apocalypsehowcomm | September Catchall

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September Catchall - Counteraction Rising

Who: Shiroe and you!
When: Between September 12th and the start of the September Event
Where: ADI Library, Bonnie's (kitchen and bathroom),
Summary: Catchall
Warnings: Discussion of burn scars in third (bathroom) prompt, may also tie into self-esteem/depression discussion

ADI Library
Shiroe's been doing research into the folklore and legends of Gloucester, ranging from haunted places kids dare each other to go to the historical rumors of witchcraft. It's been long hours of work, squinting at books and articles. However, he's been neglecting himself a little in the process, leading to him falling asleep at his seat in the library. Someone might want to wake him up before he drools on that historical newspaper clipping, perhaps...

Bonnie's (Kitchen)
A small collection of energy drinks has been accumulating in the fridge in the kitchen at Bonnie's. For someone who's new to America (and perhaps a few years behind the present day), all the varieties and flavors are exciting. Regardless of your reason for entering the kitchen today, you find a certain Enchanter, trying to find room in the fridge for a couple more, including a Reign White Gummy Bear and a Bang Cotton Candy.

"I doubt it actually tastes like cotton candy. Which is good, I think the circus might have soured me on it." He hasn't looked up to see who's in the kitchen with him, just heard footsteps and decided to engage.

Bonnie's (Shared Bathroom)
The burns from Pyre's slap have mostly healed, but it seems there will be some scarring, three small puckers from where Pyre's fingertips first made contact before hot wax hit the rest of his face. Shiroe's leaning into a mirror, examining those scars quietly, trying to figure out how he feels about them.

He's never taken particular pride in his appearance, so it shouldn't be a big deal, right? Riiight?

If that's the case, then why can't he stop looking at the scars, even when someone else walks into the bathroom?

Wildcard

darkersolstice or darkersolstice#9463 to discuss any closed prompts you want or any questions you have!

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Jeff's pretty sure he smells like a bar right now, all booze and sweat and smoke. So here he is, drifting into the bathroom in nothing but sweatpants, a towel draped over his shoulders. He peers over Shiroe's shoulder, glancing at his own reflection (normal), before his gaze shifts to Shiroe's (also normal?). The mirrors are being withholding today, reflecting reality, as far as he can see.

"What's up? See something you don't like?" he asks, his a little too casual, bordering on indifferent. He isn't referring to the scars, so much as the recent complications when it comes to reflections in general, but his remark can certainly be interpreted any number of ways.

"Just myself." He realizes how that sounds after a second and winces slightly. "I mean, not like that. I haven't seen any weird mirror stuff in this one yet today."

"Oh." Now it's Jeff's turn to wince a little. If Shiroe was experiencing some weird mirror shit, it'd be something Jeff could get. The actual context is... messier, even if it's a lot more mundane than curses in reflections.

"You look fine to me," he offers.

"Ah, thanks. I don't really pay attention to what I look like, most of the time, anyway. It's not really a big deal." He forces a bit of a laugh, trying to seem casual and failing completely.

Ouch, dude, it's bad when even Jeff can pick up on things. Maybe it's because he's so used to trying (and failing) to pretend things are fine, too.

"It's okay if it is a big deal, you know," he shrugs, in an attempt to help. Insecurity is normal! "I mean, I don't always like what I see, either."

Shiroe gives Jeff's reflection in the mirror a mild little glare. Which is, in his mind, kinder than giving that glare to Jeff himself. "It shouldn't be important to me. It's not like there's any reason why my looks should matter."

Of course here, he's literally stuck wearing the same thing every day. Grey turtleneck, grey-green pants, boots. There's no pizzazz. No attempt to appear more put-together. It's the MMORPG problem of wearing clothing with good stats and not trying to match, except now he's in the real world.

He meets that glare by directing his own reaction to the mirror: a tilt of his head, raised brows, and... then he starts fussing with his own hair, trying to make something respectable of it. "Why? What makes you different from everyone else?"

"Because, literally everything else about me is what should be important. My intelligence, my ability to observe, my strategy. That all matters."

He pauses, turning on the water in the sink, washing his hands.

"Before I was pulled into Elder Tale, I was something of a shut in. Nobody saw me, and I didn't see anybody. And in that time, I really...let myself go. Let my hair grow long, wore big slouchy clothing because it was comfortable. It didn't matter if I was a slob."

What he was, if he were more honest with himself, was depressed.

Seemingly satisfied with the state of his hair and dissatisfied by the continued lack of anything trippy in the mirror, Jeff takes a step to the side, does a 180 on his heel and leans up against the wall beside the sink. There, now they can talk face-to-face, and he doesn't have to keep getting distracted by the mirror.

"Yeah, but that's not the only stuff that matters. You're not a brain in a jar, dude."

He frowns a little, and though he isn't wise enough to know how to really talk about these kinds of things with any finesse, he can at least pick up on the fact that it sounds like a deeply unhealthy way to live--

--according to the guy who doesn't eat enough, doesn't sleep enough, and tries to mainline any drugs he can get his hands on.

"That sounds fucking miserable." He tilts his head curiously. "There wasn't anything you wanted out in the world?"

No drooling on the newspaper clippings! Ranger would normally be content enough to leave well enough alone, but in this case he's a little curious about the subject matter. He raps his knuckles against the table.

"Hey. D'ya mind?"

Shiroe startles awake, sitting upright and grabbing for his Enchanter's staff (which is leaned up against the table he's working at), as if he's expecting an attack. But once he realizes where he is, he relaxes slightly.

"Sorry. What time is it?"

"Well, yeah. I wanted out of the world. I started playing MMORPGs as a form of escapism. I wanted magic, I wanted to feel...empowered. I chose a class that really necessitated playing with other people, because I didn't know how to make friends in the real world. Even so, in the game, it took me a while to find a group that I wanted to play with, that I could respect."

But that's all in the game. He still doesn't really have real-world friends, or didn't before he was sucked into Elder Tale. Maybe he got coffee with a member of his raid party, or met a few of them at the bar. But did that count?

Shiroe, arguably, has never had a 'real life'.

In a lot of ways, Shiroe might as well be an alien to Jeff. Even with his own vices and escapism, he can't imagine a life like that, boxed in and consumed by fantasy worlds. It's always been the opposite for him: he'd drown himself in others' bodies, if he could. The less time spent alone, with his thoughts and insecurities and fears, the better.

Extrovert, meet introvert.

But, he gets it, kind of. Sort of. Wanting magic. There's a lot of blanks back home that wish they possessed what the Gifted have. Fuck, even other Gifted people wish their magic was bolder, brighter, more explosive. So many give up or coast by on little tricks, because they'll never be able to achieve the kind of magic seen in movies and comic books and, he supposes, sure, video games.

Maybe it's less about magic. Maybe it's more about wishing the world were more exciting, or that it made sense the way a story makes sense.

"And now you're here, which is, like... not the game, but not the real world, either, right? That sucks, I guess." Deep, Jeff. Super profound. "Do you miss it?"

It's somehow not a surprise to run into Shiroe exactly where they first met, poring over piles of paper and notes. Jaeger is here to look up a few things on his own, and it's only a momentary pause before he recognizes the young man faceplanting over his files.

Well. Jaeger wishes he'd brought coffee, now. It probably would have done them both good. Instead, all he's got is coversation, but he figures Shiroe would appreciate the wake-up in any case.

"Anything interesting?" He approaches only so far and no further, choosing to speak without looming over Shiroe. Giving him a chance to rouse without being startled.

[Aelwyn leaves the door open as she raises her eyebrows at him.]

Wow. I suppose our dear Pyre really left a mark. [She squints looking closer.] It's not too noticable, though. Don't worry about it.

[See, she can be nice. She closes the door behind her as she goes to wash her hands.]

"What makes you say this isn't 'the real world'? It's an Earth, even if it's apparently not the same one I'm from."

He's curious about how Jeff's approaching everything. For him, treating the circumstances he finds himself in as his current reality has been useful, even when that meant accepting 'when you die, you respawn in the cathedral' as real, a real law of the universe like gravity.

Shiroe definitely appreciates not being startled, sitting up and stretching his arms over his head.

"Local folklore and legends from over the years. The circus was a thing with history--I thought by looking into other local history, I might find things we could be dealing with in the future."

And then he got sucked into the research, lost track of time, pulled an all-nighter...what must his roommate think?

Not a big deal--I wasn't going to win any beauty pageants before this, either.

[Is it weird, for him to be in the bathroom at the same time a girl is? Well, she's not showering or using the toilet or anything, so it's probably not that weird. But he's still awkward over it.]

Well, certainly not with that attitude. [For shame, Shiroe. Forfeiting before the first round...

She's completely clueless to whatever awkward crisis he's having in his head, or maybe she just doesn't care.]

Does it hurt beyond what would be expected of a normal burn scar?

Malcolm has seen him here more than once this week. This time, when he spots him slumped over a table, he walks over and sets a cup of coffee near his books.

"Here. You look like you can use this." He gestures to the mess. "Is this... official ADI business?"

I'm not sure. I don't think so. It twinges when I open my mouth too wide.

[His points of reference are all experiencing video game attacks.]

"Not...exactly. Originally, I was hoping to find personal journals and handwritten accounts of past situations, but it doesn't seem like ADI have any. But there's some interesting tidbits of folklore or stories that have gone around which might develop into work for us later."

But it wasn't assigned, per se, and no one in the higher tiers of the organization was getting reports on what he learned.

Shiroe picks up the coffee and takes a sip, letting out a bit of a sigh.

"Just your own interest, then?"

He slides into the seat across from him and picks up an article, examining it briefly before putting it down.

"Does this have anything to do with people in town getting killed by a shadowy blob?"

"Shadowy blob, no. Witchcraft, ghost dogs, children's tales. None of it seems to be deadly yet, though." He shakes his head slightly. "I'm wondering if 'yet' is the operative word, or I just haven't found the right articles for that, though."

Well, he made the right decision to not go for a more direct method of waking the guy up. Not that he'd want to go around shaking some stranger anyway, but people around here are pretty twitchy. He watches the staff, tensing a little before relaxing himself.

"Think it's getting close to midnight." Or at lest 11. It was well after dark. "Got caught up in your research?"

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September Catchall - Counteraction Rising

bonnie's bathroom

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library

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Library

Shared Bathroom

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ADI Library

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