awashlogs | Event Seventeen.

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Event Seventeen.

I went to the wood and got it;
I sat me down to look for it
And brought it home because I couldn’t find it.

he magical vines creep ever onward, slowly infringing upon the Town. No matter how many are chopped down, no matter how many are set on fire, they keep coming even so.

And slowly, one by one, the people in the Town start to fall to the curse that they bring along with them.

Stay and tend to the cursed? Venture out into the woods to find the castle at the source of these vines?

Whatever you choose to do, you'd better decide quickly; the curse only seems to get worse and worse the longer everyone is afflicted.

Welcome to Awash's seventeenth 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!

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Okay, cool.

[ Jion sure doesn't answer like it's a trick question, just nodding as he glances down and presses a hand to his chest, feeling down towards the bottom of his ribcage. ]

It always bothers me when I have to just throw those out, so ... Do you eat anything else, by any chance? Like, uh, kidney or liver or intestines? No problem at all if you don't, but thought I'd ask just in case.

[ this has suddenly taken an odd turn, or perhaps it’s not so sudden at all if dextera looks at the context clues. he shouldn’t take whatever jion is offering him, but if he just has a heart to spare, then… ]

Only hearts. I’m sorry.

[ he thinks he should be sorry about that, but he’s actually not completely sure. ]

Do you… have one?

No, it's okay, you don't need to apologize. [ He defaults to trying to give a reassuring smile, but it comes out a little hazy. ] It's really not a problem at all.

[ He rifles his free hand through his supply pack, making sure he has everything, and nods at Dextera's question. ]

Uh-huh. Well, four, technically. But I have to keep three unless it's a real emergency. [ Yup, he has everything. He turns to head back the way he came. ] Um, I'll be back in a little bit then, okay? Don't go anywhere, I won't be long.

[ dextera can guess what he’s about to do, but the combination of the offer and the admission that he apparently has four hearts is a little much. he doesn’t think to question it, and instead wipes his hand off on his pants.

it’s the least he can do…? maybe…? ]

Be careful.

[ this all feels quite surreal. ]

[ Jion only gives a casual wave as he ambles off, not thinking deeply at all about what he's doing. ]

... hey, sorry to keep you waiting! [ It's some twenty minutes before he returns, looking mostly the same. The thick sweater and jacket he wears mostly hide any sign of extraction, though he does seem to have lessened slightly in bulk. ] Here. I, uh, wasn't sure if I was supposed to do anything more with it?

[ He holds out a large bowl, loosely wrapped in a piece of fabric, for Dextera to take. In it, is a very fresh, perfectly normal-looking heart. ]

[ dextera takes the bowl. this is actually the first time he’s come face-to-face with a perfectly unmutated human heart, but he’s long since gotten used to the sight of gore that it doesn’t bother him as much as it should.

knowing that jion is apparently just fine with it helps, too. ]

…

[ dextera fishes out the heart from the bowl, examining it. it looks fine. it looks normal. ]

I should eat it now.

[ is that… weird. would it be weird for jion to watch someone eat his heart? ]

[ Should ... should he leave? Is it weird to stand here and watch someone eat? At the moment, Jion is honestly more concerned about his manners than he is about the thought of his extracted heart being eaten.

But he does admittedly get the weird feeling that he should be a little concerned about something, and he shifts on his feet, looking awkwardly off to the side. He frowns for a moment before suddenly blurting out, ]

-- hey, um! [ Sorry if you were just taking a bite, Dextera. ] This is helpful for you, right? Like, giving you that is good for you? It's not like a last-resort thing where you would have preferred not to have it?

[ Is that it? Is that what he should be worrying about? Man, he wishes he didn't feel so tired, or his thoughts wouldn't feel so hazy. ]

…?

[ really, of all the questions he could have received, dextera didn’t expect that one, but it does make sense. he guesses. slowly lowering the heart from his mouth, before actually getting to take a bite, dextera nods. then, he wonders if he should shake his head, and he realizes that his honest answers are somewhat conflicting. ]

It’s really helpful. I need… things like this.

[ he doesn’t like admitting it, but there it is. ]

I need as many as I can get.

Oh, okay. [ He breathes a small sigh of relief. ] That's good. As long as it's actually helpful to you, I'm glad.

[ After hesitating for a moment longer, Jion settles for sitting a short distance away from Dextera, but keeping himself slightly turned away so he's not just ... staring while Dextera tries to eat. Just leaving would feel kind of rude, after all, so hopefully this is a decent compromise. ]

And, um. If you need more, I can try to keep you supplied? If it's just hearts, I should be able to give you one every two weeks or so. Although I don't know how many you need, so maybe that's not really that helpful.

[ dextera does finally bite into the heart while jion talks, and even he needs a moment to get around the mental block of eating the warm heart of someone who is sitting just next to him, but he’s put much worse things in his mouth. the parasite under his skin writhes, and dextera swallows. ]

…it’s good.

[ it sounds like he’s deciding it after biting, because he is. a human heart has a lot more power than other kinds, after all. ]

Are you sure it’s okay? [ he licks some blood away, and glances over. ] I don’t want to… take more than you have.

[ Jion's looking politely off into the distance when Dextera glances over, idly fidgeting with his hands. It's not like he particularly minds that his heart's being eaten, but actually watching it would feel rude, somehow. ]

Yeah, it's totally fine. That's about how often I produce extras -- once every two weeks, on average. And I can't really do anything with them, so I think it's better if they're helpful to somebody, you know?

[ He glances down at himself as he continues. ]

But it's too bad you need hearts specifically, because I produce other stuff more often. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

[ “sorry i couldn’t be more helpful” is such a strange thing to hear from someone who has quite literally given him a heart to eat. it saves dextera the trouble of going out into the woods to kill monsters that don’t really deserve it, and so this seems like an ideal way to supplement his energy.

so, he shakes his head. ]

This is more than a lot of people could… or would do. Thank you.

[ That gets him to look over. Jion can't help pausing for a moment -- just because the sight of someone eating his heart really is kind of weird -- before giving a small grin. Even if he's a little tired, he's still really grateful to hear that. ]

I'm glad, then! [ And then looking away again so Dextera can eat in peace. ] This was one of my main jobs, back home. Sort of. Providing stuff to be transplanted. But I've just been tossing it all out while I'm here, because it's not needed. And I mean, it's great that nobody here's hurt badly enough to need a transplant. But it still feels a little bad to throw out stuff that'd be valuable to people in other situations, you know? So I'm really glad if this is useful to you ...

[ His rambling peters off into an embarrassed laugh as he scuffs a hand through his hair. ]

Sorry, I guess I'm just rambling at you. Um, should I go? Would that be more comfortable for you?

[ in a way, it reminds dextera of a baroque, but jion seems just so perfectly fine with it that it’s hard to imagine this as anything but a strange quirk. but then again, maybe that’s all baroques are in his world anyway—strange quirks from people who don’t know anything else. (it’s something to file away, in any case, dextera thinks. these little, unique things that would be stamped out in a different world.)

ah, well.

dextera pushes the rest of the heart into his mouth, with that same unpleasant squelching noise as before, and it takes him a moment to respond. it’s a good-quality heart, though, and dextera feels rejuvenated by the metallic taste on his tongue. ]

Ah—

[ he swallows. ]

It’s okay. My name is Dextera, by the way.

[ Oh. He heard that squelch. So his heart's gone now. That's ... a little weird, but it's fine, right? Since this guy said it'd be helpful, right? Some worries nag at the very back of his mind, but he feels too weirdly tired to think about it clearly, so Jion pushes those concerns away for the moment. ]

Oh, nice to meet you, Dextera!

[ He automatically starts offering a hand to shake before quickly changing his mind and withdrawing it; he's not particularly squeamish about blood, but he's not sure if Dextera wants to be shaking hands before washing them first.

He settles for giving a friendly smile. ]

I'm Jion. Although, actually, I should give you my forum number or something, huh? If I want to get in touch to give you these in the future. I never really got used to that forum thing ...

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Event Seventeen.

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