deercountry | There's still cobwebs in the corners

Entry tags:

There's still cobwebs in the corners

Who: Fern

laminae and open.
What: Event and non-event starters for the month.
When: Throughout September.
Where: Around Trench.

Content Warnings: Lich trauma, war, children involved in war, murder, violence, bug omen, body horror.

River of Regrets (Throughout September)

[The last thing Fern remembers doing is picking up one of those feathers, and a whirl of even more feathers as those ravens descended. He's unceremoniously dropped into a boat and, looking like a terrified cat with his sharpened teeth and slitted eyes, looks around frantically, forming a grass sword in one hand. Thorns shoot up along his arms until he realizes he isn't being attacked, and they sink back down into his grass as he starts to relax.

Where is he now? That was like something out of Deerington and even though this new place seems to have sunlight piercing through the clouds he doesn't like it. Scowling, he leans over one side of the boat, then the other to get a good look around, in the process rocking it dangerously. Sorry boatmate, he doesn't care that much.]

What the flip was that?

Bloodsport (Throughout September)

[It really only takes a small push to get Fern diving back into his love of fighting. Any excuse to fight is, in his opinion, a good one, and so when he hears about Bloodsport and The Gate he immediately heads over there. A good distraction from the stresses of settling in is what he needs, and what better way to distract himself than fighting some poor sucker? The locals even seem pumped for it so hey, maybe this city just has a very healthy appreciation for fighting like he does. Nothing wrong with that.

It doesn't take him long to find himself down in the arena. There might be a Sleeper opposite to him, or maybe it's himself, another Sleeper, and a large monster looming over them - it doesn't matter to him. He look raring to go.]

This is gonna be sick!

Moonflower - Voices (Partway through September)

[It's been a long, long month. Between Luz and Varian's increasingly frantic behaviour, cephalopod trauma, and being forced to talk about regrets he'd like to keep shut away, Fern hasn't been getting much in the way of sleep. What little he was getting decreased even further with the start of those voice and those feelings invading his head. They scare him, even though he's been through this song and dance before. An invasion of foreign thoughts and feelings in his mind, ones that don't feel like his own even though they always were - it's like it's happening all over again, though this time his mind has settled on the idea that it isn't his own mind causing it all.

Oh no, it has to be something much, much worse.

He knows the Lich has been able to get into people's minds. He knows there should be a Lich hand out there in this world, lurking somewhere. It's clear who the culprit is.

When he has the time he wanders through Trench, looking for any signs of a giant monster claw hand skittering around, but there's nothing. That doesn't stop him though - if anything, that makes him even more stubborn and even when he should be stopping and resting he keeps going. He can be found throughout the city - Cellar Door, Prufrock, Willfill Machine, Gaze - and when he sees someone who looks worth approaching, he walks on up, one hand held against his head. He's abandoned his grass hat today in favour of someone more Trench-appropriate, his extraordinary long, flower-filled hair tied back into an elaborate braid. It's a very impressive braid, though those with a knack for flora will notice most of them are of the toxic variety - death caps, poison fire coral, nightshade, oleander, water hemlock, and others.]

Hey, you haven't seen a big claw hand around, have you? Yellow fur? Looks like it got cut off someone?

Moonflower - Death Song (End of September)

[By the time the end of the month rolls around Fern is officially having a bad time. The noise and feelings have gotten louder, much louder. Or maybe he's just been worn down so much by everything that's gone on that it feels worse than it actually is? He isn't sure. It doesn't matter. It's too loud in his head and it keeps on going, even when he tries to sleep, until the end of the month, when the cacophony hits its crescendo with one very beautiful, very long, very painful song of death.

On the upside, this confirms to him that whatever is going on with head isn't being caused by the Lich. He's realizing with a sudden horror that all that noise is coming from other plants, even though he has been distinctly aware of his inability to communicate with them since his time back in Ooo. Apparently this world has seen to it to correct that small matter, and here he is, getting to listen to dozens upon dozens (hundreds?) of flowers dying together. What a great start to a new world.

He's outside when it comes, having been wandering around looking for the Lich. The operatic song flowers straight into his head and Fern reflexively winces covering his ears and trying to block it out. But it's too much, and there are too many of them, and he just wants it all to stop -

Any unfortunate passers-by might be getting bowled over by one of the half-dozen thorny vines snaking out of Fern's body and attacking anything in his vicinity. He doesn't notice what they're doing, or the additional thorns and spines and more toxic flora shooting up all over himself. Even the roots in his legs are reaching out, trying to break through the cobblestone to get at the earth underneath. His whole body is shifting to something more pointed, something less human, and something that looks a lot more hostile. Sleepers from Deerington might recognize the shift from back in the town, though it was rare and only happened when there was too much going on in his head to handle.

Looks like Trench can be just as rough.]

Date Time - For Varian (Early September)

[A date in a new world seems like a fantastic idea. Not only will they get to explore their surroundings, but it has to be a good distraction for Varian. There's nothing more attention-grabbing than exploration, and in the alchemist's case getting a hold of more alchemy supplies. It's a perfect plan and absolutely nothing can go wrong!

Nevermind the main reason they're going on this date is because Fern's increasing worry about Varian's mental state. He had thought that coming to a new world in one piece would mean things would be okay, that they'd be okay. Seeing Varian grow increasingly anxious and agitated, leaving half-finished science experiments everywhere, not sleeping....

It's concerning. It's hugely concerning. The longer this goes on the more useless Fern feels. He should be able to do something, help his boyfriend through the trouble he's having, but nothing seems to be working. He's desperately hoping this does, somehow.

Once Fern is ready to go he heads downstairs to Varian's lab, poking his head in.]

Ready to go? You got your list of stuff you need?

Bloodsports - For Flynn (During September)

[Unlike probably a lot of Sleepers, Fern is loving his time in the arena. It feels like a way to get all his energy out, a familiar way that he's sorely missed since arriving in Trench. There's been a lot - Luz and Varian's sudden change in behaviour, the poor soil, the lack of sunlight, the creeping paranoia - that have been getting to him, so having the chance to punch a few monsters to an adoring crowd is a wonderful form of escapism.

It's even better when he has someone to fight alongside, and like, two dozen times better when that person is a fellow knight. Fern doesn't know Flynn very well but the guy seems really cool. Older, obviously has the knight thing down, and in Fern's eyes that's more than enough for him to like him. So getting to hang out with the guy, getting to defeat a monster with the guy, that's the perfect afternoon for him.

The downside is that by the time they kill the creature - some weird hydra monstrosity - Fern is more than a little keyed up than a regular person. The cheering crowd is faltering a little as it becomes apparent that his fanged teeth and serpentine, glowy eyes, and thorns that have risen up on his arms and legs aren't going away anytime soon. It looks too close to Corruption for their liking, though Fern is entirely clueless.

Nope, he just looks super pumped as he waves his bloodied battle axe at the dead creature.]

Hah hah! Take that, ya donk!

Killing crab monsters - For Yuri (During September)

[Fern knows what it's like to lose someone close, he knows what it feels like to lose that person and feel so helpless, so angry about it that the only answer that seems reasonable is violence. He sort of gets why Yuri texted him about not going after Maul (even though a small part in his mind is still insisting the guy deserves it), and he gets why Yuri is trying to fill that hole by fighting crab monsters. It isn't the same, but he hopes the guy could find at least a little bit of satisfaction in cutting them down.

And honestly, it's a nice afternoon for him. It's cold and rainy and he's pretty sure sand is getting in between his grass blades, but this is a great way to get out the pent-up stress that's been building up in him all month. Trench hasn't been the easiest world to transition to, so getting back to something familiar (and destructive) is a relief. Between the two of them, by the time they've finished clearing a few caves out they've acquired more than enough crab monster meat to feed a small army.

Fern is actually pretty tired. His body is looking a tiny bit more loose and ragged, and he's covered in crab monster blood and gore, but hey, that's part of the fun. With that last crab dead he starts trying to flick blood off his grass sword.]

This has been really fun, dude.

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Luz is definitely grateful for the ice despite it having the effect of, well, make it hard for her to concentrate and talk easily. She'd brave it though: being a little cold was better than Fern having a rampage or possibly being attacked. It already seemed like he was coming to, which Luz was glad for: it meant no one would try and hurt Fern now.

"So you heard the f-flowers dying? Right. That makes sense, you're part p-plant. Of course you'd hear that happening. It's the change of s-s-seasons. That's the worse. But you have to c-calm yourself, enough so no one thinks you're trying to retaliate against them. B-besides, getting that angry? Might not be a good thing."

Corruption had been something she'd heard about, and the idea that something like that might happen to anyone in the house was a pretty sobering concept for her.

There's the risk of freezing, given how sensitive he is to such a temperature change, but it's about the last thing on his mind. Besides, with Luz being the one controlling it, the chances of that actually happening seems low.

Gradually he sinks down onto his knees, still clutching his head, one vine lashing wildly though the rest are calming down due to the temperature. His head is still killing him though, and he groans. "I... I don't know, I'm not good at calming down," he says, his voice tense. There's a good chance he'll start freaking out again once he warms up, even he realizes that, and it's honestly scaring him.

Luz is slowly having the ice spell dissipate, since she didn't want Fern to continue with his rampage but also didn't want them getting colds. She could feel the ice starting to drip, and she took a deep breath.

"Ok, then, we'll start slow. Take my hand, and just slowly try to ease your grip on the plants in the ground. Concentrate on my voice. I'm guessing your whole body is all tensed up with emotions, right? Just start with that for now."

The ice is dissipating, and with it Fern can feel the warmth from the rest of the city filtering back in. The rain slows it a bit, though with the return of the warmth Fern can feel his anxiety starting to spike again, the vines twitching and stretching out. That makes it all the more important that he keeps on trying to listen to Luz. She's trying to help, she is helping, and he can't just start ignoring her after all this.

"O - okay! Okay, concentrating on you. Not anything else. Just you," he says, strained, and yanks a hand away from gripping his hair to reach for Luz's hand. That's something, something warmer and more solid than his own body.

Luz quietly feels that Fern is coming back into himself, and with that she imagined that he was still struggling to gain control of himself. His anxiety was a knot frustration she could feel in his body, and when she spoke again she poured her intention into easing that knot, to bringing him back.

"This place is pulling you in all kinds of directions right now, so don't let it. Instead, think of yourself as a lone flower, drinking in the sun, and then a slow rain starts to fall when you were thirsty. Take in that rain in your roots, let it fill it slowly and keep reaching the sun. Don't think of anything but reaching upward, in one direction."

Luz wasn't aware that what she was doing was helping Fern to try and center, but clearly this new magic in her was giving her the initiative to think more about what the magic was doing and how it was affecting them.

She's got it in one. He's gradually calming down - or at least, that overwhelming agitation that was causing him to lash out is slowly toning itself down into a more dull, horrified ache. Still not great, but at least no one is probably going to get hurt. Progress!

He keeps on listening to Luz, trying extremely hard to listen to what she's suggesting. It sounds embarrassing, but he isn't really in any position to complain, so he gives a stiff nod. "Alright, I'm a - ... flower. I'm a flower."

A flower that's all alone, not doing anything aside from absorbing sunlight and nutrients and water from the dirt, and using it to grow. He knows what that feels like, he's done it a million times before, and it had always felt nice to get enough food to allow his body (as much as he dislikes it) to thrive. He doesn't quite get it and the connection to her powers either, but either way it's helping, and slowly the remaining vines start to retract back into his arms.

Luz understood that the first thing that needed to happen was getting Fern to let go of his anxiety, and that wasn't going to be easy. It was a tense situation, and what Fern had been describing about the plants Luz knew she couldn't begin to understand. So it was much easier to try and slowly unwind the knot he'd made in his head.

It did sound silly, but Luz understood that a mantra, however funny it sounded, still had power the more you poured into its words, so it would be a place to start. You just had to make sure you have it shape, how you nurtured it. If anyone would understand that, it was Fern.

"All right. Now, as you grow, shift. Move away from the weeds that are choking you, that are snagging you in it's own growth. That's what this is: this place, whether good or bad, is trying to push itself into your growth. Don't get caught up in its roots. Grow away on your own."

Letting go of his anxiety is one of those incredibly useful life skills Fern has never managed to master. It's always been the opposite for him, either repressing it away until it's too much for him to push down, or letting it fester and grow until it completely takes him over and he does something stupid and violent. He's made baby steps towards progress in Deerington, but it's still an incredibly difficult thing for him.

That's why he's eternally grateful Luz is there. There is no way he could do this on his own, and inch by inch, more of his attention is focusing on her rather than his own anxiety.

This place is just a bunch of weeds, and he knows how to grow beyond weeds. He's stronger than weeds, that's what she's saying. He knows he is, even though he doesn't particularly like it he's a plant that's so, so much stronger than a bunch of weeds.

The grass making up his body is still twitching as his form continues calming down. He doesn't look like he's about to flip out and hurt anything anymore, and the death song of the flowers has settled, so all that's left in his head is that aching and the mental image Luz has built for him that he's desperately clinging to.

"... Okay. I think I'm - okay...."

Luz could tell, and this was true even after the mayor fiasco, that there are still things that Fern has trouble letting go of. Once she'd actually seen him as "Finn," and then seen the actual grass demon and had an idea of how it thought, it had started to come together for Luz. Fern was pretty much his own complicated entity, both plant and human and also not, and there was all of the experiences he had to deal with on his own.

What Luz did understand was that he was a warrior, and even they needed times where they had to attempt to heal themselves of all the feelings they amassed doing one thing or another. Luz knew this well enough herself that if she let things go, they just built up and got worse. In this case, Fern was still adjusting to a plant situation only he was experiencing, and it was slowly driving him a little crazy. He needed to slowly bring himself back to here, without being pulled in a strange direction.

So Luz watched him slowly start to come back to himself and took a breath: she hadn't realized she was holding onto her own.

"Cool. You look better now too. Let's come back, slowly, to here again."

At Luz's comment Fern reaches up, shakily poking and prodding at his face. He hadn't noticed the physical changes going on with his body - but then, that's normal for him. He rarely noticed when his teeth got sharper or thorns starting growing on him, not until they were already done changing, and by then he was too worked up by whatever emotions were overwhelming him to care. Like right now, in fact, though he can feel his body slowly shifting back to his usual Finn-look with Luz's help.

He reflexively tries to take in a deep breath, realizes that oh yeah, he can't do that anymore, and settles for scrubbing his hands over his face. Geez, that was a mess. But he's feeling back here, like she's saying. Mostly. "Thanks. I... I guess I got tree senses, now," he says slowly. "I've never been able to understand other plants before."

Luz could take that breath for him. She may have given the impression she was in control of herself, and she was, but her driving force had principally been about getting Fern back to himself. It was clear that this new world was definitely going to be some adjustments, specifically because of what Fern was. The fact that it put him in danger was something Luz couldn't ignore, and it was beginning to sawn on her exactly how easily dangerous situations were going to follow her.

Well fine. That's stuff that happens when you have a family.

"I knew you'd get it back soon enough. Once I figured THAT out, yeah, I could understand that it was a feeling you were definitely not used to having. It stinks that it did that to you. Looks like there's still a lot about this place that we have to learn. Man, Varian is going to be concerned this happen to you while writing all about it in his studies of things in this world with his other hand."

This world is indeed shaping up to be more complicated than anyone could have guessed. Fern hates it, of course, he hates having his body and abilities changed even more than he initially thought, he hates that he can't handle it, he hates that he's being a burden on the people he cares about. He should have tried harder, been better, because other people wouldn't be having a total meltdown over being able to understand plants. Who knows what could have happened if Luz hadn't been here to talk him down?

Speaking of, Fern is just going to go ahead and reach out and pull her into a hug. He really needs it.

"I don't know what I'm gonna tell him." Varian is going to absolutely flip when he hears what happened, and not in a good way. Given everything else going on with the other boy this month, Fern isn't looking forward to it. Nor is he looking forward to just moving forward with this.

He doesn't want this. He doesn't want this at all. "I don't know what I'm gonna do about this, either. I don't want to hear other stupid plants, I don't even want to be a plant!"

Luz could relate to that feeling of being a burden on people. Sometimes she felt like that was all she was being, that people were just putting up with her because they were nice. That feeling, she knew, wasn't true, but still carried over from being in a world where things just happened to her and there was no real way to affect them.

But she wasn't on Earth, and she knew that people on the Boiling Isles and here were willing to help her. That was more than enough. The hug she willing was enveloped in and hugged back fiercely, glad that her brother had come back to her and didn't have a target on his back.

"Wait to tell him for right now. It's not a good month, and Varian already has a lot to think about. We don't want to overload him with stuff that's only going to frustrate him."

And possibly give him another heart attack.

"But you ARE a plant, Fern, and that's not bad. I don't think it is. So you can talk to other plants now. Maybe it'll be a good thing down the road, even if it really sucks right now. Sometimes things have a way of helping you later even if they don't feel so great now."

It's a hard feeling to let go of, no matter how much people tell him otherwise. Self-loathing is a rough thing, and sometimes it's impossible to overcome.

He doesn't let go of her. He really, really needs that hug.

"Alright... I don't wanna wait long, though. The longer I take, the more unhappy he'll be." The two boys have always been incredibly dedicated to being honest with each other, and while he's definitely going to be taking Luz's advice (she's right, Varian has too much going on right now to tell him right away), it's still uncomfortable.

He does, however, want to disagree with her on the plant thing. It's not a good thing. It's never been a good thing. He gets where she's coming from, Varian is in the same place, and he wants to believe both of them, but.... he can't. He really can't.

"Not feeling great is an understatement," he says tiredly. "I think I just wanna go home and not think about this stuff." Maybe get away from all the dead flowers, that would be nice.

Luz would have been inclined to agree. You couldn't just make yourself get through things if you weren't ready. Fern had a lot of feelings that no one was really going to understand unless they were him, and there was no one quite like him. Luz understood that now more than ever.

Good. She wasn't going to just let go quickly.

"Nah, of course not! We all live together, and you're each others' S.O.'s. You're going to want to let him know very soon. Just, you know, after he's done wrapping his brain around some of the stuff he's going to be able to do now. I don't even know the extent of what he can do!"

What ANY of them could, really, since all of their magic was completely different.

"Nah, I hear you. Let's head back. You stay in your room, I'll make you some hot chocolate, and we can unwind watching something comfortable. Does that sound ok?"

Fern nods. Yeah, overwhelming Varian with even more stuff isn't going to help anyone. They just won't wait very long to fill him (and Luca, of course) in, and it'll be fine.

He gives her another squeeze before finally sitting back. Yeesh, hot chocolate has never sounded so delicious. He feels like he could use a thousand year nap and about a million pounds of comfort snacks. "Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks, Luz."

Luz knew it wouldn't be a good idea to try and keep secrets anyway. They'd always be found out in the long run, and apropros to nothing, it was the tropiest thing to do in the first place. She HATED the "liar revealed."

Boy, did she knew what that felt like.

"No problem! If I did what you just did, I'd need some hot chocolate stat myself! Luckily, we actually have that. I've been getting a little tired of tea."

He nods a little, slowly climbing to his feet. He owes her a lot for this. "Hot chocolate's better than tea, anyways."

Trust that Luz was more than just happy to help. Luz was not about to let this place throw them into the weeds so quickly.

"Hey they're different!" Luz insisted, making a face. "Both for completely different situations!"

She paused. "But yeah, hot chocolate definitely wins over tea. Too bad I can't have it with the cream though."

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There's still cobwebs in the corners

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