tornheart | APPLE ORCHARDS AND TORN DREAMS [OPEN]

Entry tags:

APPLE ORCHARDS AND TORN DREAMS [OPEN]

Who: Open Log (All)
Where: Around the city (one prompt at the Green Valley school
Summary: Welcome Ceremonies, Dreams, Stirring a shadow hornet's nest. No big deal.
Warnings: N/A

"Are you ready my black lambs? Let's get to work..."

Apple Picking (General Prompt)

As September begins, the apple orchards of Greenfield Valley school are bursting with thousands of apples of various flavors and colors. There's even an experimental breed that's blue!

Those who have been attending the school know that this means a few important things. The first (and most important of course) is that it means that fall vacation is coming in just a few weeks (despite school having started just a few weeks ago), the second is that the school's menu is going to have a high number of apple-themed dishes until winter, and finally, the opening ceremonies.

The opening ceremonies are - well - one would consider them mostly boring for typical schools. And truth be told, Green Valley is not an exception. A single camera posed at the school's main gymnasium, a large podium in the center. For those who can't be physically there, the school's televisions all synchronized to a live broadcast as does the audio feeds. You can't quite escape it. Yet most people don't - after all it's one of the rare times of the year where the principal appears to wish students good fortune.

The person who stands in the front, Ms Michelle Andersen, is the very definition of an ice queen. Her face is perhaps locked forever into an emotionless stare. Bright blonde hair with blue eyes, both contract to her orange and black outfit.

Behind her, three men, the vice principals, who tend to play the good cops to her bad cop routine and insist that most students call them by their first names unless something really bad has happened; Norman (the most average man on campus that no one would know who he was if it wasn't for his name tag), Jeremy (the tallest staff member standing at over 195cm, thin, a bit of a lisp but he always means well), and Felix (possibly the hairiest man on campus as far as the rumors go, muscular, and a black beard that matches his scowling face when he isn't laughing - which is usually all the time. In fact, he's holding back himself from doing so when Ms. Andersen speaks.)

The presentation is short, as the Principal wishes all the students a great year, gives a bit of data on the number of students (they are up 300 new students from last year), the number of important guests that have passed, then as quickly as she was there, she leaves, explaining that there are additional meetings and events she will explain in greatest detail in the upcoming months.

Afterwards the students are treated to the vice principals singing a welcome song (it goes as well as one would expect it to go), telling the students that they are free to pick as many apples as they want as long as they all get eaten, but everyone is limited to two of the new apples and report to the hospital wards if any of them feel anything unusual after eating them. Just in case.

When the ceremonies are done, students and staff can return to their day...although some of the staff can be heard commenting that the Principal seemed even more...cold this year. Of course asking them for details would just cause them to shoo anyone away and pretend they didn't say anything.

[OOC: Players are welcome to speak to themselves or go have some apples. It's a general school mingling prompt! Additionally, it will be possible to email the vice principals during that week should the characters want to talk with them or ask school questions. Typical school stuff.]

Sound the Rebellion

(Special Prompt for the Unawakened, Monday the 4th)
The school's opening ceremonies aside, the Unawakened’s Monday was rather...strange. The night was plagued with restlessness as they heard the voice of someone laughing. Waking up feeling 'odd', although that differed between all of then - some would feel sick, others have a headache, or some just deciding that wearing a piece of clothing they haven't wanted to worn would look great right now. Perhaps they got a few comments from their relatives about how strange they were acting that day, or a worried glance if they felt sick. It might get dismissed with a wave of a hand.

After all, how can you explain that when they sometimes look upwards, they hear the sound of a child laughing and briefly see a symbol above their heads? Or that this somehow feels...fine?

Maybe in their new state of mind, they might not even notice the people that keep following them around...

Better than a GPS

(Awakened prompt, Monday 4th, day and night.)
"Alright Lambs, time to get to work."

Luci's voice echoed in their phone, laughing. Was he doing a peace sign?

"There's only a few but they'll be useful. I want you to find them and see what you can do. Who knows! Maybe you might be better at this than me, although I doubt it heh heh heh…Now remember what I said! You have to get them to fall asleep...but there's no real rules for that!"

For the Awakened, the symbols above the Unawakeneds’ heads will be as clear as day - Luci will even go so far as play little musical tunes when the characters are close by or distract them using electronics. "Come on! Stop wasting time and do something!"

For the Unawakened who have a relative, it will be somewhat easy. It is the others that will be a pain. Maybe that's why Luci asked for help. Or maybe he just wanted to see his 'lambs' struggle. "Get them to bed! It's not that hard! If you have trouble, just show them the program I've put into your phone and toaster! Or knock them with your toaster first if you want, I don't care! Just go in teams when you go after them, got it?"

It's obvious that 'sleeping' as far as Luci is concerned, is when someone is unconscious - he seems to almost want someone to knock an Unawakened out and then drag him into a room and let themselves go to sleep.

Once the task is done, and the place is secure, the characters will have to do the same. While the hypnotic wheel from the program is the easiest way, there's no hard rule about knocking oneself out either.

MINDJACK
Once the characters get inside, they'll be in the person's mind and dreams. Eddan's memories are predominant, and the unawakened will be standing there wandering around. It will be up to the Awakened to peel back the fabric of reality, much like curtains and show them the true memories of their past...

But beware. Shadows lurk here, and transforming will be necessarily. And if a character dies in someone else's dream...they might never wake up. So be careful...

The main mission is to showcase the person a few memories. Give them an idea that something might be amiss...it can be a little or a lot. Just be careful that the more memories, the stronger the shadows become... When both are done and awaken, ten minutes will have passed. Perhaps it will be time for question afterwards.

[OOC:The Unawakened characters need to be isolated for the program to run, and so do the players, so half the 'fun' will be setting up the traps so that the characters will be alone.

Awakened might decide to have someone stand on guard while the others go to sleep with the Unawakened, or just all stupidly go together, or find an area where they won't be disturbed - everything is up to you.

The dreamscape can be anything the Unawakened desires! It could be good memories of their time in Eddan or bad memories, a mixture of both, or just silly dreams. Whatever it is, the Awakened will need to 'peel' those memories away - for example showing them that their mother was someone else in their other life, or even directing the person to a mirror so that they can see their true selves. But for each memory - both good or bad, shadows will start to attack both the Unawakened and Awakened. Be careful and let the mods know if a mission goes REALLY bad.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Sighing at the gentle circles Vincent's fingers traced over his back, Kit's hand wandered to the front of the other boy's shirt and curled into the fabric.

He didn't reply.

Honestly, this was his home, he shouldn't have to pay to sleep where he wanted. Especially not after bringing back food. Which was probably getting cold. Or already cold. He could still faintly smell the barbecued meat in the air...but it wasn't quite as pleasant as Vincent's own smell. Why was that? Was he just not hungry enough?]

[perhaps Vincent's earlier avowal applied to the other boy as well: he simply wasn't hungry for that sort of thing.

he ought to push him away until his companion decided to play nice and 'pay' for the space he was taking up, but there was something so comforting about feeling him cling to his shirt that he can't find it within himself to evict him. Vincent didn't even deny him the lazy wanderings of his fingers, the very least he could do.

instead he makes some vague thoughtful sound in the back of his throat, nuzzling a little closer to Kit so that he could lose his nose in the other boy's hair. he had such a wonderfully distinctive scent - floral but earthy, as if every facet of nature were captured right here - that it almost feels like adequate payment to be allowed to coexist so close to it again.]

'll collect later.

[the words are so low they're almost entirely lost, but Vincent makes a mental note to remember for the opportune time in the future. it was important to collect one's debts, after all.]

[Kit obviously didn't want to consider anything of the sort. In fact, as one hand curled into the front of Vincent's shirt, the other still resting against the back of his neck where his fingers could slide into the ends of short dark hair, it seemed that for once he was far more content to act than to think at all.

Or in this case, to sleep for as long as his position would allow.

If it weren't for the light stirrings of his hair, he might have drifted off into a deeper slumber against Vincent, but there was something much too pleasant about the feeling to sleep through entirely. He lingered on the edge for some twenty minutes more, soaking in the warmth, the intoxicating smell of the wild, and the affectionate way Vincent's fingers played across the surface of his back...

...and then he sat suddenly upright, hands pulling back as if they'd been touched by fire.

What were they even doing.]

Oh. The food is probably cold.

[He should go reheat that...]

[for his part, Vincent remains in the waking sleep that many a college student would know all too well. he could easily have shuttered his eyes once more if it weren't for the extremely important tasks he was expected to continue performing. he's rewarded for his diligence in being allowed to notice, even through his inebriated haze, the way that their breathing slowly begins to sync up. it's such a pleasant feeling, their chests rising and falling in time with one another.

and then Kit practically does a tactical roll off the couch.

he grunts and makes a choked sound of alarm surprise, because without the careful angling they'd performed to make this position work the other boy is kind of heavy leaning on his diaphragm like this. he struggles to sit up, purely to try and retrieve the ability to fucking breathe.]

You left it out?

[it's the only vaguely coherent thought crossing through his mind right now, so he throws it out and hopes for the best. at least his irritation is sincere.]

It's fine, it's fine.

[How long had it been? Just a little over an hour, it seemed. Judging by the clock on the wall. And with the dorm's current temperature (which was decidedly cooler now that Kit thought about it, making him almost long for the other boy's body heat all over again) the food wouldn't have spoiled. The trip down to the quad hadn't been wasted. He hadn't suffered through incessant conversation and queries about how he'd injured his hands for nothing.

Still, to think he'd been so distracted by the other boy that he'd done something like that...no. It was the alcohol and sleep, those were to blame. Vincent had nothing to do with any of it.

Quickly picking himself up off the couch, Kit busied himself with collecting the empty beer cans off the coffee table, as well as the empty beer case, and proceed to the kitchen with them. Each was rinsed out before it was crushed and put back in the box, and after washing his hands, he put one of the plates of food into the microwave.]

[judging by the grumbles following him the entire way to the kitchen, it was clear that Kit's guest didn't believe a single word of his reassurances. taking a moment to make absolutely certain that nothing vital had been crushed by the other boy's fat ass, he slowly hauled himself off the couch at last and padded along after him.

he really needed to look into getting himself a heated blanket if he was willing to use someone like that for a little additional warmth.

there's a moment when he reaches the kitchen where Vincent considers ducking under the other teen's arm in order to position himself immediately in front of the microwave in order to pilfer the oncoming food, but the nap has cleared his head just enough to veto that idea. instead he scrambles, with much difficulty and pain, to sit on the kitchen counter and wait impatiently.

...this was the longest microwave cycle in the world.]

[Kit's focus remained steadfastly on the microwave timer and not on his companion as he struggled to find a seat on the counter. He was determined not to laugh at the scene he could see playing out in the corner of his vision, the only indication he was even remotely aware being the way he deliberately did not look at Vincent. At least, not until the microwave cycle finished, it beeped hideously at them, and he removed the plate from inside to offer to the other boy.

It was stacked with more food than the other plate that went into the microwave after, which was obviously one Kit had picked up for himself.]

I hope you're hungry. As requested, there's a little of everything.

[his balance may have been a little precarious getting up there, but there's no evidence of that now as Vincent immediately snatches the laden plate out of the other boy's hands. he makes no attempt to get down or even so much as wait, digging in before Kit can even finish his sentence.

he does at least have the consideration to look up when he answers, a third of a sausage screaming for help from his fork during the pause in his rampage.]

I told you before it's stupid to waste things, didn't I? Don't worry about it.

[hell, he'd finish off Kit's plate if he had to. free things deserved to be appreciated.]

You did. It's one of the few things I think we agree upon.

[So long as nothing slipped from Vincent's mouth and landed on the floor, Kit would have no complaints about where he sat or the way he ate. Kit even trusted him to devour both plates of food if that's what it came to. How bottomless the other boy's stomach truly was had already been proven.

Nevertheless, when his food was finished heating, he made a point to sit down at the far side of the table as if silently inviting Vincent to sit opposite him.]

If there's any toppings missing, there's condiments in the fridge. Unless you polished those off already, too.

Probably.

[he mumbles sullenly, finishing off the sausage and starting in on one of the burgers perched invitingly on the plate.]

Your taste in food sucks.

[aka why are there so many vegetables? what the fuck?? you can't eat like a hoover throughout the entire day with available food like that. it was practically a crime against humanity...he thinks as if he hadn't eaten nearly all of it regardless.

the amount of trouble it had taken him to get onto the counter makes Vincent incredibly reluctant to depart, but after he finishes his current barbecue item he makes the perilous journey down to the empty chair. it just seemed more pleasant to be closer to Kit right now, for whatever reason.]

[The smile Vincent offered when he finally joined Kit at the table was small but not uninviting. In fact, he seemed pleased to have the company, even if he still didn't seem to have much of an appetite and hadn't made a dent in the meager portions he'd procured for himself.]

Eating healthy is important.

[He shrugged, taking a small bite of his hotdog and sucking a stray drop of ketchup from his lip.]

I would prefer to keep any on hand food simple and prepare from scratch anything more complex. And meat is always bought fresh.

[That was the best way to ensure he wasn't putting garbage into his body, and the best way to ensure he was always in peak condition. Vincent ought to understand that. It wasn't a difficult concept to grasp, was it?]

Is there something specific you're craving? If you ask nicely, I might make it.

[Kit must still be outrageously plastered if he thought in even his wildest dreams that his guest had the sort of money to sate his appetite with that sort of cooking strategy. the hell did he look like, the frontman from Slayer?

speaking of eating, however...after a little while Vincent notices that his companion isn't really making the best use of his already pathetically-sized plate. without even really thinking about it he starts reaching over to steal morsels from the other boy's plate despite still having a sizable amount of food remaining on his.]

You'd need to go shopping again if I did.

[because, uh. the metaphorical cupboard is a little bare after what he'd done to it.]

[Kit frowned at the stolen morsel, and then shook his head and pushed his place closer to the center of the table with a sigh. He was willing to share. If Vincent was that hungry, it would be better for the remaining food in his dorm if he didn't withhold portions.]

It isn't like you to care about inconveniencing anyone.

[...that was true, wasn't it? Though Kit wondered at the statement after it left his tongue. They hadn't known each other very long, but it felt like one of the most accurate assessments of Vincent he'd ever made so far. The other boy was someone who existed fiercely and seemed ready to throw down anyone in his way. There wasn't a place for manners in that kind of lifestyle. There wasn't very much room for consideration, either.

But he was surprising sometimes. Kit recalled waking up in his bed at the Leviathan Habitat and not in the hallway where he'd lost consciousness. Truly, he was a living contradiction.]

I don't mind. But it's up to you.

[Vincent certainly was full of surprises. as soon as the other boy gives in and slides his meal within better reach he frowns and withdraws back to his own plate. the theft had less to do with a desire for more food (although if it remained there after he'd finished his own he'd certainly clean it off) and more a desire to push his host a little. in that way it was a disappointing reaction.

he doesn't make any attempts to combat the accusation - if anything he seems to take a faint sort of pride in that statement. but the dissatisfaction mingles with the alcohol to produce a response that is far more genuine than he'd have allowed in normal circumstances.]

I'd have to make it myself.

[what he wanted, what he always wanted in some vague subconscious way, he knew that Kit wouldn't be able to make to a satisfactory degree. there was no way he had the skills for it.]

[The plate did, in fact, remain positioned between them, though less because Kit felt like doting upon his companion and more because what he'd said had distracted him.

Was it his skills that Vincent had a problem with, or was he unwilling to let someone make something for him? It seemed a strange thing to worry over after having let Kit venture down to the barbecue to procure them both some food, or in Vincent's case, a stacked plate. So...was it the former? That was almost insulting!

But Kit was much too curious to take offense for real. He lowered his hotdog, eyes fixated on Vincent even as his head canted ponderously to the side.]

Why is that? Is it difficult?

It's Japanese.

[he has no trouble telling Kit why he'd be unable to serve him, if nothing else. the liquor prevents Vincent from realizing what else such an answer casts light on, especially after their drunken game of questions and answers earlier - he was homesick.]

Why is that a problem?

[Alright, so Kit hadn't been born in Japan like Vincent, and his knowledge of the language let alone the country's cuisine, was rudimentary at best. He had spent far more time and effort learning about the occult side of things than he ever had anything else. But that didn't mean he couldn't follow a recipe, or even Vincent's instructions.

But before the other boy can think to answer his question, Kit shrugged and looked down at his food. Whether or not the alcohol was to blame or his often easygoing nature, the reply that followed was anything but combative.]

You can make it, then. I'll watch. I enjoy learning new things.

[Vincent scowls at him in between chews.]

I'm not here to teach you.

[bad enough that he'd already admitted to being able to make what he wants for himself without outside assistance. the idea of showing, step by step, that he actually possessed some skill in preparing his country's dishes was a little galling.

but was that really such a bad thing? against his better judgement he'd shown weakness in front of Kit before. nothing had ever happened. and there was a benefit to be had in the form of watching the other boy stumble and, hopefully, setting him up to make more food in the future...]

I suppose not, but what do you have to lose?

[The picture of innocence, Kit stared across the table at his guest and met that scowl without batting an eye. Vincent had given him harder looks in their short history. This was nothing worth flinching over.]

It isn't even your ingredients that will be at stake, right? And you'll get to eat something you prefer.

[he made an excellent point, damn him. the realization only served to intensify that baleful gaze even as his mind (and mouth) worked overtime. eventually Vincent came to a conclusion, although from his sullen tone it was difficult to tell if he was happy about it or not.]

You don't get any more than it takes to understand how things should taste. Got it?

[if this was going to be for his sake, then he'd take the lion's share of the finished product. that wasn't negotiable.]

Deal.

[Said Kit, absolutely knowing better than to point out how little he ate, anyway. However much a taster's test was, it would be more than enough to sate his meager appetite. But to tell that to Vincent was to be purposefully denied anything the other boy wanted to cook, and Kit's curiosity was much too great to let that happen.]

You have to help clean up after. I'll was if you dry. Does that sound fair?

We'll see.

[but he doesn't outright reject the offer, which is often as much as one could hope for when it comes to requesting anything of Vincent. the likelihood was pretty high of him honoring the agreement...so long as he wasn't reminded of it at any point before it occurred.]

[In any case, Kit seemed pleased with Vincent's response. It seemed even he had realized that the other boy's lack of blatant refusal to cooperate was as good a sign as any that things would proceed as planned. Asking for anything more than that would be asking for too much. Probably, that would be the very thing that would cause Vincent to dig his heels in and object to doing anything remotely domestic.

More important than seeing Vincent outside his element, however, was the opportunity to learn more about him. Kit's brain wasn't so addled by alcohol still that he had forgotten his original intentions by bringing out that first case of beer.]

You do know this means you'll have to come by again, right? So that I can try and make it and you can taste test.

[Vincent's own brain, for its part, was already going down the list of food that he missed the most from home. sushi and onigiri, of course, but maybe he could swing some udon as well...it was a shame that Kit didn't have the necessary equipment for some takoyaki.

he almost seems startled out of his reverie by the other boy's reminder, scowling lightly at him mid-chew.]

No shit. I'm not letting you anywhere near my apartment.

[he still needed to keep some measure of privacy in this relationship, after all. and if he was being perfectly honest, this was a far more comfortable environment than his own home. it was nice to have an excuse to crash here again.]

[Kit huffed, his smile falling away.]

I didn't even ask to see your place.

[Although, now that Vincent had mentioned it, Kit couldn't help wondering what the other boy's apartment was like. Dark, no doubt, like the rest of him, from his appearance to his ever-blistering mood. Not very welcoming either, he'd wager. And probably quite ragged. He shouldn't want to see such a place. But he did...]

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