it catches up eventually

[swornto]

Who: Oz Vessalius, Xerxes Break, & Close CR
What: Oz becomes corrupted and dies, then Break gets stuck in a miserable timeloop.
When: June 15th (forward-dated)
Where: Pandora House & The Forest Around

Content Warnings: Suicidal Ideation, Beasthood Suicide, Child Endangerment



A Cycle of Misery

Please use the top-levels below, because there are timeloop shenanigans to keep orderly!

Comments

OTA | cw: bleeding, intense pain (she's limited to this too)

[individualized]

Immediate Aftermath

[Echo is still on the ground, conscious again after being hit and just in time to witness the end. She managed to prop herself up with her right arm, while her left droops next to her side as both continue to spill her blue blood from their gashes, leaving hardened dams and pearls on the ground around her.

She's just staring in dismay at the spot where Oz had last been. She doesn't seem to be moving or changing her expression, but tears are streaming down her cheeks.]

...

The Next 10 Days

[Echo may have the body of a Sleeper, but it's also still the body of a Baskerville AND she's basically a Chain herself. Getting struck by B-Rabbit, whether he was changed by Trench or not, has done damage like a regular attack of that nature would do to a regular person. It means she's almost entirely stuck in bed for quite a while with her wounds bandaged.

But it's also a bit worse the first two days. She hasn't responded well to being hit by that power in the past, and it's no different this time apart from the fact that there's no dormant personality trying to push itself out in her weakness. During this time, she's a bit harder to interact with. You can witness that she keeps wincing and groaning in pain, and even screams on a handful of occasions as she writhes.

After that, she goes through a mostly normal convalescence apart from some nightmares that are addressed (elsewhere). She's in a fairly somber mood the whole time, and even if she could get up she isn't too interested in doing things like feeding herself or reaching out to people. It may help if you initiate those.

It will take about 10 days of her having almost complete bedrest to get to a point where she can safely go to a "taking it easy" day-to-day life, but as she recuperates she'll start trying to push those boundaries to before she's really ready.]

Let's call this a couple nights after

[payingfordeliverance]

[It's a couple of days before Break settles down enough that Baltus manages to put all his teeth away. When he does, he resumes his nightly patrols around the house, a habit he's had since they arrived. Break rests better when he has another set of eyes ensuring that the kids are alright, and as a creature with no need of sleep and the ability to go intangible and waft himself around as a shadow, Baltus can go where Break cannot while he sleeps and wake him immediately if he's needed. Because of that, it's a common thing to run into Baltus without his person in the wee hours of the night, a good and proper guardian ghost.

The omen typically doesn't enter bedrooms unless he senses something amiss, or knows its occupant to be in distress. Echo definitely counts, here. So, when he arrives at her door, he doesn't hesitate to ooze himself through the crack beneath it as a shadow, to see what is to be seen.]

[individualized]

[The extreme pain from her exposure to the power of B-Rabbit is finally subsiding, but now Echo is having trouble sleeping. Her dreams really shouldn't be an issue. They're becoming focused on her memories of working for Vincent of all things. For some reason her entire body seems to be taking these as nightmares, however. So she's found herself awake and miserable.

Her own pain isn't what's bothering her so much as thinking about everything Oz must have gone through is. How much he must have suffered. How much he'll have to go through physically and mentally after this. And how much of it is her fault.

She's just sitting up in her bed with an occasional tear escaping her eyes, and even more rarely making a soft sound that's something between a sob and a grunt of discomfort. It's nothing to worr— Okay yeah, do whatever you need to do, Baltus.]

[payingfordeliverance]

[Ah.

Yes, this warrants an intervention. What Baltus knows is what Break knows, and Break still doesn't know exactly what to make of this girl. She reminds him of Ange in a way, with all the deadpanning and literal logic, and he assumes there must be something else underneath all that for Oz to be so taken with her. But it's not a bridge Break has figured out how to cross, nor is he certain he even ought to try.

But at the end of the day, she lives in his house and is precious to someone Break holds dear, and that's all Baltus -- a reflection of the best parts of Break -- needs to offer his assistance. He solidifies into his usual noodley shape and gives himself a good shake, mostly because the noise will serve as a warning to his presence, and moves slowly to sit at the edge of the bed. One of his front paws lifts and rests on the coverlet, not quite touching her. An offer to cross the distance.]

Echo. [This may be the first time she has ever heard this omen speak. Despite how constant as Baltus is, given that Break never puts him away, he only bothers to talk when it suits him.] You are feeling poorly.

[individualized]

[She did catch his warning about Oz, not that she thinks it did him much good. And after her experience with Dinah, an Omen speaking isn't too shocking to her even if her own is silent.

While she doesn't appear too surprised when he materializes (because she's Echo), it is pretty obvious that she's trying to control herself a bit more. She doesn't wipe away her tears, but she is trying harder to hold back her morose sounds. Her reactions to the lingering pain almost render that moot, however.]

Oh, Baltus. I am...recovering. It— erg— should be fine.

[payingfordeliverance]

[Baltus tilts his head knowingly. Naturally, he shares Xerxes Break's deeply irritating habit of not being fooled by much.]

Your body will heal in time. However, that is but a small part of the problem, isn't it...?

[individualized]

[Wow. The one time someone reads her and it's by a dog. A magical talking dog, but still.

She turns her gaze pointedly to the ground. She could try to deny it, but with his ties to Break that's probably a futile effort. It still takes her quite a while to respond.]

...Nothing can be done for anything else now. And sleep is proving to be difficult, so I am just.....

[not finishing her sentence, apparently.]

close enough to the end of the other thread lemme get this onscreeeeen

[velvet_teen]

[ Alice has been... clingy, in the absence of Oz. She has, in the aftermath of other incidents, discovered that fussing at people who are also feeling like crap is a distraction from also feeling crap. She's been stalking around her people obsessively and being quite distressed by that Uncle Ghost and wants to do. Anything else.

She keeps making tea at Echo and has not been particularly consistent with how much milk and sugar she adds. And now, she's stepped up her game. She has a tray with a bowl on it. ]

I've made soup. Open up!

[ This is being KIND and NURTURING. She jabs the spoon at Echo's face. ]

yeeeeeeeeeeesssssss!

[individualized]

[It's probably better than being stuck in bed hating yourself like Echo's been doing. Not that she can change the first part of that scenario, at least not without making things worse. And getting attention from Alice has been odd, to say the least. They've never been best friends, and Echo still hasn't figured the girl out to her own level of satisfaction.

This sudden development of Alice in front of her with food is enough of a surprise for Echo at the moment. She's already dealt with the tea and frankly she's not sure if this is better or worse. So she just stares from the spoon to Alice's face with a confused frown and a whole lot of reluctance.]

...Pardon me?

[You know, talking opens your mouth, Echo...]

[velvet_teen]

[ Alice promptly shoves the spoon in. HOMPH. There is a strong taste of sage and chicken. It might be oversalted but not, like, inedibly so. ]

Eating meat is good for the health.

[individualized]

Mmf!

[The shock makes it take a second, but it's pretty impossible for her to not just eat it. It's not like this is the first time she's been force-fed something.

Then she needs another second to get her breath back in sync.]

That...is true in a general sense, I suppose. But much more needs to be considered before something is "healthy".