[ open ]

[messianic]

WHO: Minato and youuuu
WHERE: The town, the woods, everywhere in between
WHEN: June 3 - June 10
WHAT: Lack of sleep does some unfortunate things to people, it really does. ie punishments really, really suck
WARNINGS: A lot of this is just very, very dumb

June 3/4

[At first, he's just miserable. A night or two without sleep is doable, but really, really awful, and so Minato can be found mostly wandering, restless, especially late at night. Which is very, very unusual for him (usually he'd be asleep by now), but don't mind him as he stalks about the town with his hands shoved deeply into his pockets, occasionally stopping to yawn massively and lean against a wall.

He always ends up standing back up pretty promptly, though, no matter how sleepy he looks.

Weird.

Or he might come visit at some obscene hour of the morning if he thinks your character will be awake, almost desperate to talk to someone to get his mind off of this. He will definitely knock on doors at all hours of the night if he thinks your character would sincerely be awake at that time of night.

Please help him.]

June 5/6

[It gets much, much worse. Minato's wanderings are almost desperate now; lying down does nothing, leaning against things does nothing, he cannot sleep no matter what he does and it's starting to take its toll. He's definitely stumbling, staggering occasionally as if drunk, and if you try to stop him he may not even process that you're calling out to him.

Hm.

Worrisome.

It probably comes to a worrisome head when he's crossing one of the bridges in Bluo, feet dragging--and then sways, and topples right off the side, blacking out for a brief moment. Bye, Minato.]

June 8

[At this point he probably shouldn't be outside but he's here anyway, and he seems to be...talking to a tree? He's trying, but he clearly thinks it's someone he knows, and while his voice is low and slurred, he is trying to legitimately have a conversation with this tree.

It's probably a good thing he stopped to talk to the tree instead of wandering into the woods in this state? Maybe you should call out to him...

But he's definitely hallucinating, and only seems to notice if he's not interrupted when he stumbles, and knocks his head against said tree, startling back to himself abruptly with both hands clasped to his forehead.

And then he thumps his forehead against the tree again, this time purposefully and with plain aggravation.]

Anything on from that, forum

[It's a good day to get a private message misfire from #3630FF, right?]

youokfas form the [ifhshment this wkk ?

[... He is not okay, he should not be on his laptop.]

wildcard

[Quests? Other things? Hit me up with anything, here or via PM or kalisona!]

Comments

[whereabout]

...let's sit down somewhere.

[ And definitely not in any of Joshua's usual spots, because Minato would probably break his neck trying to get there. ]

[messianic]

Okay...

[He will follow obediently, still clearly half-asleep on his feet.

Onwards, Joshua!!]

[whereabout]

[ There's an okay spot to sit in the yard, at least, where a couple of tree stumps never got hauled out next to the makeshift chicken coop. Gotta have somewhere for Dex to sit outside and cuddle them, right.

(Not that he doesn't do it inside, too, but.)

So they're not going far, which is good since he doubts if Minato will make it any farther. ]

[messianic]

[Right, you gotta have cuddle spots for chickens. And now spots for tired Minatos to definitely just kind of half-collapse onto, head lolling as if he's going to fall asleep on the spot.

But.

He can't.

So he's still awake, alas.]

[whereabout]

You don't look too good.

[ Captain Obvious to the rescue. ]

[messianic]

[Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Minato just rubs at his face, sighing.]

... Haven't been able to sleep, that's all.

[Like.

At All.]

[whereabout]

[ Look, saying this to him after they've discussed Joshua's insomnia, he can tell this is a vicious understatement of the type normally reserved for...well, him. ]

For how long?

[messianic]

[...]

What day is it...?

[A frown...]

A couple of days? Maybe more...? [Too long, in other words.]

[whereabout]

[ Dude.

That's not "too much on my mind, I have insomnia," that's flat out unnatural. Which has probably occurred to Minato, he guesses (though whether it actually stuck is anyone's guess, with how out of it he is), so Joshua skips right past the gut feeling of what the hell and moves on to the practical. ]

Do you need something to help?

[ BECAUSE HERE HE IS...THAT GUY WHO MAKES SEDATIVES... ]

[messianic]

[Yeah, it sure is. He knows it's unnatural, and Joshua skipping right to the point is appreciated, but:]

I... don't know if it'll help. We can try, but...

[A yawn, jaw almost cracking.]

... Vriska-chan tried a healing spell and it didn't work.

[whereabout]

Well, it won't hurt to try.

[ He doesn't say it can't hurt, because in someone else's hands, it absolutely could, but he knows his shit. ]

I've got something in the kitchen. Come on.

[messianic]

[... Of course Joshua does.

Minato just sighs, but stands and follows anyway.

Sure.

At this point, he'll try anything.]

[whereabout]

[ Has Joshua's ability to be shady in weird ways ever been in doubt?

He leads the way to the kitchen and steers Minato into the nearest chair before he starts rummaging around. ]

Are you okay with tea? I can just put it in water but I don't really recommend it.

[ More for "it tastes awful" than for any reasons related to the chemistry of all. ]

[messianic]

[He will gladly sit, yawning behind a hand as Joshua rummages. But when he speaks, it's pretty steadily.]

Mm... tea's fine. Thanks... I appreciate it.

[whereabout]

Anytime.

[ Seriously. It's not like he isn't used to doing things for people at weird hours, and this is much nicer than the kinds of things it used to be.

He gets some water started, and then gets everything ready in a cup while they're waiting for it to boil. ]

Do you know if anyone else has been having the same problem?

[messianic]

[... well, in all honesty:]

I know that other people are having other issues, but I'm the only one I've talked to who's dealing with this in particular...

It seems a little... specialized.

[To cause the most pain ever.]

[whereabout]

Like most things here.

[ He gives the cup a stir and slides it across the table as he sits down. ]

You might want to give that another minute or two. [ Or he might not. Joshua ain't gonna tell him how to take his tea.
But anyway - ]

It seems like a great deal of what we face is...very tailored to us. The forest expedition was proof of that, but this...and some of the quest rewards, too. [ Can he just burn those fucking dresses. ]

[messianic]

Got it...

[He just sighs that out, holding the cup between his hands (the warmth is comforting, at least) as he waits for it to sit for a bit longer.

That all said...]

You're right about that. This place really does know a lot about all of us.

[...]

I think it's just because we're here that it does.

[whereabout]

[ ...hmm. He lets that sit for a moment, before he picks up. ]

So were others here in our place, the town or whatever force is responsible would know about them, not us. And from that, it would likely follow that we, personally, were not deliberate choices, but random ones, or choices of convenience. Is that where you're going with this?

[messianic]

Yeah... yeah, that's pretty much it.

[He's slow to respond, because he's still so sleepy that his brain functions are a bit slow right now, but it's fine....

He's following, just slowly.]

Like...with the mythological creatures. Someone's always known what they are, right...? I feel like they might be taken from us too. Because we're here, this place knows about them too.

[whereabout]

I hadn't thought too much about the monsters, but that makes sense, too.

After the forest, I thought that maybe someone was deliberately putting obstacles they knew would be difficult for us, personally, in our paths. But the more happens, the less it feels like someone is making deliberate decisions about everything at all. More like something...reacting to us.

[ He leans back in his chair and folds his arms. ]

After that last trial - Estelle and I both succeeded. We both got things that would've been nice, except for something else. Something that I would've found useful, except it had one trait that would make me not want to use it. Something she's excited about and would always love to get, except it was in horrible condition.

[messianic]

[Minato's quiet for a moment, brow furrowing--and then he nods.]

I think you're right. It's a definite reaction to us. And I'm... not really sure it's malicious, either. I know the rewards weren't what people wanted, but... maybe there was a reason?

Like it took too much energy to make them perfect, or...something. I'm still not sure, but don't you think a place this in disrepair still has some issues to be dealt with?

[whereabout]

That sounds reasonable, yes. Like it's reflecting what we want, but the mirror is cracked. [ A brief pause. That sounds like something broken that requires a targeted effort to fix, but there are two directions this hypothesis can go, on further thought. ] Or if it's about how much power it takes...maybe it's something that'll right itself depending on how much we accomplish here.

[ As measured in how much color is restored. ]

[messianic]

Mmhm...

[Minato stifles another yawn, nodding blearily.]

Something like that... I don't really know which, but I think it's more like that than just... one person doing all of this to us.

[He'll finally take a sip of his tea though. ... It's still pretty gross, but he's drinking it without complaint anyway.]

[whereabout]

[ A nod and a sigh. ]

I think it'd be hard to ascribe a logical motive for one person to do all of this. Something reactive makes more sense to me.