot simply abandon it, or run from the things that have already come to pass.

[lighthaus]

[ an amused smile. ]

And what's your verdict?

[erythropoiesis]

[It takes him a moment to mull it over, trying to find the right words to say it.]

It's like a complete corruption and dominance of the mind. Those who have been tempered lose their own will, and are completely in a primal's thrall. They cannot think for themselves and make their own choices, entirely dedicating their entire being to following the primal's will while being entirely unaware of the world around them. They're shells of themselves with their only goal being summoning their primal and getting more under its sway.

[Those who have been tempered are dangerous and a threat to the world, but that goes unsaid. It feels cruel to blame victims for actions they're unaware of.]

[leewards]

[Ithaqua taps a finger on the wooden table as he listens, and thinks. Definitely not anything similar to what he knows and has experienced. It's no cult fanaticism at all, and he's mistaken. It's definitely disheartening. Still, he keeps it off of his face, just to not bring the mood down more than it already has.]

You've been able to make a proper cure... And yet it is so oddly specific-- [He shakes his head.] If only something similar could be done for other ills of the mind.

[troublereduction]

Until it happens, it is kinda nebulous, isn't it?

[ (Day, who has no idea:)

...But he looks contemplative for a while. ]

What's gonna happen if you do go back? [ Day has an inkling, but in the end, he isn't entirely sure what the latest situation is there. ]

[fellheart]

You know what the dragon once prophesied in its final breaths.

[ it. the wings of despair, the breath of ruin. the end of all things. ]

Had I not been summoned here, I would have worked to bring the current age as anyone knew it to an end ... or.

[ or. his tone is calm, impassive, as if delivering simple truths, but what exists of his agitation is betrayed by the way his fingers tap out a steady rhythm on the countertop. ]

Or. The world would have proved itself suited to continue on on its own, misery and ugliness and all, and declared its intent by striking the dragon down once more.

[erythropoiesis]

[Hand to chin, thinking... He knows a few things about healing and the manipulation of aether, and he's more than familiar with how memories work and with how people can twist the minds of others for good and ill, so he's still optimistic.]

It's certainly possible, depending on the source of the illness. If it's biological it may be more difficult, but were it the result of an outside influence or conditioning...

[Briefly, he thinks of those in Kholusia, under Vauthry's thumb, but that's perhaps just as irrelevant as tempering is for whatever Ithaqua's concerns are.]

I would need to see for myself, but I think... there's always a chance.