deercountry | February & March Catch-All

Entry tags:

February & March Catch-All

Who: Vyng

spiritwalks and various others
What: Catch-All for February. Closed Prompts (in comments) for now, but am open to adding more!
When: Various
Where: Various

Content Warnings: Listed in subject lines when applicable

Notes:

- Style veers wildly between prose and brackets. Just choose whatever style feels good when responding, and I'll match it ♥

- Feel free to hit me up at

jackets or Jansen#8997 for plotting and general chatter...or if you want a starter of your own!

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[He can tell Perell isn't convinced.]

Look...

[Vyng sighs.]

I know your magic is a huge part of your identity. You're gonna need time to adjust. You probably don't even know how, or what any of it means. And that's okay. Nobody expects you to have everything figured out.

Hell, most Sleepers don't even have it figured out. We're all adjusting to this, together. Taking things one day at a time.

[He's certainly still trying to sort himself out in Trench. But that's not what this is about, so Vyng emphasizes his point with a warm shoulder pat.]

If you wanna tell Billie yourself, we've got your back. This is your deal. How you wanna handle it is up to you.

[It was an odd relief to hear those words spoken out loud, and Perell felt some of the tension that had wound him so tightly start to ebb.]

Thanks, I needed to hear that.

[He sighed, for once leaning into the vulnerability that was so terrifying to a person who relied upon their secrets. They were all Trenchies, and all in the same storm with their little individual boats. They could link up and support each other regardless of what their boats were capable of, and there was an odd comfort in that.]

Wizards usually kept to themselves, [He commented wryly, knowing how getting more than a handful of them in the same region was akin to herding cats.] So this... this having a team thing is strange for me. But...

I feel better knowing you three are there.

[The headaches and frustrations were so, so worth it.]

...I feel like I should tell Billie myself, but we can work together on it. It needs to be done right.

I don't want to make him cry again.

You're welcome. I'm glad it helped.

[Vyng often tells himself the same kind of stuff, especially over the past couple of months.]

We'll do whatever we can, Perell. No matter how bad things get, just remember: You're not alone.

[As for Billie...well.]

Does that mean no more hats?

[The commentary earned a stubborn frown from the Wizard-- and he tugged his knit hat down tighter over his head.]

The hats stay. You know what I'm talking about!

[It was all bluster, but no actual bite.]

The rest of my wardrobe stays too. It's not a lot! [But the little there was featured an assortment of bold patterns, leather garments, and a variety of accessories that a man who had been wintering indoors in his own depression absolutely did not need.] It's the... the other stuff I'm talking about!

[Like hitting the bottle so hard he evidently squidded himself.]

...I always maintained my own tower with the Bullywogs, but it's not the same thing as companionship with others. There's been a few over the years before I was in the Box, but we liked our space.

It's just how we did things.

For once, though...

[Calming down, he took a breath and just listened to their surroundings-- the birds chirping in the trees, the sounds of distant conversation, Billie's laughter from inside...]

It's nice, not being alone.

Killing people, then. No more killing people.

[Is he fucking with Perell? Or is he being serious? Who can say. Vyng did tell him off for disappearing. Awfully (in)convenient for him to somehow forget about that now.

Still, his face softens. Sharing in the silence with Perell, he takes a moment to reflect on his own journey too: How his reason for waking up in the mornings changed with time, until he realized the love in his heart was so much bigger than any bitterness or anger toward his father.]

Yeah. [His words are quiet. He shifts his gaze toward the gloomy sky.] ...It is. You're right.

I-uh--

[Congrats, Vyng. Perell sputtered, uncertain what point the Druid was trying to make with that comment.]

Look. I've already told everyone how it wasn't quite me that killed you. Yeah, that guy was a part of me that I should have dealt with better. A hundred years in that box was.... enough to break people.

[Did it break him? Maybe. An aspect of his own psyche literally split off to cause havoc amongst the world at large-- and yet, with the loss, he felt he had gained something as well.

Connection of the sort he had not fully seen in his life, even before becoming a Wizard.]

You guys helped me in my darkest hour-- and it was the first kinda help like that I had been given in a very long time. Being alone doesn't suit any of us, and...

I'd like to be able to pay it back one day. Or, at least, try to pay it forward. I know it's not gonna be easy, but even with how strange everything is right now I feel like there's reason to have some hope for whatever future finds us.

...Hey, c'mon. You don't need to explain yourself. Especially not to me.

[He gives his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.]

I'm sorry. That joke was in pretty poor taste, huh...

[Vyng didn't realize his dying was still such a sore subject for Perell. Of course, his wizard buddy is feeling all kinds of mixed-up right now. He should probably err on side of being sensitive.]

You don't owe us anything, either. But if you wanna pay it forward — however you end up doing that — we'll have your back. There's puh-lenty to do here, trust me.

[It was only sore because the event was tangentially related to the reasons behind Perell's current problems-- and how unnerved he was at being so relatively powerless in the face of danger. He trusted Vyng, Tuck, and Billie to have his back, but the last thing he wanted was to become a burden on them.]

Right. Plenty to do. [He rolled his eyes.] For someone who was able to do more than research? Maybe.

[He huffed, a little frustrated.]

You're fine, Vyng. I guess I'm just feeling weird right now. Sorry for being difficult.

[To be fair, it was kind of an asshole thing to say. Vyng honestly doesn't hold The Squiddening over Perell's head anymore, but shocker: Forgetting it happened doesn't communicate that.

When he speaks next, his tone is gentle.]

It's okay. Shit's rough, I know.

[A pause.]

I'm still getting used to not being able to shapeshift like I could before.

[The gentle tone was enough to soothe Perell's emotional bruises, and he took that moment of confession to look up and regard Vyng in full seriousness.]

I remembered you having trouble with that before, which was why I thought to find you first. I was... I was gathering all of my data on the boat before I got to these shores, but I really was planning to tell you soon.

[He shrugged.]

Instead, I woke up here, and it feels like every day I'm fighting my own body over some new problem that pops up.

...It's a shame to hear you're still having trouble shapeshifting, [He added quietly.] You'd think that this world, being what it is, would have given someone like you more freedom.

[He sighs.]

It could have. If I hadn't fucked it up.

[But there's no point in lamenting what could have been. Vyng needs to move forward. They all do.]

When's the last time you exercised, anyway? Maybe if you did more with those old bones of yours, they wouldn't be fighting you so much.

[The comment earned Vyng a questioning look.]

What could you fuck up? I heard that the Dream was in shambles.

[He shook his head. There might not even be a point in asking...]

What does exercise have anything to do with this. It's not gonna change much. I wasn't that strong to start with.

[Translation: He did fuck all to even try exercising.]

It was. But it still let me break my shapeshifting.

[That's the thing about Dream Logic. It doesn't always have to make sense. He's pretty sure Perell wouldn't have cared much for Deerington, where they were all biding their time and waiting for the end. At least Trench has an actual magic system he can dig into.

That answer is about what he expected, though.]

Exercise changes plenty, pal. [Vyng lightly pokes Perell in the chest.] Like how well you sleep. How much time you spend getting into fights with internet trolls. And how you handle an ass-beating with no magic to get you out of it.

[Perell pulled away, frowning with obvious frustration and uncertainty at the suggestion. As much as he wanted to deny it, Vyng was right.

The last thing he wanted to be was helpless in this strange world.]

...Fine.

[He relented with a sigh.]

Only if it's you, or someone you trust. It's, uh...

It's been a long time since I've needed to hone any skills like that.

You were boxed in. It's understandable.

[But step one to moving forward is getting Perell more comfortable with this new world...and all these new (mundane) ways of interfacing with it. With that in mind, Vyng clasps a hand on his friend's shoulder again.]

We'll take things one day at a time.

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February & March Catch-All

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