apocalypsehowcomm | LOG: It's a Seally Good Time

Who: Jacob Stone and you!
When: August
Where: Apartment A3, the General's Store, the Docks/Arcades
Summary: There's an angry seal in the middle of the living room, a saga in three parts. Exploring the town, plus dealing with the consequences of magic and entities
Warnings: Body horror, fear-feeding for the Eye with terror, paranoia/stalking, will update if necessary

A. Warranty Void if Seal is Broken - OTA and to anyone who pops by Apartment A3 -

So he'd managed to hang onto the seal skin. He's not Jones, he's not a thief (stealing artifacts is necessary in their world, okay), but he knows that if this gets confiscated he's probably never gonna get any answers. Besides, Cassie probably would like to get a good look at it, too. Just when he's done studying it. Admittedly he's kind of excited about it, even after the awful experience. It's a real selkie skin, from real selkies! He could learn a lot from this, even if he leaves the science stuff to Cassie...

He closes the door to his room and sets the seal skin out on his bed, and starts writing down the dimensions in a notebook, sketching it out on paper, and making general notes.

The skin starts to curl a bit and he wonders if maybe he should keep it wet, maybe. Will it decompose on its own or is it fueled by magic? His fingers brush the edge of it, smoothing it down, when suddenly it grapples over him, like a venus fly trap snatching up its prey.

"Wh--"

Is the only sound he manages to get out before the skin drags him back into itself, his body all twisted up to fit inside it and he makes a very undignified, high-pitched barking noise. The notebook and pencil tumble onto the floor and he sort of...rolls off the bed, landing with a thump on the ground.

He has to get out of here, find someone to cut him out of this thing and--

...he closed the door to his room, didn't he.

After a good, long, frustrating struggle he manages to open the door with his mouth and galumphs his way over to the living room in search of help.

One might find Jake literally perched on the couch, looking like the world's grumpiest seal. One might find him sprawled out on the floor, barking squeakily in some sort of indignation spiral. One might find Jake trying to sneak into the bathroom because he's supposed to be in the water, right?

He is a very smart Librarian, he swears.

B. The General's Store - OTA

Historian wants to check out a historical sight, news at 11. Jake finds his way over to the store, taking in the architecture and occasionally muttering something to himself about steep roofs and gables and Cape Cod versus Dutch colonial.

If you're unlucky enough to wander close enough to him, he might actually engage with you and start pointing up at the building.

"You know, this reminds me of the Aptucxet Trading Post? The Pilgrims built it to trade with the Wampanoag tribe and the Dutch. It's actually first permanent settlement on Cape Cod. 'Course the building itself isn't original, it's a replica built in the 30's. Did you know that--"

He'll probably keep talking if not gently directed to enter the store.

C. The Docks/Arcades - OTA

The touristy part of town is nice and Jake wanders down here, checking out the restaurants and the kitschy shops, looking to see if any local artists had a shop that he can chat with. And old-timey arcades! He loves those! He'll chatter excitedly to anyone about the history of skee ball and pinball and try out some machines for himself.

In the middle of walking down the docks, he stops in front of a shop with some sad-looking plants in cheap, gaudy painted pots. There are some drooping succulents and the world's saddest aloe vera plant, a rose bush's attempt to live without leaves or flowers, and a ficus bonsai that's barely clinging to life.

"Aw, man, don't--don't do that, does anybody know how to water their plants? Hello!?"

There's an itch in the back of his mind and the longer he stays here the more it's pissing him off. He can almost feel it, how close they are to death, and it's like he can feel how bad off they were. It reminds him entirely too much of being one with the Grandfather tree, when he could hear the voices of the forest. Is he using magic? He can't use magic here, but how can he stop this--

"Can I help you?" It's an older woman who approaches him, friendly and smiling, looking like someone's grandma, and the first thought he has is that strange, buzzing need to scare her, to feed off that fear and he must have looked like all the blood drained out of his face because she looks concerned, moving forward. "Are you all right, dear?"

"Your--you need to water..." he waves a hand at the sad plants almost frantically, backing up, running into another tourist and mumbling sorry as he hurries off into the crowd. He rubs his face, his fading connection to the plants seems to have only made him...hungrier. He can feel it, like a gnawing pit, though in his mind and not his stomach. No, he can't, he can't, it's just gonna feed it, and he can't be part of this.

He stumbles into another person, accidentally spilling the drink they were holding, too wrapped up in his own problems.

"I'm sorry--man, I'm so sorry--"

"Hey, wise guy, thanks a lot!" The dude shoves him, tossing the rest of the cup and its contents on him.

Damn.

Don't do it. Don't do it--

"You really think that's smart? I said I was sorry, and I was even gonna offer to give you a couple dollars for the drink but no, you just had to do somethin' about that, didn't you? I'd warn you about pissin' off strangers. You never know who they might be. They might just be angry enough to jump you when you least expect it. Days later. Could be when you're gettin' back in your car after a trip to the bank. Or maybe at the gas station, gettin' a cup of coffee."

"If somebody does that--if you do that, I'll knock you out!"

"Will you?" Jake says, in that strangely calm voice. "Are you that confident in your own fighting abilities?"

"Course I am! And I got my phone! I'll call the cops!"

"Mm, sure. Let's hope you're fast enough."

It's faint, very faint, but he can feel it. Fear, fueled by some paranoia. The man's too angry to think hard enough to be afraid, but it's there.

And it feels good.

It feels horrifying.

Jake freezes, then quickly turns around without another word.

D. Wildcard - Anything goes! Let me know at indymica or PM!

Threaded | Flat

"Nope."

He absolutely knew none of this. The information dump had come out of nowhere but, strangely enough, the stylishly dressed mafioso wasn't complaining. In fact, he seemed to be genuinely listening as he gazed up at the structure being talked about. Look more closely, however, and one might catch the twinkle of amusement in the Chinese man's eyes.

So this must be what it was like to go on one of those guided tours. He saw them marching through his turf back home all the time. They were common tourist attractions in Chinatown after all. The thought made his lips twitch in further amusement.

He glanced at the talking man, still going on about architecture and history and whatever else came up. Zhao wasn't interrupting.

How long could this guy go on?

[ shiro’s minding his own business ok. it’s been a trying couple of days and while he appreciates the fuller wallet for all his troubles, he would very much like to have a day void of strange happenings. the apartment is supposed to be the safe haven. keith mostly keeps to himself and jacob -- he seems like a nice enough fellow. as far as shiro can tell, the living arrangement is going to work out fine between the three of them.

… but then there’s a repetition of noise. sounds like… someone banging against a door?

shiro’s got the middle room, wedged between keith and jacob, and while that can sometimes be less than ideal, he does appreciate how it makes it easier to discern what room sounds come from. so when a door opens down the hall, he has no question about who is moving about. except… instead of the familiar set of steps he’s come to know as jacob’s, there’s a rubbing? dragging? flopping?

frowning, shiro swings his legs off the side of his bed and stands up, simultaneously setting his phone down on the bedside table. the plan is to ask jacob what’s going on, maybe even offer his assistance if it’s needed. however, upon opening his door and finding a seal in the hall… ]

… You’re kidding me.

[ isn’t this seal business supposed to be behind them?? ]

( ooc; hope it's ok i do brackets hfkjhf it's just easier for me. we don't have to match tho!! )

[ as it so happens, keith is not anywhere near the apartment while jake's experiencing seal part 2: electric bugaloo, so he mmisses the crashing and thumping around. but that doesn't mean keith is entirely in the clear because he does show up in the apartment a little while later.

he opens the door, calling out: ]

Hey, I"m back.

[ force of habit, he doesn't necessarily expect anyone to answer. but then he looks over towards the common space area and finds himself staring at a goddamn seal plopped on the couch like that is a perfectly normal place for seals to be. keith blinks. stares. and then immediately starts to walk back out of the apartment. must've somehow gotten into the wrong one.. ]

Edited 2021-08-08 06:26 (UTC)

[ angelo listens to him talk. he's mostly quiet. he frowns, trying to place nations and names with the dates he's talking about; until finally, when he manages to get a word in, he asks, ]

Explain what a Pilgrim is.

[If there is one thing, in any world, that Jon is attuned to, it's fear. Fear and the signs of the Entities at work. His power might be greatly diminished here, but he can still feel it.

His attention is caught by the angry man, first, the fear flickering through him, but hardly noteworthy.

But the other man, when he hurries away. Oh, he can't help but look, and maybe it's because he is hungry. and misses the glut of his apocalypse... He stares, the Eye staring through him, and he finds himself following a little way behind.]

The blonde boy beside Jacob makes a little noncommittal noise at all the explanation. "Yeah, nearly everything from back then has been torn down or rotted. And they never get it quite right when they rebuild to make a museum."

"Dude."

So Jeff definitely saw that altercation play out. And he's probably hanging a little too close to the almost-fight, because as soon as Jake turns around, he nearly bumps right into Jeff.

But, hey, at least Jeff's too much of a pacifist to want to throw down over a minor accident. He just holds his hands up in surrender and steps out of the way, because he does not want to be the next person on the receiving end of that really creepy, really intense threat.

As Jake leaves, though, Jeff's following after him like a lanky, uninvited shadow. He pushes his sunglasses (mint green, seashell frames, almost certainly lifted from one of the kitschy tourist shops nearby) up into his hair as he starts to match the other man's pace.

"Are you okay, man? What the hell was that?" A beat, then it comes to him, and he excitedly adds, "Are you, like, a secret agent? Or a fucking hitman or something?!"

Edited 2021-08-12 19:41 (UTC)

B. but it was a hard choice to make over other options

A!

Apartment A3...

B

C

B - The General's Store

c!