[Forward-Dated to 1/16] Happy birthday, asshole. [Open]

[smokedout]

who: Jamie Dodger and YOU!
what: Birthday celebrations and birthday moping
when: January 16th
where: Various places around the city.
warnings: Jamie Dodger. (suicidal thoughts/acts, sex, violence, foul language, etc etc all possible.)

--



(prompts are below!)

Comments

[OPEN] Dodger's apartment

[smokedout]

There's a noise complaint from one of the poorer districts, and anyone passing by will be able to see why. Even from the street, the third story apartment is making an absolute racket - loud, bass-heavy electro-rock music, played so loudly that at ground level it can be felt in the bones of passerbys.

It started at ten in the morning, and by lunch it's been joined in by a loud dog's barking, and the occasional banging of neighbors trying to get whoever's in there to shut up. Not that it seems to be doing much.

[antietam]

[ Adam is in the neighborhood with a purpose in mind. After Dodger's announcement on the network, he figures he might as well do something.

With a cheap, store-bought cake in hand, he makes his way to the apartment. Lucky for him, he's half-deaf and used to people playing loud, terrible music. It doesn't rattle him as much as some of the neighbors, and he politely informs them that he'll make sure the music gets turned down.

When he's finally alone at Dodger's door, he sends him a quick message telling him to open up. Knocking certainly won't do anything. ]

[smokedout]

[He notices the message, but it still takes a few minutes before Brink gets sick of this and pulls Dodger out of bed by his shirt.

The music shuts off, leaving the area eerily silent, and after another minute, some swearing, and the sound of several locks, deadbolts and triggers being undone, he finally opens the door with a yawn. For once he's not wearing that ratty hoodie he's so attached to, just ripped-up jeans and a shirt with a dog holding a gun in its mouth.]

...What?

[His eyes stray down to the cake, but... his self-esteem stops him from jumping to the obvious conclusion.]

[antietam]

[ The wait annoys him, but he's not about to eat an entire cake by himself. When Dodger opens the door, Adam raises an eyebrow as he takes him in, and especially the dog with a gun. ]

Happy birthday? [ He seems a little wary, like maybe he wasn't actually supposed to try to celebrate. Adam's never celebrated his birthday, but oh well. He's here. And the cake is rainbow in honor of their failed business. ]

Thought you were throwing some big party and didn't invite me.

[smokedout]

[Dodger's quiet for a few moments, before his shoulders slump and he moves aside to let Adam in.]

It's uh... music therapy. Exposing myself to sick bass riffs and... synth pulses. It doesn't matter, alright?

[He seems pretty embarrassed about it, now that someone's here to question it. With an awkward motion he just gestures for Adam to put the cake on the counter, and Brink walks over to push the door closed behind him.]

....Thanks, though. For coming.

[antietam]

[ He doesn't make it too obvious that he's glancing around the place to see what Dodger's been up to. ]

No, I guess as long as it helps. Doesn't bug me if you want to keep... [ He waves his hand vaguely. ]

It's the least I could do. [ He didn't even know what to get as a present, which is why he brought the cake. He starts checking for knives. ] Want a slice? I figured you could make your own candles, but I think your dog should sing the song.

[OPEN] Bar

[smokedout]

In the early evening, it had seemed like a great service. One of the regulars had ordered free drinks for everyone, whatever they wanted. It had been nice, until he started giving out subsequent free drinks to the winners of sparring matches. About an hour in, that had devolved into brawling for the sake of it, and by the time night had properly fallen, chaos had ensued.

Dodger is, as always, in the middle of it. Rather than bothering with playing fairly he's teleporting around the crowd, welcoming the strain of it as he smashes a bottle into someone's head here, kicks someone into a table there... blood is already painting the floor and he's in his element, mad-eyed and bloodthirsty. Someone might want to call the police.

If you're lucky enough to find him before the bloodbath, though, he'll be in the back, having bought himself a lovely lady's company who is sitting on his lap while he leans back in his chair and just crowd watches. It's still uneventful at sunset, and he's in a pleasant mood to talk. If you don't mind the smell of his breath.

[OPEN] Wild card

[smokedout]

( Message me at esquivant or just throw something up here if you have a specific idea for a starter! )

[CLOSED] For Ragnar

[smokedout]

He'd expected to find Ragnar in the residential building, but the Viking hadn't wasted any time in moving out. Moving in with Ivar would be his next thought, but nope... it had taken some digging around in documents he had no authority to be looking at, before he found the deed for Ragnar's home. Surely he wouldn't have any issue with a random visit.

He'd almost taken Brink along, but who would figure... even with the promise of going outside for the first time in a few months, Brink still decided he didn't want to play nice. Oh well.

He appears, not with a flash of sparks, but just out of nowhere - right by the edge of the goat pen. Even with his rough exterior, he has trouble hiding the childish wonder on his face - he's actually never seen farmland before, and never strayed out of the city even in Riverview. He's also never seen a live goat before, and before he even catches sight of Ragnar he's distracted by a small one sniffing him. The Viking might end up sneaking up on him, accidentally or not, as his brain is occupied deciding whether it's safe to pet the goat.

[storradr]

The fence to pen the goats in had been finished for a few days, so the small herd had started to develop habits, the way they meandered around, when playtime was, and what time of day all of them seemed to agree that sprawling out in a nice shady spot was. The arrival of a human, and potential food, immediately interrupted their usual activities and most of them crowded the fence, the large ones standing up against the fence and the smaller ones sticking their heads through the log slats.

Now that Dodger had been there a few minutes, he would likely notice the fairly rhythmic, loud thunks coming from around the corner of the house where Ragnar was dutifully chopping up some firewood, oblivious to visitors.

This whole setting seemed to fit him. Even while laboring, his body language was relaxed. His armor had been left inside, wearing just a simple, comfortable looking tunic and pants, not looking tired despite the beads of sweat running down his neck.

[smokedout]

A bit overwhelmed by company, Dodger spends a few minutes petting goats.. until one of them tries to nibble his hand, and gets burnt, and he decides that livestock are not for him. By now, though, he has figured out that the sound he keeps hearing is nearby, and probably an indicator of his original target.

He leans casually against the outer wall of the house, watching Ragnar work for a while without making a noise to disturb him. It's calming even to watch - Dodger almost feels jealous of how much the Viking seems to be in his element.

Finally he speaks, without announcing himself.

"I want a rematch."

[storradr]

Ragnar looked up when Dodger finally spoke up, not exactly looking surprised, but it was obvious he'd had no idea the other man had been standing there. His eyes raked over Dodger before he promptly grabbed another log and set it on the large stump, turning away from Dodger.

"Do you?" He brought the axe down, splitting the wood in one swing before bending down to pick the two halves up and add them to the growing stack on the side of the house. He seemed to pause and consider grabbing another log, but instead, he set the axe down.

He unhurriedly went over to a bucket and dipped his hands into it before bringing some water to his face to wash it off a little.

"Alright," He nodded, "At your home?"

[smokedout]

"If you don't wanna do it here, sure."

He shrugs; going back to his place seems like it would be a hassle, but seeing how nice this place is... he can understand not wanting to break shit and paint the floor like they did at his apartment. Plus, he has no idea if anyone else lives here. Maybe the goats won't like the noise.

He pauses awkwardly, wondering if he should bring it up, before adding: "It's my birthday. Iunno if... Vikings care about that. Figured if I was celebrating with anyone it should be you."

For no better reason than that Ragnar is the one stable thing in his life right at the moment. How sad is that.

[storradr]

He smirked softly. Obviously, that's why he'd mentioned it, "I do not."

A hassle, but a requirement for Ragnar. Unless Dodger wanted to go hang out in the woods, which Ragnar certainly wasn't opposed to. His daughter shared the house with him and now Athelstan as well, but he was only really worried about Gyda hearing or walking in on something she really didn't need to. She'd heard more than enough sharing the wall-less farmhouse their family had before in Kattegat.

"Your...? Oh. I understand. Today you are a year older. It is not something we really celebrate, no. Unless it is a year where a child has become old enough to join the raids or something like that," He smirked, "I do not think you qualify."

He raised an eyebrow.

"With me? Why? You do have others. Your dog has..." He paused. He couldn't believe these words were coming out of his mouth, "Your dog has spoken of them."

[smokedout]

He hesitates again, his brow knitting for a moment as he tries to decide how to sum this up without revealing too much emotion.

"It's complicated." He settles on that, and then adds for clarification: "There's really only one other. I tried to kill him the other day."

He figures if anyone's going to understand that, it's Ragnar. And with that, he's just going to head in the direction of his apartment and assume the Viking is following. It's much too great a distance to try teleporting, better to save his energy so he doesn't hospitalize himself... again.

[storradr]

Ragnar raises an eyebrow, though the questioning look is directed at the back of Dodger's head. He takes a few longer strides to catch up and then falls into step beside Dodger before saying anything.

"Why?" Obviously, he wanted to know what this other person had done. Not that Dodger couldn't take care of things himself, but maybe he needed someone to finish the job if this person had done something truly awful. Little did Ragnar know, that likely wasn't at all the case. He remembered the dog saying the name ones, but all he remembered was a 'sh' and a 'g' sound. It had been a strange name, unfamiliar to him.

[smokedout]

He gives an awkward shrug, "I lost my temper. It was just... stupid. It doesn't matter, anyway, point is that we're not speaking right now."

At least, after slamming Shigeru into the ground until it cracked, he figured the man wouldn't really care that it's his birthday. In an idle motion, he starts scratching at the gauze wraps hiding his wrists.

"So. Birthdays. Usually there's... cake, presents, people congratulate you on living another year. Kids tend to get whole parties, adults just get.. y'know, something lazier. But, uh... no one likes me in the Quarantine, so I figure a rematch would be- good enough."

[CLOSED] For Shigeru

[smokedout]

It's kind of becoming funny, how he always manages to ruin things right before he needs them.

He's managed to accept being 26 now. Mostly. He dragged himself back to his apartment, at least, in one piece. Bloody, bruised, but alive after all this crap. Officially older than his mother had ever been, and that thought has been stuck in his head like a knife.

He supposes, all things considered, he still owes Shigeru the warning he'd been planning to give him. So Shigeru will get a voicemail, rather than a proper call.

"Unless you're up at 4 in the morning for some god awful reason, you're probably not gonna catch me alive. I'm putting myself out of my misery - catch you on the flip side, alright?"

[mysophobic]

[ Shigeru is really just so out of sorts when he finally listens to that message. It's about 30 minutes later when he finally gets it. Of course Shigeru hasn't had a lot of sleep the last couple of days. After everything he's done and gone through, well, his dreams are plagued with nightmares basically every night so it doesn't take much to get him awake.

Still, getting that voicemail is something he had expected and he feels awful because of all those horrible things he had said to Dodger prior to this. How could he not expect it given what was said and what had happened between him and Dodger during the light festival. He knows he shouldn't go over, knows it's not good for his gate or his mental health right now, but he can't just...leave it at that. He'll practically rush out the door, not even paying any mind to the pain in his back as he gets up way too fast. Ugh he really...doesn't want to see Dodger right now, but this is beyond his own conflicted emotions at this point.

So Dodger will get a loud knock on his door with silence to follow it. The knocking is a bit heavy at first and Shigeru is scared that he's actually too late? He really wishes he could talk...god. He wishes that communicating wasn't so hard for him. It's frustrating that he can't really do anything when it comes to that. When or if Dodger opens the door he'll be met with a disheveled and extremely tired looking Shigeru. It looks like he hasn't had a good sleep in days, with the begins of bags under his eyes from lack of sleep and possibly from crying due to nightmares or whatever else. There's still small traces of that black eye but the rest has healed completely since then. It's his back and ribs that really took the brunt of the damage so his breathing isn't right either. Still he's there and worried as usual even if he knows he shouldn't be. ]

[smokedout]

[Unfortunately, whatever Dodger's up to.. it's safe to say he's not at the door. He didn't even leave it unlocked, like he tends to when he's in these mopey moods. He might actually be serious this time.

Instead, Shigeru is greeted by scratching from the other side of the door, and Brink's robotic voice.]

Is someone there? Please break down the door with caution - there are traps installed that I cannot disable. Dodger is in danger, but my ability to contact authorities has been overridden.

[mysophobic]

[ Shigeru is too tired to deal with this if he's being honest with himself. Brink's words just make him even more worried however, his stomach dropping a little as he listens. He doesn't want to use his powers, he's been trying to not for several days, but he'll have to he figures if he wants to get inside. So he'll place a bloodied gloved hand to the middle of the the door and activate his gate. The entire door will start to dissipate from the middle outward as Shigeru works fast to get inside. He's hoping that he doesn't trigger any of those traps and once the hole is big enough Shigeru will stumble through it. He'll down at Brink with concern and worry.

He'll just fumble with his phone as he takes it out to type something. ]

Dodger? [ He doesn't even bother staying still as he moves through the apartment quickly. He also didn't bother to deactivate his powers either. ]

[smokedout]

[The trigger for the Lampyr mine goes slack, disintegrating along with the door and leaving the darts useless. Once he's sure Shigeru won't get hurt, Brink pads over with his tail straight out as if to signify how serious the situation is. At least the apartment is small enough that it doesn't take much searching to see that Dodger must be in the bathroom - the only area Shigeru can't see from the doorway, because the bathroom door is closed and locked.]

He's in there. [Brink leads Shigeru to the bathroom door, jumping up to paw at it.] His stress levels spiked and then evened out ten minutes ago. I heard the bath running earlier, too. Please check on him immediately.

[mysophobic]

[ Shigeru swallows thickly and nods at Brink's words. He knows what that means so Shigeru will hurry to the bathroom door. ]

Thank you Brink. I can take it from here.

[ He's really glad for the dog's companionship right now. Still Shigeru is a nervous wreck as he grips the bathroom door's knob and proceeds to disintegrate that too. He works quickly but not in a flustered or haphazard way. He'll push the bathroom door open with some force, preparing himself for whatever he's going to see. ]

(slightly late) cw: suicide attempt, for any thread-stalkers.

[smokedout]

[Brink is aware of the comfort he gives, at least, and brushes his side against Shigeru's leg as they enter.

Dodger has in fact made an attempt - judging from the two empty bottles of sleeping pills and one empty bottle of vodka on the floor, and the full bath tub. Dodger is fully dressed, in the bath tub, under the water. He'd figured he wanted to look halfway decent when the police showed up.

Brink immediately moves forward, jumping up to grab Dodger's hoodie and drag him out of the water. He's unconscious, but his heart is still beating even if his pulse is faint. Unable to do anything for him, the dog instead starts pacing around, carefully monitoring his vitals.]

He's alive, but he's fading. Please do everything you can. [He pauses, and his ear twitches, almost like a nervous tic.] Thank you for coming.

[mysophobic]

[ It really just...breaks his heart to see this. Shigeru's seen all sorts of things in his time as a doctor. But those were people he never knew, never had such a deep connection with. To see this happening to someone he cares about it's enough to make his eyes sting.

But, right, he needs to work fast so he'll focus his attention on getting rid of and purging the sleeping pills first. He nods silently at Brink as he bends down to touch Dodger with shaky hands, his gate glowing faintly as he activates his powers again to treat him. It'll only take a few minutes to get everything out of Dodger's system, pills and all, Shigeru will let out a strained breath as he closes his eyes and turns his powers off. He can feel it straining him again so he only uses them for a short while nowadays.

He'll put gloved fingers to Dodger's neck to check for a pulse, lightly shaking his shoulder with his other hand. ]

Dodger. Wake up. Please. [ He knows he's not late and his pulse is good, he's just wondering if the other man is going to be angry with him again for this. ]