[Open] Keep it locked up, keep it sealed tight

[droptheious]

Who: Varian and YOU!
What: Varian's final corrupted days, his beasthood turn and the aftermath. See his corruption/monster page HERE!
When: First 2 weeks of Jan- before the event.
Where: Around the city!

Content Warnings: Applicable content warnings go here. Mentions of death, corruption, dissociation.



Hope you've stocked up - Last days of corruption

Anyone who's close to Varian will have noticed his slow corruption growth over the last two months. By the time January rolls around, things have gotten worse instead of better. By now his skin is made of a thick, black rock. This same black rock has turned his teeth into sharp fangs and his nails into claws. two amber horns sprout out from his head, and his elbows and one remaining ankle have spurs of the same stuff- as is the tail he's since gotten, flicking nervously as he paces around- firey red eyes darting around furtively.

He'd largely been keeping himself out of sight, trying to handle this alone, but his hallucinations have driven him onwards. He stares at things seemingly only he can see. If he comes across you, he'll grip your arm tightly (sorry if those claws hurt, he's not even thinking about it). He points at an empty spot of nothing, worry on his face.

"Eugene!" you are definitely not Eugene, but it's clear that's who he's seeing right now. "We- we gotta deal with these rocks before they take over everything! There's...there's got to be a cavern around here somewhere so we can cut them off, right?"

It's a long night - Monsterdom (Gaze and surrounding area)

Regardless of how much or how little help he gets in his final days of corruption, eventually, Fern decides enough is enough and the best way to handle this is to Fistfight God. Which is to say, he goes off to confront The Tower about this and gets himself killed by Never Mind in the process. Varian got there too late, and being the driving reason behind his boyfriend dying again was the final nail in the coffin for him.

The transformation is quick and sharp, and what's left is a a ten-foot rock monster spewing fire everywhere. His leg is still missing in this form, at least, which should help anyone with a quick ID-check. Varian himself rages through the city, slamming against buildings and breathing fire at anyone foolish enough to come close. It's definitely attracting the attention of nearby hunters- so perhaps finding a way to talk him back down before there's another death today would be for the best?

Nothing good is meant to stay - Aftermath

Eventually, Varian lets his friends in, lets them talk him down and the best hood fades. Parts of corruption still cling to him- his skin is still an unhealthy grey colour and his nails aren't quite back to normal yet. He's also sitting in a ball on the floor- partly out of shock and partly because he can't go anywhere without his leg - if someone could fetch him that, that would be awesome.

Or perhaps you come to him in the days that follow. He mostly stays near the Disaster House in Cassandra, as he waits for Fern to come back to life. He can be found inside the house, or sometimes sitting on the front porch, people-watching. Though he's certainly not better yet, day by day the signs of corruption lessen. Any visitors will get a tired smile, he's still a little withdrawn, but he's getting there.

"H-hey, thanks for checking in," nothing has changed how awkward he is at least! "Um...how are you doing?"

Because obviously, you're here for him to check up on you. Obviously.


[[OOC: The monster battle is intended to be open to any CR who want to take part. No ONE character will be responsible for talking him down from monsterdom, it is intended to be a team effort- hammering home that Varian is able to rely on his support network. Feel free to make separate threads, team up with other players, thread hop, etc. Do what you like, and we can wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey it so it happened around the same time- to make it easier than players trying to keep to one concurrent thread! Go nuts! As always please hit me up on teeeff for anything! ]]

Comments

[charlastan]

The thing is, Stan isn't not there for Fern. He spots the pot in the windowsill and his breath catches in his throat for just a moment. Fern will be back though. He has to remember that. So, he steels himself and turns to the other secret reason he's here.

"Oh. Uh...just figured I'd, you know. Come check." Stan rubs the back of his neck awkwardly and then just blurts out the first thing he can think of to Varian. "How're you holding up? You look like hell."

Nailed it.

[droptheious]

Varian definitely catches Stan's reaction and it actually provides some real comfort. Fern speaks so damn highly of the man for reasons beyond Varian's ken. It's... weirdly comforting to know the emotions go the same way. Sure, he and Stan have discussed that, but it's a whole other thing seeing the proof of it with his own eyes.

"Nothing yet. He'll probably be pretty sluggish when he gets back, it takes a lot out of him to pull himself back together."

It's a when- not an if. As much as that if lurks in the back of Varian's mind, he knows if he thinks about it too much he might start to crack again. He snorts in light amusement at Stan's flawless check-in.

"Then I look about the same as I feel," he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't know. I'm getting there. I'll be a lot better once he's back."

[charlastan]

"Yeah, makes sense. Took Dipper a bit too, when he came back," he says. "We had him in a fish tank for a little while."

He came back as a squid and stayed that way for a bitas he tried to sort himself out. Thankfully he shifted back into human form after that, but his legs are still a little weak even now.

Stan laughs a little, though it's not the loud obnoxious kind that Varian is probably used to. It's more of a chuckle.

"You'll get there. Even I was a wreck the last time a bunch of people died on me, and I've got nothing but a cold, dark, empty soul in here!"

He is, of course, full of shit on just about every level - except for the fact that Varian will pull himself out of this.

[droptheious]

"Oh, I bet he loved that. He'll probably have a grudge about it for ages."

Because Dipper was good at that, and honestly, it doesn't sound like the worst idea anyway. He might have to fill the bathtub, should Fern get stuck in the squid form for long enough. Though...off that laugh is concerning. He's definitely not used to Stan being this subdued.

"Somehow, I doubt that very much, but I'll pretend I believe you if it'll make you feel better," he exhales slowly. "This isn't even the first time he's died on me. It never gets any easier, though."

Does Stan know Fern dies back home? He's not sure, it's not a subject he really broaches if he can help it, both because it's not his secret to tell and that he utterly hates thinking about it regardless.

[charlastan]

Stan scoffs and crosses his arms. "Pfft. He oughta be glad we found fish food for him!"

If Dipper's holding a grudge based on that, it would be entirely understandable. Especially since Stan offered to feed him more fish food if his arms weren't working.

"Yeah. You'd think it would, 'cause people keep coming back! But it doesn't work like that," he says. "'Cause you're always gonna wonder if this is the time it doesn't happen."

Because he gets it too. This is Dipper's second death now and even if he wasn't a depressed lump alone, he was still very worried, especially with the presence of a real corpse.

[droptheious]

He chuckles despite himself because he can imagine Squid-Dipper having a proper grouchy fit over such treatement.

"I'm pretty sure he'd have a different take on that."

Ah, but that comment kills the chuckle in his throat- his smile fading as he looks over at the little pot holding Fern in it. Stan's worded what he's been worried about since...well, since he found out Fern had died.

"I think that's what made me...snap," he admits quietly. "I didn't know if the resurrection process would work for him, he's- he's so different from the rest of us."

He curls his one leg up around him, hugging his arms around it and resting his chin on his knee- tone quiet, frightened.

"I still don't know if he'll come back...not really."

[charlastan]

Stan frowns, not sure if he's the best person to be giving any kind of pep talks to Varian of all people. He has to give it a shot though, because he can't just leave the kid this miserable.

So, hesitantly, Stan moves closer and puts a firm hand on Varian's shoulder.

"You're right. We won't know 'til it happens. But...we're all different now. You and me can make fire come out of our hands! And Fern's got that sparkly darkblood now. ...Somehow. Even though he's a grass boy."

Uh-oh. He's floundering. Better reel it back in.

"Anyway, point is-- he's even more like us now than he was before. So, if anyone else can come back from the dead around here, he can too."

[droptheious]

Varian definitely wasn't expecting the hand on his shoulder and his whole body tenses- just for a moment, almost as if he's preparing himself for a fight or...something. He's had a shitty few months, his ability to deal with things on a normal level is currently...not great.

But then Stan talks and the tension bleeds out of him. He's tired, he's so damn tired and if taking comfort from Stan Fucking Pines is what he needs to do, then so be it. He lets out a slow, shaky breath.

"You're right," his voice is still muffled against his knee- slowly he raises his head. "Things are different now. He's got...blood now too. Somehow. It- it stands to reason it would work the same for him as it does us."