deercountry | (no subject)

[it's been a weird day. this sentiment may be seen a little underselling it seeing as mob is currently hanging upside down from a tree, rope around his ankle.

as the blood rushes to his head he blinks and thinks of the kind of traps people see in cartoons. there's a malicious air here that doesn't really suit the picture, and he can hear creatures prowling nearby, the distinct scent of rot. beasts? he hasn't seen a beast yet. maybe it was best to stay where he was, even if it was giving him a bit of a headache.

none of it is a great feeling though. he kind of wants to hide.

that is where he can be found, likely due to the fact the undead creatures around are circling underneath him and making a ruckus. should he notice any approach he'll try to glance over, kind of nonplussed for the situation but with the faintest unease to his expression.]

Hello. [help him.]

[it takes a few moments for mob to overcome the shock of cold enough to think. those thoughts are pretty typical for a situation like this, namely wondering where he is and how he got here. here being underwater, it seemed, cold and dark and deep. sort of like when he first came to the trench, even more so when his hand hits ice after struggling his way up.

only this time when he uses his powers to try and split the ice just... nothing happens. he stares for a moment, tries again, the cold and pressure making him shake. oh, his powers don't work. that's... not good. he's probably going to drown then.

(40%, 42%, 45%)

the one thing his powers do manage is his aura lighting up the area a little, blue and purple giving him the chance to see another figure nearby. he nearly opens his mouth but remembers himself, letting his hand light up with power again so he can try and flag down whoever it is down here with him.]

[things have settled considerably since mob first woke up here, a matter he's very grateful for. he has shoes, for one, and clothes that aren't the weird cult robes. he doesn't worry about food as much because people have been generous about it. he isn't alone, which he's really grateful for.

robby's a big reason for a lot of that, and mob's decided it's in his best interest to listen to what the older boy has to say and take his advice seriously. some people are just really good at advice, like master reigen, and robby is clearly one of them.

which is why he calls robby from his perch sitting on a low branch in the forest, watching something large, growling and kind of smelly prowl in the bushes underneath.]

Hello. I'm not really sure why but there are a lot of traps around. Are you okay? [he keeps his voice quiet as he speaks, but that's not too abnormal for him.]

[sanctuary's been busy, though it usually is one way or another. viktor's the sort who deals with stress, emotional turmoil and boredom all the same way- working. all three have been a problem lately, so sanctuary he is until allen or pal call him out about it.

usually he sticks to the research room and his office, but today he's taken to the infirmary, just to cover since it's been especially busy with the cold and odd injuries. he's not a doctor but he knows enough to handle things unless truly complicated emergencies come in. perks of specializing in medical engineering, he supposes.

meaning anyone heading in will find him leaning against one of the beds, cane hanging from one elbow as he flips through some files. a very large pink creature sits by the door with a look akin to boredom. a thankfully slow day, it seems.]

[viktor's been trying to ignore the wreaths, to be entirely honest.

he could say it's to respect privacy, it partially is, but there's a selfish inclination as well. his recent return home came with matters he doesn't want to dwell on, ones he doesn't really want anyone else to see. one in particular he knows eventually the trench will make him contend with, because he hasn't been punished for it.

he deserves to be, he knows that. he'll accept it when it inevitably comes but for now he'll be selfish and enjoy the time he has to pretend matters are better than they are.

a lot of drama to say yes, avoiding those thing. it's probably a stupid series of events that leads him to touching one he had pointedly been looking away from as he passed in sanctuary. rio moving too fast, someone bumping into him, tripping. whatever the case his hand brushes it-

and he will be landing himself in a memory alright, though not his own. what is he seeing, nico?]

[yes, thank you for taking mob to sanctuary, robby. a character not important to this thread, off finding out he's a warmblood and asking questions. probably spacing out at points. plenty of time for other things to happen.

for example, finding out there's a lab here for studying corruption and it's reduction. even walking past it, because sometimes viktor keeps the door open. it's technically a shared space, though he doesn't have a lot of coworkers in this. a shame since he's an engineer above all else, not exactly useful in many aspects of the study.

but he and allen formed this idea off the desire to make a difference, as incredibly cheesy as it sounded in his head. to leave the trench a better place than they started with. legacy.

so please feel free to find him, from someone pointing him viktor's way maybe, or just walking by. the open door reveals a place stuffed with books and odd little machines attached to bloodstones, half built. jars full of small beads of light line the walls, giving a gentle glow. vials of different blood on one of the work tables, microscope, etc. very science. the chalkboard has a lot of mumbo-jumbo but also someone drew a weird squid in the corner, thanks palamedes.

viktor will glance up from gutting some weird little machine if he notices anyone at the door.] Hello, can I help you?

[the wreaths aren't something mob immediately understands, aside form the distinct feeling they contained an odd sort of energy.

usually that meant a curse of some sort, but this feels... gentler, maybe. certainly not malicious. it's probably why he's drawn to one in the first place, why his fingers brush it-

and why he's going to find himself somewhere he's never been before. robyn's memory. what does he see?]

[ When your new kid friend suddenly explodes with energy out of nowhere after talking about difficulties controlling said power, that usually ends up hurting people? Maybe you need to find options for him sooner rather than later.

Robby knows about Obi-Wan through Tory, and what he apparently did for her in controlling her erratic darkblood abilities, so he gets his contact from her and finds a good time to meet him, at apparently some shop. Easy enough to arrive to with directions, and Robby comes with the younger guy in tow, taking the first step inside and looking for the teacher. He's got some description to go with, and 'bearded man in his 30-40s' shouldn't lead him too astray in approaching the right guy.

He does so a little unsure, but only in that anywhere new can be unpredictable, neutral otherwise when he nods his head walking over. ]

Hey, I'm Robby, and this is Mob? Thanks for letting us come.

[at some point mob ends up coming to see jun. he has a thermos with him, hot chocolate he'll offer jun a cup of and say it's a thanks for having him over. he's looking forward to seeing the book on sea creatures jun mentioned, just having a somewhat normal day in general.

it's nice not to be alone. he doesn't enjoy when the house he stays at is empty and echoing, miss makima out and her dogs quiet.

so a totally normal day, except at some point the trench decides enough of that. maybe it's a delayed reaction to touching one of the wreaths, maybe it's just one of those days. regardless as he's sitting down with jun mob suddenly sees something that's very much not his own memory. what does he see?]

[viktor hates the trench.

ok, usually he actually rather likes it, but today is a special case. namely that on his way home he saw what looked like a body being dragged into an alley, and stupidly moved to look. taser in hand, of course, but it was still absolutely marvelously stupid. gloriously.

and it's why someone might be able to hear his shout when things immediately go wrong.

he doesn't know christmas. he's been told about it often so he has a vague idea of santa, and this? he's pretty sure this red suited man with a jaw hanging nearly to the middle of his chest, covered in pulsating gore- yeah, this isn't him. he thinks. hell.

said santa immediately slammed him against a wall with super santa speed, lifting him off his feet as he pulled viktor up by the throat. the taser is still in his hand but like... yeah it would go so badly if he let that off now. he'd get shocked too and his new lungs definitely can't handle that.

help?]

[anyone with eyes can figure out mob kind of loves miyagi-do. the people and the place itself have been a point of comfort to him, so there's little surprise in the fact that one of the first places he takes sunny when showing him around is the dojo itself.

he leads sunny inside as he speaks, slightly muffled by his scarf.] Sensei Larusso teaches us here. He doesn't take a fee either, but he said it's okay to bring food or things to help if we can.

He's really kind, and a good cook. [stated with the simplicity of hard fact. he's a terrible tour guide.]

[a new boy showed up at school today.

mob doesn't look up from his desk as the teacher says it. he moves his papers to cover the rude things written on it, things he'll try to clean off later. he doesn't lift his head to see where the boy will sit, or how anyone reacts. he doesn't glance at the spider crawling up the wall.

the world is muddled and overcast, the kids talk too loudly and he tries not to flinch when they pass too closely by. the new kid doesn't get much attention, asagiri holding court as she always did, paying the new boy little mind. it'd almost be eerie, if the entire world didn't have such a film over it. like falling into the backdrop, barely recognizable.

mob doesn't get the same treatment. when the teacher calls for answers it's on him, making mob quietly admit he didn't have his work. (it got soaked in the river yesterday and he couldn't salvage it. he didn't know anyone who would let him copy the problems, let alone the answer.) the teacher snaps and asks why he even bothers coming in if he's going to be so stupid and lazy. mob says nothing, and the teacher makes him stand in the back of the class. everyone laughs.

(besides maybe the new kid? if so it's the smallest thing, a little thing mob may notice before returning to keeping his head down.)

at lunch asagiri strolls to his desk. sits on it, as he keeps his gaze away from her. there's a milk carton in her hand.] Why won't you look at me? That's rude, Kageyama.

Sorry. [he tries, though his body betrays him and refuses to meet her eye.]

Do you think you're better than me?

No-

And now you're interrupting me? [kids are cackling. she opens his bag with a kick of her foot, pouring the milk inside. the teacher sighs but says nothing. mob says nothing. the class laughs.]

[the party happened. frankly viktor had mixed feelings about it despite the generally nice atmosphere and odd buzz it gave. maybe fancier parties were always going to feel like he needed to stand on ceremony and keep rigidly practiced in everything he did. once that thawed fine, it was an alright time. seeing pal dressed up was always worth it, really.

but they go home, viktor teases pal about actually trying new food at the place, performances are discussed. perfectly normal even when viktor wakes up the next day and kisses pal's forehead before climbing out of bed. a little odd he wasn't getting up too, but viktor ignores it to make coffee. bless megumi for his entire life, such a good holiday gift.

he doesn't note rio sitting by the bed, already far more aware something is off and getting protective about it. viktor calls,] Do you want coffee? And not if you're going to make faces about it, Palamedes.

[ Curiosity and hope draws some people to the newly visible city. So it sounds, and Robby thinks boredom could be it too, an itch for travel. Robby himself, he didn't have the call of adventure in him, or so great desire to possibly help the Patrons as was on some minds; he'd done that once before, this sounded like such a long trek, and he had a nice home and work to do in town.

His only reason for going is: Mob. Will Mob have plenty of people around him to keep him safe? Yes. Does the idea of staying back while Mob's out there sit well with Robby with the fact in mind? Fuck no. Which is why Robby's gone the extra mile, which is a whole lot of them that took around four-to-five days to get to the deserted city. Its occupants were the vermin that continued to make their home there, the beasts that wandered in and out much the same as they were now doing so; its more common residence were the plant life taking over, colour in an otherwise fading chapter of somewhere people once called home.

(Just like the other place, but the people there didn't belong there. You got them killed. You made the wrong call.)

Now, it had them present, visitors from Trench. With no map nor particular direction to go in, it meant searching the many roads and paths and the buildings they gave access to, or could. Robby stuck close to Mob, or to have it vice versa: If you feel something's off, tell me. We'll check out the buildings and see what we can find out.

(Like you can help him? You can't even help yourself. You're trying to pretend you're not worthless. You're going to get him killed next.)

Maybe Mob's powers worked like that, maybe they didn't; but they'll use whatever they have in their arsenal, Robby's omen out stalking the streets with them, his gauntlets rolled out from their bracelet setting and covering over his knuckles. They had to look out for mushrooms too, some of the same ones known to heal the Pthumerians spotted. Some have been spotted on trees, and those will be useful to find.

(And the last time you went looking, you were useless--you just got in the way, you were useless. You're nothing better than fodder.)

Robby stops by a new door, about to test its handle, while fighting a war between the Reckoning necklace given to him by Mister LaRusso before he left--one that bestowed bravery and compassion, gave strength to the wearer--and the deprecation of the city. A growing urge to give up, the question of what he was even doing growing louder, the draw of his brow knotting tighter and tighter. ]

[it's after some lesson at miyagi-do that mob approaches peter, raising a hand in greeting. they've probably met in person by now thanks to karate, and mob's the same as he always is- placid, spaces out easily, unfortunate haircut.

also kind of a weird well of power, but that's probably more paimon's wheelhouse to sense. otherwise there's a middleschooler right there.]

Hi. [a polite little greeting.] Did you want to learn about spirits and stuff? There are some braver ghosts around.

[he still feels odd to be teaching literally anyone anything but it's also nice to be able to give back a little. that and it'd kind of nice to talk about the ghosts, since usually no one does. since they can't see them.]

[ Robby's been in these woods before.

A few times now, in fact, but nothing substantial. It's been less of a good time than it has been 'okay', which is probably the standard for an average guy like him not experienced in trekking and dealing with monsters. One near-death, a freak accident -- and there's more to it than the setting itself that clings to Robby so tightly, keeps his pulse going at a good speed.

(Then again, a near death would do that for most people, wouldn't it? When you're not even eighteen, and you only lucked out on surviving.)

There's plenty enough people taking this trip that the dangers have been minimum. There's incense for the trip, and those who take more satisfaction in a fight and taking out obstacles to keep fighting to a minimum. Robby isn't seeking them out: it's good to know when to jump in, and when to avoid problems when you can. No one knows how long this trip might be except for 'long', and Robby's willing to follow the lead of those more experienced.

And this is good experience, for both him and Mob. Robby's omen stays out, low and small, sensing out beasts to keep them alerted in their group, and to let them avoid trouble when they can. They have incense, and it is limited; but it does work well to keep back most of what lurks in this dense wood. Except... ]

That beast's still following us. [ There's been one, and Mob might've even sensed it. Robby would have only know about it through him or his omen, and either way, his own omen has been keeping it in its senses since. The last incense has run out, though the smoke still clings to the air, in their clothes.

It's only the second day, however, and Robby doesn't know about lighting another so early. He could, but there's a thought in his mind. One he's been chewing on.

This is a decision he wants to make with Mob. This could be valuable experience -- really, for the both of them, and so: ] What do you want to do?

[ He's not looking back or making eye-contact with the creature. His omen's already done so, is less attractive to the monster than they are, where it follows along the trees far back to their left, where the incense doesn't hang in the air. ]

[mob doesn't come by sanctuary often but on occasion he'll make his way through. he likes the atmosphere, he likes the tree, he likes allen and the batcats. when no one's around and things get lonely it's a nice place to spend some time.

he also likes the worm string door.

it takes him a moment when he first sees it, gears turning before he approaches to poke at them. they're... great? they're great. he likes them a lot and immediately, especially how soft they are. what are they? he has no idea the point besides being colorful and soft. excellent. 10/10

that leads to sensing something, two somethings inside. when he enters it's to find two spirits within the room. he politely greets them and introduces himself. the old man has a lot of rambling stories, it turns out.

so pal may return to find a 14 year old just standing in his office, talking to the air near the grandpa ghost pen as one does. just nods and,] Really, why? [as gramps tells him some longwinded story.]

mob and shouto | run rabbit run

hotaru and mob | cold as ice

robby and mob | run rabbit run

fitz and viktor | lockjoint

viktor and nico | winter mourning

viktor and robby | sanctuary