You gotta live better than you were though

[bakudan_bambino]

🧙 WHO: Gokudera and YOU
⚔️️ WHAT: August catch-all! OTA
🕒 WHEN: August
🗺️ WHERE: New Camelot (predominantly)
⚠️ WARNINGS: Language, violence, drugs, mentions of past trauma: self-immolation, slavery


I. Healing Circle After Party

Despite most of his friends helping him, Gokudera has felt very alone since he learned of Yamamoto's absence. It's not the first time he's lost someone he's cared about. He's not being loud about his heartbreak and has seen on the network that others have lost some people important to them as well. But how often do you lose six different versions of your same friend/rival from home?

Gokudera feels a bit numb, and the strangulation he faced before is healed, but... still, there's pain. It feels like it never goes away, and on his own self-reflection, he realizes it's because he's focusing on it. He needs to use his head before his collar gets rid of it, and he can't problem-solve when it feels like his heart aches more now than it ever has before.

He collects yarrow and lemon balm, enjoying the smell and seeming almost to meditate while he gathers herbs. Once he's done, he's looking about for someone to sit with. There is no visible injury on the young man, and whatever he's going through, he doesn't want to talk about it. He'd rather just get on with the meditative healing.

Even burning the herbs seems somewhat traumatic, and so he closes his eyes and takes a steady breath, wondering why and how he suddenly became so wary of flames. The first thing he will share is fear and pain, a sinking feeling starting from the fingers and winding up the muscle of arms and causing a slight bit of panic. Sorry for sharing, but at least no one has to listen to him talk about why an explosives expert is scared of fire, right?


II. Crystal Mushroom

Gokudera gets on the quest board regularly (it's how he makes most of his money, in fact). Some manual labor feels nice, and he enjoys getting his hands dirty, literally, if only to focus on something he feels he has control over. Cleaning is one thing.

Taking care of a drug-dealer's source is another.

But still, work he can do. Gokudera's out to find Wendy, and he's dressed the part of the mafioso he is. The teen's donned a suit and he's come with the intent to threaten with dynamite, or explain that Wendy might find herself with some bad luck. If anyone stops him on his way to find her, he'll be honest.

He's going to beat up some drug-dealer. That's all they need to know. Gonna take out some aggression. Want to supervise? Help him? Hold him back? Talk him out of it?


III. Don't Treep, Man

Gokudera can be found repairing fences, looking out for fairy nests in the farm land, and helping to clean up the orchards. He has no green magic, but it's moments like these that he wish he did. The boy's very eager to be close to real, live trees. Too many years trapped in worlds where everything was either a hologram, or irradiated has him grateful to sit on fertile soil while he takes a hammer to a fence. The sun might be beating down on him a little too hard, burning at his skin, and he may appreciate someone helping him out. The fairies in the area seem to be enjoying his company, though, and are a fun distraction.]

I don't suppose any of you have tips for staying cool?

[The faeries, of course, don't respond, but just keep on gathering blades of grass and taking them back to their nest. Gokudera offers one a nail, looks it over, and then gets up to go make a sort of laundry line by pushing two into the dirt by their nest, tying a string about them, and then leaving a few sweets.]

Don't let the ants get to them, now...

[Few people have seen how tender the boy is towards the fae, and despite what he's been through, he continues to offer gifts, smiles, and any help he can.]


IV. Animal Mage Hunt - Platina Faun

[It's been... an odd couple weeks, and now, for some reason, he's woken up without his normal lower half. Gokudera's not keen on leaving the house, but he has to attend classes, has to escort the Tenth to them. His current transformation is making going out in public especially difficult. He can't wear pants, because he can't fit them past his new set of legs, and his pet leopard keeps looking at him oddly, so he can't stay inside, either. Gokudera can be found napping by the training grounds, eager to spar with anyone who wants a new challenge, or he can be found moving about the forest, foraging for food and stones.

He's keeping to himself, but can also be found walking about the streets of New Camelot, just... trying to run errands as if his cloven footsteps weren't loudly announcing his new features. His bigger concern is whether or not he'll change back. If he does, hopefully it will be in the privacy of his own home, where being without pants is at least acceptable.

Oh well, at least the little stubby horns popping out through his silver hair are cute.]

Comments

[morganknight]

Oh yeah, I've dealt with some of that. Though not all vampires are bad people, for the record. [Having briefly dated one, he can attest to that.]

[bakudan_bambino]

Who said they were?

[morganknight]

Eh, most of them are pretty awful in my experience. The whole immortality and undeath leading to a dulling of feelings and ennui, a lack of empathy and a disdain for humanity? That's definitely a thing for a lot of them.

[bakudan_bambino]

I've never met a vampire before, so I guess I'll take your word for it.

[morganknight]

Maybe you did and you just don't know it. You know, they dwell among us, passing themselves off as human, ever hiding the truth!

[He might be hamming it up just a little there.]

[bakudan_bambino]

[Gokudera is enamored by the thought, eyes widening and almost sparkling with wonder.]

Brought in as off-worlders, too?

[morganknight]

[Morgan starts to make a crack, then pauses as his brain tosses something in the path of his attention.] Huh. You know, if people lose their powers, even their biological ones, in Avalon, I wonder what happens to vampires. Do they just become human again? Are they still undead with all of the weaknesses and none of the strengths?

[bakudan_bambino]

They’re probably just immortal and crave blood but have none of their powers or weaknesses.

[An assumption. He doubts any of them would be light mages like him. That’d be amusing.]

[morganknight]

Immortality is totally a power, though. And a lot of it is semi-biological... I mean, if a ghost came here, would they stop being a ghost? What about a mummy? But I guess a werewolf stops being a werewolf, which doesn't make a damn lick of sense itself...

[He's doing a terrific job of going in circles and confusing himself. Hooray!]

[bakudan_bambino]

Okay then instead of being immortal, they'll just have better immune systems than most humans?

[Is that a possibility? They should find and ask a vampire. He doubts that logging in and asking that publicly would be well-received.]

[morganknight]

But also anemia?

[Hey, Morgan would be willing to do it. It might be a legitimate question, considering one could arrive at any moment.]

[bakudan_bambino]

Anemia... yeah, that sounds fitting.

[He could definitely see something like that happening.]

[morganknight]

But what about a ghost? Do they just come back to life? [More and more questions!]

[bakudan_bambino]

No. They probably can become ghosts, though I've never met a vampire, so I wouldn't know for certain.

Maybe it depends on how they die or are killed...

[morganknight]

Maybe you can't come here as an undead. Maybe the timestream automatically shunts you from wherever you were alive. I don't think I've met anyone here who qualifies, at least.

[bakudan_bambino]

Would you classify vampires as the undead? Gokudera wouldn't, because he usually associates that word with zombies.

[morganknight]

Oh hell yes. I mean, animated bodies, not alive, right? Although I guess it does cover all sorts of 'life after death' if you mix wraiths in too...

[Great, now he's going to wonder about his terminology!]

[bakudan_bambino]

I would consider a vampire more than just an animated body...

[morganknight]

Well, sure, but that's the baseline, right?

[bakudan_bambino]

The baseline? I don't know... I think undead would be a category all its own

[morganknight]

Right, it's a category of creatures, of which you have subcategories like vampires, zombies, skeletons, probably a bunch more I'm not thinking off right off the top of my head.

[bakudan_bambino]

I still disagree with putting vampires in the same category. I'd place them more in line with werewolves.

Zombies and skeletons are something more like animated corpses... I think the self-awareness is what creates that distinction between vampires and zombies. Like an animated skeleton that was under the control of some kind of necromancer would be more like a puppet. Vampires are born from being dead, or dying from another vampire bite, right? But they don't have to be around another vampire to stay alive. Zombies I would say are closer to skeletons and operate the same, but they have brains that rely on those base instincts....

I don't really feel like we are in disagreement.

I'm just curious if you know more, or differently than what I've learned. For instance, do you think garlic wards off vampires?

[morganknight]

Whoa, stop right there! [Morgan straightens up slightly, waving a hand.] Werewolves are totally not like vampires, and you have my word on that as a son of and twin brother to one. They're honestly different as night and day.

There are lots of different kinds of vampires, too, in my experience.

[bakudan_bambino]

If you know so much, tell me about them.

Can't a werewolf only make more werewolves out of people the same way vampires make more vampires?

[He likes this conversation, even if he does get a bit carried away. At least this guy is cool about it.]

[morganknight]

[Very little upsets Morgan. It's nothing personal and he knows it.]

At least for the Garou, not in the least. You have to have two parents, one Kinfolk and one Garou or another Kinfolk, and then you've got to win the spiritual lottery for that kid to be imbued with the spirit nature that's the third part of being a werewolf. Honestly, the numbers have been dwindling for a while now.