deercountry | yes I knew it was no moonshine, it is real

[everything! communication is hard! getting distracted is easy which makes communication hard! but. she has no idea how to pantomime 'squid', so she points toward the general direction of the ocean, and back to herself, back to battler. she has questions, too! like, the name battler?? well, that just opens up so many questions she can only meow or trill about - and even the omnis do not (that she knows of) have a batcat to sleeper translation option.]

Oh. Umm. Hmm. Okay.

Well, I'm good with painting animals. Nature stuff, creatures. Or I can just do a bunch of fun shapes, or a robot, or...

[she tries to rein it in, because that's a lot of options.] Do you have a favorite animal or creature? From here or home? [if she doesn't know what it is, she can use her omni.] I think they're supposed to be a little scary, but I don't think that part matters as much.

[does it? maybe? shit, she hadn't thought about that. what if it's the scariness of the costume that has the protection baked into it? no, no. sansa's costumes have been less on the scary side and she's been fine.]

Uh. You want to go... to the sea? Just fly over, I guess.

[ He scratches under his chin. ]

...or do you want me to go over there with you?

[ Battler is way off. Which isn't really his fault, but it's probably putting a damper on this conversation. ]

[ Robby doesn't even acknowledge the cheeto-cramming, he's so not bothered that much. He's having fun ("fun") rearranging the cube as she speaks, though his twists slow, small glances to show that he's listening to her. Less of the want in him to bite back in what she says, though, really, it has nothing to do with her -- it's just a bad mood. A bad month. A bad everything.

A bad everything where he puts more force into his twists or pretends to, letting her words weigh on him. If only he'd known first aid, huh. If only he could fight a beast.

He looks overs to her with the question, an exchanging look between her and the cube. ]

Yeah. [ Mumbled, but his voice picks up after a beat. ] The Sanctuary the place you take them to make them change back? You been there?

[Maul is definitely done with masks this month. After being turned into a dinosaur and going on a rampage on the last day, he doesn't trust any of them. Fortunately, everyone who is aware of what happened last time is more than happy to steer him clear of anything that might be cursed.

One of Maul's followers gently steers him clear of one of the stalls that may have cursed masks or facepaint.]

I don't think you want to try that one, Lord Maul. Why don't you try Urusula's?

[They suggest. So Maul finds himself back at the tattoo parlor. When he spots Vi, he lifts a hand in greeting before he makes his way over. His two followers remain in the front area while he goes over to her.]

Are you doing facepainting as well as tattoos this month?

[Scorpia's smile grows warmer as she hears the catbat's meow and sees how comfy the creature seems with her rocking!

She does blink as she sees the fangs - do they seem a little different than expected? And then her neck is being licked! It should tickle, although instead she feels more of an absence of sensation.]

Hey there now, I'm not on the menu! [She says with a laugh. But mostly she's confused, as she raises her pincer to poke at the spot where the creature licked.] Th-that's weird. A kitty's lickies wouldn't normally feel... or not-feel like that. You... There's something different about you... [After a moment of thought-] ...Anyone ever tell you you're kinda like a bat too?

In a good way.

[Really really. If nothing else, it's nice to see people enjoying themselves. Maria never yearned for frivolity during her time with the Templars, spent years with a mindset that was nothing but deadly serious in fact, but it doesn't change how she feels seeing it now.]

I don't know about that. I've never had reason to wear one before. They weren't a custom back in England, and then I spent years at war.

[It doesn't occur to her that to some, dressing up as a knight or even one's steward could be a costume.]

(eating is so exhausting but thank goodness she manages to swallow it all down. with the stick no longer having the meat, she light tosses it on the table then slumps more on the couch.)

There, happy? Are we good now or are ya gonna make me do somethin' else? 'Cuz my schedule is all booked out.

(it's not at all. unless sitting on the couch and doing absolutely nothing counts as a full time job. which jinx has finally declared for it to be this very moment.)

[batcat instincts in full swing, she waits for a spot to open up, for scorpia to lower her pincer just enough that she can dive back in - but gently! most of the batkittens (and cats) she has interacted with have been very courteous about their bites, and she's only seen them take a little blood.

so she nosebutts at scorpia's neck, and very gently (easily, too. her fangs are sharp) sinks her teeth into the skin that she's numbed, her face scrunching up in embarrassment, delight and the tiniest bit of revulsion (oh, fuck it, that's what these cats eat) takes a drink. it's cold! the general temperature of scorpia's skin already gave her the head's up in case she'd forgotten, but the real iciness is a (pleasant?) shock. she will attempt to settle in, kneading again with her paws, trying not to make direct eye contact but if it happens - this cat looks both happy and contrite.]

[that's ...not the worst interpretation? she might be able to write in the sand! also, it's kind of a fun game, if she looks at it as more of a temporary challenge and not ...longer. which is easier to do than expected - a byproduct of sensory overload. how had she not noticed each sleeper by smell before this?

yes, battler. you smell nice to batcats. or maybe just this batcat. and wow, does vileblood stink - she gets why visenya makes that face now, 100%.

so she beats her wings faster - up and up and swooping down and around - a pleased little yelp as she moves toward the ocean, looks back at him and nods again before hovering a bit further and looking back. her ears have gone sideways, and she's got a look of planned mischief about her, even if she isn't actively planning it now. this cat is giving all signs of wanting to play chase me chase me.]

[biting back is something vi can take a lot of - in healthy and unhealthy doses. she may not be at her best today, but she's used to the foulest of tempers from people that she likes, and sometimes people she loves. sometimes her love language is a middle finger, sometimes it's a door slam and an eye roll and a huff and a fuck you - sometimes it's pushups, or a helmet or a balls to the wall spar.

which is all to say, it would take a lot for her to get her feathers ruffled. but she watches him fidget - the highs and lows of it. microexpressions. the stuff she's learned to gauge her own safety, or an easy mark now turned to entirely different use. she likes it better this way if she's honest.]

Good. And, yeah. Sansa does a lot there, a lot of my friends and other hunters do. It's uh ...also where I started learning first aid.

Did that after a shitty first month here. Not as bad as last month if I put it on paper and compare, but sometimes there's no comparing, there's just "sucks".

Oh!

[Scorpia makes a surprised noise once she notices what's happening. That cat sure is gettung a drink of her! It must be like sucking on the strangest freeze pop.]

I- I guess I am on the menu after all! [She feels like she couldn't be disturbed more by this, but she knows that blood has its uses in this world. If it's helping this kitty stay alive, them so be it! She tries to take it in stride.]

You, uh, go ahead and take your fill! Just leave some for me, okay? [A sheepish chuckle.]

[ Oh! He got it right? Great! He follows at a quick little jog, not wanting to lose sight of his new little friend. If she wants him to chase, she'll chase, at least for now. His pace picks up. She's small, but she's quick! ]

Hey, wait up!

[ It might not seem like he's listening, his eyes back on the cube, but -- there's no meaningful turns of the pieces he takes, and they're slow, not thought out, done every four seconds or so. His head a little tipped with his eyes on his hands, but his furrowed brow is for more than the stress reliever. ]

It's just like that? [ Because his gaze is still dipped, but he's not moving it now as he speaks. It's just sucks is what he means, but his thoughts change course, and he asks instead: ] What happened to make you want to learn?

[ He looks at her then, like there must be a reason connected to this place to want to pick up first aid than just its usefulness. Or he can see such a reason being why, easily. ]

Sometimes, yeah.

[it's not the answer she wants to give, but it's an honest one. other people had had it way worse that month - and she'd gotten off easy, but not easy enough that it still doesn't bother her. there's block she avoids in crenshaw now because of it.]

Two things. One, I knew that sooner or later I was gonna be in a situation where someone---

---say, another hunter or just ...anyone got hurt, and I didn't want to just stand there, or have to bail and get someone else if there wasn't time. What if they don't have any magic? What if we're too far from a lamp, or ...I don't know. So there was that.

And there was the thing in July where people got a real taste for blood. Violence. I did a bunch of bad shit. But I... [she looks at the cube and not robby, sighs and looks up. she can own up to it, even though it still upsets her. she did the thing. no takebacks.] I put a couple Trenchers in the infirmary. Kept trying to make up for my mistake, say I was sorry, carried bedpans and lunch trays, and one was ...okay about it, I guess? [as okay as one can be. but he'd seemed to accept her apology. who knows, maybe he was scared not to.] But the guy I beat up real bad just kept screaming every time he saw me, and ...that's the other reason.

I was like "I'm gonna have to put more good shit in than bad if this is how it is here." And learn to try and keep a tighter lid on the bad.

[she's getting there. this is a start. but she nudges that thermos toward jinx. it's a gentle nudge followed by an agreeable chirp. if jinx wants to drink the wakeup juice it is right here. she will just rub her head along her sister's knee or elbow - whatever she can reach, and then switch it up because it's almost like getting pets, but self service. she continues to purr.]

(why is she giving her so much work?! jinx breathes out another sigh before reaching to the thermos. but instead immediately drinking, she takes a moment to scoop kitty sister with her feet hand to place on her lap. once that's done, then she takes a sip -- making sure it's a long one so she'll be good for a little while.)

(few seconds in, she stops and the expression immediately shows exhaustion from holding the cup to her lips. what a freaking pain this all is. just one more moment, she tells herself as she sets the cup on the table in front of them. if it leaves a ring, who cares. jinx isn't a stickler for that.)

... I still dunno what to think about this place. (slumping in her seat, she gently place her hand on her kitty sister's back. vi being a cat is so bizarre -- her mind continues to flutter off that this animal is not just an animal.)

The folks I've spoke with say they see this place as their home. I wonder when it'll feel like that for me.

Edited 2022-10-21 01:17 (UTC)

[ Robby doesn't look at Vi's face much. It's mostly her hands, the light orange dusting of cheese flavouring sticking to them where it seems safer. Looks when he thinks he feels her eyes on him, and he'll keep them there if that's what she's looking for, but -- it's hard, too. The story she's telling, the world she's revealing. Robby knows what kind of world this can be, but he sees it in her story: driven senseless by the blood that fuels Trench, and then witnessing the aftermath of it.

He sees blood, more than she even paints; because he can't get it out of his head, people dying, some because of your mistakes, and then you're just left to continue. Resume life, know it'll come back around again, and you're left questioning what you can do about it. You weren't built for this world, but here you are.

How do you know you fit in this world? sits on his tongue, but never comes out. Because there's no other choice than one Robby would never be willing to take. So then he has to be the person who doesn't fear, just like he was taught; he has to keep it in, because every other option leads him to breaking. ]

It's a good idea. [ Her line of thinking, both of them. His words are careful, but trying to be even. Reasonable. He should think like this than anything else. ] Mind if I steal it?

[vi has a great deal of practice with people who would prefer not to make eye contact, and one friend (okay: crew) that would rather outright avoid it. so that's fine. peopling is doubly hard when you're on edge, exhausted in mind and body and spirit, or in various levels of pain - which seems to be almost all of the sleepers she knows right now.

if she catches the nuance in it, or the pain - she might avert her gaze entirely. sometimes even when you are built for a place (or at least you think you are) ...you still make the wrong calls and everyone around you pays the price. they're gone and you're here paying your own price, sure, but it never seems high enough. you give grace to others, but yourself? somehow you manage to skip right over that one.

if she could read minds, she'd have thoughts about keeping it all in.]

Nope, steal away. I'm sure I'm not the first one to have this epiphany.

[she isn't special. far from it, here. but gods know she's given her share of stupid advice, set stupid examples - so she'll try and remedy that where she can. and she doesn't want to pry, but something in his gaze, it's like a less intense version of a face her sister makes sometimes - the one she'd sit with after waking up from a sweat drenched nightmare, staring into the darkness after being quietly sick, when they still shared a bed and jinx thought vi had been sleeping.]

Did something happen? Something else besides ...blood shit?

[she will zoom a little and then circle back each time - throwing in a loop de loop and only once getting distracted by a child carrying a streamer. it's not parkour, but it's ...close enough to relieve her nerves. it's also fun. and she'll stop the moment she's able to fly over the sand, flitting back to battler to give him a little pat on the shoulder. a good job, kid! from an odd little batcat.]

[it doesn't take long for her to finish, and her catbody rewards her with a quiet stomach and a renewed sense of energy without anxiety. (if scorpia has virgin blood, then little does she know a deeper drink might have broken the curse, ah well.) it is like drinking a slushie! and while vi knows that vilebloods can gain energy from drinking blood, too, it's not anything she'd been planning on doing unless an emergency arose. this, she supposes, is that emergency? kind of?

she has left more than enough blood, but now that it's done, she feels as if she should at the very least try to make up for it. somehow? so with all that renewed energy she leaps into the air, speeding gracefully over the bar to grab a clean glass - which she holds out to a slightly surprised bartender. it's water.

she zooms over to scorpia, glass in hand and sets it down in front of her, but she's not done. she only stops after cajoling a woman into giving up her beer, so over to scorpia that tankard goes before it's even been touched. and for her finishing thank you she will slide a bowl of snacks across that bar just for you.

it is time to replenish your energy.]

[ 'Nothing,' is the answer in Robby's lungs. Not yet reaching his mouth, because nobody ever believes a nothing alone, you need a better answer. An answer that doesn't give your truth away, but satisfies the other. But what harm can a half-truth do? Other than the part of him that wants to give away nothing, tells him he shouldn't bother.

He runs a nail along the edge of one of the smaller cubes, a fidgeting gesture; and he can already feel the emotion welling up, a prickling in the corner of his eyes. ]

I-- watched a guy die. And I couldn't do anything. [ He's aiming for cold, detached, but there's colour in his words-- a frustration as he feels the first few tears fall down his cheeks, and his expression darkens, mouth twisted in disgust. ] And any time I think of fucking anything, this happens.

[ He wipes at his face with the back of his sleeve, a sigh of tried patience. Now he's gripping that poor rubix cube tighter, his feet shaking where they've been tucked and hooked together. ]

I couldn't do anything, [ he repeats, ] I can't change it, and I have to live with that.

[ And he doesn't sound detached at all -- he sounds disgusted. ]

[Scorpia has used her blood in rituals before, so Vi's not missing out on anything by not drinking more.

She then watches in astonishment as the batcat springs around so spryly, bringing her some water, beer and snacks.]

Whoa! Wow. You, you are good. [She gently pets the creature... and quickly gets to work downing the water. Always nice to have something to dig into right after giving some blood! She quickly starts digging into the snacks and will start on the beer shortly.]

Thanks for that! You really know how to thank a gal for a drink.

[ He makes a little noise of amusement - not quite a laugh - as she swoops back to congratulate him. He skids to a halt on the sand and stares out over the waves for a long moment before he turns his attention back to her. ]

Well, we're here! Now what?

[her mouth twists a little at the mention of war - yeah, that's a thing that lurks in the back of her mind, always, and she's able to punt her personal feelings elsewhere, but being reminded of someone else's? that's harder to punt anywhere, honestly. but she'll try, because this is about fun. about dancing, and singing, and parades and face painting and ...weird superstitious chants? okay, maybe not that last one. get outta here, stray thought.]

We can fix that if you want. Grab you a mask, or I can paint you up real quick. But it's not like you need it to participate in the fun.

[maybe just in the keeping beasts away? yeah, yeah, legendary horrors, but after dealing with outpost shifts? eh.]

It's supposed to keep you "safe", but you've got ...yourself for that.

yes I knew it was no moonshine, it is real

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A

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cw: talk of death

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