June Catch-All (Closed & Open)

[onlypets]

CHARACTERS: Count D + Others
DATE: Month of June
WARNINGS: will update if needed
SUMMARY: A catch-all for everything for the month of June! Feel free to drop wildcards in here if needed.

Comments

DECLAN - GUILD WARS (BIGGE TUNELLE)

[onlypets]

[The ON world is greeted by two dingdongs...

They made it through the Windhaven Woodlands with a little effort, and the forest spits them out right at the husk of a large, fallen tree. Of course, they would come in on the side the wind is entering.

For now, nothing is amiss since they are too far back.]

It's such a shame something so old and magnificent has fallen...

[Big sad for this AU Deku Tree. He glances at Declan briefly.] I suppose we should look around. [And potentially get sucked into the tree tunnel unintentionally.]

[clockworksoul]

[ No doubt on the way here, D was subjected to Declan’s endless chatter about any number of things, though mostly a project he’s working on for Juniper. He seems quite excited about it! (It’s a butterfly-themed battleax.) ]

It is a tragedy, isn’t it? The tree. I suppose that goes to show that even the mightiest can fall. Or, ah, nature takes its course, or some such!

[ … ]

Right, down to business! Should we split up, you think?

[onlypets]

[i

HELP? The butterfly battleax, I am so proud even if D is like …wow. Luckily, he believes Juniper can do no wrong, so he is happy for her aesthetic battleax. Sometimes, a leporine-eared girl needs to chop.]

I suppose that is how it goes. [He sounds a bit morose in saying this.] Perhaps we can find a seedling.

[He turns his head to glance around the two of them…]

We would cover more ground that way…

[clockworksoul]

[ It’s going to be a very fancy ax okay! It will glow and cast spells and everything. ]

Oh! Wouldn’t that be good? New life springing forth from the old!

[ He gives a dramatic little sweep of his hand, amused. ]

I don’t mind splitting up, but we should be wary of that wind. It wouldn’t do for one of us to get sucked into the tunnel and leave the other behind!

[ Solution: both of them get sucked into the tunnel. ]

KNIVES (A MILLION) - DODO DISREPAIR

[onlypets]

[THE DODO HOUSE IS IN SUCH A STATE!!

The Chickadee room is already a disaster by way of the terrible people in it, so now it is even more of a disaster, and D cannot remain inside until some things are fixed. So instead, he wanders around the rest of the Dodo House to see if it's only their room that's become a mess... but no, it's... everywhere...

Imagine being able to go down the stairs.

One of the thicker boards of the ceiling has fallen down on top of the staircase, and not only is it in the way, but now there is a gap between two sets of stairs. He comes to a stop in front of the debris, frowning.]

Unsightly... What is happening here?

[RELEASE HIM. He reaches out to try at least moving the board, but he can't get it to budge.]

[chlorokyll]

[ There's been little explanation for why the house has started falling apart, and demanding answers from it yields nothing. (Don't ask how he knows.)

As much as Knives would be content to remain online (though the state of even Duocaeli is not ideal right now), he's learned that lesson the hard way. He has to log out eventually, and so he's finally slinked out of his room. He has little interest in venturing outside on a normal day, and with the air quality as it is, he intends to remain indoors as usual.

But the house is not making that an easy task.

He makes his way down the hall toward the stairwell, for once up and about not in the dead of night — meaning he should be able to acquire some decent food from the banquet hall. Except for the problem of ceiling debris being in the way.

He hears a voice near the debris and steps closer to find D on the other side, effectively trapped in the stairwell. ]

Do you have any idea why this place has come into such a state of disrepair?

[ He's sizing up the ceiling panel. Normally moving it would provide no issue for him, but with his limited powers in this space, he's facing down the possibility of being bested by something so inconsequential. ]

[onlypets]

[The hilarious thing is D doesn't have to ask because he has been doing the same thing. Sometimes, you can simply talk to things other people cannot talk to at all...

The air on his side goes still when he hears Knives' movement. The voice, though, is familiar.]

Hello, Mr. Butcher.

[They meet again... in the OFF world. He leans enough to peer around the panel at Knives with a golden eye and a purple eye, a smile on his lips.]

Normally, I would place the blame on humans since they always seem to destroy everything they touch, but...

[He's still staring curiously at Knives, eyes interested. He has enough strange intuition to be able to see--or perhaps feel--Knives' pedigree. Animal, plants, they are all a part of the natural life to which he's connected. And the same is true for him: there's an almost hypnotic, pacifying aura about him. Something otherworldly and probably a bit odd to sense.

Knives is lucky; D doesn't mind being more bitterly open to what he understands is not human. The usual facade has no place here.]

No, I'm not sure. Both worlds seem to be in disarray.

[chlorokyll]

[ Mr. Butcher? There's a moment of confusion that flashes over Knives' face before he remembers. Right, their shared memories, of this man being one of his regular customers at his job.

In theory, he's still supposed to work said job, but he's yet to do so. There will be a rude awakening coming when his Duocaeli sub expires, but for now he's been avoiding all of the urgent texts from his so-called "coworker" at the butcher shop. ]

Whoever you remember knowing, that wasn't me.

[ Just to set that straight.

However, it's D's next comment that truly seizes his attention. A casual comment about the way humans are, the likes of which he's never heard since he arrived here. His eyes widen briefly and he seems to forget all about the dilemma of the debris for the immediate moment. ]

You're not human, then.

[ To be honest, it also feels like he's being sized up as well. Why is he suddenly reminded of Legato? ]

JAM... - HANDHOLDING HOLE

[onlypets]

[This hole is truly about to give them both a time.

Yet here they are, making an attempt to venture into the dark crater. He gives the man nearby a cursory glance. THIS MAN IS 5'4"?! Well.]

Have you been down through here by any chance...?

[They should have put out a party finder for more people so they both wouldn't be useless in this hole...]</small.

[reinherits]

[SO BOLD? HOW PATHETIC DID YOU THINK I NORMALLY AM? comments before you can fix your html as retribution. also haha yeah hikari is small]

Once, with Roland. I admit, it was not a pleasant experience, but it is worth it to explore further.

[onlypets]

[wow, maybe i just thought you were soft... ALSO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MY HTML!!! I LOOK A FOOL NOW.]

Ah... I came with him as well.

[Roland really is bridging the gap between them... The world is so small. This is hilarious. But he at least feels slightly more reassured. Does not mention they were holding hands.]

We should be careful then. I'm afraid I won't be much help. I'm attuned to Wind. But I am a Crafter.

[reinherits]

He is quite active, it seems. This world is fortunate to have someone as helpful as him.

[wow your scandalous handholding d........]

I see. I am a Wanderer, attuned to Light, so you don't have to undersell yourself—I imagine your abilities will be of more help than mine.

ROLAND - HANDHOLDING HOLE...2

[onlypets]

[This won't be the first or the last time he's in the crater holding someone's hand probably. (Thinking about Jan.)

The expanse is way larger than he had been expecting. This rivals the city, honestly. He peers out across the distance as far as he's able before he exchanges a glance with Roland.]

There is a lot of ground to cover. We can look around the first kilometer or so of area...?

[Hopefully, he won't have to drag Roland back on the ground when all of the mana depletes. This is why they'll have to hold hands... Neither of them can really do too much about the pollution either except... handhold. This is fine.]

[duskspear]

[Roland nods. Considering the environment, a kilometer is more than a fair distance.]

I came this way before. We can cut through this path and make headway from there.

[His fingers twitch at his sides. He can already feel the unease creeping in again. Some of that excess energy is released into a ball of fire that dances atop his raised palm while he extends his other hand to D.]

Take my hand. It will ensure that we stay together and combat fluctuations in our mana.

[onlypets]

[Mmmm.

Momentarily, he regards the extended hand offer with some reservation. There is a peculiar urge to very quickly put his hand in Roland's own, and he finds that so bizarre. Never has he had the urge to hold a human's hand unprompted, not unless it had been Chris' hand.

He squeezes both of his own together gently in front of himself. Roland is right, unfortunately. It'd do them better to hold hands while things in this world are a mess.]

You went through this place already?

[Reluctantly, he reaches out to rest his hand on Roland's palm, careful of his long nails. It's awful how much better it feels already.]

[duskspear]

[He turns his face away to cough once. It's mild—more to clear away the lingering irritation in his throat from the smoke than anything else. Then he turns back and tentatively closes his fingers around D's hand, securing the hold without trapping D, who seemed a touch reluctant, in place.]

I have, though we managed only to go so far.

[Still, his memory is fresh enough that he starts to move, leading them through the bottom of the crags.]

This place has a way of unsettling explorers. Pray speak up at once if aught feels amiss.

KAVEH

[onlypets]

[The good ol' ON world party finder...

The ON world has hopped up the Guild Wars, and he loves gathering info about the flora and fauna, so what better thing to do than find more of the species? He's waiting on the outskirts where the giant, ancient tree has fallen, not unlike people might do when forming for an open-world boss.

He stands on a mossy rock, waiting for the accepted party member to join him.

Get on your mount, Kaveh...]

[ohthehumanities]

[Kaveh has a high ping so he loads in quickly... but he also is that loser that has a terribly low stamina bar so it takes him forever to reach the right place. Rip. He does finally make it, though!! PHEW.]

How'd you get here so quickly?

[onlypets]

[Low stamina… same hat. No matter how long it takes Kaveh, D waits in the same place patiently with his hands cupped in front of himself.

This is funnier considering he is in a bit of thin armor, so his dainty stance doesn’t match his aesthetic.]

Hello. I teleported after a short trek.

HELP LORD BAELIAL (OFF)

[onlypets]

[They are really out here doing this, wow...

D is in a peacock costume with the only difference hilariously being there is an opening at the neck where you can see his whole face. He really has two heads, a real one and a bird one.

No one knows how he manages to remain so beautiful while in this atrocious thing.

In one hand is a stack of flyers, and the other... is trying... to figure out how to peel a single flyer out of the stack with such large, slippery gloves.]

I really didn't think this through...

[duskspear]

[Ah, what a beautiful two-headed bird.

Roland, on the other hand, serves as a bland punchline with his plain goose costume. A square cutout along the neck shows his face, but the rest of him is encased in white. His hands are lost in the fluffy mass of artificial wings, leaving him with no choice but to cradle the stack of flyers in his arms in order to keep them from scattering.

In other words, he doesn't have the opposable thumbs to be halfway useful. As always.]

Let me help. If the two of us work together, we are sure to arrive at a solution.

[onlypets]

[The two of them are out here looking like this...

His expression does a weird few flips hilariously: he is bewitched at first for a second or two by what may be a handsome little goose fellow, but then he realizes there's an extra face, and his expression turns quickly a little worried... and then he realizes the face is very familiar. (A goose has eaten Mr. Roland and assimilated their forms.)

No, it's just Roland in an equally ridiculous bird costume.]

Ah, Mr. Roland, hello...

[The peacock comes over. He shows Roland one of his hands--a fluffy five-finger glove hidden beneath a "wing" sewn over the top.]

I'm not sure if either of us will be able to pick them up. We'll have to give out several together...

NEVER GOING GIVE YOU UP (ON)

[onlypets]

[Not D's weird ass showing up immediately to the Nightlife District when he heard about spooky shenanigans.

He is here to look around just at the cusp of dark, curious and not at all concerned it seems with the rumors going around about ghosts, and lovers, and ghost lovers. His first endeavor is to chat for a minute with a few of the courtesans lingering outside the houses, and then he stands and contemplates which one he might visit for the night.

He also doesn't seem bothered in the slightest about what kind of district and profession he's in the middle of either...]

[feyfound]

[ Juniper, for her part, is not exactly a stranger to 'nightlife,' although tagging along to a few taverns with her guardians to wind down from an adventure is very... different, from all of this.

Yet she doesn't seem all too bothered, either, except for that it's a little wild to be surrounded by so many beautiful people like this! In a strange way, it almost reminds her of being at the Witchlight Carnival, though this is a different sort of circus altogether.

Regardless, none of it is anything that she can't handle, especially when faced by a spooky mystery that she's determined to get to the bottom of! She almost misses Count D's presence in the throngs of beautiful people, but the familiar sound of his voice cannot escape her bunny ears. She's at least polite enough to wait until he's finished chatting with some of the courtesans to approach as he's standing thoughtfully. ]

Good evening, Count D!

[onlypets]

[Oh! The way he always brightens a bit when Juniper appears in his company... He offers her a pleasant smile that doesn't at all fit with the fact they are here about ghosts, a way to beckon her over.]

Good evening, Miss Juniper. Did you come to sight-see, or to learn more about the rumors?

[Since, like, apparently he has no problem with visiting this place as a tourist of some kind even if a lot of other people would be sticklers about it.]