[Mostly Open] So we'll press, and press 'til you can't take it anymore!

[groupiedrifter]

CHARACTERS: Precursors and you. And Eventually Newton. Hopefully!
LOCATION: A holding room in Ximilia Station.
DATE: Est. two days post-mission, after the kaiju is defeated and the orb is retrieved.
CONTENT: The precursors are revealed — and are finally removed from Newt's mind.
WARNINGS: Possession and the bodily autonomy issues that come with that. More will be added if necessary!

Closed and opened starters will be added as I go, which will be announced on plurk! But if you don't use plurk or would rather keep an eye out by email/tracking, feel free to use the tracking option and mark to receive notifs any new top level comments posted to this log! The log will involve an open starter to visit the precursors where they're cuffed/contained in the room, so stay tuned.

Also no rush once the open starters are posted!

Feel free to focus on the player plot log first and come back to this later.

CLOSED STARTER | THE DOCTOR
DARKLING'S TOP LEVEL | WHILE NEWT WAS SLEEPING...
OPEN STARTER | THE PRECURSORS, REVEALED
CLOSED FINAL CONCLUSION | THE PRECURSORS, REMOVED
OPEN PROMPTS | NEWTON GEISZLER'S RETURN

Comments

[farr]

[ well, she didn't come here for flattery, but somehow that's precisely what she gets, feeling her own cheeks a little flush at the declaration of more than a few compliments. she laughs lightly, ducking her head with a humble sense of modesty. for a girl that could swallow up all the nice things people could say about her, it's still nice to hear it.

especially now, partially confessing parts of her own faults. sometimes it's hard for someone like her to admit that she's far from perfect. on the other far end of the spectrum with it, actually. ]

Well, while I do like the sound of being "kickass" — [ actually, it has a very nice ring to it. ] I happen to really like weirdos. I'm plenty of one, too.

[ sometimes more than she's always willing to admit. but she's ... trying to embrace that identity these days. ]

As for your snacks, I tend to have a ... fairly big appetite. And I might have more than a few indulgences stashed away — chips, cookies, chocolate, almost anything with a "C". [ she tilts her head, with a warm smile. ] Sometimes, it's worth sharing with someone else.

[groupiedrifter]

... Yeah? I wouldn't wanna take from your stash... That kind of thing, it's important to have for when you really just gotta have a good breakdown. But — I'll remember that for a rainy day. Maybe take you up on a sleeve of cookies. Because not gonna lie, cookies and chips are huge weaknesses for me. I could burn through so many cans of Pringles... You ever need something done, just wave some of those in front of me, and I'll come running.

[Like a yapping little dog.

He smiles, and for once it crinkles his eyes.]

Listen, Rita — and this is, like, one of the biggest things I've learned in my life: being perfect and normal? It's fucking boring. To be weird? Kickass? To have mistakes? That's what sets you apart from people nobody wants to have a drink with.

[He sniffs again, sighing like he can finally breathe a little.]

It's because you're you that I don't feel as alone right now.

[farr]

Jelly donuts for me. [ she almost glows as she even mentions it. she's supposed to be the face of sophistication, someone who once watched her diet so closely, her own body would detest the sight of fatty foods. but she feels relaxed right now, shameless of her little spoils. ] The little opening where the jelly just sort of spills out so you can cheat and steal yourself an early lick before having to bite into it. It's like Christmas morning.

[ she gives out a gentle laugh, shaking her head at the sheer silliness of it, but it's strangely nice to talk about it without feeling the guilt.

— being perfect and normal? it's fucking boring.

she looks back at him, then, a sort of surprise in her quiet stare. how long has she craved that? perfection. normality. how badly had she wanted to go back to that, so much so that her brief days on that train without feeling the effects of her usually permanent condition seemed like a bliss at the time.

another breathless chuckle leaves her, this time to keep her eyes from going damp. ]

And here, I thought I was supposed to be cheering you up. [ she hadn't sought to feel better, and yet somehow she does. she hadn't even realized she needed it.

but she's relieved too, that her presence can somehow still do something useful. ]

But you're right. Things don't feel lonely right now at all.

[groupiedrifter]

[Puffy-eyed and looking like he'd just gotten through a bad break-up, Newton lays his head back and sighs miserably.]

Uuuugh, you're making me so hungry for jelly donuts.

[Honestly, he could eat a mountain's worth of baked goods at this point. Hostess when? Little Debbie's who? But her chuckle draws his head back upright, and he looks at her with a somewhat pleased expression; it's nice to see his words mattering to someone else; nice to know he can still do something worthwhile like that, even after everything. He gives her a little nudge with his shoulder, a little more confident than the man she'd found curled up and mourning minutes before.]

Any time you feel lonely, you can come find me.

And don't hesitate about it! Because I might be lonely then, too, so you'll be doing me a favor.

[farr]

Maybe we should turn this kitchen upside down until we find some.

[ because, honestly, she might be building up her own craving for it now too. though mostly she's feeling a flutter in her belly from the good feeling, from being able to laugh. rita's skilled enough that she's well practiced in her smiles, and can fake it like the best of them, but the honest ones? they're not always too common.

funny that she didn't expect to find it here, with someone that just days ago, she'd heard was a threat to the entire station, to which she quickly decided right then and there, she'd stay far and away as to not get herself involved in the danger.

but she's drawn to the mirrored loneliness, and with an offer like his, it's too easy for someone like her to latch onto it.

she reaches over, pulling one of his hands from the ice cream carton and grips it with her own, nodding with a smile. ]

That's a deal. And it's the same in reverse — we find each other when we're lonely.

[groupiedrifter]

[Ah, if there's anything that reminds him of Hermann Gottlieb, it's gripping hands like it's a hopeful tunnel at the end of the world. There's a hollow, sad feeling at the memory, but from its ashes is a tentative relief in knowing he's far less alone than he's ever been in his life here. His smile turns mischievous, and he winks behind black-rimmed glasses.]

Let's turn this kitchen upside down.