[ Closed ]

[noholdsbard]

WHO: Tristan & several!
WHERE: Around town; the castle
WHEN: During the event (1/18–25, basically)
WHAT: Event catchall!
WARNINGS: None; will update

[ OOC: Closed toplevels below! PM or hit me up at yautja if you want me to write one up for you. o7 ]

Comments

For Maya!

[noholdsbard]

[ Those thorns had come at a very bad time, what with him spending most of his days incorporeal, despondently floating about town as he considers his no doubt inevitable demise. The sight of Maya hanging around nearby only brings about painful memories of his promise to her, made some months back. Will he truly be unable to keep them…?

Ah, but he can’t worry about that now, can he? These thorns are a huge cause for concern as they are, and so he decides to just quietly attempt to pass through them to get at the source—

—whereupon he feels a sharp prick and immediately pops back into corporeality in a shower of golden sparkles. ]

Oh! I’m— [ He reaches up, to touch a tiny cut on his deadly-pale cheek, his eyes cracking open in surprise. ]

It can’t be…

[scooptimistic]

[ She had no idea he was right there. Maybe because her Persona knew this spirit wasn't a threat. But all the same, he bursts back into existence right in front of her, and only years of journalism and some days of demon-fighting keep her from shrieking. ]

Tr--

[ Oh, right. ]

Archer?!

[noholdsbard]

I apologize for startling you, Maya. [ Just let him get back up on his feet— ]

I was only looking for the source of these vines.

[scooptimistic]

... Invisibly?

[ Actually, now that she looks more closely at him... ]

You don't look that hot, either...

[noholdsbard]

[ He quickly turns away—but really, that just makes him look all the more guilty, doesn’t it? ]

Please pay it no mind. I am more concerned about these thorns invading our homes.

[scooptimistic]

I'll be concerned about both of those things, then.

Did something else happen?

For Xie Lian!

[noholdsbard]

[ Over the past few days, Xie Lian would no doubt have realized that his roommate was getting more listless than melancholy, and was wont to vanish at every opportunity—whether literally or otherwise. Tristan would take any pretext to avoid Xie Lian altogether—indeed, he seemed to be going out more often, as if he feared to be in the same place as his roommate.

And that’s perhaps not an entirely unfounded fear, especially given his pallor and his new tendency to respond in monosyllables. This time, when he’s about to head out for the day, he merely nods to Xie Lian in greeting, before making his way outside— ]

[holycurse]

[It's pretty hard to miss your own roommate getting quieter and more avoidant by the day, especially with Xie Lian being well-versed himself in the art of Pretending You're Fine. Coupled with his resignation to the fact he seems to be stuck in Chroma for the unforeseeable future, the man's old nosy nature has grown harder and harder to ignore as well--

So today, instead of quietly letting him go as he usually does, Xie Lian reaches out to grab onto Archer's arm.]

Wait. Don't you think it would be a good idea to stay inside, for the day?

[noholdsbard]

Inside? [ Yes, of course. It would be the least exhausting option, but… ]

But I cannot. I have my duties to the Defense Force. With our leader gone… [ Well, he doesn’t try to pull away. Mostly because he doesn’t have much strength left in him to do so, anyway. ]

Ah, my friend, we hardly have the luxury of being idle these days.

[holycurse]

I understand. Duty is important, and without a leader your unit must be in disarray. [And yet he isn't letting go...]

I'd think an army in disarray would only fall apart further though, if its members were to work themselves to exhaustion.

[And you're looking pretty bad, sir.]

[noholdsbard]

[ He bows his head in contrition. He knows when he’s been caught… ]

Oh, but…I do not wish to trouble you with my… [ He doesn’t really want to say it outright and worry him!! ] …condition. I will be fine, Xie Lian.

[holycurse]

[That only prompts a sigh from him, his own gaze lowering to the taller man's hand.]

I'd rather you did trouble me, to be honest...though I may be just a passing stranger in your life, I do not wish to sit idly by as you stubbornly do harm to yourself. One day couldn't possibly hurt, could it?

[He follows this up with a firm but gentle tug back towards the nice comfy parlor.]

For Wei Wuxian!

[noholdsbard]

[ Xie Lian might have successfully convinced him into staying home and getting some rest for the day, but that doesn’t mean that Tristan still won’t be roaming restlessly about. In fact, he’s the one who answers the rapping at their door today, to… ]

Wei Wuxian? [ Raising his eyebrows. There’s little he can do to hide his unhealthy pallor and his general state of fatigue, but still he carries himself with his usual dignity, betraying nothing from his expression beyond his usual melancholy.

He could have at least spared a smile, though. ]

Have you upset Saber again?

1/2

[espritdecorpse]

[ You're lucky he bothered to knock. ]

Again?

[ He waves his hands. ]

Look, how was I to know those were her—

[espritdecorpse]

[ .....wait. ]

Archer. Are you all right? You look ill.

[ He's just going to be inviting himself inside okay? ]

[noholdsbard]

I am fine, but… [ Really, he’s sure Wei Wuxian’s fine too, no matter what Nero’s reputation as an emperor is. But it’s hard not to seize on that chance to change the subject— ]

But it is not healthy for you you constantly provoke her like this.

[espritdecorpse]

[ For Archer to be harping on his health is a bit much, looking like that. He unceremoniously slides an arm under Archer's, on purpose to coax him to a chair and sit him down. ]

We're fine too, don't worry. How long have you been like this?

[noholdsbard]

[ Tristan has no choice but to comply, too weak as he is to really put up a fight on this. ]

Not very long. [ He rallies one more time— ] I thank you for your concern, Wuxian, but I assure you that I will be fine. Already, my roommate insists on looking after me…

[espritdecorpse]

[ He frowns. Archer's sorrowful nature and his enduring guilt probably make it very difficult for him to ask for help, or even feel that he deserves help in the first place. Which means, of course, that he can dismiss all protests.

He sets about massaging Archer's shoulders. ]

Have you injured yourself lately? Tell me truly, have you been hurt? Even the smallest scratch could be important.

For Mogget!

[noholdsbard]

[ He’s so close to that thorny entrance, the air around him thick with the soporific enchantments that have plagued the town.

Which is of course where he finally collapses, his limbs finally giving out from the numbness and the overwhelming fatigue. Already his body has been racked with layer upon layer of poison, from his roommate’s cooking to the acid blood of the demons that had infested the town not long ago.

And now there’s this—this strange sleeping drug from the thorns, which he of course succumbs to because despite being in full armor and with a handy sword to hack his way through the powers-that-be that had summoned him fully-fleshed into the presence of his master had neglected to throw in a helmet to top off his armor.

Because Fate just likes to shit on him like that. So he lies despondently on the ground, the castle gates just literally inches away from his dramatically outstretched hand as he murmurs— ]

I see…this is truly the end…oh, Iseult…

[purrsuasively]

[Of all the things Mogget expected to see upon exiting the castle, a very dramatic idiot... was certainly not one of them. Hmm. He pauses by the door, tail swishing back and forth as he takes a solid minute or so to watch this man suffer. Humans! Always doing the most...

But Mogget isn't needlessly cruel; he eventually trots over to stand in front of Archer, carefully setting down the small vial of oddly colored liquid he's holding in his mouth—mysterious!—before leaning in to study the man's face. Hello, "friend." What's going on.]

Giving up already, are you? Too tired to carry on? [He snorts quietly.] But you've enough energy to whine...

[Like, he could offer Archer the strange potion he found inside the castle? He could... but it's more fun to, you know, draw back one paw and give Archer a quick SMACK! Right across the face!]

Pull yourself together.

[noholdsbard]

[ Ow. ]

Mogget…? [ Tristan lifts his gaze from the ground to look at him. Right now, he isn’t looking that great himself. His body’s been ravaged with more than just the strange poison of the thorns, after all. But what’s a little deathly pallor and the slow, painful erosion of his entire spirit compared to the sight of a friend?

Albeit one that’s judging him all the time but he’s sort of gotten used to that by now… ]

Yes, I suppose you are right. [ He at least manages to raise himself up on his elbows to get a better look at Mogget—strange potion and all. ]

If—If you are here, then at the very least I must help you escape…

[purrsuasively]

[Mogget lets out a quiet little hiss of... laughter? Is that laughter? It is, actually, because oh, but look at the state of this would-be hero...]

Help me? As if I require help. I do believe I've made more progress than... others.

[Meaning YOU, Archer, but Mogget isn't needlessly cruel. Archer is more, hmm, awake than he was? That's a good thing, surely, and yet Mogget is... well, maybe he's mildly concerned! Or mildly curious. ...Maybe it's both.]

I've been all about this castle, you see, and found the most interesting thing I've yet to test. [He leans a bit closer, eyes narrowing as he studies Archer's face.] If you do indeed wish to help, then perhaps...

[He bats the vial of potion over Archer's way before settling back on his haunches.]

Well, why not take a sip?

[noholdsbard]

[ All about the castle and back already? Mogget is truly OP…! ]

It can’t hurt, I suppose. [ One of these days he should probably stop accepting strange drinks from his friends, but honestly he can’t imagine that Mogget can be that nasty. He’d known it since they’d spoken during that autumn festival the year before.

So he reaches out, grasping at that vial in a trembling hand as he removes the stopper and takes a modest sip—less out of fear and more out of not wanting to use it all up just in case Mogget needs it for something else. Gotta be considerate, and all.

But he takes a breath, waiting for the potion to run its course, before confessing: ]

Oh, I feel strange…

[purrsuasively]

[Mogget really just followed a powerful vampire lady and let her do her thing, so, uh, he basically... cheated. But! That doesn't matter! Especially not when Archer actually takes a sip of this mysterious potion. Mogget hunkers right down on the ground in front of him, carefully watching Archer's face through half-lidded eyes. It wouldn't surprise him to see Archer turn into a giant frog or something, because this place is NUTS, but... hmm.]

Strange encompasses a great number of things. Try being a bit more... descriptive.