riverviewlogs | Tired of this human duet...

Entry tags:

Tired of this human duet...

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ 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. ]

[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.]

[ Your lack of concern for your own well being still worries him a lot?! But, fine, he won't heal them if the other doesn't want it done. Ah, right, the vial his attention is distracted enough for him to not press the matter; so you're off the hook this time Dodger, good job. Shigeru also looks a bit uncertain, but mostly because he recalls Dodger's own expression in detail when seeing it. ]

Will it...really help me with my phobia?

[ It all sounds too good to be true to him, since this is something he's had to fight his entire life. ]

Not on its own. It's a sort of, ah... psychiatrical experiment. Therapy and drugs.

[He leans on the table, gesturing vaguely as he speaks.]

The idea is that whenever I touch you, I'll inject you with some of this. It'll cool you down so you don't start panicking. Sooner or later your brain will stop associating fear and touch. [His expression shifts uneasily again, just for a second.] At least, that's the idea. Haven't tested it out at all yet, so. That's what we're doing now, I guess.

[ AH, oh, he kinda looks all sorts of uncertain now after hearing the explanation. But, no, he'll shake his head and set his expression into one of determination. He's got this, he can do it! Maybe...sorta, he's not entirely sure. ]

I see. Alright I guess we...can give it a shot. It's like exposure therapy, which I'm used to going through. So this might actually help.

This'll be... a little like exposure therapy, sure. With some added variables.

[As he's speaking, he unwraps the needle and pulls a fair amount of the glowing grey liquid into it - best to know the effects of large amounts and go from there, he figures.]

You alright with me injecting you with this, or do you wanna do it yourself? [He pauses.] You might've noticed I've got experience, so. No need to worry about me doing it wrong.

[Just above his wrists, there are a LOT of needle scars. No one is surprised.]

[ Shigeru is watching him do all this with a critical eye. He really doesn't like using drugs, avoided it for a long time too, but maybe there's somethings here that could potentially help him out. His system cleared out drugs at an accelerated rate, so taking them was never really useful to him. But this might be different, maybe, so he'll just have to test it. But at that question he nods, looking away briefly, before typing something. ]

I can do it. I have experience as well.

[ Well here goes something...or nothing he's not sure which. ]

[Given that it's technically a magical effect and not chemical... things might turn out differently. Dodger hands over the syringe, and watches him curiously as he injects it.

The formula is a mixture of honesty and affection, with a small bit of sadness to mellow it. This could even out to a calming effect, or... make Shigeru lovedrunk, compulsively truthful and depressed. Even Dodger doesn't really know, since he just sort of threw it together in hopes of it working. And as Shigeru's trying it out, he's visibly tensing with anticipation.]

[ Well here goes nothing. Shigeru will take said syringe and start the process of injecting himself with the magical concoction Dodger's made up for him.

He's hoping that it works and he hopes that he can use it later to aid him in the future for other things. With his phobia...everyday life was so challenging and hard for him that he's mostly just tired of it. But the effects take immediately and he'll feel slightly less tense as the spot where he injected himself heals instantly. ]

Okay. I'm...ready.

[Dodger waits a moment, giving the drug some time to kick in before he reaches out.

At first he only runs his fingers over Shigeru's hand, then up his arm, and then to cup his face. And if all is well up until then he might try to kiss him, but he somehow doubts this is going to go that easily. He can't fix a phobia like what he's seen of Shigeru's in a day.]

[ Shigeru might flinch at the sudden touch, his heart skipping a beat as Dodger slowly works his way up his arm. But it takes a turn when he cups his face. That's...when the panic starts and his eyes might flicker to that oddly colored way they were when he was possessed. It's only for a second and Dodger might also catch a glimpse of the gigantic iridescent purple gate behind his person. Shigeru will gasp and move away before the other has a chance to kiss him again.

It's not nearly as easy as it was when Dodger got him by surprise, alas. But Shigeru will type something with a shaky hand. ]

I'm sorry. It's a little bit easier but...

[ But it's a bit harder than he had hoped to go through with. As seen by him rubbing his arm in the trail that Dodger's hand made. ]

[Dodger had just sort of been put off by not being able to kiss him, but the flash of Shigeru's demonic form startles him. Enough that Dodger flinches back, his eyes widening slightly as he blinks and glances around the room, as if making sure that version of Shigeru is actually gone.]

Jesus... [He takes a deep breath and shakes his head.] It's fine. I'll... try again, make something stronger.

[He'd love to reassure him, but Dodger isn't anywhere near as good at doing that verbally, compared to giving physical comfort. He almost reaches to pat Shigeru's shoulder, before stopping midway through and retracting his hand awkwardly.]

[ Ah. this is what...he doesn't like about his powers. Shigeru looks...upset, which is understandable. But it's more at himself then anything else. ]

If I get too stressed...my powers go out of whack. I'm sorry...if I startled you.

[ He might just...look away when he shows Dodger that. ]

It...wasn't him. I just look like that when I use my powers normally. [ Aside from the runes of course, which were definitely not on Shigeru's skin for the brief instant of time. Still he feels terrible about startling Dodger that much that the man isn't even doing his usual physical touching. ]

I really appreciate it. [ And he might take a step closer...before stopping. There's an easy to tell look of depression and dejection in his expression. ]

Thank you...for trying to help me.

[He notices Shigeru taking that step, and he.. appreciates it. It's encouraging, it's- something. In return Dodger gently takes his hand, for as long as he'll let him.]

I'm gonna make this work. I don't do things half-assed.

[There's a quiet determination in his face; Dodger has managed to gain a fire in his soul that he hadn't had before coming to Riverview, from all the time he's spent making real connections instead of mindlessly killing people, and it's slowly starting to show itself.]

One of these days you're gonna be able to kiss me on your own.

[ Shigeru will let him hold his hand, if briefly, before he takes it back gently to type something. His face is all sorts of flustered at Dodger's last comment though. No, no, he could never see himself doing that. Even if it happened once already that was by surprise. Shigeru as he is right now could never do something like that... ]

I...really want to believe that I can. [ He looks away though, clearly at odds with himself over this whole thing. ]

But it never really gets better for me. No matter how hard I try...

Edited 2017-07-04 22:33 (UTC)

It doesn't matter if you believe. It's gonna happen.

[Well, if nothing else he's in no shortage of determination. And his expression softens as he watches Shigeru, almost becoming affectionate despite his gruff tone.]

Come on, keep your chin up. Things only stay shitty if you sit around wallowing about it.

[What a hypocrite.]

[ He does manage to smile warmly back at Dodger, for the words, and also because he never thought Dodger the one to be saying them to him. ]

Thank you. I'll definitely try harder to get past it. It's easier when...I have people willing to help me.

[He hesitates, before pulling another wrapped hypodermic needle from his pocket and placing beside the half-filled vial.]

Keep the rest of this, you can try it with someone else if you want. But I'll try to fix the formula, make it work better... [He hesitates, and tips his head as he watches Shigeru.] Can you handle another touch?

[ Shigeru will nod, watching Dodger move to place that vial there. Having multiple people help him wouldn't hurt. There's a few he can think of that might be well suited for this. ]

Thank you. I...really appreciate it, Dodger. [ He smiles again before he nods, even if he looks uncertain about it, he can manage he thinks. ]

I...think so.

[He's silent for a moment... just holding back the need to be bashful over being thanked for something like this. He's so shitty to Shigeru, and Shigeru treats him so well, for everything he's done.. it makes him feel guilty.

When that moment is over, he reaches forward, mindful to be quick about it, and cups Shigeru's cheek to kiss his lips.]

Just keep yourself out of trouble.

[ Shigeru's face will go red again as he backs away. Dodger please stop surprising him like that!! Though perhaps its the lampyr's effects but he doesn't dislike it this time around nor does it make his skin crawl all too much. ]

You should take your own advice, you know!

[ He just holds up his phone with a flustered look, making what he wrote sound less then serious. ]

[This time he knows full well that Shigeru's going to be embarrassed, and Dodger lets out a cheerful laugh as he fully ignores the comment.]

I'll see you next time I get my ass kicked, Miyata.

[He even winks at Shigeru, before bursting into sparks and disappearing somewhere in the direction of his room.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Tired of this human duet...

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