[open] lately i'm feeling like a big bang

[brightline]

who: marco & YOU
what: catch-all post with various open starters (amnesia and regular)
when: August
where: all around the Quarantine
warnings: descriptions of morphing (body horror) and nightmares; Marco is forgetting how to morph, though he's still capable of it.



i. nightmares/nocturnal (for floor 2)

[The thing is, Marco's been living alone for the past few years, or at least sleeping as alone as he can. Even back when he lived with his parents in the valley, he'd had his own room, his own space, with walls thick enough to hide it unless he was having the absolute worst nightmare possible. The only real exception had been when he was staying in Ax's scoop with him and Tobias, but at that point things had been so bad they were all having nightmares and judgement wasn't on anyone's minds.

But honestly, since the war had ended, Marco hadn't been obligated to share even a whole house with anyone, let alone a building floor with 9 other people and a room with 4 other people. So it's been a hell of a long time since he woke up, sitting up straight in his bed with sweat pouring down his face, yelling 'NO!' at the top of his lungs, in a room where people could actually hear him. And the whole floor probably heard that.

Breathing heavily, he pushes his hands back through his hair, dark eyes scanning around him, looking for an enemy for the first few, muddled seconds; after that, he's embarrassed and still panicking, his heart beating too hard, his face flushed, skin and hair damp with sweat, trying to figure out if anyone saw him.

Once he's dealt with the nightmare, he'll be in the kitchen with a light low, drinking water and making himself a snack. Anyone on the floor is welcome to hear his nightmare or run into him in the kitchen in the middle of the night.]

ii. morph-capable

[At some point, Marco forgot how he does it. Morphing. It had been so second-nature before, like a really, really unpleasant version of breathing, and now he can't remember how to trigger it at all.

But that doesn't mean he doesn't do it still. He just has no idea when it's going to happen. Or where. Or what he's going to turn into. Thankfully, he still remembers all the rules, and remembers how to get out of morph, or he'd be one sad sack nothlit in a flash. Unfortunately, pretty much no matter where he is, you might run into him spontaneously shifting forms, a gruesome mass of protruding bones and extruding feathers or scales or fur or mandibles. It's pretty unpredictable, and there's wide variety of animals and aliens that might pop out next - pick your poison.]

iii. beach party

[Marco was around the big River Festival party, wandering along the beach, checking out the water, occasionally going gull to scope the place out, do some recon, getting a feel for the place. It's been a while since he had to be secretive, since he had to hide what he can do, and who he really is, but it's a habit he falls easily back into, morphing out of sight, making sure his regular trunks are tight enough to do it.

But when he's human, all bets are off. Marco is loud, exuberant, and running around basically anywhere, on the regular beach or the clothing optional one, without a care in the world. And he's his usual charming, charismatic, wisecracking self. Even while he's gathering as much intel on the people here and what they can do as possible.]

iv. out and about

[Marco is no Rachel when it comes to shopping, but he's no slouch either. After all, with 7 million in the bank and counting, he's learned how to do a fine bit of shopping. Unfortunately, he's totally lacking in the 7 million here, so he's got to manage a budget, and thankfully he's pretty decent at that.

Marco will be out and about around stalls in the various outdoor markets, haggling up a storm. He'll also be at the outlet malls looking for discounted brand stuff, an trying to figure out the style conventions in a totally new world. Everything he knows is totally wrong here, and he's not Marco if he's not ready to grace the cover of GQ at any moment.]

v. wildcard

[Throw me a random starter, combine any of the above prompts, or hit me up via PM for a customized starter or to plot something special!]

Comments

i

[notasaviour]

[He's not sure about the whole floor, but Teddy definitely heard that "no"; then again, he hasn't been sleeping that well since his shifting turned off. Luckily, he also doesn't need much sleep.

He's not sure it's really the best idea to interfere- maybe whoever it is would really rather be left alone right now- but he guesses asking is probably better than ignoring it. And whoever it was sounded pretty unhappy...

For someone his size, he's surprisingly quiet moving over to the bed he thought he heard the noise from, keeping his voice down as he asks the question.]

You okay?

[...Well, he knows the answer is probably no, but it's more of a query on whether concern is welcome or not.]

<3

[brightline]

[Maybe Marco might prefer to be left alone, but right now he's feeling a little muddled, more than anything. A little confused and disoriented, because usually when he wakes up like this he's in his own bed, in his own mansion, and not in a weird summer camp for the displaced like he is right now.

Sitting up, he presses a hand over his chest, trying to calm the heavy, intense thumping of it, and his face feels too hot, a little sweaty, his breath is coming way too fast and way too shallow. Still, disoriented or not, he's immediately aware of the big blond guy coming up to the side of his bed. How could he miss it? The guy's built like a tank, all muscle and square jaw and blond hair and a million shiny perfect white teeth. Just like a guy version of Rachel, except not mean, because he's quietly asking if Marco is okay.

Pushing a hand back through his damp hair, he tries to force a smile.]

Ah, yeah, totally fine man, sorry for waking you up.

[It comes out shaky, which particularly annoys Marco considering how much of a perfect blond football player this guy is and how much Marco really doesn't want to look like an idiot in front of him, but he can only do what he can do.]

[notasaviour]

[He tilts his head, because he can recognise a forced smile when he sees one, and that isn't exactly totally-fine breathing he can hear, either, but otherwise keeps his thoughts about that to himself. He can recognise an attempted brush-off when he hears one, so a more overt approach might not be the best plan anyway, even if he's a little too concerned to just go. He gives a quick smile of his own, fleeting but reassuring.]

That's okay, I wasn't really asleep anyway. I was just heading to the kitchen, actually.

[He wasn't, but hey, at least it's likely to be empty about now, and it might do them both good to be somewhere out of the way for now. And being somewhere emptier might give the other guy time to calm down a little, maybe even talk a little. He shrugs, with his best casual, not-prying expression.]

Want to come with? I think I have some coffee hiding in the cupboard somewhere.

[brightline]

[It isn't so much that Marco wants to be alone - actually that's kind of the opposite of what he wants right now - he just doesn't want to be pitied because of a couple bad dreams, especially when he's so used to them that it's almost routine to wake up like this.

When the guy just gives him a quick smile and says he was heading to the kitchen, like it's not even a big deal and without a hint of pity, Marco relaxes a bit, smiles. Sliding out of bed, he stands up a bit shakily, and pushes a hand back through his hair again, nodding.]

Yeah, man. Coffee would be great right now, seriously.

[notasaviour]

Follow me, then?

[He stands up and heads off towards the main door, careful to be quiet threading his way between the beds, looking back over his shoulder to see if he is actually being followed. He mostly keeps the coffee around for Billy, actually, but he's sure his boyfriend won't miss a little and probably wouldn't mind in an emergency anyway.

He waits until the bedroom door shuts behind them before talking again at his normal volume, although that's not actually that much louder, despite his size. Hulkling gets most of the shouting done- not that he really wants to think about being Hulkling right now, when he can't shift- but in normal every day life, he's much happier being .]

I don't think we've met, but I'm not really around much in the day. I'm Teddy. New to the floor, or am I just really bad at noticing people?