When the silv'ry moonlight gleams, Still I wander on in dreams

[laminae]

Who: Fern Fun laminae and open.
What: Trickster mode player plot.
When: Early December.
Where: Around Trench.

Content Warnings: Forced emotional stability, invasion of personal spaces, body horror.

Let me call you "Sweetheart," I'm in love with you [Closed to Varian]

[Fern has adjusted to the Omnis very quickly, so it isn't unusual for him to give his a quick check for messages early in the morning when he's still half-asleep. Especially in the wintertime, when the lack of sunlight makes it a bit harder for him to get going.

That's what he does this morning. He untangles one arm from around Varian, reaches for his Omni on the nightstand and, still mostly asleep, opens what appears to be a message from Karkat. It's weird and brightly coloured, but he isn't overly concerned or anything, so he goes ahead and clicks on the first link in the message.

And then he's candy.

He doesn't really remember the change. One second he's grass and sleepy and about to curl back up with his boyfriend in bed, and the next he's candy and just bursting with love and happiness? Emotional volatility? Nosir, only sugary sweetness can be found here! He curls back up with the sleeping Varian, and much like when he's grass his hair is everywhere. Now, however, it's more of a cotton candy texture, and lollipops and candy canes and other assorted sweets are growing in it. He grins widely at his boyfriend, poking at his cheek.]

Heyyyy, wakey wakey wakey....

Let me hear you whisper that you love me too [Open to disaster house and friends] 

[Eventually, Fern - Fun makes his way downstairs to the kitchen. What better way to start the day than to cook a wonderful breakfast for his friends? They'll wake up the smell of pancakes and muffins and all kinds of delicious things! It'll make them so happy!

Of course, Fern has never been much of a cook, and Fun certainly isn't. He proceeds to utterly trash the kitchen in his quest to do something nice for everyone. He cooks breakfast, yes, but everything - absolutely everything - is loaded with sugar. Even if you've got a big sweet tooth, even if your mouth is nothing but sweet tooths, you're going to find it all way too sweet.

But hey, he's having fun! He's humming to himself as he dances around the destroyed kitchen, plating everything up. Hopefully Trench has figured out how insulin works because yikes.]

Keep the love-light glowing in your eyes so true [Open to all] 

[After destroying the house's kitchen, Fun gets bored and manages to evade the other residents, wandering outside into the city. He isn't looking for anything particular, he just feels like exploring Trench with fresh candy eyes. And oh, is it ever worth it! The fresh coating of snow blanketing everything makes the place look magical! With a body made of candy the winter weather isn't affecting him the same way it did when he was grass, so he's out there enjoying the snow to its fullest extent!

He can be found in various parts of Trench building snowmen and making snow angels. And if he sees you? He'll be racing over to try and yank you into a happy hug. Hello friend!! Hope you enjoy the invasion of your personal space! At least he smells minty fresh?

Unfortunately, he's also wandering in more dangerous sections of the city. Maybe he comes upon a monster, though that shouldn't be a problem, he can always make a sword and fight it -

Except no. A monster is just a friend he hasn't made yet, obviously! Please stop him from trying to hug the angry monster and getting his shit wrecked. He could really use some help right now.]

Comments

[possessum]

( UHHHHHH—

This is absolutely weird. And of course, being Peter, his automatic reaction is a deep, deep worry. Things go wrong so often in this place, people get all messed up.... something is clearly going on with Fern, so the taller boy is looking down at him with clear concern. )

I'm— kinda worried about you. ( He admits outright, gently putting one hand on top of Fern's head. ....Wait a minute. That's not Fern's hat! And why does he smell minty! )

Are you..... feeling okay? ( Followed up by more questions, because Fern should not be out here, should he?? ) The cold bothers you, doesn't it? Do you want my jacket?

[laminae]

[A deeply rooted sense of worry is about the right reaction to all of this, especially since there's zero worry in Fun's mind. That's a bad emotion and there's no place for it in his brain, especially when he's already so happy with everything and everyone right now.

He just grins up a Peter at what he is assuming is a head pat. It's nice, everything is nice!!]

Ohhh, that's so nice of you! But I feel great! The cold doesn't bother candy, lucky me, huh?

[possessum]

Candy?

( Fern does smell and kind of— look like candy... but how can that... be. )

Uhhh..... Are you.... saying you're... made of candy now?

( A beat, and then a follow up question, because seeing Fern this cheerful is definitely bizarre. Something horrible must have happened to him because of this place. )

Fern, how'd this happen? Do you remember?

[laminae]

Yup! One hundred percent candy!

[Sorry Peter, that's a big bomb to drop and Fun is just completely and utterly A-OK with the change.]

Y'know, everyone keeps asking me that? I don't see why it matters!

[For real, he's perfectly happy as candy, what's the big deal?]

[possessum]

( Okay. Okay, just gotta... take a minute here. Gotta think what to do. Fern's made of candy now and he's clearly fine with it and he's also had an abrupt personality change. Peter, who is not good in any kind of emergency situation, is perhaps the worst person to deal with this — what he is absolutely considering an emergency situation now.

He's looking up and down the snowy streets, worrying his bottom lip so hard it blushes a dark red. What if Fern runs into one of those cult people out here, or a monster? His anxiety.......

........But Peter can help, even if he's a nervous wreck on the best of days. He has the switchblade, and even more than that he has Paimon, who Peter knows absolutely wouldn't let anything happen to Fern.

Seems like the tables are turned and it's his turn to babysit protect Fern this time. He can do this. )

Everyone keeps asking you that, huh? You mean like... Varian and the other people you guys live with? They know about this?

( That's good, at least. The question is.... will Candy!Fern want to go home easily or not.... )

Man, it's probably dangerous out here though. Do you wanta... head home now? Cause I can walk you there.

[laminae]

[Fun is just - entirely clueless about what's going on in Peter's head. As far as he's concerned he's run into a great friend who is practically a brother, and they shared a hug, and things are just fine and dandy.]

Yup! I made breakfast for 'em before I decided to go for this walk.

[They were all extremely concerned and are probably having a collective heart attack over him having wandered away from the house. It's fine, it's all fiiiiiine.]

No way! Look at all this snow, I still gotta finish my snow fam. [He gestures at the few half-finished snowmen that he's been in the process of building. Sorry Peter, he isn't going to make this easy.] Wanna help?

[possessum]

( Made them all breakfast.... Somehow, it's definitely hard to imagine the usual Fern doing such a thing. But at least that means his housemates are aware of this issue, right...?

Most people would probably try to keep pushing for Fern (Not-Fern??) to head home, but Peter is..... so non-confrontational to the point he won't try to push anyone to do anything. And there are still a lot of unknowns, here; Fern might get upset or freak out or something if he tries to make him do anything. No, it's probably best to just... keep an eye on him for now. Stay with him.

Glancing at the aforementioned snow fam, Peter's looking Nervous and Worried, but after a moment, he nods. )

Yeah, okay— I'll help you finish.

( Maybe once those are done, Fern'll be okay going home...? Hopefully. For now, Peter stoops to gather some snow into his hands and awkwardly starts patting it on. He's... not great at this. )

It's uh, been a long time since I made a snowman. Probably not since I was a kid...

[laminae]

[That breakfast was a horrible sugary nightmare and it's sad his poor housemates were subjected to it.

Fun just looks thrilled that Peter is agreeing to help and punches the air with his fists.]

Yay! More snowmen for the snowfamily! [This just means it's going to be a big family, and that's great! Fun will resume rolling a snowball, making a snowman head.]

Wow, really? Jake and I almost always made snowmen when we went to the Ice Kingdom. They're fun!

[possessum]

( Peter can't help giving a little grin when the other boy responds so enthusiastically. He's still Really Worried about all of this, but it's nice to see him so excited, despite everything. And though he's not at all explicitly aware of it, there's a whole lot of Paimon bleeding through into him right now. Paimon, who's so sensitive to Fern's energy and wants to protect it. )

You did? I uh, can tell you've got experience — you're definitely really good at it.

( Peter praises the other teen. Again, some of that is Paimon, but some of it is also Peter. ....And Peter is very much the opposite of Fern (or Not-Fern) in that his own snowman-making abilities leave much to be desired.

He starts trying to roll a ball of his own, and it's lumpy and uneven... but he packs it onto another poorly-rolled ball. What he's constructing looks frightful.... )

...Does mine look like it's been hit by a car?

[laminae]

[That means Paimon is going to be getting a whole lot of very sincere sugary sweetness. It definitely isn't typical for Fern, but it's nice and pleasant and probably a welcome relief from the general vibes Trench tends to put out.]

Thanks, bro! Making snowmen was one of my favourite things to do with Jake in the Ice Kingdom!

[His snowman is certainly turning out cute, and when he gets the head on he etches a biiiig smile in the face. Then he looks over to see Peter's and... well. It's a good thing he's candy right now, because all he's doing is giving Peter and encouraging thumbs up.]

Wowww, he looks amazing! Great job!

[possessum]

( It's definitely New, but not anything the demon would be complaining about. If anything, there's this weird sort of pride Peter's feeling for Fern right about now, that comes from Paimon. They're glad to see you enjoying yourself, Fern — even if you're currently made out of candy and it's still a bit worrisome.

The older teen ducks his head, ears flushing slightly when Fern praises his dumb snowy work. It definitely doesn't look amazing, but it's weirdly nice to hear such a compliment. He's still not used to accepting them, giving an awkward little laugh. )

Thanks, dude. I'm definitely not as good as you, but maybe if I practice some more, I'll suck less.

( ...So gloomy, Peter. They're truly at opposite ends of a spectrum here. But he does try to copy a bit of what Fern's done with his, patting the snow in with a bit more force in attempt to make a rounder head for his poor pathetic snowman. )

Oh, and I guess he needs some eyes, right.... ( Stooping to find a couple of loose stones amongst the snow, Peter sticks them on, and then.... has an idea. With a finger, he starts drawing big circles around both of the eyes. The end result is kind of terrifying, but it's An Attempt.... to make his friend's boyfriend. Sorry, Varian. )

Check it out, I made Varian. See, the goggles.....

[laminae]

[It's all fiiine. Fern is doing super fine as Fun right now. Maybe he won't be doing so hot later when he's back to normal, but right now? He's going great.

Fun's thumbs up keeps on going, a little too long, but he wants to be encouraging. Good job!!]

C'mon, you don't suck at all!

[Candy may in fact be a hard counter to gloominess. Or something. Fun finally drops his thumbs up, circling around to get a better look and to watch Peter. He practically lights up when he realizes what he's doing, and laughs.]

He's perfect! I gotta get a picture!

[He pulls his Omni out from his pocket, holding it up to snap some photos of the very sad-looking snowman.]

[possessum]

( Candy!Fern wanting to take a photo of the most horrific rendition of his boyfriend is surely a bit out of the ordinary, here. Peter's further surprised, but at least Fern's still having a good time?? Even if it's like this... (Again, sorry, Varian.) )

Oh god, he's probably gonna curse my name if he sees that. ( Peter's grinning at the thought. He feels like good enough friends with Varian by now that teasing each other is a thing that happens sometimes. It's... nice, to have friends like that. Peter grins again and stoops to find some twigs, poking them into some of the other snowmen to further decorate those, too. )

This is actually really fun, ( he has to admit, cheeks flushed from the cold and moving around so much. Peter isn't used to moving around.... )

Are you sure you're not getting too cold, though? ( He may be having fun for once, but he still has to worry about his friend. )