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

There's a lot she doesn't understand about dogs, and one thing on the long, long list is the meaning of that tail wag. She's still not sure why Dodger is so clearly thrown off by all of this, are dogs intrinsically alarming when they appear like this? That makes her gaze on it turn a little wary as she struggles for context.

"Yes." That might be true, but she's sure they're at least allies. She doesn't feel like explaining whatever they are to each other to this new arrival, though. Instead, stepping just close enough to be considered in conversational range: "I'm Onyx. If you were delivered here, does that make Dodger your master now?"

"If Dodger owns this room, then he is supposed to be my master." The dog is sort of going along with their terminology... owner seems more apt, but it's a synonym, so he'll let it slide. "Pleased to meet you, Onyx."

"Fuck, Adam's still got my keys..." Dodger gets to his feet, "Give the dog some company a second, I'll unlock the door."

He teleports away, leaving a shower of sparks that trail toward the room. And that leaves Khisanth momentarily alone with the dog, who starts panting quietly while he waits for.. something.

Oh, great, then he just leaves her with it. She eyes the dog uncomfortably, hoping it doesn't expect small talk out of her. She has no idea what dogs want to talk about.

Although, come to think of it, she does have a question. She'd been awkwardly trying not to make eye contact with it, but as her curiosity occurs to her her gaze is drawn back again to it. And, as always, her curious question draws her out of her sullenness.

"What does Dodger being your master mean?" she asks. "To you. Or to him, I guess."

"I am a personal assistant. I have access to the internet, I can write emails and perform phone calls, and conduct simple tasks such as retrieving mail or buying items in town. Before delivery I was equipped with third-party technology, to access the local chatting network. However, my connection to Toue Inc.'s support network is no longer functional, so I do not recommend using me for anything that might risk virus infections."

This seems to be a rehearsed speech; no doubt he could rattle it off again with the exact same tones and pauses. And hearing it through the door lets Dodger get out all of his confusion silently through various expressions while he tries to decide if he should ask questions or just... roll with it.

He'll unlock the door in a second, he swears, but he kind of wants to know what else she can get out of the dog.

She doesn't know what most of that means and, as usual, feeling ignorant has her feeling irritated. Why is this world so confusing? But at least she has the gist of her answer — Dodger's new dog is here to be useful to him.

"Well, that's what it means for him. But you didn't tell me much about your side of it — what do you get out of it?"

The thought does occur to her that these creatures are really just meant to serve, but it seems odd to her that a creature that can speak would have so little agency. From what she's seen of humans so far, she'd thought they were a little more concerned with things like personal freedom, and whatnot.

The dog actually seems... confused by this. He tips his head from side to side, ears cocked as he processes the question. It's much too philosophical for a computer to handle, so he just settles on honesty. "I'm not sure I can answer your question. I can do some research if you want."

At that point Dodger opens the door for them, having successfully disarmed his trap for now, and the dog seems almost grateful for the interruption as he steps into Dodger's room. "Dogs don't get anything out of helping humans. They just don't know anything else."

A fact that he knows very well, having effectively lived as a dog his whole life. His whole life had been dedicated to his masters.. and that's left him itching like crazy since he got here. Maybe his new literal dog will help.

That's not an answer she likes. Her distrusting stare goes from the dog to Dodger as he opens the door, and she looks unsatisfied with the response. That isn't how the world works, no one does something for nothing.

But she steps in after the door nonetheless, gaze once more sweeping around the room as curiosity fades out the wariness. Honestly, Dodger's room is such an interesting place.

"Well. Pick your favorite." She's already taking the opportunity to look over as much as is available, though.

There's a smirk on his face in return, as he lets the dog in to explore the room and moves to wrap his arms around Khisanth's waist, his head resting on her shoulder. And after a moment, his hands reach up to cover her eyes.

"Hey, no cheating. Pick three people in the city, we'll see what I know about them."

It takes her a moment, but the usual stiff resistance in the face of casual touch begins to fade. If nothing else, she's decided it's highly unlikely that Dodger would make any sort of attack while they're actively enjoying each other's company. Maybe even not at all — though her wary nature cautions against believing that too easily. She even allows her eyes to be covered, and sighs rather than attempt to resist it.

"Fine." She tips her head back a little, thoughtful. The darkness of his hand over her eyes puts her in mind of a particular memory, the last time she'd used her darkness spell, and with that a name. Tentatively, "Karamatsu. Do you know him?"

"Sure, he's a good friend of mine."

That's a stretch of the truth.. he's pretty sure Karamatsu's still uncomfortable around him, but Dodger's attached to the kid. With a smooth motion he takes his hands off of her eyes, and points out Karamatsu's place on the wall, the scribbled notes next to several candid shots from Bryn's party, and a pin stuck through the notes connecting him to Reaper, Eichi, Ichimatsu and the picture-less notes labeled 'Sombra' with a red string.

The dog seems to have decided he's done exploring, and sits at the foot of Dodger's bed, curling up to nap. Idly, Dodger wonders if that's some sort of.. screen saver equivalent, but he's already decided to play it cool and see how long it takes Khisanth to learn on her own that it's not a normal dog.

Edited 2017-07-18 03:34 (UTC)

She opens her eyes again, stepping away from Dodger and toward the part of the wall indicated. She reads carefully, covering connections and notes thoroughly. It's an interesting read, particularly the connections. But just interesting — not vital by any means. Karamatsu is a point of idle curiosity that gave her a nice jacket, and not all that much else.

Eventually she's satisfied, although she doesn't step back again quite yet. She's still going over the photos as she thinks of her next name — a human that had managed to impress her, despite a small size and what she's pretty sure was a young age. Human ages are a little tricky.

"Robin?"

He thinks it over a bit, searching his memory for the name... but after a while he has to shake his head.

"Haven't met 'em yet - try again."

If anything, he'll have to be sure to make note of what she knows about 'Robin' before he forgets. But while she's reading, he moves closer again until his fingers are tracing over her back. It's nice to have someone around that he can touch on a whim, so he'll capitalize on it every moment.

"You're lucky I'm giving you second chances on duds."

So far, that's the sort of touch that she likes best — something light, to be ignored or encouraged as she sees fit at the time. And, though she does enjoy it, for the moment it goes ignored. She has information on the mind, even better information free for the taking, and she won't be distracted from it just yet.

She considers a few other names, lingers for some time on Noiz, and then slowly settles on a better idea. She glances back over her shoulder with a curving smile and asks, "What do you know about Onyx?"

It really does feel like asking after someone else, as the phrasing suggests. She's certain he hasn't learned her real name or identity, and she's intensely curious to see what he has learned about her.

He pauses for a moment, and then the smirk is back on his face as he points out his notes on her. Alone near the head of the bed, a few small notes with some photos she probably wasn't aware were being taken, and some room around them to make adding more notes easier. One of the photos is even one he took during their night together, whether she noticed or not. He just wanted a keepsake, okay.

"Go ahead. Probably isn't anything you don't already know."

Although... while she looks at it he realizes belatedly what he'd written about her... well, too late now.

She spots the notes quickly, all alone there, and heads over with footsteps measured out not to look too eager. But she studies these notes far more carefully than she'd studied Karamatsu's, lingering over the pictures with a curious interest in them. She doesn't have many mirrors, and doesn't frequently see her own human face. She likes it, she decides. Some of the angles he has of it are flattering. And the one from their night together — well, she can hardly blame that. It was a good night, she'd want a way to remember it if she could make pictures like these too.

Some of the notes are irritating — greedy, like it's a bad thing. It's not a weakness, it's just being opportunistic and ambitious. And she'd love to argue with tunnelvision, but a little voice sounding suspiciously like her teachers' in the back of her mind suggests that perhaps she should instead take it to heart. She hates that voice. She does, however, appreciate that part about being attractive, and the 'sexiest' woman he's ever gotten into bed.

Finally she straightens from her study, eyes going over it one last time as she touches a thoughtful hand to her chin.

"It's a start," she decides. "But there's a lot you're missing."

"Is that so?"

He figures it's good for having gathered it all in one night... but of course he could always use more information. He teleports closer to her again, leaning on her lightly from behind and running his hands lazily over her hips.

"Well, if you wanna add to it, you're free to..." He presses a few kisses to her neck before continuing, "But you've got one more person before you owe me some time in the sack."

This time she's happy to lean back into him, dropping one hand to cover his. She won't be adding to it. At least, not any time too soon. Maybe one day... she thinks she might like that.

In the meantime, though, she twists around in his grasp to face him with a lazy smile, lifting both arms to drape them around his shoulders.

"For number three," she says, pulling up a name she hadn't had to search for much at all, "I think I'd like to know more about you."

"No notes on that one." He teases, but he still thinks it over as he sways them back and forth affectionately.

"Let me see... Name, Jamie Dodger. If you call me Jamie I'll strangle you. Strengths, I'm drop-dead fucking gorgeous, and a manipulative son of a bitch... Weaknesses, none of your fucking business. Abilities, you've already seen 'em all. Likes... you, booze, information. Dislikes, fucking roses... Affiliations, you. None of your business who else. Notes, take your clothes off."

Between each category, he presses a kiss to her lips... likely to distract her, while he slowly edges her backward toward his bed.

It's a little disappointingly scant, but really, she hadn't expected much else. And though she's happy to enjoy those kisses, she braces herself when she feels him starting to edge her backward. He could make it happen anyway, she's well aware of that by now, but it's a point to be made that she isn't done yet.

"I see." She pauses like she's letting it sink in, what little she'd actually learned just now. Really, it was just the full name and the roses. She leans back enough to direct her attention onto him, an eyebrow cocked curiously.

"You have to admit, that wasn't very in depth. I might be more satisfied if you answered a few questions."

Of course... he shouldn't expect anything less from her. He stops moving her, instead flopping onto his bed and pulling her onto his lap.

"What'll you give me if I answer your questions?"

There's a grin on his face as he asks; with anyone else he'd dread giving away information about himself... but if it's her, he trusts her to give him something in return that's worth the stress of information being out there.

She shouldn't have to give him anything, he's her third gift of information. But also, she's pretty sure pointing that out won't get them anywhere, neither of them likes to feel like they're giving something for free.

She obligingly follows him down onto the bed, wrapping one leg lazily around his waist as her forearms again drape over his shoulders. She studies his face curiously, eyes lingering on the scars. She likes those, she'd liked them the first time she saw him. She'll definitely have to ask about them.

After a moment of thought, though, she's got her offer for him. "I'll tell you how I got my name."

His eyes narrow slightly at her offer. It doesn't seem like much, but... his own name has a decent amount of story behind it, so maybe it's something interesting.

"We'll see if that's enough." He mumbles easily, tipping his head back lazily, "Alright, ask away."

One of her hands shifts, lifting from his shoulders to trace fingers along the scar across the bridge of his nose. It makes her question obvious, but she asks it anyway: "How did you get these?"

He flinches away from her fingers, turning his head to hide them. He... really should have expected that, but somehow he'd figured she understood it was none of her business.

Still. They had a deal.

"Don't touch them, alright?" He hesitates, "I got 'em... nine years ago. Got in a fight with the man that raised me, and... he slashed a broken bottle across my face. So I stabbed him through the chest with a table leg."

He's, oddly, more comfortable telling the story than he is with the hand on his scars. He'd gotten his scars in a struggle to the death, they were a sign of him being free from the man that killed his mother and ruined his innocence. But.. they were also a reminder of Benny. He'd never be able to look in the mirror without seeing what Benny had done to him.

She listens with interest, but without any sign of sympathy or concern. It means nothing to her that the man that raised him would have done such a thing -- parents mean nothing to her. She would be startled to learn that they're supposed to be gentle and nurturing.

She does lower her hand, but doesn't take her eyes off of them. She can tell he doesn't care for them, for whatever reason. More incomprehensible human logic, probably.

"Scars are a sign of strength," she says, and looks a lot like she'd prefer to be touching them again. But she resists, making the wiser decision for once. "You only find them on creatures that have survived, otherwise it's just a mangled corpse. And that's a good story, too. You were younger and smaller, but you killed him." She smiles. "You should be proud to be so fierce."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject