lifeaftr | Exploration Event: Neverwere

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Exploration Event: Neverwere

EXPLORATION EVENT: NEVERWERE

Who: Everyone!
What: Your wildest dreams come true!
When: May 15th to May 18th
Where: Ziziphus, those still on Ensō...and Mu
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Then Know That My Life Was Just a Killer Dream
You can find most of the information you need in the OOC info post! In the meantime, feel free to use this log as a catch-all for your dream worlds, as well as detailing your efforts to free one another. Whether they're on Ziziphus or Ensō at the time of the dreams' capture, your character is free to access as many dreams as you like, as the interlocking mental landscape allows for that sort of crossing over apropos of nothing. And time, of course, is very fluid in dreams - many days, months, and years can transpire in a matter of mere minutes.

Will you fight your way free from Ziziphus's vines or Mu's thrall, or are you content to die in your sleep?

Remember to let us know if your character dies during this event!

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] May 15th: The vines make their move, ensnaring characters in ideal fantasy worlds
[ ♆ ] May 17th: The Storyteller will make contact with those they can, as well as issue information and a potential solution
[ ♆ ] May 18th: Those that have not freed themselves from the vines or from Mu will suffer a death

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

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Of course. [Asgore shoots him a vaguely concerned look as he moves to the fridge.] Please, sit down.

[Not everyone living here is enormous, and there's more human-sized chairs at the table than Asgore-sized. The open floor plan also means Tim could easily just go hang on the couch. Wherever he ends up, Asgore will bring him a glass right quick; iced tea means that all the work is already done, even if Asgore might have preferred hot tea for someone who seems to have a problem on their mind.]

Is everything alright?

[That’s the thing. It should be all right. It should be just peachy. The weather is perfect, human-monster relations couldn’t be better, and there’s a genuine aura of peace that manages to pervade just about everything. So why’s he got a pit of dread solidifying in his stomach like congealing ice?]

[He sinks into one of the chairs, accepting the tea gratefully. The glass is sweating slightly. A drop of condensation rolls along the lip and drips onto his thumb.]

I don’t know. Are they - are they okay, do you know? [He must be pretty dumb to need to ask. Why wouldn’t they be?]

Why - yes?

[Asgore's brow furrows, and he clasps his paws together. If he sounds doubtful, it's only because Tim's nerves are beginning to rub off on him a little. He's sure Chara is fine...but then, why is Tim so anxious about them?]

Let me go and see if they are in. [And off he goes down the hall! Even at that short distance, Tim can probably hear the knock of his paw and the low rumble of his voice calling Chara's name. After a moment, he opens the door, and then shuts it and returns.]

They have probably gone out with Asriel. Would you like me to call them?

[How does he explain this? How does he put into words the core of ice that's curled up in the center of him, sitting uncomfortably dense in his guts, that icy drench of dread that assures him without fail that something terrible is happening, right this moment?]

[It's a beautiful day. Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming.]

[So why does he feel like something's wrong?]

...I'm sorry. I don't - I just have this feeling, and I thought if I could, if I knew it was for nothing, then... [Then he could stop acting like the paranoid, irrational freak that he is.]

[Asgore frowns, moving to join Tim at the table.]

I am sure they are fine. Asriel is with them, and Monster Town is very safe.

[of course it's called monster town]

Is there anything I can do to help?

C-could you? Call? Just - just to make sure.

[He tries for a wan smile, but it's strained. The anxiety's compressed his frame down into something small, hunched, fearful, telescoping his spine and curling his shoulders and tightening his fingers around the glass as though that might stabilize him.]

[It doesn't.]

Of course.

[He casts Tim a worried look, though he has to focus on his phone once he takes it out. He's gotten used enough to cell phones after living up here for so long, but even the largest models are pretty small for him. He taps with a clawtip for a bit, then holds it up to his ear.]

Hello, my child. Are you alright? Oh, no reason. Everything is okay here. A friend of yours came to the house looking for you, and I was not sure where you had gone. [.....] That would be best, I think.

[He holds out the phone, saying in a low voice:] It will probably take them some time to walk back from town, but you may speak with them now.

Chara - [He scrambles to grab it in his haste, presses it up against the side of his head, and is met only with the squeal of static. It's loud enough to jerk him away from the little square of glass.]

[His stomach drops out, his throat working in a swallow.]

It's...not working. Are you - did you hang up?

Ah - no?

[Asgore blinks in surprise as Tim jerks away. Seems like he might have been able to pick up that static with them big ol' ears, but...]

I am sure they would not have hung up on you. Maybe you could call them back? [He could do it too, but, well, it seems like Tim might feel better to be in charge of it. And he's already got the phone.]

[Something's wrong.]

[It's been ramping up, and now it's churning in his guts like the red pulse of a neon warning sign, the pressure of wrong, wrong, wrong grinding up against his chest. His fingers go slack, and he hastily sets the glass on the table before it slides from nerveless fingers and shatters on the ground.]

Do you...you know me, right? You know who I am? I know who you are, I - you're Asgore. The king. [And yet, he sounds like he's trying to convince himself of it in the same moment.]

I - yes, yes, that is me. And you are...Tim, are you not? Chara's friend.

[They've met once before, haven't they? He can't quite recall where, or when. His memory's usually good, but...that's not so strange, right? Probably he only saw them in passing, or Chara mentioned them, or...?

He leans forward in his chair, as if thinking about reaching out but unsure if he should.]

Please, just breathe. It is going to be okay.

How do I know them? They - they hate humans, don’t they?

[How does he know that? They say they hate humans but they might just hate what humans have done what humans are capable of and it means they can find it that much easier to hate themself by lumping their own person in with the rest of them as something irredeemable and they’ve done worse they’ve killed they’ve ]

[Have they?]

I - well, they have had their difficulties with humans in the past, but -

[Asgore isn't entirely sure if it's politeness stopping his tongue, or if he just...isn't sure. Of course Chara doesn't hate humans anymore. Right?

No. They're happy now. They've been doing better.]

They have been doing much better lately...though, I do not know where you met them?

[Where did he meet them?]

[How did he meet them?]

[There's the sensation of a thought that he can't quite reach, something balanced at the tip of his tongue, something he can only just perceive but not in its entirety. There was stone, stone underfoot and along the walls and chasing up to the ceiling, and - ]

[He's having trouble discerning how that must have gone.]

I - you lived in a castle before this. Right?

Yes, in the Underground.

[Asgore frowns for a second, puzzled. Not that Tim might have seen New Home; there's no reason to restrict access to the Underground. Just...something feels off about that nonetheless.

It's been so long since Chara lived there.]

Have you been there?

I remember...something. Something about a castle. I don't...

[Have humans ever been there? He was there to watch the Barrier shatter - he wasn't there, not really, but he felt tiny furry white paws clench and unclench with the knowledge that sooner or later he'd turn back into a flower and the power of every SOUL in the Underground swelling inside him, and - and, oh god - ]

[He takes Asgore's advice from earlier. He breathes, instead.]

I'm sorry. I've...I don't know why I came here.

[Frowning openly, Asgore puts a big paw on Tim's shoulder. He's not sure when Tim may have been in the castle, but really that's far less important to him than Tim's obvious distress.]

That is alright. Please, stay as long as you like. [Is that helpful? He certainly doesn't want him to feel he has to leave in this state.]

[A tiny, distressed noise leaks out from behind clenched teeth, and Tim puts his face in his hands. What is he doing here? Why is he - bothering the king with his bullshit? He's losing it. He's losing it; feels like his skin is unpeeling from underneath him like there's an itch like there's something he can't see he - ]

[A weight on his shoulder should unsettle him. Instead, it grounds him.]

I'm - I interrupted you, just barged in here to start asking you questions about your kid, who - who does that? Who does that?

It is no trouble, truly. Chara sounded as if they appreciated the visit.

[He still doesn't understand what happened with the phone - perhaps they lost the signal? But that's really not a major concern to him right now.

For all that he can't quite recall having dealt with anybody having a breakdown like this, the motions of it seem familiar to him.]

[What’s wrong with him? Why is he like this?]

[He almost laughs. Almost. That’d be a hell of a thing, wouldn’t it? Just in case it wasn’t painfully clear that he’s losing his mind?]

You’re the king. Don’t you have anything better to do?

Of course not. Your health is important.

[Or, like, whatever this is? He really doesn't, even if you were going to be coldly practical about it; the gardening can wait.]

But I’m just some guy. Some human.

[Do they even really know each other? Does...he?]

I do not think that matters.

[He doesn't just throw people out of his house for having breakdowns?]

Is there someone you prefer I call? [Other than Chara, that is, they're already on their way back and will definitely for real be here]

I...

[Who else does he even know? The name Sans leaps out at him, but it's spiked through with an undercurrent of terror for reasons he can't wholly enumerate to himself. Reasons he doesn't want to.]

I don't think so. I don't know. [How does he not know?]

[That's, uh. Concerning.]

That's perfectly okay. You can stay here as long as you need. Perhaps you would like to lie down?

(no subject)

postictal - 2018-06-19 03:07 (UTC) - Expand

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