deercountry | Some nights, I stay up cashing in my bad luck

[Hopefully. They'll do their best.

Min scrabbles up off his ass and follows Ryan, dodging between horse hooves, wheels, and bystanders entranced by the newest addition to the world.

They're so close, they're so so close, but they're human. And that thing looking for them? Is anything but. It's got scanning and telemetrics and it's looking for two passengers who seem to be misplaced.

It can feel them. Their number is cleared but they shouldn't be here, this isn't a part of the train. This isn't part of it's programming at all. How strange. The signal to the engine room is routinely interrupting. Status reports are being sent but not received. Location identifiers are not present.

Process dictates completing it's retrieval.

Aha! There, crossing the street and scurrying around the corner. Targets are locked, visual and heat signatures verified.

And off it goes after them.

Please return to your seats.]

[For a beat, Ryan thinks they might actually get away without incident. They get around the corner and he stands, helping Min up to his feet as well so they can run.

But the crowd it took them so much time to cross? The steward clears it in a single, forceful hop. Trenchies dash to get out of the way of the impact, and it slinks towards them. It makes an ominous noise as its eyes glow, something that sounds almost like a fucked-up dial tone.

The magnet boots are long gone, but Ryan freezes in place anyway.

They're definitely going to die here. They're either going to die or get forcibly dragged through a wormhole - or maybe both! They apparently can't outrun the robot, and even getting to the closest lamp would probably be impossible.

The only thing he can do is cling to Min and brace himself for the worst.]

[This is it. This is the end of them. They're gonna get clobbered or abducted and there is so escape.

The robot thing bears down on them, an umbrella of cabled pincers that found them in a heartbeat.

Then all at once, every thread of shadow and darkness in the area implodes. It's as though the vacuum of space twists up from all directions, harnessed with bright, neon purple and blue lights that draw it closed like petals.

The ground glows in the same colors and bows under their weight, a wormhole opening under them.

Min-Gi is clinging to Ryan, so desperately sorry that he was being an asshole and so sorry that they're going to die and it's probably his fault. I'm sorry, I love you, I don't want to die-

But then they're gone. Swallowed with a sudden rush of vertigo.

And somewhere else. Floating but not. Existing but not. In a small but limitless galaxyscape whirling all around them before it's settles into something a little less dizzying.]

Edited 2022-04-18 03:41 (UTC)

[Ryan looks around as it's happening, but there's no time to process it before they're forcibly pulled into the ground, into a psychedelic hole that looks nothing like anything from the train.

(But...it does look a little familiar. Like mysterious lights no one could explain on stage.)

Ryan screams. He just yells and holds onto Min until the momentum is gone and it's apparent that they're just...floating, in a vast, twinkling darkness. They're...alive? Maybe? His glow has vanished since the moon can't reach him in here, but he's alive and Min's alive and it feels like they're inside a kaleidoscope.

It's beautiful, and...kind of soothing, to watch the world glisten around them.

...But then, one of their shopping bags floating nearby gently bops Ryan in the side of the face and his whole body remembers with a start that he is EXTREMELY emotionally overwhelmed right now. He pulls back, but he doesn't let go because he's just a little scared that they might drift away from each other and get lost in this void.]

Min?! Where the fuck are we?!

[They're both screaming, that's for sure.

They're screaming and then... they're... still alive?

Still clinging to Ryan, Min-Gi saw it all and is still looking around. Nothing is attacking them. There's...nothing at all besides whatever these lights are.]

I-

[His heart is thundering, anger from before vanishing for the moment. Mood stability (and coherency?) is filipendulous and swinging.]

I have no idea. Did you see what happened? Did it get us?

[He did see, but seeing didn't make it more understandable.]

No, something else happened. We got like. Pulled into a wormhole under us? There were all these bright lights and now...we're wherever this is.

[He looks up, down, and all around them. It's objectively pretty, but he has no idea where they are or how far this new cosmic place even extends. Are they still in Trench? Are they still in Deer Country?]

But...I think this might be something different? People can't actually go through the wormholes that have been turning up. [A beat, and then a muttered clarification--] That's why I wasn't like, freaking out about them...it wasn't because I didn't care.

[It's just hitting him how much that really bothered him. He does care and he wasn't being reckless like he always is. He was taking a reasonable and calculated risk, one that made sense since he didn't know Min had nearly been pulled into one. How could he have, if Min didn't tell him?]

[Through that logic, how could Min have almost been pulled into one at all?

He swishes his legs a little bit, not really enjoying the concept of aimless floating.

I wish we were standing back on the ground.

Gravity manifests all at once and they fall a good six inches. Min-Gi gives a startled noise but manages to land on his feet. Their shopping falls to the ground with a thwump. ]

That- okay that was weird.

[Ryan didn't even have the slightest idea that was coming, so he doesn't land on his feet at all. He slips as gravity returns, and falls right on his butt on the...floor? There's a floor now???

He pushes himself up on his palms quickly.]

Wh-What just happened?! Min?

[The ground doesn't feel like much in particular under his hands, and it's not very reassuring at all. Where are they?]

I said I don't know!

[But he kind of does. Weirdly. Maybe just by instinct? It doesn't matter.
Clawed or not, he leans down and offers Ryan a hand up.]

Just now I wished we were standing and now we are?

[This has to be the train. It has to be. What else could do this? Who else? His heart is still thundering in his chest, fear and anxiety in his throat.]

[Ryan takes that hand without hesitation. He's still Min, even with claws.

All of it starts to click together. The lights at the wedding performance. The fact that Min was nearly sucked into a wormhole before. Gravity seemingly responding to Min's wishes, for some reason. He wanted to be standing and then he was.

He just...boggles at Min for a second.]

...Dude. Are you doing this?

[It's not really a question. Ryan's pretty sure he's right about this one, but he wants to hear Min's take anyway.]

[The lights, the prom in their kitchen, the violet gleam in his eyes.

None of which Min-Gi has really seen, and if he has he hasn't acknowledged it. None of that stuff was him, if anything it was Ryan's powers.

He scoffs and waves it off.]

Pfff- No way. How could I? I can't do anything.

[His powers are borked. He's a dud. One more thing he isn't any good at. Another let down. Another lack of progress. The only thing he's good at is getting hurt or fucking up enough to turn into a squid.]

I've tried, remember?

[Ryan shakes his head.]

That doesn't mean anything. Half the time my powers happen by accident, or against my will and it was even worse when I first got here. Most of it isn't stuff I've tried to do, and the stuff that is? Totally doesn't work if I'm trying too hard.

[He gestures around them widely at the kaleidoscope world they're in (now with actual gravity) and then back to Min.]

Darkbloods can manipulate reality and reality is pretty freaking manipulated right now, don't you think?!

[MIN, COME ON.]

I mean...

[He looks around. It's kind of hard to refute when you're standing in the middle of it. This is definitely warped reality.]

Maybe? But it's been months and I read that your powers are supposed to manifest right away and be uncontrollable. Am I really that far behind?

Edited 2022-04-18 06:54 (UTC)

I...don't think you are, actually? I think those mystery lights from Wu and Mako's wedding were you too. They were these colors, right? And we never did figure out the rig for it...

[And it wasn't for lack of trying. None of the light set ups at the Raccoon Room had the ability to make a laser show swirl around them, and they haven't reproduced it in exactly the same way ever since.]

I just got pictures from the wedding photographer a couple days ago, actually? Sorry, I keep meaning to bring them over and forgetting them at Shiro's. [Of course he did.] But listen, you can actually see the lights in the pictures! Whatever those lights were, they showed up on camera really clearly.

[Ryan pauses, and then he laughs a little.]

This would be way more compelling if I actually had the pictures with me.

Edited 2022-04-18 07:11 (UTC)

I wish I could see them.

[He pauses for a second, having just heard the words come out of his mouth. Min-Gi looks around like he's half expecting them to just...materialize. Maybe they do, maybe right in Ryan's pocket, who knows.]

But, hold on. I thought those lights were you. Palebloods can make people hallucinate, I thought you were just totally ruling the space.

[Was it really him? Shouldn't he have, you know, felt something? Different? Do you actively feel your abilities happening? Is this...hope in his voice?]

You really think this is me?

Edited 2022-04-18 15:39 (UTC)

Luckily, I've recently become a hallucination expert!

[What a fun new way to say he suffered from hallucinations all last month!]

Think about it man. If it was a hallucination, even if everyone in the room saw it, no one could have gotten a picture of it. You can't make a camera hallucinate.

[It sounds like the kind of argument someone would make to prove ghosts are real, but Ryan is getting progressively more excited about this realization. Because it means--]

--you were totally ruling the space!

[At that moment, Min will feel something in his pants pocket that wasn't there before - an envelope, with at least three different notes stuck to it.

THE PICTURES
BRING TO MIN-GI'S
DON'T FORGET THIS TIME щ(゜ロ゜щ)]

[He isn't so sure about hallucination expert, but then again, yeah, he guesses Ryan kind of is. It makes sense, he has been dealing with them a lot and they're a part of his power set anyway. The logic tracks, you wouldn't be able to photograph a hallucination.

Man, Ryan is really smart. Was he always this smart? Min should give him more credit.

Maybe he does have powers. Maybe he does and they're standing right in the middle of them.

A weight drops in Min-Gi's pocket and he feels it. Not startled exactly, but suddenly aware. No way, no way, no way.

Carefully, because his fingers are trash weapons now apparently, he reaches in and pulls the envelope out of his pocket. (Incidentally, one of the reasons he likes these pleated slacks so much is how deep the pockets are.) This is-

Seriously?]

Is this them?

[Like they obviously are, but what what what????]

[It's definitely them. Ryan wrote those notes hoping it would make the envelope stand out more, and he'd remember to grab it before he left the house.]

Yeah! Yeah, I wanted to bring them today, but...uh. I kinda...forgot?

[He shrugs helplessly. Oops? The thought was there.]

Open it! If it's really them, they'll be in there.

[Quickly he moves to Min's side, wanting to see for himself if this darkblood magic trick really worked.]

[Yer a wizard, Min-Gi.

He opens the envelope with wonder and pulls out the stack of photographs from Wu and Mako's wedding, flipping through a few of them.

They're really good. They look like rock stars. Real rock stars.

And sure enough, around them in several of the pictures are glittering lights that match the landscape they're in right now. Which is amazing but he's still processing the fact he summoned photographs from Ryan's room. His hands are a little shaky, photos loose in them lest he damage the precious things.]

I can't believe this.

[They really do. Ryan's only had the pictures for a couple of days, but he's spent a lot of time marveling over them himself - not just for the mystery of the lights, but because they just...they look really good. They look professional, like they've really made it. He remembers how that night felt, and it's amazing to know that's exactly what other people saw too.]

I can.

[He puts a hand on Min's shoulder, and leans in to give him a quick little peck on the cheek.]

I told you you weren't a dud.

[The sentiment is more soft than smug. An "I told you so" that's more about how proud he is of Min than just being right.]

[Min blushes a little by virtue of how sweet the kiss is. A laugh burbles up and he closes his eyes as he lets it out, relief pulling away some of the longest resting anxieties. He isn't useless. He isn't broken.

I'm not a dud.

God, that feels so amazing.]

I have powers!

[Min holds the photos tighter and leans into Ryan before stepping back a little and gesturing around them.]

I'm doing this! I don't know how, but I am! Ryan, I was so scared we were dead meat. And now we're...somewhere...and that thing isn't!

[His good feelings are infectious (literally, for Ryan, but that isn't really a bad thing) and Ryan grins right along with him.]

You do! And you did! I dunno where this is either, but you totally saved our asses back there!

[It hits him that his own powers probably wouldn't have helped at all. Everyone in the near vicinity would have just known how freaked out he was at the time. But! He's very happy for Min!]

...Hm. I wonder what other stuff you can do?

[There's a light, playful lilt to it. They're in an empty void where there probably won't be consequences or whatever, so...where's the harm in taking a second to find out?]

[How amazing is that, a safe space where no one can judge him while he tries to work through this stuff, free of opinions or accidents that could get someone hurt.

Kind of exactly what he needs. Imagine that. A helpful power.

If he could just figure out how to do this on command. Sure would take the pressure off needing to learn how to fight, like, yesterday.

Min puts the photos back in their envelope and stows them in his pocket before setting his hands on his hips and taking a slow breath.]

I don't know where to start. Every single time I've sat down and willed something to happen, nothing does. I wish I came with an instruction book.

[That's what he really wants. But, tragically, nothing manifests this time.]

[He might be a little too new at this to manifest a whole instruction book that doesn't exist.]

Relax, man. None of us came with instructions. Besides, who reads those anyway?

[Min-Gi. Min-Gi does. But Ryan breezes by that point easily.]

You just have to try stuff. Throw spaghetti at the wall, see if it sticks. And like, you definitely know some stuff now that you've done?

[Ryan shrugs. He's trying to help, but he's also never been a darkblood.]

I mean, before you were just blindly guessing but now you've made some stuff happen. ...It's a place to start?

Hm.

[Min-Gi pushes up his sleeves (because that helps focus, obviously, the same way poking the tip of his tongue out does) and looks at his hands.]

Okay. So... I've made a wormhole when I was scared or embarrassed.. the lights when we were playing.. do you think that prom thing was me or you?

[All the while willing little dazzling neon wiggles to materialize... somehow? Please? C'mon powers, don't make him look stupid, now.]

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