[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

ii, backdated a little

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco doesn't even think about it, as he gets into the elevator, waits for the doors to close, and hits the button for the ground floor. It's just like the thousands of other times in his life, when he's gotten into an elevator and just stood around, waiting for his stop. There's a young guy in the elevator, too, but he doesn't stand too close or try to start up a conversation, he's just standing on the other side of the elevator and maintaining the silence and personal space etiquette, so Cisco pays him no mind.

That is, until the elevator comes to a shuddering, loud halt. Then, terrifyingly, it drops - only about a foot, before it comes to a grinding stop once more. Still, that tiny drop was enough to get Cisco's heart racing, enough to make him shout dios mío and grab hold of the railing along the side of the elevator.

He waits for the elevator to move again, or for the doors to open, but instead it just... stays there. Closed and unmoving. Cautiously, Cisco takes a step towards the panel, tries pressing a button. Nothing. He hits the door open button, and the light comes on, but the doors do not budge. He hits the number for the floor he'd come in from, but there is no change. ]

Well, fuck.

[brightline]

[It's a pretty standard part of his day - the ride up the elevator, during which he usually chills out and listens to music on his headphones or reads the network or whatever. He's doing the latter, leaning casually up against the wall of the elevator, hand draped on the railing, minding his own business, when suddenly the whole thing grinds to a halt.

When the guy in the elevator with him yells dios mío just like Marco's mom used to say when she was caught off-guard or surprised, Marco just gasps, and then, abruptly, the elevator is falling. Marco yelps, then screams, his hands going tight around the handrailing, until the whole thing falls short again. His breath catches, he's holding onto the railing with his hands white-knuckled, and he looks up at the other guy in the elevator with his dark eyes wide and a bit wild, his shoulders hunched.]

Holy crap, what just happened? Are we seriously trapped in an elevator right now? Aw man, this is not funny.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco is already looking at the paneling around the controls for the elevator, squinting at the screws. He reaches in his pocket for a multitool that he carries around with him always - thank goodness for his mix of paranoia and curiosity that means he wants to be ready to open shit up at any moment - and starts taking off the cover. It takes a couple of tries to fit the screwdriver into each screw, because his hands are shaking pretty bad from the shock of that sudden drop. ]

If I had to guess? Something went wrong and the emergency clamps got triggered. There's still power, and I didn't hear any cables snapping... I don't think...

[ He is suddenly wishing he had brushed up on his knowledge of elevators - he'd gone through a phase of being really interested in them, when he was a kid and interested in any kind of complex machine he could think of - but that was a long time ago, and he didn't bother to check the particular model and systems in place here. Rookie mistake.

Cisco looks up, really noticing the other guy in the elevator for the first time. Something in his expression softens when Cisco sees that the guy is maybe a couple years younger than him, and looks very extremely freaked out by the situation. Which is how Cisco's feeling, too. But he manages a tiny encouraging smile and says: ]

What, are you tellin' me you never wanted to recreate that whole bit from the beginning of Speed?

[ It's feeble, as jokes go, but it's something at least. ]

[brightline]

[Marco doesn't usually think of himself as a 'phobias' guy, but being stuck in a tight space where he can't morph out of whatever small morph he's in is kind of freaky. This is definitely not that - hell, he could go full gorilla in here and tear the door open if he wanted. There's room. But phobias or not, there's still that feeling of being trapped that sets him off, the fact that if this elevator fell they'd both be totally screwed.

The other guy heads over to the panel and Marco keeps clinging to the handrailing, staring at him while he pulls out a tool and starts futzing with the controls. Biting his lower lip a bit, Marco slowly releases his grip on the railing, and shakes his head.]

Haha, totally hilarious dude. No, I definitely did not want to recreate that scene. I like being alive and not blown up. They blew something up in that scene, right? I mean, it's been a while.

[Fidgeting a bit, he moves a few steps forward and tilts his head, peering at the completely incomprehensible inside of the panel.]

Uh, you know about this stuff?

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco doesn't say anything at first; his brain has shifted gears to trying to figure out the internal systems of the elevator. His belated answer, when it does come, is light and just a touch sarcastic ]

Yeah I don't really remember right now, I can either fix this damn thing or talk about Keanu Reeves and I got a feeling which one I should be doing right now.

[ He can talk a little, though, so he goes on: ]

Tech? Yeah. Elevators? Not particularly. But I've figured out worse than this. I'm not gonna get us killed.

[ He says it with more certainty than he's feeling, because he doesn't want the guy to freak out. Cisco's good, but he's not good enough to deal with his own fear, and working out how to get the doors open, and dealing with a panicking stranger all at the same time.

He yanks a wire free from a tangle of others, pinching at the end and pulling away the casing, before he peers back inside the panel. If he can just find the right spot...

Cisco touches the wire to the place he thinks might control the doors. There is a spark (he can feel the hairs on his arms stand up) and a sound in the internal mechanisms. Then, the doors open, just an inch. He says, in a sharp voice: ]

Quick, wedge 'em open, use a shoe or something!