expiationlogs | August catch-all open log

August catch-all open log

Who: William and anyone!
Where: Aldrip
What:
- Helping out at the summer festival
- Trying to catch some of the new fauna, William gets sneezed on by a goobue
- Hearing familiar voices at night

Warnings: None apart from spookiness in the 3rd prompt maybe

(Will match tag format)

1. Getting a Grilling

Without Menel to help him negotiate his way out of situations, William tends to be a tiny bit of a pushover. A simple mention of not having much by way of money leads to a stallholder roping William in to helping out with sales, which has now led to him being left on his own to front the stall whilst the owner dashes off for a meal break.

The young man does his best but there's only so much one can do with an hour of rushed training on the grill and a constant flood of hungry and tired customers.

"Please give me a few minutes, I'll have your food in a moment...!" he calls out to a particularly irate woman. He's accidentally mixed up the order receipts and the food is starting to burn.

2. Achoo-bue

The creatures in William's world are not particularly unusual to anyone from a vaguely Earth-based origin. You have your boars and your rabbits and so on, then you have wyverns and dragons and elementals. But William has never seen a goobue before.

He observes the rocky, long-armed creature for a while before carefully approaching. They don't seem terribly hostile. If he brings an offering of a plant then maybe they'll see that he's not a threat?

He holds out a small bundle of wildflowers, offering them to the stone beast. "Hello," he says softly. "What might you be...?"

The goobue lumbers over slowly. It sniffs the flowers. Once. Twice. And then it draws back its head, maw gaping wide with rows of sharp teeth, before abruptly sneezing all over William.

3. Following Voices

"...Menel? Is that you?"

Late night, when most everyone is abed, William is woken by a voice.

"...-iam. Will-"

William scrambles to his feet, head swivelling. Without a second thought for his bedroll, he quickly but quietly makes his way past sleeping bodies and out of the inn, searching for his friend.

"Menel, where are you?"

Outside now, calling a tiny bit louder. The voice seems to keep moving further away whenever he approaches. It doesn't feel right. Only William's instincts keep him from following his friend's voice any further, although it's terribly hard to resist. Something about the voice does not sound right.

4. Wildcard

DM me with ideas or whatever, William will also be helping with the house building efforts.

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It's about time for (another) snack; sharing his body with an entity that feeds from his nutrients means that Shinichi finds himself with the hunger levels of two people... and needing to refuel a lot more than he used to. But there's all sorts of interesting things to try out at the festival, and he's having some fun wandering around and helping himself to things.

When hunger strikes again, he follows the smell of Things Cooking and meanders into the closest line. (One that seems to be moving pretty slowly, but he's not fussed about it, just patiently waiting his turn.) However, as the minutes continue to tick by, he hears others starting to grumble about things, and then the smell of something burning... The teen pokes his head around the person he's behind, watching the poor worker clearly scrambling. Is he working this stall alone....?

A couple people in line are starting to leave, some announcing that they'll go get food elsewhere, and Shinichi winces, hesitating before he too slips out of line. But it's not to leave, no, he's awkwardly moving around the small crowd and up to the boy who's manning the stall alone, lowering his voice a little.

"Excuse me, but.... would you like some help?"

William is in dire straights by the time the stranger walks up to him offering help. If he were the sort to cry from relief, he would be now.

"Yes! Please! The owner is on a break right now but there's just so many customers!" he exclaims.

The woman waiting for her food snaps at him ("How much longer is this going to take?!") and William hurriedly turns back to face her, snatching two skewers off the grill and quickly holding it out. "They're done now, I'm so sorry!"

The poor guy is definitely overwhelmed (and justifiably so!) Shinichi's balking at the tone of the customer — if there's one thing that intimidates him.... it's confrontational customer service..... But no way could he leave this poor boy to handle it alone! He's rolling up the sleeves of his button-down shirt, and nodding quickly.

"Maybe if we work together, we can get things under control....! If you want to work the grill, then I can hand out food and make sure everyone's receipts are correct. Unless there's a better way I can help!"

He's here to do whatever's needed, feel free to boss him around!

"No, no - that'll be enough! Thank you so much!"

He quickly turns over another skewer before the meat can burn and switches out those which have definitely spent a few seconds too long on the grill already. With this stranger assuming the task of sorting the receipts, he deems it safe to commit his attention to the food.

"Uhh, I think these are squid... And some kind of fish? Who ordered those?"

Shinichi gives a quick nod and gets to it, hurrying to sort through the little receipt slips and try and finagle who's ordered what. It's all pretty nerve-racking with an audience right there in front of them (and one consisting of some very ornery, hangry customers) but he tries to ignore their eyes and focus on the task at hand.

"Squid and fish..... ah here, I have the name when you're ready!"

He turns towards the other boy, hands lifted to take the food from him so he can deliver it to the name on the receipt, calling out for them and then offering it very carefully; he knows he can be clumsy.... But now that some movement's being made, hopefully the crowd will calm down a little. Shinichi quickly moves up to read another order to the boy—

"Here's one for another squid!"

William passes over the food on a small plate, barely looking over. Now that he doesn't have to think about the customers waiting, he's quickly cataloguing all the items that are currently cooking and quickly rearranges them in a more orderly fashion. Seafood, that side. Red meats, this side. Vegetables on a separate grill.

"Here!" He passes over the next squid skewer then takes the chance to quickly wipe the sweat from his nose with his sleeve. Though they're under a small marquee, between the heat coming off the sand and the active hotplate, it feels like they may as well be exposed.

William doesn't remember when the stall owner ran off to eat but surely they won't be gone for longer than an hour? He hopes so at least. Until then, he and this new helper will just have to hold out somehow.

Claude's never been the best sleeper in the world.

Not since he was a little boy, sneaking out of his bedroom to storm the library, stumble into the wyvern pens, traipse through the hallways of the estate, while his mother sighed at him: your brain's too busy, kid -- you need to learn how to slow down. Well, joke's on his mom. He never did learn how to slow down. Which means that even in this place, with so much less on his plate, he can never seem to stop himself from tossing and turning all night.

Which is how he finds himself here, doing target practice with his bow and arrow on a very, very sad looking scarecrow that he'd liberated for his own devices. It's easy to hear him in the quiet of this summer night, the stretch of his bow, the whizz--thwap! of his arrow striking true, the crunch of his boots atop the gravely ground. But even louder is the voice of someone behind him, calling out for... someone? He lowers his bow and turns around to see William, expression quizzical. "Hey! You lose someone?"

At this time of night? Maybe they had a fight. Or it was a bar bet gone wrong. Who knows?

The familiar sound of a bowstring and the thud of arrows hitting their mark combined with the phantom voice of his friend eventually leads him towards Claude. To say he's not disappointed would be a lie. But he quickly shakes off that tinge of sadness and squares his shoulders, offering a small smile.

"No... Well, I thought I heard my friend's voice. But I guess I was just imagining it."

Maybe he's starting to miss Menel and the others so much he's begun to hallucinate? William decides to spend a little more time meditating before bed later to calm and clear his thoughts. For now, he quickly glances about and notes the sad-looking dummy.

"You're an archer?"

"I sure am." Claude plants a hand on his hip as he looks William over, large bow gripped by his side in his free hand. As big as it may be, the way he holds it makes it seem surprisingly light.

"An out of practice archer, at that. We don't get many opportunities to actually use our skills around here." Not that he particularly wants to; if there are no more attacks for the duration of his time here, he'll be a happy man. "What makes you so sure you were imagining it? I can help you look, if you like. I was just wrapping up here anyway."

"Well..."

Something about the way that the voice kept moving further away no matter how quickly he walked. Menel wouldn't play coy like that. He was far too...blunt - to put it nicely - for such games.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind the company. It's probably a good idea to check the perimeter of the town anyway just in case. Something doesn't feel right."

"Things have been pretty weird for a while. It's hard to keep track of it all when there are fairies to interrogate and deserts to explore on top of spoooky forest beasties, huh?"

His voice is light-hearted as he swings his bow onto his back and retrieves his arrows from the poor, hole-punched scarecrow, sliding them back into the quiver hanging from his hip. That said, he's not lying either; it's been terribly difficult to figure out what this world's whole deal is. As soon as he thinks he's got things under wraps, three new things pop up. He didn't even know fairies existed until they showed up.

"But yeah, I'll come with you. And I'll keep an eye out for your friend too. Menel, right? What's he look like?"

"Thank you. I appreciate it." He waits until the other man has gathered everything before he starts to explain as they walk.

"Menel is a half-elf. White hair, green eyes. His hair is long enough that he needs to tie it back and he's pretty slender. He's also an archer like you." William gestures as he speaks, hoping it will help with his verbal description.

"Ah... I guess he's also pretty loud sometimes. Which is why I'm starting to wonder if I've just been imagining his voice. He's not the kind of person who would play this sort of game with me."

"A half-elf, huh? Every day, I learn about the different species that exist outside of my own home... back home, all we've got are humans, humans, and more humans. Yours truly included."

He sounds like a striking enough fellow -- long white hair in and of itself is too distinct for anyone to fail to notice him, Claude thinks. Not to mention the little tidbit about him being loud.

"I can't say I've seen anyone of that description before. And you'd know him best, if he wouldn't string you along like this..." He pauses, tapping a finger to his bottom lip. "But why would you be just hearing things? Maybe I shouldn't assume, but I kinda assume you don't normally hear voices that aren't there."

Only humans, huh. Although William chuckles, he knows that once he would have said much the same thing.

"Sometimes I do hear voices," he says frankly. "But usually the only voice I hear would be Gracefeel's, and I haven't heard Her voice either since I arrived here."

And Menel is most certainly not an omnipresent god. However, this all begs the question of: if it isn't his friend, then who or what is calling out using their voice?

"...I suppose it could be Stagnate," he muses. "They might try to deceive me like that."

"Okay, now you really have to catch me up here. Treat me like I'm some innocent babe, and I know absolutely nothing about... well, anything. Clearly you're from a place far different from mine."

It would be enough to make him miss home, if not for the fact that he had been a perennial outsider there too. Instead, the prospect of learning something new about everyone is an exciting one. He had always wanted to visit new countries, but now that the opportunity has been taken from him for the time being, he'll certainly settle for learning about new worlds.

"So, Gracefeel. That sounds like something religious... some deity of yours?" Some deity that he actually hears, maybe? "And Stagnate... your enemies? Some sort of organization?"

"Oh, right. Of course." Different worlds and all that. "In my world, when a person comes of age at fifteen, they swear an oath to one of the gods. When I was young, there were six gods whom people would typically swear to: Volt, Mater, Blaze, Whirl, Rhea Silvia, and Enlight. They watch over different aspects of industry and elements. Gracefeel was once worshipped widely as well but that diminished after the Great Collapse."

He pauses. It would take too long to recount the whole saga about how and why and he's not sure this man will be interested in knowing anyway.

"Gracefeel is the goddess of flux and flame. She oversees the cycle of reincarnation. Stagnate is-- well they're Her natural enemy, I suppose you could say. Stagnate is also a god but they're responsible for creating the undead. They like to immortalise great heroes - they're still trying to tempt me to join them, actually."

"Huh... no matter where you go, the world will always abide by the gods," Claude muses, tucking his hands behind his head as he walks. The more he talks to people, the more he seems to hear about that. It feels strange, as though gods shouldn't be involved in coming-of-age, in matters of politics and industry at all. He doesn't think they should, but maybe that's an unrealistic dream of his.

Not that he gives away the fact that that's what he's thinking, of course. You don't survive a year in a Church-run military academy without learning how to hide a little sacrilege here and there, after all. Still, the more he learns about other worlds, the better. They're just symbols of potential, for his own world and for others.

So when it comes to this guy's explanations? He's going to listen to whatever he's willing to give him.

"So, everyone chooses a god - or gets born into that fealty - and serves them, and they go against a wicked god, is that right?" He rubs at his chin. "Is the god itself trying to convince you, or their followers? I can only assume the latter. Where I'm from, we talk a lot to the Goddess, but I've never known her to speak back."

The gods had felt a lot less present in his previous life than his current one, but William finds some comfort in knowing that they're real now. It would be arrogant, of course, to expect a god to intervene at one's convenience. Yet having seen how faith has shaped the lives around him, William understands how powerful unwavering belief can be.

"It's less that they serve their god and more that the average layperson will ask for a blessing from one and then dedicate their future work to them. So a blacksmith would seek patronage from Blaze, god of fire and technology, for example," he explains. "It's only those who intend to enter priesthood that really serve the gods in the way you're implying."

Talking about the gods and his world's religion eases some of the anxiety he has about tonight's odd happenings. He continues to keep watch on their surroundings but he's more relaxed now.

"Stagnate is known as a 'wicked god', yes, but in truth it's more like they - and others like them - are the balancing force against the 'virtuous gods'." William raises a finger. "For example: Volt is the 'virtuous' god of justice and lightning and Illtreat is the 'wicked' god of war. When a tyrant comes to power, justice would demand that the tyrant be deposed, right? Volt would support the restoration of law and order, but what happens when the law is taken too far?"

Edited 2023-09-17 17:06 (UTC)

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August catch-all open log

Getting a Grilling!

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voices!

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the image link seems to have broken D: damn wiki

oops, sorry bout that!! just imagine a big fuck-off bow made out of bones LOL

dang what a morbid bow LMAO

yes LOL it's very creepy looking

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