Event Twenty-Five.

[awashmods]

I'd like to creep into the wood And see the bonnets blue, And hear the bluebells ringing loud, I wish I could -- don't you?

t's another day, another month, and another time for people to show up in the well. You'd better go rescue them! Never mind the fact that you woke up with a flower in your hands. It's probably fine. Don't mind it at all. It's not like it's hard to ignore a little flower. (At least, not until the effects start to kick in. Better go rescue the people in the well before they do.) Oh, right. Even the people in the well have flowers, so... things are going to be a little ridiculous very quickly, when all of those side effects kick in. Have fun! Welcome to Awash's Twenty-fifth event log, everyone! Further information on this event can be found here at the OOC post. You are welcome to make your own logs and posts for this event! If there are any questions, please ask them here. Thank you!

Comments

[uuuh]

[The compliment that comes out of his mouth after all that makes Fran scrunch her face up in consternation. A genuine compliment or not, it's a little silly considering the rest of the content of the conversation.]

AAA- [She bites her own tongue. It doesn't look gentle. After a moment, she gestures with the flower again. It would really be a shame to destroy them, but...?

She shakes the blossom a couple of times to draw attention to it, as if trying to figure out what to do with it. Now that they have some idea what's going on, he doesn't happen to have any good plans for what they could do, does he?]

[passio]

[ she’s loud. dextera feels certain that he would have heard her before now if she were always like this, so it must be the fault of the flower after all. he winces in sympathy when she forcibly bites her tongue to silence herself. ]

…

[ he stares down at the white rose. ]

Should we…? [ no, something is coming and he needs to stop himself. he switches to his hands. ] Should we wait for it to wilt?

[uuuh]

[She catches the near-slip; Fran is observant despite everything. This really is a problem, isn't it...? This is no way to live.]

UUAAH! [It comes out before she can stop herself, and she kicks the ground in consternation.

That won't work, it won't work! Even without water, it will take too long for the flowers to wilt completely. He'll get himself worse than punched before then, and she'll rupture someone's eardrums.]

[passio]

Ah—?!

[ dextera jolts when she starts to scream, at first because he doesn’t understand. even when he does, he still feels a little on-edge, but he can tell that she doesn’t necessarily mean him harm.

he puts his hands out, trying to calm her. ]

Maybe we can pick more flowers, and try to mediate the effects…

[ tossing them away doesn’t work, but maybe gathering more could. ]

[uuuh]

[It's embarrassing to have no control over her own voice like this. She looks sullen and humiliated, feeling more monstrous than normal now that everything she tries to say seems monstrous. It just underscores how difficult to understand the Madness Enhancement already makes her.

Fran silently thinks about his proposal for a moment. It's...a gamble, right? But it makes sense that having more than one flower might turn off - or at least dilute - the effects of the first.

She rolls back to her feet, dusting herself off, then nods. They have to at least try it, right?]

[passio]

[ dextera follows suit, moving as carefully as he can, because he’s sure that his own motions could betray him if he were to forget his behavior for even a moment. ]

…by the way…

[ as he gestures for her to follow him, since he knows where there might be some flowers to bundle up. ]

You’re the one who posted on the forum about the town’s flowers, aren’t you? Before all this…

[uuuh]

[She almost doesn't heed his beckoning, nearly turning to walk in a different direction without any prompting. Like Dextera, Fran is familiar with places to find flowers all over the town.

His words, completely without any inappropriate flirting, make her stop in her tracks, though. Her gaze returns to him, scrutinizing, attempting to figure out exactly who she's speaking to.]

Uuuu... [Fran nods. Yeah, that's right, it was her.]

[passio]

[ dextera stops, too, and raises his hands in a genuine display of innocence. there’s certainly a way for him to make this into a weird thing, but if he truly focuses on having a normal conversation, he can at least establish his identity. ]

My name is Dextera. You should know it, because you’ll beeeeennngghh. [ well, mostly. he winces. ] We talked.

[uuuh]

[Well, mostly.

She wonders what the terrible thing he was almost about to say would have been. Even though it would have lit new rage in her, Fran can't help but be curious. Hmmm...

She recognizes the name immediately, though. He seemed to have an easy time understanding her, a welcome feeling, a welcome feeling on a forum post that seemed to contain mistake after mistake.]

Eh?! [She seems a little sheepish. They seemed to have been getting along so well, and she almost took him out.]

[passio]

[ dextera understands now why she may have had trouble being able to express herself on the forums. he doesn’t know the cause of it precisely, but it must be a problem that runs deeper than the mere effects of a flower.

she can’t speak clearly at all, can she? ]

…

[ he nods. ]

I’d like to meet again, when we’re…

[uuuh]

[It's going to be impossible to talk about all the things they might otherwise discuss, and she understands that now.

Still, she feels contrite for threatening him.

Folding her hands in front of her, Fran bows her head briefly, gaze tracked to the ground.]

Uh-uh. [She's sorry for trying to attack him earlier.] Uuum... [But for now, it's probably a good idea to try and fix this.]

[passio]

[ she’s really nice, when she isn’t threatening to take him out for calling her sexy. granted, dextera might genuinely think she’s pretty, but he has more decorum on a normal day than to say all that aloud.

he inhales, then nods. ]

Let’s go. There’s some lavender growing this way.

[ this, his hands, seems safer than whatever might come out of his mouth. ]

[uuuh]

[She never has a problem with people speaking to her, except when they say things that alert her Berserker tendencies. Not being able to be understood by them in turn is troubling, but that's the curse of her existence. She's been able to manage just fine here so far.

But there's something... peaceful, even a little calming about Dextera's gestures. They take away some of the boundaries that exist between her and the others, even herself and some of the other Servants.

Before she can shout, Fran stops herself and simply gestures at the lavender as soon as she can see it. Normally she'd immediately bend down to experience the flowers for herself, but even her impulses can be dimmed. With everything going on right now, she hesitates.]

[passio]

[ dextera hesitates too. he hasn’t figured out the trick just yet, but what he can understand is that they both have lovely white flowers, which surely symbolize a delicate, peaceful heart in some way or another. what could lavender possibly do for them, in that case? ]

Lavender makes me sleepy.

[ he’s offering this information like a scientific fact. ]

What should we do?

[uuuh]

[She tries gesturing in movements that resemble hers. Even without practice, it's clear that she has much less control over the movements, and stringing them together to convey thoughts is difficult.

Maybe...if they both pick some lavender, then both of them will be calmer? It could stop the outbursts.]