station72 | [mission: hyrypia] hey kid wanna see a dead body

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[mission: hyrypia] hey kid wanna see a dead body

CHARACTERS: EVERYONE
WHERE: The Second Flight
WHEN: DAY :021 - DAY :022
SUMMARY: Leaving the Graze and flying over the Finger Maze. [insert Psycho music cue here]
WARNINGS: Corpses. Will update as necessary. Need a warning added? PM this account please!

HYRYPIA - THE SECOND FLIGHT
DAY :021

I. ALLLL ABOARD
THE SOUND OF HORNS has become familiar in your time on Hyrypia, but the low drone seems out of place here in the great open space of the main hall of the Second’s Flight. The space here is fantastically and beautifully ornate, the pale polished wood floors and rich dark paneling strangely reminiscent of sand and stone, loamy earth and some rich, dense forest not native to the arid lands of this planet. The space seems to dare the sky to claim it, acting out some daring violation of delivering the earth into the heavens. The twin heads of House Tyrisson are equally lavish both in their appearance and welcome. Two brothers, draped in elaborate pastel fabrics and glinting with enough metal accents to put the ornate robes of Seconds to shame, they trade a short speech back and forth between them:

"Once, our ancestors would have travelled the depths and turns of the Finger Maze in an effort to follow the footsteps of the First. Luckily, we don't live in such dangerous times; the gifts of the First and this planet we call home have allowed us to grow up out of our desperation. Consider this comfort our gift to you and enjoy your time on the Second Flight."

A band strikes up the moment the Tyrisson twins take their seats and you are left to your own devices. So much for living simply.

II. A MURDER MOST FOUL
A SCREAM PIERCES THE SILENCE of the saunas. The low sound of gently flowing water and the soft piped music seems to fade to nothing in the wake of the raw, terrified noise. Unsurprisingly, it draws immediate attention as a horrified Descendant practically falls into the arms of the servant that comes to his aid. The outburst is easily forgiven as word travels like lightning through the ship.

There has been a murder - or rather, two murders. Two bodies, damp with humidity and beginning to give of a distinctly unpleasant smell, have been found in one of the hot bath grottos. The mineral water they've been soaking in has reverted from a milky white to a terrible, blood rust brown.

And while it's unlikely that any Carbauschians were sharing the pool with them (robes make for unpleasant waders), the dryer albeit stiflingly hot areas of the conjoined saunas are such a communal meeting places that it wouldn't be out of the realm of imagination that one or two Hosts might be nearby… Regardless, news travels quickly and the chilly atmosphere that descends over the Second Flight is palpable. A horrific hunting accident is one thing, but murder? That's something else altogether.

HYRYPIA - THE SECOND FLIGHT
DAY :022

III. A SORDID AFFAIR
TO SAY that the atmosphere is somewhat tense is an understatement. It seems that everyone has something to say about the murders- but these things are said tersely, in whispers under the breath, with darting eyes and suspicious glances, and security- once hidden, secret- is now easily visible. They can be found at the entrance of each of the broad areas, patrolling down the paths that run alongside the outer walls of the Envoy’s cabins- never intruding, but ever present. Still, there seems to be an insistence that it will be dealt with by a member of the Tyrisson protectorate guard - Detective Savela, a hard-nosed, serious woman who seems not to want any assistance - and that the guests should continue to enjoy themselves. The bands still play, the games are ever present. Of course, those that are enterprising may wish to try poking around, instead.

IV. THE SHOW MUST GO ON
MURDER SCHMURDER-- In what's very clearly an effort to retain some sense of normalcy, an elaborate meal is served late on Day :022. The dishes are so complex that might as well be show pieces of their own, the music has an air of desperation, and the display of technomancy from a pair of Seconds is so delicate and ornate - centering almost entirely on a cloud of small metal coins that shifts shape constantly to illustrate scenes from the famous epic poem The Arion throughout the course of the dinner - that under any other circumstances it might be a singularly memorable moment.

Unfortunately, the palpable sense of suspicion between the envoy factions persists and the temper of the room is anything but celebratory. Late in the evening when most people have retired from the stifling atmosphere, a scuffle breaks out between some Meradan bodyguards and a clutch of Carpathan servants.

HYRYPIA - THE SECOND’S FLIGHT
DAY :023

V. A FAREWELL TO ARMS
THE ENGINES ever-present hum ticking down an octave is the first sign that the Flight has almost reached its destination. By the time the servants are politely knocking on the entrances of the berthings, the new dawn reveals that the cliffs and the winding passages of the Finger Maze have finally fallen behind the ship. The land here consists of rocky, relatively bare hills and is accented only with occasional short, sparse woody tree and straggly clumps of red grass. From somewhere in the distance, salt touches the wind. The Second Flight lands, setting gently down into the trough between two hills. Its now familiar gangplank extends, ready to send the Pilgrims again out onto the road.

((OOC Notes: This log covers days :021 and :022 on the Second Flight. A log will be posted for the walk on DAY :023 and the arrival at the Red Coast. Please be sure to review the MISSION: HYRYPIA ooc information to find setting information for the Second Flight. If you have any questions, please hit up either the mission's question thread, the FAQ or MOD CONTACT pages!))

NAVIGATION • GAME CALENDAR • MISSION: HYRYPIA • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

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[ Gildor's slumber is less than ideal. Seth feels like he's been gutshot over it. The quiet should be nice, but the sense of being off balance and incomplete keeps Seth from truly enjoying it. It's uncomfortable to feel this invested in a near-stranger, even without Lakshmi's accusatory anger prickling between them.

Just like he hadn't meant to spend all that much time in the sauna, Seth hadn't meant to check in on Gildor. Just look in on his way back to the bar is all he'd wanted to do, because Seth doesn't plan on getting more attached than he has to. It'll only encourage the kneejerk compulsion to stay close to these people; Seth doesn't have any intention of letting that urge get stronger.

But all his good intentions, as usual, blow up in his face. (It might be Elena's heartache; Seth hadn't planned for what that would feel like when he strayed into close proximity.) He hesitates, cursing internally, then crosses the room. ]

Planning on taking a break any time soon?

[ She isn't. Seth recognizes what kind of vigil Elena's holding. But he still has to ask. Sitting here isn't going to have any kind of effect, if what people tell him is true. ]

[ She wasn't expecting visitors and yet -- here he is. Seth, her broodmate, someone she should be close to and yet knows almost nothing about, save for the pieces that leak across their connection. But despite that, they are close, whether he likes it or not. He feels like family, and when Elena looks up at him, it's with tired fondness. She gives him a small smile, reaches up to tuck her hair back, and nods slightly. ]

When Lakshmi comes back, I'll take a break. I don't want to leave him alone until then, it isn't safe here.

[ The thought of losing someone else she cares about is too painful to bear. If sitting with him for a little while might keep him safe, then of course that's what she'll do. ]

[ The familiarity between everyone here feels dishonest. Seth doesn't have any real leg to stand on when it comes to honesty, but he can't help but be uneasy when he sees how Elena turns to him with unexpected fondness. Should she even be happy to see him? Seth can't help but think the symbiotes are muddying the picture. He can't even consider the advantage it might afford him. ]

You look like you could use a nap just as bad as he did.

[ And who knew how long they were going to have on this airship? Long enough for Gildor to wake up, Seth hoped, but he doubted it would last much longer. ]

You worried?

[ About being murdered in their sleep, or about Gildor having to be schlepped back up to the Station or both? Seth had been thinking they only had one enemy to keep track of before the murder. Now it looked like they were just as likely to be offed by some unrelated bullshit while they were trying to deal with their assignment. ]

[ Seth hasn't been outwardly hostile to her, and there's no lasting offense felt toward him for his reaction to her vampirism. It's understandable that he wouldn't be thrilled about being connected to her, or to any of them really, but the fact that he's talking to her now means he isn't like Lakshmi. That hatred and disgust doesn't run deep enough to color all their interactions.

Glancing back at the sleeping man, Elena gives a slight shrug, trying to brush it off, then sighs deeply. What's the point in trying to get around it when he can feel what she's feeling. ]

I don't want to lose anyone else I care about. Being afraid of that is exhausting.

[ The stupid thing is that Seth forgets about what Elena is. She's a girl who shouldn't be stuck here and that clouds his perception. There will come a point when it won't, maybe, but for the moment it's enough to let him take the seat next to her with a sigh.

It helps to hear her verbalize her feelings. Seth already knows, but he can at least pretend he isn't losing his goddamn mind when Elena tells him outright that she's terrified of losing someone else. Her fears sneak down in the back of Seth's head and hook in, make themselves impossible to shake. It means he has to work harder at separating himself from them. Knowing that doesn't help him in the moment. ]

At least you're doing something about it.

[ For Seth, that's miles better than what he'd seen on display in the wake of the funeral. Proactivity he can work with. (Conveniently ignoring his own inertia in the wake of losing Richie.) ]

Whoever's bumping people off would be an idiot to try anything else up here. It's not that big a ship.

[ A second hit would be risky. Seth's assuming whoever left those bodies in the sauna had done it deliberately to make some noise. Turning the heat up further would be foolish and Seth thinks they'd know that. ]

[ Everything in Elena is trying to hold on to her humanity. She can feel how easy it would be to give in to her new predator instincts, to just let loose on everyone around her and feed, to delight in overpowering her prey, but that's not who she is. The Elena Gilbert who drowned beneath the bridge that night might not have been perfect, but the memory of her is all she has to cling to while stumbling through this madness, and it'll be over her twice-dead body that she lets go of it.

But at the same time-- she's starting to feel different in ways that don't bother her. With the gentle influence of Damon and a few others here, she's ever so slowly starting to let go of the box she's always kept herself in. Every day she feels a little more free, and it's... nice, when she lets herself feel it. ]

But someone else could try something. There are a lot of people here who have a stake in this, and we don't know what lengths they'll go to. So I'll protect Gil with my life, because that's what you do for family.

[ That's what she does, what she's always done. Her life has never mattered as much as the lives of others, and she knows that Damon would be furious to hear her say it now. There are just some things that can't be changed as easily as he might like. ]

[ The assignation of family has Seth balking. Putting a name to the uninvited sense of closeness between the six of them is a step too far for him. It feels unearned to Seth. Of course, Seth's lied about a fair amount of things in his life. Maybe he'd have exploited this connection if there were any clear gain. But as it stands, Elena is welcoming something that terrifies Seth. It had terrified Seth when it was Richie linking into his head. The idea of people he barely knew getting that close? He can't have it. ]

I hope you're talking about him, [ is all Seth tells her, unable to hide the instant tension her answer had provoked. ] And that he deserves it.

[ Because it wasn't just Elena. Lakshmi's face rises in his mind, colored by Seth's irritation. He can't help the parts of it that spread to Gildor too, questioning whether or not all the accusations and vigilance on his behalf were necessary or not. ]

[ Elena tilts her head to the side, studying Seth and picking through the pieces of him filtering through their connection. She knows almost nothing about him and yet, he feels close, like they've known each other forever, and she doesn't question that now. All of this is new to him, but she and Lakshmi were the first. They'd welcomed Gil and Shinji, and now Prompto and Seth, and when Gil had been awake, for just a little while, they'd felt whole. Complete. That's something she wants back, an emptiness back in her heart where the slumbering bard once was, and she knows the same would be true if something happened to Seth. There's no changing what the symbiote does to all of them, so why fight it? ]

He does. He accepted me for who am I, despite having fought things like vampires back in his home. We took care of each other when we needed help. I would do anything to keep him safe.

[ Shifting so she's facing him more directly, she leans just a little closer, lowering her voice to keep their conversation private should anyone come near. ]

I wasn't just talking about him, though. Seth, why are you so afraid of this?

[ Fear isn't the right word for what he's feeling. Seth could correct her, but he doesn't. Clarification would be like beckoning her further into his head. It would be counterproductive. ]

Why aren't you?

[ It's the same thing he'd snapped at Richie. The lack of caution and concern is baffling to Seth. How is this something to be welcomed and embraced? ]

It doesn't bother you at all, having a bunch of strangers reading your mind?

[ Surely there was at least one person here who valued their privacy as much as Seth did? He'd assumed there had to be. The absence of one was worrisome to him. Had everyone here assimilated that quickly? ]

[ That's not an easy question for her to answer. There's no cut and dry explanation for why she's adjusted relatively quickly to all of this, but she feels like she still has to try. He's not dealing well with everything that's happening to them, and she wants to help somehow. If she can. So she shrugs slightly and wears an apologetic expression. ]

I'm not really the best example for that. I was a new vampire at the same time as being a new Host, so all the weirdness just kind of got jumbled together. [ Not helpful. And it's just served to bring up her own negative emotions from that experience. ]

I guess I don't mind as much because I'm hoping that it'll help people realize that I don't want to hurt them. That I'm not a monster.

[ Even though she has that debate every day when she wakes up. When she watches the others eat their breakfasts. When she smells the blood rushing under their skin and has to fight off her own hunger -- the way she has to now with Seth, the craving rising up out of nowhere before she can shove it back down, abruptly shifting a few inches to the side, turning to face forward again. Swallowing heavily, she bows her head slightly, but her hair is tucked back and doesn't fall to hide her expression. Not that he won't be able to feel her shame, fear, and intense anxiety before she tries to cover it all up with thoughts of something else.

She chooses an explanation for some of the tension he might be feeling within the brood, if he took the time to notice it. ]

It hasn't quite worked out that way. Lakshmi tried to kill me when we first woke up on the Station. Not that she would have succeeded, the symbiotes won't let us hurt each other, but she wanted to. [ And that still hurts. ]

[ No one here is a good example. Lexa had alluded to someone gone who had kept herself apart, which is seemingly the only dissenter among this entire group. Judging on what Elena's saying, he should just be grateful Richie isn't in the same boat as she is. He's already too interested in what lies beyond the mingled minds of the Nest itself. ]

You don't need to invite people into your head for that.

[ The protest is half-hearted, split between Seth's immediate mistrust and his observation of the force of emotions rising in Elena's mind. There's no good way to block out her that Seth knows just yet. He has to feel it. The hunger is the same as Richie's but Elena's guilt and shame are new. Maybe she'd be better off to regard her hunger with the same frustration that Richie did, but Seth isn't going to be the one to tell her how to handle her shit. He barely wants any part of it to begin with. ]

Why do you give a fuck what Lakshmi or anyone else thinks of you?

[ Even if Seth's focusing on that topic in particular, the news about what they symbiote will and won't let them do is good to know. And bone-chilling, but Seth's not getting much traction on that front. ]

[ That half-hearted protest does absolutely nothing to convince her. So many people here, an astounding amount actually, have had past experiences with vampire-like creatures and therefore have preconceived notions of what they think she'll be like. With the way they're all connected to each other, there's no doubt that eventually those preconceptions will influence the others.

His question has her staring at him with a frown, wondering if he really can't conceive of why she would care about such a thing. Is he really so incredibly different from her that he can't understand it? ]

I didn't want to be a vampire, it was an accident. I- I hate being like this. If other people hate me for it too... [ Then what's the point in living at all? The idea flickers through her mind, running across the top of her thoughts, sending out ripples of how easy it would for her to just walk out into the sun. She's thought of it often enough since her transition.

She looks away again, giving a small shake of her head. ] If people here can learn to accept me despite what I am, then maybe my friends back home can too. Maybe my... [ Her voice cracks a little. ]

Maybe my brother can too.

[ I need my sister, not another one of those things. Those words haunt her every moment of every day, spiraling through the back of her mind and reminding her of the terrible uncertainty she'll face when she returns home to Mystic Falls. Will her brother still love her like this? ]

[ Abruptly, Seth needs to be done with this conversation. Elena's talking about herself, but she's veered too far into territory Seth refuses to cover with her. Richie's face is foremost in his mind for a long, terrible moment. Had this been how his brother felt?

But it had been more complicated than just the fact that Richie had turned into a snake. There had been so much splintering between them that Richie's decision to stay with Kisa had ruptured the rapport between them beyond repair. And after the incident in the closet on this goddamn airship, Seth can't entertain the notion of what Richie may or may not have felt. (Or still might feel.) It was too much, especially with an audience. ]

That's bullshit. You know that, don't you? Whether or not you win over fucking Lakshmi or me isn't going to change whatever's happening with your friends.

[ She's trying to make this place matter. She's like Kate, looking for light in the dark. Elena wants all this to mean something, and all Seth can think is that every single thing he's been told is that this won't mean jackshit even if they survive it ]

Or your brother, [ Seth tacks on, voice carefully flat. ] Just fucking...don't lie to yourself that a group of strangers means shit in the long run.

[ Just a few weeks ago, Seth's words would have been devastating to her, preying upon every fear and insecurity she has about what will happen when she finally gets to go home. But now... It hurts, but it's not as bad as it could have been. She's stronger now, just a tiny bit, enough to see that he's behaving the way Damon once had and still does sometimes. Something about all of this bothers him, deeply, and he's pushing back because of it.

She doesn't ask or mention what she's noticed, but she's not going to just sit there and take this either. Her response is controlled but pointed, her expression unimpressed with his tactics. ]

If you'd bother to get to know anyone here, they wouldn't be strangers. And you don't have to be cruel just because you don't want to be here.

I'm being honest, kid.

[ Honest because he feels she deserves it. She deserves not to be dragged into this low-budget horror movie knock off and think any of this has some bearing on the lives they left behind. Seth hasn't even thought about getting back yet, but the idea of putting down roots in this place horrifies him.

Maybe if Richie hadn't been so keen to explore whatever was beyond the collective hubbub of the Nest Seth would be less inclined to dig his heels in. But Richie was interested and if no one else was going to be suspicious, then Seth would take that onto himself. And Elena—

Shouldn't be here. Or tangled up in supernatural bullshit at all. There's a whisper between them of another place, another person, a voice asking where should I be? But it's an impression that quickly fades. ]

Are you really going to tell me that all of this is going to go back with you?

[ Honest? Yeah right. Honesty that comes from lying to yourself isn't worth having. But that's a coping mechanism of a lot of people utilize, herself included, so she's not going to call him on it. Or on that fleeting impression. ]

Yes, it is. People and places stay with you, they influence who you are. I've made friends here who will always be with me, no matter where I am.

[ She can't believe that he hasn't experienced something like that before. As charming as he is, he has to have had someone or something in his life that still clings to him, for better or worse. ]

Jesus.

[ She sounds like Kate. She sounds hopeful in a way that's completely alien to Seth, who has only ever clung to Richie. Vanessa could have told Elena all about what Seth carried through his life. The few people who had elbowed their way in over the years were few and far between, and easily parted from.

And on some level, this stubborn denial is Seth instinctively pushing back against the aspects of his connection with these people that seemed to signal that they wouldn't follow along the usual formula. This wasn't going to be just a series of jobs. It was likely to be something more enduring and Seth wasn't ready to deal with that head on. ]

That kind of approach doesn't pay off.

[ Seth straightens up, discomfort and apprehension prickling along the connection. ]

Look, you need anything, just shout.

[ Which is clearly Seth signaling that he's done with this argument, unwilling to be pressed any farther. ]

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[mission: hyrypia] hey kid wanna see a dead body

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