deercountry | Mother stands for comfort

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Mother stands for comfort

Who: Luz and you (and specifically with Luca)
What: Luz tries to resist the hex, and not mutate herself until she finally falls to beast hood
When: Middle of February (sorry Luz, no birthday for you)
Where: All around Trench

She'd read the sermon and was sure that was when the trouble began. Luz had thought, after getting others who'd been sympathetic and lent an ear to her troubles, that she might be able to ride out the crazy of this month, that she'd get to her birthday in relative peace. Unfortunately, things didn't get better: instead, Luz found herself plagues by the past: her father leaving, the scorn of being that "weird" kid in her class, and the things that came with her Deerington and new Trench memories.

After Varian, Luz had been meticulous about trying to keep such thoughts from consuming her, trying to talk to others when she could, listening to advice and meditating more than she probably had any month. But the thoughts kept coming, and no matter what Luz did, she found she was feeling more depressed by the day, even though she interacted with people and did her best to keep her smile up.

And then one day, she found it was starting to feel worse than usual, enough that she even resorted to turning to her bird form if only to escape those memories. Now they were starting to compound, and images of the cave men and the Blood Cultists and their attacks on her began to plague her nightmares. It got so bad that she woke up feeling the cuts in her skin as clearly as she had back then, and she would be breathing hard and be so anxious she stayed in bed.

She had no idea how to stop this, and moments where she started to consider self-harm surfaced, shocking her so badly she took a cold bath, shivering and in tears, wondering what would happen next.

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It... was a lot less hard than you think. I was much more worried for you than myself. You were actually kind of dangerous like any beast, but...

[she gestured to herself and sighed, laughing softly.]

I don't really fear vampiric monsters that much anymore, so ... the stress was just in making sure you were still in there and keeping you safe.

[Luz nodded].

Well so much for hoping I'd be, like, a rabid otter or something. I should have known better. Varian had been a huge animal, there was no way I'd get off that light.

[At least she'd still been a little open to suggestion, but still. She also really had no idea what she was even LIKE in that form].

Ok, I wish it wasn't vampiric though. The more I have to deal with blood, the less I'm starting to like it.

It's disturbing, no question. And the more that blood is part of our lives, the less comfortable that I think we are. All of us, and you especially.

What we'll need to do is work to keep it so that you stay uncorrupted, yes? [A pause] And we should probably take pains to make sure I don't either. If the blood is any indication...

We don't want to see me in beast form.

The farm was enough for a long, long time.

[Luz still had the scars and the trauma to last for a good long time].

I'm trying to take things slow. Eat more, sleep more, take a little time off. That'll probably help, right?

Oh. Oh RIGHT. No, you're totally right there.

We should probably plan for what happens when either of us get corrupted again.

[When, sadly, not IF. When].

Time off, especially time with friends, will help to relieve the stresses that you're experiencing. That seems to help stave off the corruption, besides just being a good thing in general.

[She patted her hand and grinned softly.]

Yes, yes, but I think perhaps not today. You need a little bit of rest, after all. We can plan that sort of thing when you're recovered.

I've done that. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn't. Heck, I live in Cassandra, where you're supposed to go to stave off corruption, yet at least half the people in our house still managed to get corrupted!

[It was insidious how bad corruption was].

That being said, staying with friends is probably the first thing I'm going to want to do, along with recovering at home! I miss my housemates and our pets!

[Luz nodded, throwing the covers over her head].

I didn't do anything too crazy, did I?

I think Cassandra's reputation is vastly overstated, but that's just me. Just the incense is of particular value in that place. But even in a hospital, one can get sick. Always remember.

And from what I've gathered, no. Nobody recognized you as having done any major harm. [She shook her head. She'd been busy so she hadn't checked the network.] Nobody was posting warnings, so that's a good sign. Hopefully.

You might be right about that. It IS a good place to recuperate, but it doesn't mean you'll be free of corruption. That stuff is everywhere and can be triggered by just about anything that's happened to us.

[Which was just lovely].

Good. That means it could go and vanish into a story of random strange things that happen. Besides, if I got corrupted again, who knows if I'd even resemble the thing I was then?

True, and there's the possibility of instant corruption, if we come into contact with something truly awful. So we have to be careful.

[She nodded afterwards, looking down at her hands.]

We don't know if it's consistent. What happened to me in the river may not be what happens next time. In fact, I doubt it will be.

Instant?! I didn't know about that! Have you heard of it happening? How awful are we talking about?

[Well now you have the girl all riled up].

Oh. Right. Guess we'd have to ask more people. I don't exactly want people I care about to get corrupted though.

Well, keep in mind that what happened to me in the river? That was an almost immediate thing. So, there are monsters whose very corruption poses a certain amount of risk. However, they do appear to not be regularly encountered.

more something to be aware of, should events take a turn in a given month. As you said, neither of us wants that.

I guess that's a good thing then.

[Luz wasn't sure what to say to that, or how she could even begin to tackle that problem].

It might help to keep in contact with a lot of people, just so we're on the ball.

Yes, I think that's probably one of the more powerful tools. When strange events happen, we keep in touch. I don't quite want to insist on daily check ins, but they're not actually a terrible idea.

Still, it's not like the nightmare, where it's an almost constant fear, is it?

I would be opposed to that, definitely for some people.

It helps also, so you know who's recently gone back to being a squid.

Nope! It's only toward the beginning and I think the middle end of the month!

But not constant! That's important!

Mmmm. Yes. And those who are trapped in cocoons, given how often that seems to happen. We should be able to keep track of that.

Either way, we can manage to keep a tab on each other, in case this happens again. I like this idea. Now the question is how to do it... other than obviously you and I watching out for each other.

(OOC: It's safe to assume she probably checks in briefly every day or two most months off-screen. Just to check in.)

Wait, cocoons? Have I been missing people doing that?

Now that I think about it, I haven't seen Lysithea in some time. Better go check up on her.

That and the Bond, of course. I have that with Varian and Luca, in case something happens to one of us for some reason.

((OOC: of course, of course! They drop in on each other for tea)!

It's not common. Every once in a while someone falls asleep in a cocoon, usually for about a month. Sometimes they come back to us with new memories. It's hard to say what's going on, though it happened in the nightmare too.

...but yes, do me a favor and check on Lysithea. She'd appreciate it.

So its like they go back home?! I didn't even know that was a thing that could happen! If that's what is happening with Lysithea, I hope that she comes back soon! If she doesn't, man. I honestly don't want to think about it.

[Luz liked Lysithea a lot, so she'd be pretty devastated if she didn't come back. And who would run the bakery]?!

Well, it's a little like that, but it's not the same. It's almost always a sign that they will awaken. In as many occasions I've seen this, I've only ever known one to disappear afterwards. She'll be back...

So, Lysithea will likely be complaining about waking up in the gunk soon enough.

Oh, oh good! I don't think I could take another person going back on me!

[Too bad Luz, you'd be getting just that in another month].

Yup, that sounds like her. I probably should get some towels and stuff for when she does finally get free.

[The price of living in Trench, sadly.]

That's always one of the hardest parts of things about living here. The knowledge that we might lose a friend from time to time. But yes, I think she'd appreciate being able to clean up almost immediately.

[When it rains it pours].

Knowing her? That's so true. I used to think that I never knew someone who seemed so fussy, but I've come to really admire that about her now! She's a perfectionist to a fault, and she's proud of that.

Heh. She is that, isn't she? [She couldn't help but laugh very slightly.] That precision isn't a bad thing, though. It helps to keep her focused on the task at hand. As long as someone's around to keep her from overdoing it at the very least.

She is! No, actually, it's kind of awesome! Kind of like how I can get on people's nerves with my energy and obliviousness, but I'm lovable at heart!

I think.

Haha. Yes. Exactly like that. It's endearing how much energy you manage to have in the worst of times. It helps to keep the rest of us going.

[Yup, Vira-Lorr was a fan]

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