I’m a maker of fine graves // Open Log

[thatsreallygreat]

Who: Caduceus Clay thatsreallygreat and YOU
When: post event
Where: ADI, Bonnie's, Dogtown, random park
Summary: Open prompts; happy to match style
Notes: visual reference for Caduceus's human disguise when he's off ADI property; (source)
Warnings: instrument that makes a sound like a person screaming; general references to death/decay



Bonnie's

Helping Bonnie with projects around the house is one way to get a little extra earnings, and Caduceus is happy to do it. He's tall, so at some point Bonnie sent him around to change lightbulbs all around the house - including in rooms where people are staying. He'll knock first, of course, and hold up a lightbulb with a bemused smile.

"Come to add a little light to your life." He thinks he's hilarious, thank you. "It'll only take a minute, or I can come back when you go out."

Sometimes he can be found down in the communal kitchen, cooking relatively large meals for anyone who might want to grab something to eat. Everything he cooks is vegetarian, though if someone requests a meat dish, he might be willing to make it. He'll just need someone else around to do the tasting. When he can, Caduceus does both breakfast and dinner. And if anyone wants to keep him company while he cooks - or better yet, help him - he'd welcome that.

And when the house is quiet, Caduceus might be found in his room, all seven feet of him crammed into a bed that does not fit him. He doesn't complain... though he does tend to leave the door open, even when he's sleeping, to avoid feeling too closed in.

ADI

Medical
"I don't want to die--"

"Mr. Smith, you aren't going to die, but we do need to treat that injury." The nurse standing by the bedside is clearly trying not to sound too exasperated. Caduceus, for his part, stays placidly behind her. And towers over her. The man in the bed doesn't sound placated.

"I heard what he is. People say things he touches die."

"Well, that isn't exactly accurate," Caduceus chimes in, calm despite the roundabout accusation that he might be killing patients. "I am a healer."

The patient doesn't seem willing to budge, though, and looks at the pink firbolg like he might be Death itself. The nurse gives Caduceus an apologetic look, but he bows out, thinking it better that he not aggravate a somewhat hysterical patient. Instead, he finds another occupied bed and approaches, hoping that the somewhat loud conversation wouldn't put anyone else off.

"Hi, I'm Caduceus. What are you here for today?"

Counseling
He shares a room with some of the other counselors, though they are never in there at the same time, and Caduceus has added a few personal touches as he can. Plants, in particular. They brighten up the space. He also find a comfortable rug that matches absolutely nothing else in the room. He likes it and so far the other counselors that use this room haven't removed it.

He gets water heating for tea, tickled by the electric kettle and willing to admit its convenience. He sets out his own box of loose-leaf tea along with whatever ADI has on hand.

Caduceus looks up when he realizes someone is in the doorway.

"Hey, need someone to talk to?"

The Bone Flute

After checking through the bag that arrived with him, Caduceus is delighted to find his bone flute. He almost blows into it right there in Bonnie's, then thinks better of it. Instead, he heads outside and finds a relatively quiet park. There don't seem to be a lot of people around and he picks a spot under a tree.

He runs his long fingers over the flute, smiling at the memory of finding it. Keone had been strange, but he liked her. He liked the harp she'd made for Yasha, too, and in that moment he misses Yasha. It'd be nice to sit with her and play their weird instruments. He'll just have to do so in memory of her, and hope that she is will and safe wherever she is.

The trouble is, the flute... doesn't exactly make the sort of music that most people might recognize as music. He blows the first note, and it sounds like a person shrieking. Caduceus pauses and nods a bit as he gets comfortable holding the flute again. Actually playing it means the duration of the notes is shorter - and sometimes longer - and it creates the most eerie cacophony.

And if someone rushes into the park, worried that someone is dying, well... it wouldn't be the first time.

Dogtown

Caduceus is taking advantage of some decent weather.

He heads toward Dogtown at a leisurely pace and picks a trail that feels right. He carries his staff with him, though for the most part he's only been using it as a walking stick and... well... a whacking stick. The last time he tried to call on his spiritual guardians, they had swarmed him and he isn't eager to try that again just yet.

Now and then he closes his eyes as he walks, just sort of taking in everything without seeing it. Caduceus stops when he sees a boulder that strikes him as appealing. He stands for a long moment, considering it. It feels like the right place to stop. He leans his staff against the rock and runs his hands over it before climbing onto it. He arranges himself somewhere comfortable and takes his straw hat off, leaving it in his lap. Back straight, eyes closed again, Caduceus tries opening himself up, searching for the Wildmother.

He feels... something. It isn't her, but there's almost like an echo of her. An aspect. And a familiar one, at that.

He breathes in deep and exhales slowly. He can hear and smell the life all around him, but there's far more than that. There always is. Beneath fallen leaves there is decay and growth. He can smell the damp earth, made rich by death and able to sustain the living. Agents of change move and grow: insects, fungi, scavengers. In a moment, he is as aware of the inevitability of it all, the natural process that will continue whether or not anyone wants it to. No matter how much interference there is, death will always happen. It is grounding in a way that the understanding of that cycle always has been. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Clay to clay.

As his mind wanders, he thinks of the strange roots he's seen. Meditating like this, he becomes vaguely aware of them again. And he is vaguely aware that he has manipulated them in the past by casting Path to the Grave. He'd seen the dark tendrils wrap around the kelpie moments before Tak killed it.

Caduceus feels a faint, warm breeze and it brings a serene smile to his face. He tips his head into it, comforted by it, just as he is comforted by the cool of the rock beneath him. Life and death. One can not exist without the other. And he is content in knowing this.

Anyone approaching the rock along the path will certainly notice the awkward-looking human with pink hair sitting on it, apparently meditating. They might also notice the ring of mushrooms that have sprouted up around it in a spiral.

Wildcard

[Please feel free to toss a scene my way if you have something you want to play out! I'm also happy to write more specific starts, so let me know if you'd like one. You can PM me here or find me at givemedragons; also happy to exchange discord information. I will likely update this with event prompts as needed when that goes up.

When he is not on ADI property, Caduceus looks like a very tall, lanky human with pink hair and pierced ears.

Oh, also happy to match style! If you prefer brackets, go for it.]

Comments

[graveyounglady]

"I feel like I ain't doing half the cooking I'm used to," Mercy says with a quiet laugh. "We got Ren coming by half the week to make meals for us. He's right good friends with Akechi. I'd like that, though. I been wondering what the accommodations might look like. She was a colorful-looking lady when I seen her at the meetings with Reyes.

"Do you have your own room there, like we got in the apartments?"

[thatsreallygreat]

"I did for a while, but I have a roommate now, Shiroe." Caduceus appreciates having someone around who has a working knowledge of magic, at least, even if he's using relatively little of it around Bonnie's.

"I've thought about seeing if ADI has more room. But I don't know that I'm ready to give up what I've got."

Having his own room would be nice, especially if it's not only a room that fits him, but a place where he can look like himself more often than he doesn't. Caduceus grunts as he gets up, returning to the boulder to grab his bag so he can collect mushrooms for himself. He picks everything that looks appealing, carefully separating the edible, the poisonous, and the edible-with-supervision varieties.

"Is living with ADI as strict as it sounds?"

[graveyounglady]

"Shiroe? Can't rightly say I've met him, yet. Funny name." As if Caduceus is a normal name. It certainly seems more in the realm of what she's used to, though. "Like he's been sheering sheep!" She grins, but shrugs at the question.

"I reckon is stricter for some than others. I ain't had cause to sneak out, yet, but I hear it's like scaling a battlement trying to get back in if you're out past the creeping out. Been thinking about testing it out now my foot's playing nicer. But I like having a reason being out. A young lady needs her beauty sleep."

She bites her lip slightly and eyes Caduceus for a moment. "There's a lot of fine-looking fellows around ADI. Even chanced to get roomed with one, and he's got a friend who's over regular-like. Akechi and Ren, if you've met them?"

[thatsreallygreat]

Caduceus tucks that away, and if he's lucky, he'll think about it later with some decent tea. Or he'll forget and it won't matter until it crosses his mind again. He looks over at Mercy when she mentions fine-looking fellows.

"No, I don't think I've met them," he answers, trying to place the names with faces. If they have met, it's been in passing. But they seem to have made an impression on Mercy, so he says: "Tell me about them."

He might be oblivious to people flirting with him most of the time, but he's been around enough people who go moon-eyed to be able to recognize it when he's paying attention.

[graveyounglady]

Mercy continues gathering mushrooms, herself, as she speaks, a blush touching her cheeks. "Well, they're both tall and strong. Real fit. Akechi's got this longish brown hair that I been thinking about asking him if I could do up. I think he-he'd look fine with a few handsome braids." It would also give her an excuse to play with Akechi's hair for a bit. "He's so kind and protective. When I was having a nightmare, he woke up and ran right into my room, ready to fight of anyone who was hurting me. And he-he held me for a little after that while I was pulling myself together.

"And Ren..." A soft sight. "He's even kinder, if you can imagine it. Always over cooking food for us, helping with the chores, listening. I reckon he's Akechi's best friend. But he's just been sweet as sugar to me and Monika, too. He's made me tea when I was scared and just let me sit with him. He gives so much of himself away, I worry a bit, but... Oh, Mr. Caduceus, he's so nice."

[thatsreallygreat]

Caduceus can't help but smile as he listens. He doesn't exactly have a lot of experience with what Mercy's talking about, but it's kind of nice to listen to her. Reminds him of his sisters, and he misses them.

He notices the blush as Mercy goes on, the way she rambles a little, the way she's very free with praise about both men.

"Have you told either of them this?" he asks mildly. Seems like a reasonable step.

[graveyounglady]

"Oh! Oh, we ain't... I mean, I don't know if they'd- Um... I mean, I told them I like them? Compliments and the like. Not much of a reaction, though. I reckon they're used to that?" That would make sense. Akechi seems like he's very used to getting attention, maybe especially from Ren.

"You think it'd be worth it being more... direct? We're all so busy helping out with work for ADI, and we'll all be getting some soon, right?"

[thatsreallygreat]

"I think it's always worth telling people how you feel," he answers. "Nothing is ever certain or promised, you can't ever know if the chance will come around again. The thing I hear most is people regretting what they didn't do rather than what they did."

Even if it doesn't go as well as Mercy might hope, Caduceus thinks she might be better for getting it off her chest than holding onto it and wondering.

[graveyounglady]

Mercy chews her lip in thought. "I'll think about it. I've... told boys I fancied them before and it got... awkward." She likes what she has right now. Is it worth risking it for what could be?

"And how would she even choose between them? They're both fine, and what if they got to talking, saying I told them I like them both? That might be weird. Or-or if I asked the one first, they might take it wrong and think I was only going for the other like a second choice."