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ximilialog2023-10-08 08:05 am
- ! event log,
- ace attorney: phoenix wright,
- bbc sherlock: john watson,
- fear street: ziggy berman,
- grishaverse: the darkling,
- gundam seed/destiny: yzak jule,
- my hero academia: toru hakagure,
- pacific rim: newton geiszler,
- shta: sherlock holmes,
- star trek aos: leonard mccoy,
- terminator: the t-800,
- the old guard: andromache,
- the untamed: wei wuxian,
- the witcher: yennefer of vengerberg,
- transformers: minimus ambus
MISSION: THE SUN NEVER SETS ON AMARYLLIS GROVE
● ● ● M I S S I O N 1 7 . 1
Over the course of the station’s downtime, even the least astute observer will notice the sudden influx of crewmates aboard the station. Before you can further inquire and investigate this anomaly in your usual routine, your earpiece will ping! with the familiar sound of a newly received mission file. Viveca’s voice immediately follows.
After reviewing your mission file and gathering all of the necessary supplies and clothing options, those who are well prepared might have enough time for a decent night’s sleep. If you aren’t the sort to sleep before a mission, well … carry on.
When morning arrives, you’ll make your way to the teleportation platform to join your fellow crewmates. Viveca and Degar are already standing by, the latter passing around the aforementioned potion to those who will be needing one. Finally, when the entire crew has assembled, Degar starts to speak.
Viveca nods from her place.
Degar lifts both hands to give them all a cheesy little thumbs up. Without further ado, the hum of the platform, as it begins to power up, grows louder and louder until it’s impossible to hear anything else but the machinery thrumming in your ears. Soon enough, you’ll feel the familiar tug at the pit of your stomach as you’re whisked away from the station and towards your destination. But for a moment that feels both too short and too long, you hear it: whispers, echoes, voices that speak to you in several tenors at once, all of them providing you with a goal in exchange for their help.
Before you have a chance to answer, your surroundings begin to paint a clearer picture. You’ll be found in your usual place of choosing: whether that’s your own household, the park, or one of the several locations in and around town.
Welcome, Orbers, to Amaryllis Grove.
On the day of the Orbers’ arrival, the weather is crisp and sunny, the trees still lush and green with only the barest hints of the leaves beginning to yellow and redden at their tips. As the summer months slowly transition into cooler autumn temperatures, the entire town feels pleasant, even cozy. The clouds in the sky provide gentle overcast conditions and you might think to grab a light coat, or wear a longer sleeve but it is by no means chilly enough to feel anything but pleasant.
Depending on where you decided to arrive, you’ll want to begin your explorations and familiarize yourself with the Grove, which will be your home for the next little while.
1.0 The town of Amaryllis Grove will feel spacious and sprawling while also being cozy and compact. Cleanly paved streets wind in and around residential pockets and cul-de-sacs, threading through the community’s amenities, goods, and service buildings. The community centre, the library, the government offices, and the Mayor’s office can all be found in the main core of the Grove. The police station and television station (playing news and sitcoms in classic black and white) are situated nearby, and are all within walking distance of each other, and the neighbouring retail streets are located just past the block. This includes clothing boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops, grocery and general stores (which will sell all manner of hardware, cleaning supplies, and simple, household magical items). Having a vehicle will certainly help to get around town if you’re in a hurry running any errands, but a bicycle works just as well, and the walkability is pleasant for those wanting to take a stroll.
Everyone here is well-dressed in crisply ironed slacks and button-downs in neutrals, or colourful A-line skirts and dresses with delicate detailing for their tops. Children and teenagers are likewise found in school uniform consisting of dark blue pleated skirts or slacks, and white shirts. With the weather beginning to cool, a well structured jacket may also be a part of the ensemble.
2.0 Once you’ve explored some of the town, familiarizing yourself with the backstory and family history you and your fellow crewmates have corroborated together, perhaps you’ll want to explore your house. Lined up in rows of pleasant, homogeneous pitched roof structures, each house in the neighbourhood will come equipped with all of the necessary spaces to live a perfectly suburban life, the most ideal environment to raise a family and grow old amongst generations of familiar faces. Each one-storey house, in either brick or ship-lap siding and in various colours, will have 3-4 bedrooms, an attached garage for the family car, a living room, bathroom, spacious kitchen, and enough yard space to require both a lawn-cutter and a green thumb for the garden. Interiors have already been furnished with all of the up-to-date items for the time, resembling Earth’s 1950s era to an almost eerily accurate degree.
Say hello to your neighbour when they greet you or wish you a pleasant day. Many will look perfectly human, while others may seem more alien with vibrant skin, an extra limb, antennae, gills, and the like. Some also possess magical abilities which is not seen as strange or abnormal here; however, the magic used in Amaryllis Grove consists of simple household magic to aid with cooking, cleaning, and keeping the house perfectly pleasant – otherwise known as ‘petty magic’. Whether you’re used to such sights will likely depend on where you’re originally from, but no matter who lives next to or near you, they seem friendly enough. They may even invite you over for dinner, or inquire when you plan on hosting your next party.
You’ll cook, clean, sleep, and host parties and dinners with your neighbours of Amaryllis Grove within the walls of your quaint abode so it’s best to get to know the space that will undoubtedly become second nature to you.
3.0 While the concept of ‘Halloween’ does not exist in Amaryllis Grove, other such Autumn festivities are highly anticipated, namely the annual gathering of the harvest. It is otherwise colloquially named ‘the Harvest’. It won’t come as news to any of the residents, as the season ends and food is plenty, the Harvest has been a long-standing tradition to celebrate the closeness of the community, and to express one’s gratitude for the people that you surround yourself around.
Your neighbours may inquire whether you’ll be bringing the same mash potatoes as last year, or perhaps the spiced meatballs that the Alkherns simply couldn’t get enough of — they were just so delicious! Either way, you may want to start coming up with a special dish to bring to the community gathering or find someone to snag a recipe from, as it’ll gain you admiration or admonition, depending on the popularity of your offering.
Sunsets are beautiful, picturesque moments that conclude the end of a perfectly spent day, and the sunsets in Amaryllis Grove are certainly no different. As the town winds down and residents return to their homes for the night, you and your fellow Orbers will follow suit – as is the way of things. The nights are a little overcast during this time of the year, with cloud-cover masking out the stars and the glow of the moon. It’s quiet. Only the sounds of night-insects chirping can be heard, and the soft, occasional coo of a bird asleep in its nest.
4.0 Perhaps you’re catching up on some late-night reading, or grabbing a late-night snack or a night-cap. The last of the evening hours are usually spent in the comfort of your own home until a new day begins, although there is a town speakeasy that remains open until late, if you can find it. Once you climb into bed, there really doesn’t seem to be a reason for anything other than a soundless, well-deserved rest.
You’ll be tucked up in your own bed, or perhaps the bed you share with your backstory-spouse, when you hear a shrill scream that wakes you up from your sleep. High on the adrenaline, you may want to don a robe and your slippers and step outside past your front door where you’ll be joined by other neighbours on your street. They exchange glances with each other, and then may meet eyes with you, and they look scared, with their wide eyes and clenched fists, some of the husbands and wives holding each other’s hands for comfort. It isn’t outside of the norm for such a startling cry. The house in question will be fully lit, with Mrs Myrsdin sobbing into her hands, mumbling, ‘I told him not to say anything! I told him to keep quiet! It came for him–’ as the AGPD (Amaryllis Grove Police Department) approach her, one of the officers patting her shoulder in consolation. Another officer moves towards a cluster of concerned neighbours, assuring them that this will be taken care of, and when they spot you, they’ll tell you the same.
It might seem difficult now to head back to sleep, but the crowd disperses and the AGPD lead Mrs Myrsdin back into the house. The lights remain on for another hour, maybe two, and then the entire block quiets again, the AGPD preparing to leave for the station once more. It seems there’s nothing else to do but get as much rest as you can before the morning ... but everything about this doesn’t sit quite right. Maybe you'll linger behind for a moment, see if you can ask a few questions, gather a bit of information, as it seems that after the brief moment of shock none of the residents seem to be particularly surprised by any of this.
5.0 The skies are blue and the sun is bright, and as Amaryllis Grove wakes up to a new day, everything feels as though Mrs Myrsdin never screamed into the night, with no signs of the AGPD having visited, and not a whisper to be said of Mrs Myrsdin's husband disappearing. If you try to investigate what happened at the house last night, Mrs Myrsdin will conveniently be absent, and any neighbours around you may either greet you with the most firm, reassuring smiles, or an outright aloofness to ignore anything you say. They’ll interject by telling you about the Harvest festivities, or make a comment about the weather. Some might sound snappish and dismissive. One thing’s for sure: everything feels tense.
But as the skies gradually shift to an overcast, one of your neighbours may gesture to the sky with another plasticky smile, commenting about the brightness of the sun. ‘It sure is bright today,’ they might say, the comment seemingly so off-handed. It’s casual, polite, and a little strained. ‘It’s got a far reach.’
It’s too bright to stare directly into the sun without damaging your eyes, but as you glance up just past it, you might notice that the sun looks a little … too close. And it doesn’t look a whole lot like a sun either, though it is bright but it looks like a large whitish sphere with a piercing, golden iris and it seems to be watching. This certainly wasn’t in the morning’s weather report.
6.0 As you continue to settle in Amaryllis Grove, you may begin to pick up on other strange things that you hadn’t noticed before – not surprising, considering the whirlwind of events that have taken place in such a short period of time and having to grow accustomed to the daily lives of the residents in Amaryllis Grove.
There are figures that resemble people scattered around town in all shapes, sizes, and races, replicated with excruciating detail, all the way down to their expressions and poses. In their everyday wear, they stoically fill in corners and take up empty spaces, and while it can’t possibly be true, their eyes seem to follow you as you move past them – even with the empty gazes of their glassy eyes. They’re made of metal and clad in something soft and pliable to make up their skin. Once you know what you’re looking for, they almost start to make themselves more visible to you. But if you study them for too long, you may begin to feel a little nauseous and queasy, and temporarily experience vertigo. Or you may start to have feelings of paranoia settle in, making you short-tempered and twitchy.
These figures can be found almost everywhere around the town, but they will mostly be populated in and around the residential blocks, looking as though they’re busily living their lives in passive background poses. They’re easy enough to miss if you aren’t sure what you’re looking for, and they’re so life-like you almost feel rude staring for too long, in case they turn their heads towards you.
And on the next night, you might catch the glimpse of a dark, stationary silhouette of a man in the Myrsdin house just before Mrs Myrsdin draws the curtains closed.
F Y I
• If you have questions about any of the prompts or the mission in general, please direct them HERE.
• To explore a specific location or speak to any of the NPCs, please submit your search request HERE.
• And finally, your soundtrack for this log: ♪ ♪ ♪
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[He says vaguely. He supposes he wouldn’t know. His parents rarely spent time together and when they did they weren’t with him, so how would he know how married people act outside of what he saw on TV which he always assumed was bullshit anyway.
He huffs softly, something close to agitated, and then Arisu stops and offers Chishiya his hand. And Chishiya…also stops and blinks and stares at that hand.
Is this a challenge? Is Arisu challenging him right now?
All right, fine. Chishiya's gaze shifts from Arisu's hand to his face and, almost defiantly, takes Arisu's hand firmly in his own.]
Okay. Better?
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( he thinks this is maybe the most aggressive handhold he's ever been apart of, not that he has much experience in the art. inexplicably, it makes him want to laugh — chishiya goes at affection like he's going to be graded on it later. his thumb draws tenderly over the height of his knuckles, arisu taking a step in until they're aligned back together. maybe a little closer than before. )
Yes, much, ( at least they look like friends, now. rome wasn't built in a day. arisu bumps him with his hip. ) koneko.
( — except he can't actually believe he said that a second later, automatically bringing up their handhold to try and cover his face. let him die. )
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Once with the soft caress of his thumb over Chishiya's knuckles, and then with koneko. It throws him mentally off balance for a moment. But only a moment, because it doesn’t take Chishiya long to notice that Arisu threw himself off balance, too.
This of course, leaves Chishiya an opening. He pulls their linked hands away from Arisu’s face and leans in to get a closer look.]
Are you blushing, Ryo-chan?
[His tone is light and amused. Teasing. Maybe a little challenging.]
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( or, yes, actually. right up to his ears, and very obviously. why does he suddenly think he's someone capable of saying something like that? it must be the sweater vest.
it's a lot more suited to chishiya, who can say ryo-chan without batting an eye. arisu thinks he's being teased, but he can't make himself look at chishiya long enough to confirm it. )
Your face does go like this, though. ( in the air, he sticks out his pointer finger and makes a horizontal three. ) Like a cat's mouth.
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His lips twitch a little at his explanation. Seems like everyone likes to compare him to a cat, but Arisu might be the first one to compare them in appearance.]
I’ve been told I have the attitude of one, too.
[He doesn’t object. There are worse things to be compared to. And, like a cat, Arisu's lack of eye contact emboldens him a little. He steps closer, squeezing Arisu’s hand to get his attention.]
You know, you’re cute when you blush.
[And it’s true, actually. Their backstory and now Arisu's preference for them to appear deeply in love has given him the perfect excuse to say things like that. Deeply in love married couples flirt and tease each other, right? This is perfectly normal.]
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chishiya does not act mortified. arisu is drawn by the shock of the statement to finally look at him, his surprise as apparent as his almost begrudging flattery at the comment. he probably didn't mean it. it's still — well, it's cute, that chishiya would say as much. he can almost imagine him as a real husband, cute and prickly and kittenish in someone's direction. )
"Cute"? ( incredulity cracks his face into a snorting laugh, head shaking. ) I feel like I accidentally made a monster. Or enabled one. ( taller than him, it's easy to drape his arm over chishiya's shoulders, not dropping their handhold to do so. effectively coddling chishiya into him. the main square with all its shops comes into focus, and arisu pulls him along, towards a cafe. ) Come on, let's get coffee.
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He huffs a sigh as Arisu drapes his arm around his shoulders. He can't complain. He issued a challenge, and this seems to be Arisu's way of answering it.]
I was already a monster.
[His tone is dry. He's kidding. Mostly. But he'd definitely say he was enabled more than created.]
I bet they'll have real food, too.
[American diner food, but still. Better than what they had to rely on in Boderland. How long has it been since Arisu had pancakes? Or pie?]
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instead, he's helping him into a vinyl booth, hesitating a second, before taking a seat next to him instead of across, and he's actually — kind of, having fun. at the very least, he isn't as jumpy as he seemed when chishiya first approached him.
it's extremely weird, to be back in a place like this. over the course of borderland, arisu feels like he's lost his already fairly lukewarm socializing skills — the thought of placing an order and talking to a stranger fills him with a kind of unexpected anxiety that has him not even looking at the menu, instead scouting the people in the diner. what would a game here even look like? )
Can you order for us? I'm overwhelmed.
( his arm is back around chishiya's shoulders, somehow, fiddling nervously with a lock of his hair. )
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Huh.
Chishiya would not say he is particularly good at either of those things, even if there have been times that he wishes he could be. Still, he supposes he can make a diner order easily enough. Even if he doesn’t know what kind of food Arisu likes. That’s one of those little things Borderland didn’t really give people a chance to learn about each other.
But after he takes a moment to glance over the menu, he ends up ordering a large omelette and some pancakes and bacon. And two cups of coffee, of course. He figures Arisu can choose his preference between the pancakes or the omelette, or they can just share. If this place serves American sized portions it will be more than enough for both of them. Probably.
He glances at Arisu sidelong as the server steps away.]
Don’t complain to me if you don’t like it.
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( it's easier to breathe once it's just the two of them. he's grateful for his foresight in sitting next to chishiya — it makes the booth their own little world, and the excuse of being newlyweds makes it easy to center in his whole focus on chishiya, which he's equally grateful for.
the antsy feeling settles back in whenever he stops being distracted, so he'll just have to keep himself occupied. at least for awhile, until being around people doesn't feel like such a daunting task. )
Did you have a girlfriend back home? Before Borderland, I mean. ( it's the first thing he grabs at as a conversation starter. also when did his arm go around him? arisu brings it back and settles his hand in his lap instead, already resigning himself to feeling awful about it, if the answer happens to be yes. ) I never asked.
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He blinks at the question, perplexed. And then is doubly perplexed when Arisu removes his arm from around Chishiya's shoulders.]
No. I wasn’t exactly that sort of person.
[Not the sort of person to have serious relationships. Chishiya told Arisu the type of person he was after he got shot. He was too busy resenting and mocking humanity to have a girlfriend or a boyfriend. The epitome of being emotionally unavailable.]
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( in theory, it's good news. the guilt he invented disappears, leaving behind a whole host of different questions in its wake. why isn't he that sort of person? is it something chishiya believes himself incapable of? vain and vulgar, that's how he described himself with the last breaths in his chest. it isn't what arisu sees him as at all.
but it feels a little prying. needless, in a way. they're both wildly different people than they were even when they met at the beach — who they were before then seems kind of irrelevant. he'll never meet chishiya the pediatric cardiovascular surgeon. he'll always be chishiya, in gray hoodies, outsmarting and outliving everyone in the room — until he doesn't. )
Ah. Me either, really. ( with their coffee mugs filled, arisu takes a deep drink. it isn't great coffee, but he hasn't had anything that wasn't instant in a long time. sighing, he lets out an amused, and slightly sad, laugh. ) But if my dad found out I married a doctor, he'd probably weep.
( or find something wrong with chishiya, more likely. a reason why he is as inept as arisu at simply existing. )
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No. I didn’t have anyone.
[He says it with a sort of dry, matter of fact finality. He didn’t have a girlfriend or a boyfriend. He didn’t really have friends either. Acquaintances, colleagues and the occasional hookup was what he had, none of which he really relied on to any significant degree.
And that’s not even getting into his family situation. He sips his coffee thoughtfully, staring at a fixed point on the wall at the other end of the diner.]
So, he’d be happy. Is he the ambitious type?
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at least arisu knows this — chishiya is a lot stronger than he gives himself credit for. arisu could get used to this married thing, if only because when he sneaks his hand back between chishiya's fingers, his palm warm from his coffee mug, they both have an excuse for what is blatantly arisu trying to comfort him. it's for the role they play. of course. )
Ahh, I guess so. He has really high standards. He'd probably prefer you were his son. ( he'd probably take a wet sewer rat over arisu. ) Anyway, I was just curious to know my husband better. I'll think of more things to ask you.
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I wouldn’t bet on it.
[That Arisu's dad would want him as a son. Not that he knows Arisu’s dad at all. But if Chishiya's own father didn’t want him, he’s not sure why anyone else's would. Chishiya might have gotten himself a medical degree but he was still prickly, unpleasant and difficult to deal with. Arisu, at least, was kind and generally a good person. He stood up for what he believed in when it counted.
If Arisu’s not good enough for him he can't imagine that anyone would be.]
What else do you want to know?
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he considers what we wants to know about chishiya, deciding right away that asking for his favorite color or candy will probably immediately bore his audience. it is kind of fun, trying to think about how to keep chishiya's attention — he has to be unpredictable but not callous, intrigued but not prying. )
Let me think. You know the seven deadly sins? Which one are you? ( with his free hand, arisu gestures to himself. ) I'm sloth. That's probably obvious.
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Apathy isn't one of them, right? [It kind of feels like it should be.] I guess the closest would be sloth.
[But Arisu already chose that one, and while he never said they couldn't both choose the same sin, it feels more interesting to choose a different one. For the sake if variety.]
If not that, maybe pride or lust.
[Chishiya is apparently full of sin.]
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he lets out a chuffing sound, like he wants to laugh but isn't fully sure if it's a joke or not — chishiya doesn't really strike him as some kind of sexual deviant, but they also met in some less than ideal circumstances, that weren't exactly ... well, sexy in nature. not that the beach lacked in vices. chishiya didn't seem to inclined to partake, but arisu also wasn't there for a long enough time, and wasn't specifically watching him while he was.
slouching in his seat, he sinks low enough to put them on a level, nestling his head on chishiya's shoulder. like a good newlywed. )
I don't think you're apathetic. ( not at all, actually. he twists his coffee mug around in circles. ) I think you're good at hiding what you care about, though.
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He turns back to his coffee and sighs. Arisu isn’t wrong that Chishiya is good at hiding what he cares about. But that’s only when he does care.]
I haven’t often let myself care.
[And that’s a kind of apathy, isn’t it? To emotionally dissociate because it’s easier than giving a fuck. He’s pretty sure it is.]
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but, what does he know, really. he's given the benefit of the doubt to people who haven't deserved it before, but he's decently sure it isn't misplaced in chishiya. he's sitting here holding his hand and cuddled up to him after all. )
Why?
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He sighs and fiddles with his coffee cup with his free hand.]
Because it’s easier.
[Easier than caring and getting let down over and over. It felt safer to keep his expectations low to better avoid the inevitable disappointment.]
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( of course it would be easier to just not care about anything. arisu certainly tried to do it in his life outside of borderland — to not care about his father's disappointment, or his brother's scorn, or his friend's success. it left him hollow, like the carapace of a dead turtle. so, he knows, probably better than most, how much easier it is to not care about things, but also how the caring doesn't really go anywhere but deeper inside, morphing bleak and gray and heavy. gradual resentment. caring so much with a passive look on your face, and headphones over your ears. )
As a doctor, do you think it's a good solution?
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I'm the wrong kind of doctor for that question.
[Which is to say, he's not a psychiatrist. Though really he's dodging the question, more out of habit than anything else. If he really thought it was a good solution he wouldn't be criticizing himself for it or trying to do things differently now.]
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But if I started having chest pains, you'd be the right kind of doctor?
( animatedly, he draws himself back, covering a hand over his heart. )
But it always hurts when I look at you, like I got hit with cupid's arrow.
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He's just goofing around, Chishiya thinks. He should be nice, show a little mercy. There's no reason to try to flustered Arisu.
Except, of course, that Arisu is cute when he's flustered.
And there's a part of Chishiya that's always curious. About reactions. About what he can get away with.
He slowly sips his coffee, staring at Arisu over the rim of his cup, thoughtful. Calculating, maybe.
He finally responds as he lowers his cup.]
And you haven't even seen me naked.
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