Player Plot: Paint Ball Battle

[worldsaway]

who: Open to All
what: The Annual Paintball War.
when: 17/01
where: The Jungle + The Hot Springs
warnings: Violence, Swearing and Nudity. The Tarantino Experience.

The Game It’s a chilly morning when the competitors gather in the jungle for the competition, there are still thin layers of ice and snow on the rocks and leaves and the air is cool and crisp. All competitors are outfitted with a full set of equipment, including a paintball gun, a battle pack (a set of 5 colours, 10 of each colour except for three, glittery pods), protective eyewear, a face mask (in a variety of colours and patterns) and camouflage clothing. Players are transported in groups (but not teams) of five into different sections of the jungle. The Perimeter guards monitor the outskirts and the boundaries are marked with flags. Each team is told the general rules of play, which are as follows: You are given a set of 5 colours, 10 of each and 3 glitter bombs Each colour has a different effect on its target, summed up with one word. You need to be hit with 3 different colours or one glitter bomb to be “killed” Use glitter bombs wisely, you only get three. Each coloured pod has a word written on it, in its designated colour. The colours, words and effects are as follows: Red- “Over-confidence” Being hit with red makes you irrational, your decisions are stupid and poorly thought out. This makes you an easy target. Blue- “Rhythm” You are compelled to sing and dance. Every step you take is jazzy, you can’t stop trying to move to the music in your mind. You’re compelled to rhyme or sing every thought you have, to a maddening degree. Purple- “Flirtatious” You are now feeling flirtatious. Your mind is off the prize and on your teammates and enemies. They become your focus instead. Pink- “Ditzy” You’re feeling distracted. Your focus is shot and you can’t stop spacing out. Your imagination is running wild and you see things out of the corner of your eye. You also can’t stop yourself from chattering away. Glitter: Glitter’s effects are long term. The glitter stays on you for weeks after, in your hair and faintly sparkling on your skin. It’s also an instant out, meaning you must leave the game once you’ve been hit with one. The winner is the one who makes it out without being hit by three different colours or a glitter bomb.

The Hot Springs After the war is over, paintballers can retreat to the hot springs. For characters over 18, there are washrooms set up before you enter, there are two segregated by gender (but not heavily monitored either way), with a third for those who don’t identify as either gender or for those who don’t care who they see or who sees them naked. Assisting one another in a scrub down is encouraged, since there will be paint where your arms can’t reach. There are stools to sit on with scrubbing brushes, clothes and a wide variety of delicious smelling soaps to help wipe away the paint. The glitter will not come off. Once you’re clean, you’re welcome to soak in the warm waters of the spring. There is a nude spring (over 18s only) and a clothed spring for younger characters. There are soft, fuzzy bathrobes and towels for modesty outside of the spring.

The Lounge There is a buffet of delicious, wintery foods to warm you up. Hot soups, curry, roasted meats and vegetables as well as finger foods such as cold meats and cheeses, crackers and breads. Fresh fruits, steamed and fresh vegetables and a variety of dips. On the dessert table there are mini pies, tarts and cakes to choose from for dessert. In the lounge is a hot chocolate bar with a variety of different chocolates, marshmallows, creams, sprinkles and alcohols for the adults who need an extra kick. The tables are set indoors, in a small but cozy lodge. There is a large fire that warms the room well and dozens of couches, lazy boys, hammocks and beanbags to settle into. The room is filled with lanterns and candles and it’s the perfect time to regale one another with stories of victory and tragedy from the war. The lounge is open from the beginning of the game, large TV screens will play shots of the game with commentary from a number of people. Those who are unwilling or uninterested in participating can stay in the lounge as long as they like. This means that they can enjoy the thrill of the competition from the comfort of a nice, warm chair. The winners are posted here.

Comments

[angelic_archer]

I have a friend that quotes things and most of them my family never understands. [Was that why Simon did it? Alec always assumed that it was because Simon didn't know how to be quiet when he was nervous... and he was always nervous.] Was Robin Hood real in your reality?

[He'd been taught that all legends had a base in truth, but now that he knows other realities exist, that becomes even more complicated.]

People were taking it more seriously than I expected. Some of them were going after anything that moved. [Including the guards that were only supposed to keep an eye on things.]

My parabatai. [He says the word slowly since he knows few people here know ancient Greek.] Two warriors train together and are bound together as a fighting pair. We're better fighters when we're paired. Almost perfectly in sync sometimes.

[franciscoramon]

Uhhhhh... no idea.

[ Cisco is around the same place as Alec on this - he has some notion that maybe it is based on a true story? The king in it was supposed to be a real king, right, who went off to the crusades? And it was a really old story? But his main source of Robin Hood knowledge is an animated movie with anthropomorphic foxes and a truly terrible Kevin Costner flick from the 90s, so he's really out of his depth. ]

Yeah, some of those players went hard. I mean, I get it, they probably get in the zone and everything seems like a threat, but even so...

[ Even when Alec repeats the word slowly, Cisco doesn't recognize anything about it. To him it sounds like something that would be the name of a new hipster trend, or possibly some horrifying practice the League of Assassins would be into. But he keeps that thought to himself and listens while Alec explains. The concept isn't one he's heard of before, but he likes it. ]

And Jace is the fighter you're paired with. Got it. Is that - I mean, is that a common thing, for a Shadowhunter to have a designated fighting buddy they train all the time with and go out into the field with? Kinda reminds me of how detectives have partners, just more intense...

[angelic_archer]

I'm not sure if he's real in my world either. There's evidence that it's possible. [Which is probably incredibly nerdy. Maybe he shouldn't have been so hard on Simon when he got into his favorite subjects.] Sorry. I was fascinated with archers when I was a kid since most people didn't think it was a good weapon choice.

I get being in the zone. That's how I ended up in the game instead of just guarding the borders.

[Knowing the concept of parabatai usually gets mixed reactions, he's relieved that Cisco doesn't think it's weird or make comments about Nephilim culture.]

It's kind of like that, but there's magic involved too. Even if my parents hadn't adopted Jace, after we became parabatai, we would have been family. It's not common since it's hard to find someone that you're willing to be that close to and you have to make the decision before you're eighteen. [Absentmindedly, his hand goes to his side and not, thankfully to his chest like he normally did when he thought about what happened at the lake.] We're bonded for life.

[franciscoramon]

Hey, man, listen. You ain't gotta apologize to me, okay? I get it.

[ For him it hadn't been a choice of weapon, so much as his entire field itself. He'd learned a ton about famous scientists when he was young, had looked up to them, had tried to use them to explain why he was interested in the things he was interested in, why he cared so much about school. It had all fallen on deaf ears, but he can see how for Alec, who came from such a rigidly traditional family of fighters, choosing an unconventional weapon might be a parallel situation.

And even if it weren't, Cisco likes hearing the things people are enthusiastic about. He's not the sort of nerd who acts as if his own obsessions and interests are valid whereas others are beneath him. He likes that Alec knows about the evidence Robin Hood might've really existed. ]

Oh, damn. So it's way more than, like, a strategy thing for the field. Gotcha.

[ That wasn't what he'd assumed at first, and the concept of it is pretty undeniably foreign to him. A magical, unbreakable (as far as he knows) connection, that has to be established while they're still kids and lasts until their entire lives? That's... intense. ]

Do people end up regretting it, ever? Are there, I don't know - parabatai divorces, or whatever?

[angelic_archer]

It is? [For a second, he almost doesn't elaborate then he reminds himself of all the times Izzy's prompted him to 'use his words' and that he has been trying to get better at talking with people.] Most beings don't get it. Or think being interested in history is boring. I'm interested in other subjects, but my kin weren't accepting of outside influences.

[Which may help Cisco understand why some things that are normal to others are strange to Alec. He wants to learn, but he's not really sure how to reach out or find those resources that would help him figure out what Clary and Simon had been talking about.

Chuckling softly, he rubs the back of his neck, wincing when he notices the fall of glitter that accompanies the motion. He's going to need Magnus to magic it away if he wants to quit shedding sparkles anytime soon.]

It's intense. [For a few seconds, Alec tries to think of how to describe it without going into too much detail. Even though he doubts that any of them are in danger here, he doesn't want the depth of his connection to Jace to be common knowledge. Knowing that you could harm one parabatai to harm the other is too dangerous for everyone in the family.]

They do. I think my father regretted it when he was older. Sometimes things happen that make having that kind of bond uncomfortable. There's no divorce usually. We're bonded for our entire lives no matter what happens to us or what my happen to drive us apart.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco just nods slowly; his own particular interests that people didn't get tended to not be history, but even if the specifics are different, he can see why Alec would have grown used to being hesitant, and to assuming no one would want to listen. ]

Well, mine weren't all that accepting of them, either. But I'm all for outside influences, personally. People who cut themselves off end up narrow-minded, and that's a disadvantage in a whole lotta ways. That's true in science, and I'm sure it's true for - being a warrior, too.

[ But he cuts himself off, there, not wanting to dive too deeply into criticizing Alec's family - though from the sound of what he's told Cisco, they were all about narrow-mindedness, tradition, and all that tyrannical bullshit. ]

Gotcha. Wow. Well... I hope things with you and Jace end up better than with your dad and his parabatai.

[ Then he remembers, suddenly and rather horribly, that Clary had told him that Jace was going to die, in their future. What would that do to Alec? Cisco clears his throat, feeling like not mentioning it would be lying, but not entirely sure how to even begin. ]

I actually um. Met this girl, Clary. She said she knows you, and Jace, and everything. She... told me some stuff. About Jace. And his future.

[ Had she told him all that hoping he would keep it secret? But she'd been so open about it... this is all so complicated and Cisco's pretty sure he ought to not stick his nose into it, but Clary had kind of pulled his nose in before he realized what was happening. ]

[angelic_archer]

That's how my kin are. They've isolated themselves so much that they're living in fear of change. It's becoming dangerous. It's why I'm glad we're here instead of back home.

I don't really know that much about science. [He looks sheepish as he admits that. There's so much about the world that he's learning. Pop culture, history, details about the different realities that are merging here in Quarantine.] I'd like to learn but my interests aren't the same as Izzy.

I think Jace and I will be fine. We've already went through the same type of drama that ruined it with my father and we got through it. [Although that drama might happen again with a variation that Alec's not willing to thin about without alcohol and Magnus nearby.]

Clary's - uh - [By the Angel, how does he explain his connection to Clary when Jace still thinks of her as a sister, Alec thinks of her as his parabatai's future fiancee and he had no idea how Clary sees the situation.] She's almost like a sister to me.

I know what she's probably talking about. [Pausing, he looks around to see if his parabatai is nearby.] She told you that something bad happens to him. Time seems to be something this place doesn't concern itself with.

If it's what I think she told you about, it hasn't happened to Jace yet. She saw it happen. I know what happens months afterward. Which probably doesn't make sense.

[franciscoramon]

I can teach you some about science. I mean, if you want. And not all of it, obviously. 's a pretty big topic. My specialty is mechanical engineering, so that means I'm mostly all up in physics and robotics and programming and some chemistry, but I know some stuff about other fields. What kinds of science are you interested in?

[ Cisco's always willing to share knowledge, and encourage curiosity and enthusiasm in others, particularly when it comes to science. He'd had so little support, when he'd been young and fascinated by the world, wanting to understand how it works, so now that's made him twice as eager to react enthusiastically when other people show even a glimmer of that same interest.

He's glad to hear that things between Alec and Jace seem destined to last, and that Alec doesn't seem annoyed when he brings up Clary and alludes to what she'd said. Alec's reaction is... not at all what Cisco was expecting. ]

No, it makes perfect sense. She's from further in the timeline than Jace, but you're from further in the timeline than her, and you know how it all shakes out, but you don't want to let on to either one of them.

[ Sure, it's all a little confusing, but if there's one thing Cisco's used to, it's some hot and messy timeline shenanigans. This situation is child's play, compared to other stuff he's dealt with. ]

So probably, the reason you told her not to tell Jace about his future is... she was wrong about him dying, and you know that, but you don't want her to. Or am I wrong?

[ He's just making guesses, after all. Informed guesses, maybe, but guesses nonetheless. ]

[angelic_archer]

I'd like to learn. Izzy's into biology and forensics and that isn't - [He can't quite hide a hint of disgust over some of the subjects she talks about at home. There's some work topics that shouldn't be dinner conversation.] - a subject that interests me. Physics though... That would be things like trajectories? The others are things we aren't really subjects that we were taught.

[Alec had been interested enough in history and mythology to not mind the lack of diverse subjects, but now that he's met people who know subjects he barely had more than a basic understanding of, he wants to learn more about the world.] Just being pointed in the right direction would help. [Cisco probably doesn't have time to really teach someone but even suggestions of books to read would get Alec started.]

I've told them a few details so they won't freak out. Jace thought I died so I had to calm him down over that. Clary hasn't wanted to know anything, which is probably hurting her.

[Fidgeting with his wedding ring keeps him from touching the rune on his side, his expression shifting from grief to something closer to neutral.] No, she's right. He died. Jace was killed during one of the wars. I know that he comes back, but she doesn't. Not yet.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco makes a sympathetic face; he might help the police department, make centrifuges and things that could be used for law enforcement and forensics, but it's not his cup of tea, either. ]

Sure. Trajectories, objects moving through space, motion, all of that. And if you get deep enough into it, into the theory, it's about the building blocks of the entire universe. The fundamental laws beneath it all.

[ He wasn't going to start Alec at theoretical particle physics, of course, but it couldn't hurt to let him know that was on the table, that physics was far-reaching and strange and wonderful.

He listens without interrupting as Alec lays things out. He's glad, selfishly, that his own situation is far less complicated. There's only himself and Eddie from his world here, and there had only been a small gap between them in the timeline: half a year in which had passed in a haze of loneliness and depression, for Cisco. So he doesn't run into complex situations like this, where he has to measure, in the way Alec does, how much to tell and how much to keep hidden. ]

I'm glad. Not about all the wars and dying and secrets and stuff. I meant - that he comes back. I haven't met Jace yet, but... I mean. Losing people sucks.

[ He thinks about Ronnie, and gives a tiny shrug. Not the most eloquent articulation of that sentiment, but he's not wrong. ]