deercountry | Was I really seeking good [Open]

Was I really seeking good [Open]

Who: Varian and you!
What: November catchall!
When: Throughout November.
Where: All around the place!

Content Warnings: Child poisoning in the comments, bloodletting in the first half of the Sleeper Farm prompt

BUILDING AN ABOMINATION TO THE GODS - Driveway of Disaster House, Cassandra- OTA

Varian can't actually remember the last time he built something purely for himself. Both back home, in Deerington and here in Trench, his inventions have always had a greater purpose. Sure, he enjoyed making them, but they were always ultimately to help other people. Building something just for his own enjoyment generally wasn't on his radar. It's only recently that he's felt like he's earned the right to indulge in something for himself.

And so, at the start of the month, Varian can be found on the driveway of the Disaster House- starting to put together the very early beginnings of a frame for a car. He isn't bothered by the lightly falling snow- he doesn't feel the cold anymore and the crisp air is honestly good for clearing his head. He's wearing his serial-killer-esque welding mask and has his little foot-pump-powered 1800s welding kit with him, but that isn't doing so well in the cold weather. After a few frustrating attempts at getting the damn thing to work, he gives up, stepping back to stare at the metal he's trying to get into shape. He looks at his hand, a soft hmmmmmm sound echoing in the mask. He's not comfortable with this, but Mako has been helping him get a more...positive outlook on his abilities.

So, for the first time since he got here, he decides to actually use his abilities for something instead of actively avoiding and being reviled by them. He flexes his fingers, using the techniques Mako has run over with him many a time, willing flame to sprout on them. He has to concentrate a lot, and it's definitely not a tiny, careful flame like the one on his torch (he's not quite THERE yet) but it's enough to start welding the pieces of metal together. Once he's done that he snuffs the flame by closing his fist. He steps back, pushing the mask up so it rests above his goggles (why doesn't he just take the goggles off, why does he have to wear both?) to assess his work, before realising someone is standing nearby, turning to offer a little smile.

"Do you think it looks okay? It's kinda shoddy but I guess I can always go over it later once the snow stops."

IT'S FULL OF OPENINGS, IT'S JUST YOU AIN'T SEEING THEM - All around the city - OTA

For once, fate has smiled down at Varian. His Patron is The Tower and while the buildings are shifting and doorways keep vanishing and reappearing he's still able to find his way around. It's given him confidence that means he might just be ignoring the always buddy up system, because it's fine. It's totally fine. He knows where he's going. So he goes about his daily business as normal - unfettered by the chaos that the vast majority of the population are dealing with. He's a compassionate soul, though, and if he sees someone looking lost, he moves over to them, raising an awkward hand in greeting.

"Uh... hey. You look...lost? Do you want me to help you out? I understand where I'm going for...for some reason. If you stick with me, we can get to where you need to go."

SECRET, SECRET, SECRET SECRET BUNKER - Willful Machine - 28th November OTA with CR prompt

Finding the compass on his workbench had been a happy little surprise. He didn't really need one, but it's pretty nice and after quizzing the people in his house (none of whom took responsibility for the little gift) he probably should have been worried about the device that just appeared in his lab in the dead of night. He isn't, though, because it's cool.

Naturally, he uses it as a normal compass first- but as he's working on his car, he does need to try it on bigger things. He's headed to Willful Machine for more parts, and it using it on a sheet of metal on the ground to measure out exactly what he needs. It's while he's doing this that the circle opens up under him, upending him into a little room. One moment he's there, the next he isn't. Maybe you were there to watch him fall in like an idiot. He looks around at the space- full of everything a person would need to hunker down for a night and makes a soft confused noise before yelling because that seems the best course of action here.

"Um- HI??? Is anyone there?"

And if that doesn't work, he'll get out his Omni and send a message to his friends:

Fell in a hole. I think into a pocket dimension? Help.

MUSHABOOMING

On hearing there were cool new mushrooms to deal with here, naturally, Varian's gone about trying to harvest some. He can make all kinds of cool alchemy with them!! This being Varian, of course, means he's neglected some pretty basic health and safety in his mushroom harvesting. So people can catch him in various pickles throughout the town as he goes about stupidly collecting stuff for his lab.

They may find him hallucinating on Walking Terrors, covered in spores and running around with a panicked expression and screaming about the floor melting. Or maybe you'll find him face-down in the dirt, a Floater sitting happily on top of him. Just...help the idiot out, he'd appreciate it.

THE SLEEPER FARM

Varian starts his No Good Real Bad Time swinging upside down- his blood dripping down into a bowl underneath him. It freezes before it hits the bowl, of course, leaving a blue, frozen blood slushie at the bottom. He's still confused how he got here, but he knows that's not the pressing concern here- not while there are other bodies strung up who have definitely had body parts removed. Varian does a quick, muggy-headed check that nothing seems to be out of place- no organs missing, two arms, one leg. Everything as it should be. They've even left him with his prosthetic, which is nice. But he'd still rather get down from here before this gets worse.

"Uhhhhhh, hi? Anyone still...conscious here?"

Or perhaps you find him afterwards, once he's down and on his feet again. He's still got a sizeable gash on his arm, but at least it's frozen over - thanks for the natural cauterization, coldblood! He'll be helping get other people down or helping them move as best he can. Much like earlier in the month in the town, he feels a strange pull towards the way out, and he'll be trying to bring whoever's with him along that path.

"C'mon, I...I know the way out."

He's not offering a reason for that, oh no. It's while he's leading someone towards the alter that they're suddenly pulled out by a force Varian recognises almost immediately. It's an old, familiar one after all- and once they're upended onto the lawn where Disaster House's Lamp Friend sits, he looks up at the sky, frowning.

"...Cynthia?"

[[ooc: As always if you want something else or a closed thread, please hit me up on

teeff or PM me! Will add event stuff later!]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"A fireplace?"

Well, that was convenient for...lighting a fire. Less so for climbing out of a hole. Although in the back of her mind, she seemed to remember Jack once mentioning some sort of Earth holiday that involved a fat man climbing into and out of a house through a fireplace chimney.

It...didn't make a lot of sense to her.

Perching herself on the edge of the hole, Ariadne set down her messenger bag. "I think I might have a rope..."

"A fireplace. Like...a proper fireplace."

Which is weird. Not something he was expecting. He's definitely not shimmying up it though. No thanks. Not today. He turns his attention back to the hole, moving to stand behind it, looking up.

"You do? That'd be really useful. I can climb a rope."

Once you're used to climbing up 70-foot hair, a rope is easy.

"Good," she said. "But I'm climbing down first." Because, really, she had quite a lot of questions about a pocket dimension with a fireplace. It felt entirely too convenient somehow. Too...oh, what was the word she wanted? Thirty six languages and she couldn't come up with one.

Deerington-y. Yes, that was a good word. Even if it wasn't a word at all.

Quickly, she fished out her rope, finding a sturdy place to tie it off, before she dangled it down into the hole. After checking it several times to make sure it wouldn't give, she grabbed hold and swung down, gliding to the bottom of the hole.

It wasn't seventy-foot hair. But it was a similar sort of grace. Ariadne had been climbing practically before she could walk.

"That's fair. It looks pretty safe in here, honestly?"

Which makes a nice change from the usual Deerington-y bullshit. He steps back, giving her some space to get down to him, keeping an eye just in case she needed help- but it was very clear she'd got this. The room is definitely...something else. It looks pretty homely- at least for people from Varian and Airy's time periods...probably less so for the folks further head in the future to them.

"See? Weird pocket dimension."

She stood up, slowly turning in a full circle as her eyes traveled up and down the walls. Despite it being a--you know--hole, it was surprisingly well-kept. Reminded her of some of the finer taverns and inns in Valeria.

And that brought a smile to her face.

There was, of course, the possibility of something going wrong or jumping out of the shadows at him. But the scent on the air was all Varian.

Nothing to raise her hackles about.

"It's nice," she said. "I wonder who it belongs to...if it belongs to anyone at all..."

Varian's been tense, too. He's been here too long to not immediately look a gift horse in the mouth because that gift horse usually has fangs and a thirst for blood. It's just how it goes here. But nothing. It's just a nice, well-stocked room.

"I don't know," he pulls a little compass out of his pocket. "It...it might be mine? I found this on one of my workbenches this morning? I was using it on a sheet of metal up there and that's what opened the hole."

Ariadne trotted over to him, her braid swishing behind her back like a puppy’s tail. She peered at the compass a moment. “I think I’ve seen one of these before. It’s for drawing circles? Or something like that?”

She couldn’t be sure just where she’d seen one. Although she was reasonably sure it was a tool of Human design.

They were so clever!

“You just…found it?”

He nods, glancing back at it again. It's definitely something very handy in his craft, and he'd not expected one to just...show up. He probably should have been suspicious about that, but naturally, he did not. Science overtook common sense once again.

"Yeah, it's used for drawing mathematically correct circles. It had a little ribbon on it? I thought it was one of my housemates, but none of them had anything to do with it."

Very Deerington-y

Ariadne frowned, taking a deep breath to see if she could get a scent off of the compass. It was a little hard to single out, considering how many things in the room had a tinge of ozone. At last, she had to shake her head and shrug. "We'll have to take a closer look at the ribbon, I guess? Or maybe ask on the network?"

Giving up on the compass, she started to look around the room again, going to the fireplace. "Where does the smoke go?"

So very Deerington-y. It's rude in how much it doesn't want to make sense. He gives a nod of his head in agreement. That's a wise move. More research.

"See if anyone else had one."

Because it can just be him. Or at least, he hopes that's the case. The last time he was singled out he ended up having to meet The Moss King and that was an experience. He peers at the fireplace.

"That's...a good point. It's gotta go somewhere, right?"

She leaned over, trying to peer up the shaft of the chimney, but she couldn't see much of anything at all.

Again, she was reminded of Jack's story about Santa Claus.

Shaking her head, she turned back to Varian. "Well, I don't want to assume that this whole thing is a trap. But maybe don't light the fireplace unless you really, really have to."

Better safe, and all.

"It's really quite nice, though."

He glances around them, a little smile crossing his face. It IS nice. It's a cosy little place to have, it doesn't even feel especially worrisome. Which makes a nice change.

"Yeah, I kinda like it. It feels like home, and it looks like it's got a lot of supplies in it? Might be handy here, given how dangerous this place in general is."

Ariadne nodded. "I wonder if the supplies renew themselves." She was going on the assumption that he hadn't put them here. Seeing as he'd only just discovered the place. "You could stay down here for a long time."

Like a whole October.

Not that October had been especially horrific. It was certainly nothing compared to what they'd been put through in Deerington.

"Do you think the supplies can leave the room? Or if they only exist down here."

"Hmmm. It's a possibility? I guess I could stay down here a few days and find out?" A beat. "I'd have to let my housemates know first. Of course."

Because if he just vanishes on them, they'd be maaaaad.

"I'm not sure. I can pick some up and head out? See what happens."

She looked around the room, before her eyes settled on a wooden bowl, sitting on the table. "Just to be safe, why not try throwing something out of the hole first? If it vanishes..."

Well, they'd have to think twice before deciding to crawl out themselves.

But she preferred to hope for the best.

Crossing the room at a quick trot, she picked up the bowl and brought it back over to Varian. "Try this?"

Bless Airy for being the common sense factor in this madness. Varian takes the bowl humming softly.

"I guess that's probably wise. Just in case something happens to us when something exits the room."

He hucks the ball up through the hole in the ceiling (not yet occurring to him to make an easier door) watching it sail out. The room doesn't recreate it (yet) but they don't fie horribly either. There's a distant 'hey' as the bowl bounces off someone outside.

"Huh. How about that."

Ariadne laughed with delight. "Incredible!" Although she didn't know how to use magic, she'd learned enough about magical theory in her years at the missionary school to understand that what Varian had accomplished was very advanced. As far as she could tell, he'd turned energy into matter. Created something where there was nothing. And that simple little object--a wooden bowl--was permanent.

At least, permanent enough to hit someone outside.

"Sorry!" she shouted up to the hole, cupping her hand around her mouth. Then she turned back to Varian, giddy and smiling. "This is a gift!"

Varian would be far less thrilled with gaining more magic into his life. But even he has to admit that this is incredibly useful. To have a bolt-hole to run to when things get bad is pretty invaluable - especially given they don't know how dangerous Trench can be yet. Something about gift horses and mouths...

He does chuckle a little, sorry That Guy.

"You know, you're right, I think it is," he rubs the back of his head. "I wish I knew who from. This is some pretty serious power here. I don't think I know anyone who can do this. "

"We had mysterious benefactors in Deerington," she said, thinking of her beloved trees, her bicycle (which she still had yet to learn to ride), and her bottomless bag. "I suppose we should have expected to encounter a few here."

Not that she had any basis for that assumption. More of a feeling. Not quite as reliable, but not something to be dismissed either.

Instinct had its place.

"I guess you're right. Well, I'm certainly not gonna turn something like this down. Not when I can use it to help people."

Because of course, Varian's first thoughts go to benefitting other people with his magical pocket dimension. Of course, they do.

"Maybe we should keep an eye on the other months? See if people get other presents then? Like..birthdays or something," he frowns. "Though mine's in April so this is...well. I think I finished making my leg this day last year so it might be that? That's the only thing special about this date to me."

"So it's your leg's birthday?" She immediately regretted saying that, but it just sort of slipped out. At least she wasn't staring at said leg. Either leg.

She covered her mouth with both hands.

And her eyes widened with an apologetic sort of panic.

"Sorry," she said, talking into her palms. "That was incredibly rude of me. I shouldn't have said that."

Holy cow, he was not expecting that and it gets a proper laugh out of him. Give him a second, he just needs to compose himself again, waving her concerns off with a hand.

"Oh...no, no don't worry about it. That was great! Sure, we'll call it my leg's birthday. Happy birthday to my leg."

He's going to be chuckling about this all day.

"Man, I wish I'd gotten it a present now. Seen as someone gave it a whole magical room."

It was a great relief to hear him laugh. She felt truly embarrassed, but at least he didn't seem offended. He could have so easily been. It wasn't polite to talk about another person's limbs like that.

Or, at least, she didn't think it was.

The tension eased out of her shoulders and she managed a weak smile. "It's a way of looking at it, anyway," she said, giving him a tiny shrug. "A day that matters to you."

He definitely isn't even remotely offended. Varian will make terrible, terrible leg jokes all on his own. He's going to remember this one to drop on Fern later. For funsies.

"It sure is. If I knew I'd get a cool gift for every lost limb...well, I'd still only lost the leg but I'd sure have told year-ago-me I'd get something neat out of it," it might have eased the transition a little more. "I'm gonna have to look into this, see if anyone else has had gifts on important days to them."

Ariadne wanted to know. She desperately wanted to ask. But she'd already crossed a line today and, offended or not, she wasn't going to cross it again.

"Well, that's what we have the network for, I suppose," she said instead. "That and apparently for people making funny broadcasts while inebriated."

Well, she thought they were funny, anyway.

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