Tired of this human duet...

[smokedout]

who: Jamie Dodger and YOU! (run.)
what: General catch-all with an open prompt that can be used for mingling.
when: June 25th through the end of July.
where: All over the place.
warnings: Dodger. Lots of swearing, drug use, sex and violence.

--

Lampyr is Here for You.

If anyone missed his commercial, or simply didn't want to respond to it, they may instead find his second marketing scheme. Around the city, usually hidden in alleyways, you may find a small display similar to sample trays in grocery stores. Each has a sign that says "DRINK ME" in a bright neon color, which matches the covered trays of drinks below it. Sketchy? Absolutely, but curiosity may take the better of you... or maybe you read the inscription on the table siting the tempting results of the liquid.

RED - ENRAGED LAMPYR: Feel as strong as an ox! Filled with bravery and fighting spirit! Defeat your foes without giving them a chance!
ORANGE - HONEST LAMPYR: Open up your inner emotions! Come to terms with startling truths! Share with others to learn their deepest secrets!
YELLOW - FEARFUL LAMPYR: Enhance your adrenaline! Give yourself goosebumps or share with enemies for a frightful surprise! Raise the stakes of night-time hide-and-seek!
GREEN - ENVIOUS LAMPYR: Test your social safety! Learn the intentions of others! Share with friends and lovers to learn their honest opinion of you!
BLUE - GRIEVING LAMPYR: Strengthen your bonds! Open the depths of your feelings! Instigate attachment with others!
PURPLE - AFFECTIONATE LAMPYR: Let go of your reservations! Accustom yourself with touch and social comfort! Become cuddly!

Each display also features a very crude drawing of a firefly showing the appropriate emotion, although it looks like a kindergartener drew it. One of these days Dodger will have to hire an artist. While your character will not see Dodger initially, he is watching from a nearby hiding place and will come to observe and mess with them if they take a sample, to see the effects of the drink.

The drink tastes spicy, savory, sour, bitter, sweet and minty respectively, although not particularly good regardless. They all have an aftertaste like cough syrup. Obviously the effects don't exactly match up with the claims; they simply give you a very strong form of that emotion, which may lead to side effects. Bloodlust, impulsive truths, paranoid hallucinations, a compulsive need to check your importance to others, uncontrollable crying, or a lovedrunk, affectionate stupor are respectively the most common side effects. Though the effects are strong, they are significantly lessened within an hour (when they stop entirely is up to the player) and the character will never do anything they are morally against.

While Dodger will generally try to speak to anyone who has inadvertently become a test subject, feel free to make open top-levels for others to come across your character in an affected state. Please assume that Dodger is watching them during their exchange, though, and any information passed between them is now known by him.

Comments

Closed to Nico

[smokedout]

[So, pretty straight-forward. At two in the morning, Dodger can be found sitting on the second-floor fire escape outside of the communal housing. Smoking heavily, while he waits for the kid to show up with his zombies. Which, at this point, he's not even questioning. Zombies are cool, why bother getting confused by it.

Wherever Nico pops up from, even if it's Dodger's own shadow, he just gets a lazy wave and a deadpan expression.]

Ready to do some crackpot science, kiddo?

[deathkid]

[ that's the first time someone's not jumped at him dissolving out of their shadow, but he supposes the guy must be used to strangeness, given his reaction to the mention of zombies. said zombies are shuffling around on the ground, standing almost at attention, and dressed in garb that looks similar to old soldier uniforms. they're the easiest for nico to control, after all.

so when nico appears, he scrunches his nose at the smoke, but doesn't comment. instead he settles next to the stranger and nods. ]

I can shadow them up here, if you want.

[smokedout]

[Dodger comes from a world with some pretty crazy powers, and aside from that he spends plenty of time stalking Reaper... so Nico's form of teleportation is just sort of noted and filed away in case it becomes useful information.]

I'd rather keep you on the ground.

[Easier to grab him if something starts going wrong, he figures. Without a word of warning, he disappears of a flash of sparks, which flows smoothly down to the ground where he appears again near the zombies. He sets about checking them over as he speaks; waving a hand in front of one, shoving another gently, just seeing what they do.]

How do zombies tend to work, in your experience?

Closed to Christian

[smokedout]

[Christian hadn't been his first choice for first aid. He'd fully intended to dump himself at Shigeru's door again, because that had worked so well the last time. But he's fading in and out of consciousness, and after blacking in and out a few times in the elevator he just sort of... ends up on the 12th floor.

At the very least he's not bleeding much, so he doesn't get any stains on the floor near Christian's bed. But he's badly bruised across his face and body, and well, he's fully unconscious when Christian finds him. So that's not super good.]

[buildingcastles]

[Of course someone would eventually show up unconscious and bloody. If he had a doorstep, they would probably be there more often. Maybe even weekly, just because it would be a door of his own and that seems to be his luck. When he walks in to find Dodger collapsed on the floor, bruised and worse for wear. He can't even be surprised that it's Dodger. The man seems like the type that would attract trouble. Christian ducks out and returns with supplies before hefting the unconscious man in a sitting position, leaning him against the foot of the bed with a pillow behind him. When Dodger comes to, Christian will be putting gauze on his cuts and have pulled up his shirt to check for deeper injuries. He's far from a nurse, but he does at least know how to handle swelling and bruises. The faint scent of herbal tea comes from a travel pot he plugs into the wall.]

Bound to happen sooner or later, huh? I guess it could be worse.

[smokedout]

[At the very least Dodger doesn't seem to be bleeding from anywhere worse than a few cuts and scrapes on his face. Most of the damage was cushioned by his clothing, which lead to heavy bruising around his chest and stomach.

It's honestly a pretty calming scene to wake up to... a little more relaxed than the frantic tone Shigeru tends to have. He almost looks bemused to wake up without someone really actively fussing over him, but when Christian speaks he responds with a bitter little huff of laughter.]

Not even the worse scrape I've been in... since getting here.

[It's really telling that he's lost an eye since coming to this completely safe city.]

Closed to Widowmaker

[smokedout]

[So, you'd think Jamie Kingsley would have embarrassed himself enough to swear off of romance. And he absolutely did. But Dodger exists in a constant state of self-embarrassment, and shame doesn't affect him anymore. Which means that he sees nothing wrong with taking another stab at attracting Widowmaker.

When she gets back to her room at the end of the day, there's a trail of toy spiders leading from her bed out to the balcony. The balcony which, as far as she'll be able to see, has nothing but some paper lanterns strung up around the fence of it. Were those left over from Memoria? No, those got taken down. Hmm.

As soon as she steps out onto the balcony, two mines go off - modeled heavily off of her venom mines, but re-purposed to toss rose petals at her. And Dodger, who had been invisible up until this point (and presumably just awkwardly waiting around and hoping no one else set off his "trap") appears to give her a cocky grin. Just... ignore that he's still got several bruises and cuts healing on his face.]

You still owe me a drink, Amelie.

[He may or may not have a specific drink in mind. That specific drink may or may not be Lampyr. He may or may not be putting this romantic stunt to get her guard down.]

[distort]

[ And when she gets back to her room at the end of the day, Widowmaker is not pleased to see evidence of having been visited. Her first thought is Lena, that irritating little fly — but no, she's seen no sign of the girl here. She brushes aside the spiders with irritation, ignores the ones already on the floor, and follows the trail with a hand on the strap of her rifle, slung around her shoulder.

Come the release of the mines and springs nimbly backward, rifle suddenly held before her and ready, and then — Dodger. Of course it would be a face like his that she sees, wouldn't it? And all banged up, which simply matches him. She had thought she might regret allowing him access to her tools...

The barrel of the rifle lowers, but she doesn't put it away. Her eyes narrow as she stares at him. ]

It seems to me you have had your drink. One should not be greedy.

[smokedout]

[Honestly, he doesn't even flinch at the rifle being pointed at him - in fact, it makes his grin grow just a bit. Looks like Widowmaker's back, and honestly he prefers her speed to Amelie's.]

Correction - Officer Jamison Kingsley had my drink. You still owe me one.

[He's actually laughing softly; just a pleasant little chuckle, like the fact that she could kill him is a cute joke.]

C'mon, you really gonna put all this effort to waste?

Closed to Shigeru

[smokedout]

[His injuries are pretty fresh from fighting with Taako when he seeks Shigeru out... his cuts have bandaids and any blood has been cleaned up, but the bruises are still very prominent all across his body from being tossed around. Anyway, by now it's a pretty common state to find Dodger in, since he gets in so many bar fights.

He finds Shigeru on floor 2, as expected, and announces himself by placing a vial of grayish-blue, glowing liquid and a hypodermic needle on the table beside him.]

Wanna start that Lampyr trial?

[He might not feel... strictly comfortable with this, and if Shigeru's attentive he might catch that in his expression for a second, but he's genuinely sure this will help. Whether it actually has the effect they're looking for, they'll have to see.]

[mysophobic]

[ Dodger?! Oh my god, can you stop coming to him like this? It's always when Shigeru in is the middle of getting something from the kitchen too. Not that he minds, given his place as a doctor back home, but he'll address the wounds firstly before anything else. At least this time around he's not gushing blood all over the place. ]

First tell me what happened to you?! Are you okay? Should I...heal your wounds? They won't take that long to fix.

[ And he...does notice that expression, mostly because it's not one he's normally seen the other man portray before. ]

[smokedout]

[He'll never stop coming in like this. Shigeru will just have to deal with it. And he just waves Shigeru's phone away with a dismissive motion.]

Nah, just... leave it. They'll heal up on their own anyway.

[He clears his throat, motioning toward the vial to draw Shigeru's attention back to it. The important thing here. Not his face, which... well, honestly he kind of likes the feeling of bruises, they don't bother him anywhere near as much as being bloodied up.]

Friend of mine cooked this up for you - don't know if we got the formula right but you're gonna have to ignore the color, we're... just sort of taking a shot in the dark with this.

[And orange and blue don't mix well.]

[howlongiwonder]

Hmm.

[Fireflies? That looks familiar. A woman wearing all black approaches one of the displays. After a quick reading through the descriptions, she picks up one of the drinks from the tray.

She doesn't drink it yet though, something has her hesitate. Glass of suspicious orange liquid in hand, she just stands there, seemingly deep in thought.]

[smokedout]

[He's seen and spoken to someone like her, briefly. He's not quite sure if it is her, but he doesn't remember enough pertinent information to bother anyway. There's a loud pop above her, and there he is, sitting casually on the second-floor fire escape with his legs dangling between the rails. He doesn't say a word, instead watching him with one functioning eye and one useless, empty hole.]

[howlongiwonder]

[Her head snaps up at the noise, looking up at its source. One eye meets... none, apparently, because 2B's own gaze is obscured by what seems to be a black blindfold.]

Is this yours? This... Lampyr.

[She lifts up the drink, shaking it lightly as if to demonstrate. Some people may be bothered by others appearing suddenly out of nowhere. 2B doesn't seem to be one of them.]

Closed to Khisanth

[smokedout]

There had never been a question of whether he'd see Onyx again. He had planned to play with her and drop her, but instead he'd ended up assuring her as he helped her out of his room that he'd "find her when he felt like it". And eventually that urge comes, and he tracks her down on her way home

He doesn't announce himself, instead teleporting beside her and slipping an arm around her waist lazily as he matches her step. "Hey. You up for fucking around in my room some more?"

Does he care if she had previous plans? Not in the least. But he's counting on her not caring much either.

[onblackwings]

She startles and goes tense as he appears, instincts telling her to turn and slash at whoever has gotten so close so suddenly — but it's first the smell of cigarettes and then the particular warmth of his arm around her waist that tells her who this is before her eyes do.

When her gaze finds him it's with a mild frown, but she doesn't try to pull away. "That trick might just get you stabbed some day." The knife tucked into her boot is a paltry little thing next to the claws she's used to, but it's sharp enough. She turns her mind to what he'd actually said, and considers the matter with a thoughtful tip of her head. By now of course she recognizes the phrase as one of the many, many names for sleeping with someone.

"Later," she decides. "I've just eaten. You should have found me an hour earlier."

[smokedout]

"It has gotten me stabbed before."

And yet he still tries it... partly because he learns a lot about people from how they react to being snuck up on, and partly because it's nice to know that he can catch them unaware. Sure, it's gotten him hospitalized from time to time, but he just learns which people are safe to sneak up on, and how to do it.

With a lazy motion, he sweeps her hair out of the way to kiss her neck. "If you're gonna make me wait, at least spend some time with me. What are you up to?"

Closed to Cain

[smokedout]

[It was a pretty short walk... one where Dodger didn't speak even once, not look Cain in the eyes. Whatever he was remembering, it keeps looming over him, and.. honestly he's just happy he's not in his death-trap of a room, but he's got enough self-control to know that if he does go back there alone without some liquid courage, he's just going to end up actually needing gauze on his wrists.

Bad thoughts. Very bad thoughts. He doesn't actually speak, aside from ordering, for several minutes once they get there. He's downed two glasses of whiskey before he glances around, confirms that there are only one or two people in the bar, and... finally addresses Cain without looking up.]

I can trust you not to tell anyone about.. any of that, yeah?

[aeturnus]

[ That silence is fine with Cain. He just goes with Dodger and stays quiet, only glances toward him once or twice. It's not at all what he expected out of his day today but he'll take it as it comes, as always.

By the time Dodger's come back to himself, Cain's just nursing a soda and watching him. The question gets a slight laugh from him. ]

Yeah, you can trust me for that.

[smokedout]

Good.

[He's nursing a third glass now, wishing somewhere in there that he was alone so that he could down the bottle, crack the glass and- nope. No. Distractions, now. He downs the drink in one gulp, and the glass hits the counter with a harder thump than he'd intended.]

What do you want in return for... babysitting me tonight?

Closed to Shigeru

[smokedout]

[It's taken a lot of awkward handwaved messages to hammer out the details, but... yep. Date time. The worst time in Dodger's opinion, and the time he'd much rather be drunk as shit in an alley somewhere, but... he's trying to be a better person. God help him, he really is.

He's trying hard enough that.. he ended up getting a bouquet of small, unfragrant flowers for him and is sort of awkwardly playing with the petals while he waits at the edge of the path that runs through the local park. Words can't even describe how difficult it is for Dodger to go into a flower shop, but he's honestly trying. And... he smells even more heavily of alcohol than usual, as a result of his trying. But that's fine, right?]

here I come with my cinnamon bun

[mysophobic]

[ Shigeru is realtively nervous about all of this. Mostly because it's Dodger he's dealing with but also because he wants to make sure everyone has a good time?! But he's so bad with being social and he's never gone on a date before so it's a bit...intimidating for him. Either way he shows up at the specified time and at the specified place, pausing when he sees the other with that small bouquet.

It's kinda romantic and not something he thought Dodger would do, but he has a big smile plastered onto his face as he comes up. He doesn't miss the smell of alcohol coming off the other however. ]

I hope you haven't been waiting too long.

Closed to Mantis

[smokedout]

[So, the first part of this hang out went well. Not much speaking... Dodger had her come over to the auto shop, and offered her a ride one out of the motorbikes that was supposed to be getting fixed. In all honesty it's already good as new, but Dodger's been keeping it in case he gets the itch to ride. Which is what ended up happening - with no warning to Mantis on what was going to happen, just Dodger getting on behind her and revving it.

The only problem came when the acid rain started - although Dodger had seen the clouds forming, and like fuck was he letting himself get stuck in whatever the fuck that is.

So that leaves them safe inside an abandoned building, presumably a house at some point, while Dodger watches from the doorway as the bike that could not be brought inside in time slowly melts into a pile of interconnected metal and glass.]

This is fucking bullshit. [He glances at Mantis, who he'd sort of shoved in here to get her out of the rain's reach once it started burning them and hadn't really paid attention to since.] Great start, right?

[feelybug]

[She hadn't been expecting it, but Mantis had really enjoyed the ride. The speed and the air rushing by felt like a type of freedom, and it was exhilarating and she had laughed for most of the first few minutes of their ride.

Until the storm came, and the rain. The rather painful rain.

She stands now in the empty front room of the house Dodger has hurried them into, prodding at one antennae that felt a little sore after the brief stint in the stinging rain. It is dusty in here, but it is dry, and Mantis is grateful for his quick thinking to find shelter. She has never seen a storm so...green.]

Bullshit [she repeats Dodger, staring out at the downpour pinging against the windows on the other side of the room.] It is definitely not normal rain. [At least, she thinks that's what he means. She returns her attention back to him, and stops fiddling with her appendage.]

I am sorry about your motorbike.