(closed) december catchall

[entreats]

Who: Ange (entreats), Chizuru (tealeafs), Daniel (miyagimagic) and various others.
What: December shenanigans.
When: During all of December.
Where: Locations vary.

Content Warnings: Bullying, (mild) violence, will edit to add more later.

( starters in the comments! if you want to plot anything with me, feel free to either pm the journal or contact me at queeningsquare, i'm always open to new ideas and threads! )

Comments

for paul

[miyagimagic]

Winter mournings are known to pull people away to very different places in memory - and this one is no different. Once Paul finds himself in it, he'll find himself drawn away from Trench, to a place where there is no snow on the ground quite yet. The sky is dark, as it often is in Trench now the days are growing shorter and shorter, but the air is not quite as cold yet. It's still pretty warm, on the cusp of where summer ends and starts turning into fall, though in a place where even fall doesn't seem to experience such a sharp drop in temperature.

The place doesn't quite look like Trench either. It may not be lush, but there's certainly a lot more greenery around at the place where Paul will find himself standing on top of a hill, a small road running across it. For a moment Paul might seem like he's alone, but he isn't, not quite. Because the abandoned nighttime road is suddenly no longer empty, a boy of roughly the same age as Paul - though perhaps looking even a little bit younger - starts to approach, seeming to drive his bike across the road all by himself.

.. and even without that, Paul wouldn't be alone. If he turns his head around enough, he'll find that it's not just him standing there, but that Daniel - the regular one Paul has seen in Trench, the older one - is standing there right along that road himself.

It seems that he spots Paul at the exact same moment that Paul spots him, since Daniel's jaw drops, his eyes widening in surprise.

".. Paul." Daniel's voice is unsure, and he glances at the boy on the bike - a boy that looks a suspicious amount like Daniel, a fact that becomes obvious when the two are so close to each other now. The boy on the bike doesn't seem to notice either of them though, doesn't even react to them speaking, he's still just biking on.

It's the fact that he's being ignored by that secondary boy that makes Daniel look back at Paul instead.

"Do you know what's going on?"

Daniel's tone suggests that he knows what this is. That this is a memory, and what memory it is, even if he didn't quite expect Paul of all people here to witness it. That he's not asking Paul to explain, but maybe instead to gauge if the other is catching on. (Even if Daniel's brain is, at the very same time, spinning itself wildly into circles to consider the ramifications of Paul of all people seeing this. Seeing what Daniel knows is about to happen here.)

[terriblepurpose]

Even with his eyes closed Paul would know that this world is not his own. The taste of the wind is foreign to him, laden down with the unique imprint of this world's biosphere. There is an ocean nearby, the verdant flush of greenery, and through it all the hazy aftertaste of human petrochemical civilization.

There is also the voice he recognizes instantly, even before he looks away from the boy making his lonely way up the road.

"We're in a memory. It's Winter Mourning." Paul lashed the first of his bone and antler decorations together on the very first night of the new moon. He's been waiting for this since last year, planning it between his other endeavours, and he's come prepared: silver charms shine at his wrists, sigils and stars and moon phases, and his trusted ritual knife is hidden up one of his sleeves.

"Your memory, specifically, Sensei LaRusso." He glances between the man and the boy, uncertainty stamped on his features. "I apologize for the intrusion."

[miyagimagic]

Daniel slowly shakes his head. "It's random." It's not your fault, he means, though he's been saying those words so often to Paul already in their few interactions that he doesn't want to completely wear them out, even though he means them every single time. Still, it feels easier to word it this way instead under these specific circumstances.

They don't have a choice as to who they end up with inside of these, after all. "Nothing to apologize for."

.. though there's a faint awkwardness at having Paul of all people witness this specific memory. Sure, people witnessing his memories sits a little uneasily within Daniel at all times, but there are memories Daniel would have been able to brush off more easily. Memories that didn't involve Johnny, for one.

As much as Daniel knows who the bad guy is in this memory, it's not like he wants to damage Paul's view of the other man, not even when it's entirely because of Johnny's own dumb actions here.

Speaking of which, the moment Daniel opens his mouth to say something else to Paul, he's immediately drowned out by a loud sound, five boys on motorbikes approaching rapidly. They're all wearing helmets, but their jackets make it very clear who they are - the snake logo and the words Cobra Kai proudly displayed on their backs. They laugh and jeer as they get closer, audible even over the sound of their bikes, one of them calling out: "Looking for a shortcut back to Newark, Daniel?"

The bikes get closer to the boy who had been riding alone just a moment ago, surrounding him, absolutely crowding around him. There's one boy riding in the middle now, right next to the younger Daniel - blonde hair peeking out from under his helmet, perhaps a familiar, though younger, face visible from the open visor of the helmet.

Or a familiar though also younger voice, perhaps, as he calls out with: "He wants to learn karate! Well, here's your first lesson-- how to take a fall!"

The motor drives closer and closer, pushing Daniel to the side of the road, until the bike just starts moving right off the hill, the boy on it tumbling down, right past where Paul and the older Daniel are standing, falling off the bike and rolling further down until the body comes to a stop at the bottom, no longer moving for a moment.

The five guys on the motors just drive away without looking at the result of their action, still laughing, one of them calling out, "Good one, Johnny!" until they're gone.

Leaving nothing but Daniel, Paul, and the other Daniel - still lying there at the bottom of the hill, now at least faintly moving, groaning in agony.

for maul

[miyagimagic]

Sometimes a winter mourning brings you right back to the place and time you'd like to remember the least. Such is the downside of it, even with the relief the winter mourning brings once it's over - you can't exactly pick what memory you're suddenly thrown into.

And when Daniel sees this one right in front of his eyes, he feels instantly nauseous. He hasn't even seen who his companion is, but it doesn't matter. He doesn't want anyone to see this memory.

He doesn't even want to see it himself.

But there's no stopping this once it's started. There's no way out of the memory, out of the place they're starting in - a room which seems to be the inside of a half-abandoned old dojo. There's a single boy standing in the middle of the room, a younger Daniel. It may have been a little harder for his companion to tell who it'd be out of context, but with the older Daniel standing here as well, like a ghost in this memory.. the resemblance becomes a lot more clear really quickly.

While the young boy seems alone for now, just going through his usual kata movements, seemingly confused, Daniel tears his gaze away from the sight just to see who he's here in this memory with--

-- only to find Maul standing there next to him.

Of course it'd be a combination of Maul and this particular memory. It just had to pick the worst possible options for both the memory and the person he's stuck inside of it with, huh.

But there's no changing it now. No escaping. After Daniel spots Maul, he frowns, and then his gaze drops as if he can't even keep it on the other or the boy training there by himself. Instead Daniel momentarily stares at his shoes.

".. It's my memory."

He hardly figures the explanation is needed, since it's the obvious conclusion as Maul would know this isn't his own memory, but what the hell else is he supposed to say here?

[survivalthroughhate]

Maul was involved with the Winter Mourning memories last year. Some had been alright but a number of them had been hard to get through or even outright horrific. Yet this place has decided he needs to learn a bit more about his fellow Sleepers.

When he arrives in the memory, he doesn't recognize the place nor the boy who is practicing katas in the middle of the space. When he glances next to who is speaking next to him and sees it's Daniel, he looks back and forth between the two figures a few times as it becomes clear he's seeing Daniel's younger self.

He knows Winter Mourning memories tend to be of times of great emotion in a person's life, so he wonders what is about to unfold. Still, rather than try to put all the pieces together, he preemptively asks: "What am I looking at here?"

[miyagimagic]

It's tempting to snap back, even though Maul - in this case, in this instance - has done nothing to necessarily deserve it. If anything, that's a very nice and neutral question compared to a whole lot of other stuff the man could have said in the face of this.

Even Daniel realises as much. And what he also realises is that the memory he's about to witness is one that's rough for him to have to live through all over again in the first place. Does he really want to make it harder on himself by arguing with Maul, as tempting as Daniel's dumb temper would make that?

.. no, he doesn't.

He slowly exhales, and then just explains, though he doesn't look directly at Maul as he speaks, instead staring at his younger self.

"I'm practicing kata," he says, omitting the part that the kid is him, because.. well, Daniel may have certain ideas about Maul, but he doesn't assume the other is dumb. He thinks Maul already figured out that's Daniel, if it's his memory and the kid looks so much like the way Daniel does even now he's so much older. "They're the basis of my karate."

.. maybe he should just talk.

It's a good distraction from thinking about what's about to follow here in this memory. Just let his mouth run without thinking about it too hard. Without even thinking too much about who he's talking to, as the boy still seems to go through the motions by himself, not noticing either Daniel or Maul.

"But this is not the dojo I'm supposed to be practicing at. I was lured here by a conman."

for daniel larusso 😏

[shittychores]

[ A past in crime. ]

It's dark, a kind of night that doesn't feel like Trench as it settles over Daniel's vision. But it's familiar, and in ways that might be quickly recognised despite the obscurity of where the memory opens up. There's a blockade of bushes lining at one side of the lot, tiled surfacing that runs along the wall closer behind him, its upper portions larger blocks in design. Further shrubbery pokes out from the border created to separate the road from the building, only interrupted in its repeating line by a youth that Daniel's come to know well, his feet standing on top of the brickwork.

Daniel LaRusso might even say he can recognise Robby Keene as well as he can recognise his own business -- then again, both have a nametag, somewhere. Robby's is written on his grey LaRussos Luxury Motors shirt, the one he worked hard to get, on the opposite side of the logo. His head is bowed, one hand in the pocket of his work slacks, the other a fist tapping incessantly against the back wall. The strands of his hair still hang around his face as it once used to, his frame softer than what it will be in a year.

It's night in February, and the cold lingers less in Robby's memory than a trepidation for what he seems to think is to come. And there's someone - two someones - coming, that Daniel will know without asking.

Something is about to be given up, and the potential price scares him, but -- Robby's decided. Something's decided, for whatever that feels like to experience while in the memory of another who hasn't yet noticed your presence.

Who continues to knock his fist against the wall of your car dealership.

[miyagimagic]

There's a brief moment where Daniel assumes it's his own memory. Who else would be remembering the dealership, of all places? Sure, it's not like he's usually there at this time of day - or rather, night - but it's not like it's never happened before either. It seems a little bit mundane compared to some of his own other memories he's witnessed, but he isn't going to question that too hard.

.. but then there's a weird sense hanging over this memory. An emotion that doesn't feel like his own, especially when coupled with the current location. A kind of deciveness, but with something more nervous at its edges. A sense that from this point on, there will be no way back.

Not an entirely unfamiliar emotion for Daniel, sure, but the way it comes to him feels.. strange. Foreign. Like reading a book, and understanding the emotions of the main character as you read about them.

That's when his eyes fall on the boy standing there. So familiar, and yet so different. Like seeing a photo of a time long past, the hair falling down further than Daniel remembers seeing in quite some while, the shirt he's wearing.

(When was Robby at the dealership at night? Did this ever happen? Is this his memory, his decision--)

".. Robby?"

Rather than paying too much mind to any of the questions moving around in his mind, Daniel instinctively first calls out towards the other. He's not even sure whether Robby or not can hear him, if this truly is the other's memory.

But there's never been a moment where Robby was standing in front of him, and Daniel didn't at least want to try and get his attention. To fuss about him, to take care of him.

Even if the full implications of this situation haven't hit him yet.

If Robby turns to look, he'll at least be able to realise this isn't some weird spin being put on the memory. It's certainly not the Daniel from back then - because he's definitely wearing his Trench outfit, rather than the more modern suits he wore back home.

for mob

[miyagimagic]

When winter mournings pull you in, you truly can end up anywhere - like right now. When Mob realises he's somewhere else, he'll find himself in somewhat of an odd setting. It seems to be some sort of stone structure. There's an area in the middle surrounded by a small moat of water, and then stone seating all around it. It seems to have put its best days past it already, judging from the half-ruined state of the place - one of the two stone shisa statues in the middle of the area seems to be half-toppled, some other parts of the structure as a whole having broken off - but the place does seem packed. There are people sitting everywhere on the stone seating surrounding the area in the middle. They're easily recognizable as Japanese - or Okinawan more specifically in this case - and the area seems to be decorated with lights and lanterns, like there's some sort of festival going on. The people seem to be dressed up for one, anyway.

In the middle of the area is a girl in an elaborate kimono, dancing with a fan while music plays. Apparently everyone is watching her performance at this festival, since everyone is watching quiet, captivated - with Mob sitting among them in the audience, though no one seems to pay much mind to the unfamiliar kid sitting there.

.. or at the fact that Mob isn't alone. Daniel - as his adult self, and in his Trench clothes - is sitting next to him. Even more of an odd appearance in this crowd, honestly, since he's very obviously the only westerner here.

Or. Hm. That guy sitting on the other side of the arena, next to an old man.. That boy also kind of looks like a westerner, doesn't he.

In fact, he may even look a little familiar. If the quarter gets rolling with Mob, anyway. The Daniel the other met, the one sitting next to him, sure is quite a lot older than the other Daniel sitting among the audience in this memory, after all.

It's the older Daniel right next to Mob who speaks up first, anyway.

".. Sorry. I imagine this must all be a little bit confusing." He isn't even sure whether or not the kid has heard about the winter mournings, or even experienced one yet.. So he gives Mob a bit of an apologetic smile, especially knowing there's no way to pull them out of this memory before it's over.

[centile]

Frankly this is the best weird awakening he's had in the Trench so far. Mob isn't under ice, for one thing, or drowning, or anything dramatic. Confused, sure, but after glancing around a little he sees Daniel and eases.

"Hi sensei," he says quietly, because he doesn't want to interrupt the performance. Though if he has anything else to say it's lost when he sees the other westerner here. One that really does look like Daniel.

It makes Mob blink, and his first thought is Sensei LaRusso has a son. That makes sense, sensei seems like the fatherly type. Actually he reminds Mob a little of his own mother, so maybe more the motherly type? Either way, having a kid made sense.

It's rude to stare so he looks back to the woman, who really is very good. "Oh, it's okay. Everything around here is pretty confusing, but this is nice," he says, quietly again. "Where are we?"

for robby

[tealeafs]

The place Robby suddenly finds himself in certainly is not Trench. Everything is far too Japanese for that, so over the top that it's easily recognizable even to someone who may never have been to Japan themselves. There's tatami mats all over the floor of the room he'll find himself in, and the lack of light coming from the paper sliding doors shows that it's late at night - the building he's in only lit up through the lanterns - both paper and otherwise - that can be found all over the place.

It's certainly not a quiet place though. Robby isn't alone in the room he finds himself in, for one. There are men sitting all over the room, at least a double dozen. They're all sitting on the floor next to low Japanese-style tables, cups in their hands and - judging by some of their attitudes, as they're loudly laughing and yelling - getting pretty drunk.

Occasionally a various women enters the room, all dressed up. They pour more alcohol for the men, some of them seeming to indulge the obviously drunk men in small polite talk - though if Robby observes them, he may notice that it all seems to be very intentional, professional-- definitely women at work, wherever this may be. Some of them may even approach Robby, seeming to acknowledge him without any surprise, despite the fact that he clearly does not fit in as the only westerner in this room, clearly wearing something that's not like anything the men in this room are all wearing. They seem to treat him as another customer, offering to fill his cup with sake.

After a few moments there's one woman entering the room who may be a bit more recognizable though. Sure, she looks nothing like the way she usually does, not even with the female clothes she's acquired in Trench, or not even during their day out, during which she definitely held back a little bit more.. But the Chizuru who enters the room right now is definitely all dressed up, more so than Robby would ever have seen her. She looks vaguely awkward about it, despite trying to smile as she enters the room..

.. until she glances over and spots Robby sitting there on the other side of the room, making the girl's eyes grow wide with surprise, staring at him like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck.

[strongroots]

It's more Japanese than any of the rooms of Miyagi-do's dojo.

Robby doesn't move much from where he finds himself sitting. He's even seated in a style unfamiliar to him, but that's the least weird part of what's going on. His gaze goes across the room, trying to assess the situation, what's going on. Even for someone unfamiliar with Japan, he can tell that much about this -- that it's in somewhere like that, and the men are having a good time, the sound of drunk laughter the same in any language, or culture.

He thinks, with the way that the memories have gone, that he'll be left alone -- except he isn't when he's approached, and he declines the refill he's offered; starting to speak, but instead shaking his head.

Does it make a difference? Probably not, but it means he tries to be less obvious about his confusion and meeting anyone's gaze.

...until, that is, an actual familiar face enters the room. That'll be two deer caught in headlights, but Robby's already thinking, or trying--motioning with a tip of his head, can she come over here?

He isn't sure if she can, or if she actually recognises him as Robby (what if he's taking the place of some other guy??). But he will watch, observe -- and be entirely unsure about the vibes of this place.

for peter & paimon

[entreats]

Technically there shouldn't be anything too strange about things being particularly icy.

It's the coldest part of the year, for one. It's been obvious in Trench all month already, snow covering the town pretty much daily. Going outside is starting to be pretty annoying in this weather, even though it's sometimes necessary to trek through the cold for a little bit in order to go anywhere or do anything.

But even with all the snow all over town, Ange can't help but feel like there's somehow more snow here, the further she walks. And it's not snowing right now, so it can't be a side effect of the snow piling up more and more as she's outside for longer. It's not just the snow either. There are ice crystals climbing up pretty much every structure - along the street lamps, along the sides of walls of the houses in the street. Random ice crystals are even shooting out of the ground.

It's the first sign that something here is truly wrong, but not the final sign. Ange's heart pounds a little more rapidly inside of her chest, and as she tries to quicken her pace - as much as that is possible with all this snow around, anyway - she spots two figures further up ahead. One of them is tall, monstrous, a figure that is almost more ice than human.

And then in front of that figure, looking so much smaller in front of that more odd figure despite his height, is someone who is much more familiar to Ange.

"Peter!" she yells out. She hasn't even reached the figures yet, but no matter what's going on here, this can't be good news.

(Unless she's mistaken and it's actually Paimon in control, that this is some weird Paimon thing or a demon thing, but it sure doesn't look like it.)

It's taking her a while to approach because of the ridiculous levels of snow around here, but she's still trying to rush over to be closer towards the two figures as quickly as she can.

[possessum]

Peter isn't out and about too much these days. For nearly a month he was..... gone, body still a physical presence but mind, soul, completely silenced as something else was in control of him for so long. And he's still dealing with the effects of it, of everything — mentally, physically, he's... strange. In the same ways he often is strange, but everything's amplified so much more in him now. He loses track of himself much more intensely, forgets too many things, gets them wrong. He often can't remember how to work his own body, like someone who's suffered an accident.

The days are spent quietly in his room, numbed down when he needs to be, or with Luna gently beside him, both of them sticking to the house where it's safe and taking time to recover, as the poor girl needs it just as much as he does. They hang up a few decorations, light the fireplace, make hot chocolate. Sometimes he manages to feel like himself again.

But mostly he feels like a ghost haunting what used to be his own body. And when he feels like that, when it gets bad, he takes to his usual method of going on walks, not too far away from the house, especially with the snow so thick on the ground... but it's easy to lose track of himself and where he is. Paimon is surely keeping an eye on him, but the demon is so strange these days, too. Haunted by his own nightmares. His own aches. One day Peter trudges out a little further than he means to, and the demon doesn't stop him; maybe he's listless too, hazy-eyed and tired.

Peter's bundled up warmly against the cold in a thick coat and gloves, but there's suddenly a strange chill that seems to seep in even through the coldness of the snow around him. Something deeper, cutting, unforgiving. Icy and sharp. He blinks lethargically, turning his head to look down the street, only to witness shards of ice starting to spread out over everything. Peter startles, a gasp escaping him in a sharp puff of fog.

That's when he sees it. Something coming, something huge and shaped enough like a person that he can comprehend it vaguely as that. But it's more like an ice sculpture brought to life, icy blue and surrounded by dangerously sharp curves of ice as it makes its way towards him. Its eyes glow blood red.

Peter doesn't move, struck where he stands, just staring stupidly. Part of him screams to run, but he can't. Paimon doesn't even emerge to help him; the demon must be asleep after all, conked out. For the moment Peter's alone.

Then there's a familiar voice, and Peter's head is whipping that way, wide-eyed. Ange? He's about to call out to her when the massive figure raises its arm and sends a sweep of ice at him, finally sending Peter into movement, but it's hard to get anywhere quickly in the snow and he's struggling, falling forwards. His gloved hands hit the snow hard, and he's trying to pick himself back up, shouting to his friend. Even if she'd seen the display for herself, he still has to warn her, heart a frantic pounding in his throat.

"Ange, look out! It's got magic!"

for mike

[throwsbike]

Welcome to the beach, Mike!

.. except it doesn't seem to be the Trench beach. For one, it's not cold out here at all - certainly nowhere near how cold it currently is in Trench itself. Despite the fact that it's already evening, the sky dark and the stars out, it's actually still pleasantly warm on the beach. It's probably why there's still some people out here even now, most notable a group of teenagers sitting around a campfire.

Two teenagers are standing off to the side together, holding a soccer ball between them. It's a blonde girl and a tanned boy talking to each other, the boy seemingly demonstrating to her how to keep the ball up in the air by just kicking it with your knees, the girl staring on with obvious interest, a smile on her face. The boy hands her the ball, and she tries to do it a few times succesfully, but then the girl ends up kicking the ball further out onto the beach. The boy smiles at her, shakes his head, and tells her he'll get it - starting to run off and follow the ball as the girl returns to the other teenagers sitting around the fire.

It seems, however, that the ball has decided to roll right towards Mike, stopping at his feet. Which in turn means that the boy is running towards him too, and now he's closer to Mike, the teenager may look strangely familiar. Sure, the face is much younger than the one he's used to seeing over fluffy pancakes, but the dark eyes are the same, something in the shape of his face very reminiscent of Daniel.

"Hey, mister!" He calls out when he's a little closer to Mike, though he's still jogging up to the other. "Can we have our ball back?"

.. that thick Jersey accent is definitely something Daniel apparently did grow out of with age though, since it's so much more present in this younger teenager self of his than his usual voice.

[stayscared]

The beach he finds himself standing on has much more in common with the beaches he remembers fondly (mostly) and nothing off or otherworldly about it. The water isn't full of squids, either - well, not that he can see.

There's a very long moment where he holds his breath, waiting for the gooseprickles along his skin, the sense of ill ease, something, anything, but it doesn't come.

There's the smell of seawater, but mostly bonfire, and the feeling of being not alone, but also unwatched. He's on a beach, and so are other people, no big deal, no harm no foul. (No foul play.)

How weird are things on the daily when something normal makes you do a double take?

The temperature change is a welcome thing, as are the normal stars in a normal sky. If he takes a moment to admire it, and to look for familiar constellations, please forgive him for missing something else of note.

He hears the murmur of voices, unfamiliar, but so's the beach itself, even if it has the 'everyman' quality of a California beach - he knows a California beach when he sees one. Maybe he has been here.

Maybe this is one of his own, a new memory resurfacing - that makes him sweat a little, but it's also exciting, because maybe this time, maybe it'll be a good one - they've happened, the good ones, the comfortable ones. The comforting ones. maybe it'll even be a real important one. He's about to reach into his pocket for his Omni (Got to get this all down, I wonder if I can take a photograph?) but he's interrupted by the ball, which he doesn't see until after he hears the boy (does he know that kid?) and only when he sees the boy does he start to put the pieces together.

"Holy shit." he blinks, still holding the ball.

for 2b

[throwsbike]

2B will find herself standing in the middle of a parking lot once she's drawn into the memory - if she could recognize such a place, anyway. It's dark out, seemingly night, or at least somewhere in the evening. The air is warmer than back in Trench though, like it either isn't winter, or she's in a place where it just doesn't really get cold as easily.

The fact that it isn't cold at all is easily illustrated by the boy that suddenly runs right by her, since he sure isn't wearing a coat. Something about him might look a little familiar though. Sure, this boy is a teenager, definitely no older than seventeen at best and with a baby face to boot - but something about his tanned skin, or his dark eyes, might be recognizable even in passing.

Very quick passing, that is. It's like the boy is running for his very life, and the reason for that becomes apparent when a group of five bigger teenagers, all dressed up as skeletons with face paint and all. Four of them have their hoods up, making it hard to tell them apart from each other, but one of them has his down, revealing a messy head of blonde hair.

They start chasing the teenager away from the parking lot, through the backstreets of the neighbourhood. 2B might experience an odd sense in this memory at first though. Like she's outside of it, or like she's just watching a movie play out in front of her eyes. If she reaches out to try and do something or touch something, she'll find herself touching nothing at all.

But she can follow the teenagers. All the way towards an open field next to an shabby-looking apartment building, where the teenager being chased - Daniel, obviously - tries to climb over the fence to try and reach the building, only to be pulled back off it by the group of skeleton-clad guys who have finally caught up with him.

The group of five laughs and jeers as they pass him around between them, punching and kicking him as they do so, bruises and cuts starting to bloom along the side of Daniel's face as he's unable to escape. At one point he can't even stand anymore, one of the guys having to drag him up and hold him up like that.

.. though it's at that point that one of the skeletons starts to protest, telling the others that they should leave him alone, that he's had enough. The others don't seem to agree with him though, leaving the guy to turn towards the boy with the messy blonde hair.

"Johnny, leave him alone, man, he's had enough!"

"I'll decide when he's had enough, man!" The blonde retorts. Somewhere between his face and his voice, and especially with the way the other boy refered to him as Johnny, it might be possible for 2B to put the pieces of the puzzle together here and realise that is indeed a younger Johnny Lawrence. "An enemy deserves no mercy!"

But as the group of boys get ready to continue their assault on the obviously wounded young Daniel, 2B may start to feel an odd sensation about her. It's as if she's becoming more real by the moment, more present in the memory.

As if, this time, she really could intervene if she tried.

[robussy]

[ she shouldn't intervene in the first place. this was within the confines of memory, things so very dear no matter how wretched or joyous they were. memories— they're what made them who they all were. in passing, she sees him, and in an instant following facial recognition and analysis, 2B's perplexed eyes blink. daniel? only after the dressed boys speeding after him pass right through 2B, she follows after in a consistent jog that keeps all the boys in her sights.

it's harder to watch them pry him down from his escape from the fence. the android's buried temper begins to flare, bubbling into an impatient simmer that contradicts the very instinct to protect. protect. i need to protect him— but the enemy is not robotic, or beastial. they are human. it is a reality that is violent and cold, and it squeezes 2B's patience toward the truth. so she should just watch. it's already happened anyway. no, she can't just watch, she hates watching and doing nothing. she despises protocol. she wants to change things. she wants to change this.

call it a stroke of luck or even the desperation of her responsibility at last tapping into the power of her blood— one she had yet to experience and discover. ]

Stop.

[ the desire pulses like her own heart was beating; something encouraged her to step forward. she does, and with her fists tight by her side. she was not about to destroy these human boys— they're just boys. but she could not stand by again. every time the words of red flashed across her visors (COMBAT PROHIBITED AGAINST HUMANS), she remembered the red spurting from the neck of a defenseless man, and a blade driving into the side of another. robby's face replaces the man she held in her arms as he died.

the words weren't flashing. she could protect daniel. she would. she will, and now with more authoritative gruff (which was probably so wrong— towards a human? hell, she could be shut down for that. she isn't. she rebels). ]

I said stop.

for ruby

[entreats]

Ange has been on edge this entire month. So when she thinks she hears a sound outside and starts feeling all fussy about it, it's really nothing new. It keeps happening every single time she hears something that's even slightly out of the ordinary, starting to wonder that it could be a new danger that could hurt Ruby, just like how the zealots hurt the girl just the other month.

Except the problem is that most of the time either Ange checks and realises it's actually nothing but her own paranoia playing tricks on her, or the sound just stops after a few seconds, also making her realise it's nothing when it doesn't return.

But this time? This time the sound doesn't stop. It's been a full on minute, and there's still that same sound, over and over, like something is tapping on the door.

Ange gets up, wandering until she finds Ruby in their new house, a frown of concern on Ange's face.

".. Ruby, are you hearing it too?"

[onekindsoul]

Ange wasn't the only one who had been on edge this month. After what had happened last month paired with the paranoia and hunting tendencies- Well Ruby had been more than a little busy making sure that no one who shouldn't wouldn't get near Ange.

It might have been a little over the top but Ruby had been a little more careful to make sure she covered her tracks about it too.

It's why when Ange comes across her she's already loading Crescent Rose and looking out the window.

She glances over to Ange and gives a little nod.

"Yeah.

I'll take care of it."

for murderbot

[tealeafs]

Sure, the town may have gotten a bit harder to traverse with the weather that seems to be going on this month. But with a little help from the lamps and by picking out a day where the snow doesn't seem to be as bad, it's not too hard for Chizuru to still get around town.

And she wants to get across town, if not just so she can still visit her friends, rather than being reduced to only being able to send them messages over the Omni. She may be growing a tad used to that by now, but it's still so much more foreign to her than face-to-face contact, when the latter was all that existed where she comes from.

So when there's a day with a little less snow, Chizuru is quick to make her way over to the Entertainment Feed, knowing that one particular friend ought to be waiting for her there. Once she spots it, Chizuru smiles, trying to brush the memory of what they went through last month under the mental carpet as well as she can.

"Hi. I hope this isn't a bad time to visit.."

for robby

[miyagimagic]

Even if suddenly finding yourself somewhere else entirely is a fairly regular occurence in Trench, it never leads to anything good - so it's hard to fully get used to. At least this time he isn't in a series of hallways haunted by a demon, or stuck under the ice, or any of the myriad of other awful options that have crossed Daniel's path by now.. but he isn't so sure this one is very much better than any of them. Even if he hadn't been in the place people seemed to call the sleeper farm before, he's heard about it. Enough so that he realises this has got to be it when he wakes up in a stall, his usual outfit exchanged for an awful red jumpsuit.

But it also means he knows not to stick around. Even if that fact is made a whole lot harder by the fact that his hands are chained up. It's a face that's easily remedied when a whisp of smoke emerges from him, changing forms into his Omen - though not the familiar smaller form he's used to, but the bigger form that Daniel has so rarely seem, a shisa in full stature. Without even having to exchange words, the creature helps him undo the chains, and then grab the key to get out of the stall. The next step would be to find the way out of here as quickly as possible, but when Daniel stares into his Omen's eyes, he realises something.

Neither of them has to say a thing, and yet Daniel instantly knows what the Omen is trying to tell him.

His heart starts to race with adrenaline and worry, and when the Omen takes off, starting to run past the stalls and up the stairs, Daniel sprints after it as quickly as he can manage, not even thinking about his sore wrists.

There's someone he has to find. That's what his Omen's gaze told him, and whereas that sort of idea would always worry Daniel no matter who it was, he has a feeling that he knows who is somewhere in here as well, if the feeling that's tugging on his heart is any indication. Daniel feels deeply for so many people, but there's definitely a special place reserved for a certain few, and perhaps one more than anyone else in Trench.

He has to find Robby.

cw: attempted multilation, all them fine sleeper farm warnings

[strongroots]

They won't find Robby until the third floor.

And that's with teamwork in play here. There's a link between Robby's omen and Daniel's, the only one familiar in the area for it to reach. A creature of smoke shrunk down in contrast to its smallest height so as to avoid attention, and to provide some means of being located by the other omen, their human in tow.

It doesn't share the state of Robby, though he's never far from view. It keeps its focus on the shisa to help lead it to it for as long as it can, but there's difficulty in doing so, due to Robby's current state; due to the eventual return of footsteps, a bucket slung under the head of where he currently hangs, strung up like an animal ready for slaughter.

And he is, is the thing, tied at his ankles and wrists after the mess he caused in being dragged up here in the first place, a strip of fabric around his mouth with someone else's blood fresh on his tongue. He didn't go up quietly, he still tries to thrash now, but it's desperation, fear that's got him. How is he supposed to get out now when he only has his omen? Who's a last resort, when this fuck can still his movements by whatever fucked up power they have?

He's scared. Before he sees the blade in the zealot's grip, feels the tug of the suit's buttons being undone by its metal, the touch of it against his belly. Dragging it's way down to his chest. He can't see the zealot beyond their robe, hear anything other than his muffled cries of pleaseNOpleasepleasedon't-- that half of which get stuck in his throat from the shock.

He has nothing, he has nothing, he can't escape-- and he's more than scared, he's terrified, when the call for his omen doesn't even bring the response of its presence to his mind. Because his omen's body has been frozen with his, an ability knowingly locked so as to more easily work when the zealot digs the blade into Robby's stomach.

Carefully, of course -- they want the organs undamaged.

[ KARATE CHRISTMAS with special karate guests ]

[strongroots]

The house that Tory Nichols and Robby Keene call a home is a little out of the way on the streets for Crenshaw from others occupied, but worth the trip if you're in the market for a larger home. It stands out amongst the other similar-sized buildings by the decorations straight out from any American front yard: reindeer and sled occupy the snow-covered lawn, garland trimmings covering the porch poles and edges. A wreath hangs from the door, and from the windows, some decorations can further be seen.

And that's just the outside. Someone wanted to go all out, a hell-scape called Trench be damned.

Because if anyone thought the outside was a lot, the inside is drastically more. Every winter decoration has been set up on every wall, entrance, and glued to any surface that can be gotten away with. Yes, there's a Christmas tree decked out, and yes, are are Christmas sweaters for all visitors of the most tackiest variety. Christmas crackers? Of course.

A table has been set with a cloth, nice plates and knives and forks, a gravy boat and even glass dishes for cranberry sauce. There's plenty of snacks both in the kitchen and living room, with mince pies and sugar cookies, gingerbread men, candy canes, and a yule log.

Really, the only difficulty in being able to conjure everything up from memory is making sure it's hot, cooked, and readied. But Tory has been perfecting this, preparing, and Robby's done his best to help, too. There's been some exercise-making of roast potatoes and the stuffing, of cooking a turkey good enough that the kids of the orphanage have had the luck of receiving the (not terrible) results, just so Tory and Robby wouldn't get sick of the food before the special day.

A Christmas dinner put together by two teens/young adults might be simple, but there's been an attempt. And if everyone is on their best behaviour? It should be a positive occasion.

GIFTS

[strongroots]

Who got what on this day?? Who has been a good girl or boy?? List gifts here and feel free to handwave or play out the exchange.

happuh crimmus