lifeaftr | August Event: Overgrowth

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August Event: Overgrowth

AUGUST EVENT: OVERGROWTH

Who: Anyone and everyone
What: You choke on your flowery words
When: August 10th to August 17th
Where: Primarily Umui, though Ensō is also an option
Warnings: Character death, potential body horror - please mark as you go!

Say You're Happy Now - Once More With Feeling

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 those afflicted by the Overgrowth, and whatever attempts may be made to save them. It will be emotional honesty that saves you - or your desperate need to cling to a repression of self that will make you quite pretty, in bloom.

Remember to let us know if your character dies during this event. Death penalties have been reduced for this event, but we still need to account for them!

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] August 10th: Afflicted characters begin to exhibit Stage Two symptoms
[ ♆ ] August 17th: Those who have not shed the Overgrowth enter Stage Three, and suffer a death
[ ♆ ] August 19th: Characters who succumbed to Stage Three are revived, and suffer a death penalty
[ ♆ ] August 20th: The monthly Storytelling occurs

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Stopping by to see Tory was something Gladdy was beginning to do on the regular. Especially right now when everything was such a mess and he was certain Tory would be blaming themselves.

He didn't expect to find Shion here but one look at him had Gladio frowning, detouring away from the altar to come closer to the boy, ruffling his hair and putting an arm around him. Comfort was so important with all of this, he'd found, and there were so many people that wouldn't ask for it. "How're you holdin up, kiddo?"

Gladio, for his part, looked pretty much fine. He had a single scarlet vine sprouting from his wrist, crawling up his arm with a blossom or two on it but that was all.

Touch was always welcome with Shion. Touch calmed him and though kiddo hurt. Because the arm around him weren't Reno. They weren't the man who had picked him up as a shattered boy and taught him everything. Taught him to be better. Taught him how to, if not defeat the monsters inside and out at least to survive with his mind intact.

But Gladio was kind. He taught Shion things to and never berated him for not knowing. More than that he treated Shion like he was a capable, competent person and not the utter mess that he actually was. Shion didn't want to shatter that illusion. Even if it was another lie.

And Gladio didn't look bad. He had a flower, but only one that Shion could see. "I..." He's not fine, he's not holding up well. He can't say it without the flowers closing off his windpipe, crushing his arm, tangling up his tongue.

"I'm sorry... I should be... I shouldn't be so scared."

He doesn't mean for it to hurt, it's affectionate, it's the same thing he's called his little sister since she was a toddler. If he really thought of Shion as childish he wouldn't curse around him as much as he does, for one thing.

"Why the fuck not?" Gladio sounds honestly bewildered, squeezing Shion a little closer, rubbing his arm gently, not entirely sure how far the flowers go. For his part Gladio was dressed as sparsely as ever so it would be quite obvious if there were more flowers on him. While this was imminent doom for most he would probably be just fine for weeks.

"This isn't easy, it's fucking scary as hell, even for me just watching how bad this is for everyone never mind..." He trails off, shaking his head. The rest is obvious.

"Because I should be used to this." Dying. Suffering. This was nothing new. But he had let his guard down. He hadn't faced down inevitable death since arriving here six months ago. He hadn't forgotten but...

He leans on Gladio, taking comfort. Gladio can probably feel the flowers on his arms, under his shirt. Knots of stems bulging out of torn skin.

He can't feel his left arm at all anymore. Nerves destroyed by roots and bones crushed, useless.

"It... It's harder when it's not you..." He takes a painful, drawn out breath.

"When... Enduring... Getting through is one thing... Bit when its your friends... Those you love... And you can't do anything..."

Sometimes it was both. But it was harder to see his friends sick. More painful even than his own flower destroyed body.

It is so hard to see him like this, to feel the way his body is mangled by the flowers, to know there's nothing he can do to stop it. He doesn't want to squeeze him, doesn't want to hurt him any more than he already is so he feels along his arm, his shoulder, his back, finally finding a space that's unflowered so he can rub small, reassuring circles on his back.

"It is. My whole life's been about keeping people safe..." So this? Being helpless like this? It's terrifying.

"Hey... I made some broth, it's not much but it'll be easier to get down than something more solid." He leans over to the basket he's been carrying, careful not to jostle Shion too much as he snags one of the bamboo bottles. "Have you eaten anything lately?"

Please let him fuss, Shion.

He hates being a burden, to feel like people had to look after him. To protect him. He had had enough protection. A life time of being safe and coddled.

But just being held felt nice. To have arms around him protectively. Even if they couldn't actually protect him. Because what was killing him was coming from inside him.

He shook his head at the question. Eating had seemed... Unwise. At first because of the nausea and them because of the flowers filling his throat.

"Not since... This started..."

Gladio frowns but he never stops rubbing Shion's back. He has to unstopper the bottle with his teeth to not take his hand off the younger man's back but he's okay with that. Once it's opened he presses the bottle into Shion's hands.

"Here, should go down nice and easy." It's broth made from the bones of his most recent kills, rich and fatty and flavorful while still being gentle enough to go down smoothly despite the flowers. It's still warm, even.

"Thank you..." His left arm is shaking too much to be useful but he is careful when he lifts it with his right, not wanting to spill any.

It feels wrong putting anything in his mouth when he wants to tear out the flowers there. To free his tongue and his airway.

But despite that the broth tasted nice and he managed a couple of mouthfuls, drinking it slowly.

"Delicious..."

If nothing else it could soothe some of the scratchiness, make the petals themselves come up easier when they do. It wasn't much, he knew that, but it was the only thing he had.

"Hopefully it helps a little. Gotta at least keep your strength up, yeah?" A gentle squeeze and he tilts his head, leaning his cheek on white hair, tucking Shion in against him just like he would do for Iris when she was younger.

"Wish there was an easier way to tackle this. Something to fight, daemons to slay." He clenches his left hand, scowling at the vine on his wrist. "Someway I could help you all." His friends, his family... some way he could shield them all from this.

He nodded, leaning against Gladio feeling a lot younger than his nineteen years. For once that feeling wasn't shrouded in self anger. He just felt... Safe. Safe was a very subjective feeling. He was sick, was probably dying and was in a world far from his own. But safe was as close as he came to describing the feeling.

He nodded, "It... It's easier when its a threat from outside rather than something inside."

He closed his eyes, "They... They turned Aster into a drone once... A mish mash doll creature... She couldn't speak. Just... Did her assigned duties. I couldn't... All I could do was stay near her. She didn't even recognise me..."

Some of the flowers from his arm wilted, falling away.

That feeling, trust and safety, that is precisely what he wants to convey always. Always. It's what he does, what he is. He is a Shield but more than that he is also a big brother and he just wants to keep everyone safe.

Hearing what Shion's seen before, though, strikes a little close to home, too terrifyingly close to the way the MTs behave. Empty shells of people. He curls his arm around Shion, half a second from dragging the younger man into his lap. "Seeing the people you love like that..."

He just shakes his head. "Especially with no way to help..." That, honestly sounds like his worst nightmare.

"It was... They figured quite early on that it was the quickest way..." The broth has helped but his throat is still raw and painful and talking still hurts. He takes a rasping breath and his eyes fluttered shut for a moment.

"They... Could hurt us more if they hurt those we cared about... They tried to... Divide us... Make us have to kill... Our friends..."

He shook his head, dislodging a couple if flowers which fluttered to the ground.

"They thought that we were easier to break... Because we cared... But bonds between people make us stronger..."

"That's bullshit." Fuck it, Shion you're in his lap now. Deal with it.

One of the benefits of being such a big guy is that anyone fits in his lap and he can smother people in hugs, big tight, bear hugs. A way to try to make his friends and family feel safe even when there's nothing he can really do to protect them.

"Having people that are important to you, that's what gives you strength. You can endure anything if you love someone enough." It was, in a twisted way, why he and Ignis had been assigned to Noctis so early on. They were friends, brothers, they didn't just work together, they loved each other. It gave him and Iggy both the strength to do the impossible for their King.

Shion tensed a tiny bit when he was first dragged into Gladio's lap. But Gladio is safe and though Shion isn't a child, he doesn't need, he shouldn't need such comfort he is sick enough that he doesn't protest. He just shifts slightly so Gladio's arms and hands are no where near his neck.

"You can." Endure anything as long as you loved someone enough. Shion would go through no end of torture if it was for Aster, Rat, Reno. Connor.

"And love... helped at the end. It was how we restored our dead worlds we used our bonds to those we had lost on them. Our love for our friends. Our families. It was science but it was also... love that got us home."

Some things just are not explainable. It had been terrifying once but now... Shion could accept it. Love could restore worlds, honest emotions could cure disease.

"Though me and Aster... ended up here... not home." His voice caught at the end, a glimmer of anger. Aster deserved to go home. She had fought so hard and made the difficult decision to go back to her own world. To fix things. That choice had been taken from her and they were back to square once. Trapped. Understanding nothing.

Love had done the impossible for them and on one hand that almost made Gladio want to hope. On the other, though... it stung a little, knowing that back home their love for Noctis would never be enough to save him.

He wraps himself around Shion, resting his chin on the smaller man's head, arms loose around his waist. Physically shielding his body as though that could make up for how useless any abilities he had were in this case.

"That's not fair... fuck, I'd be so pissed. You earned your right to go home."

Shion closed his eyes, letting himself rest for a moment. He couldn't let himself be protected for every and honestly if whatever, or whoever was behind them being on these islands wanted him hurt and dead he would be. No matter whose arms shielded him. But for a moment Gladio was there and relaxed a little bit, concentrating on breathing through the flowers that filled his throat.

"Life's not fair." It was the biggest truth. Rat sewed the seeds years ago and then took him out of his privileged life in No. 6 to show him just how true it was. Lessons that Rat had started had been hammered home by Jason and Ruana. Life wasn't fair. Not on any world.

"I... I'm not sure I want to. Go home I mean. I don't want... to be here. But..."

Life's never fair, Gladio is well aware of that fact. It doesn't stop him from being angry about it though. A dull smoldering kind of rage, useless and dampened with age but every now and again something would happen to kick up sparks.

Something like this.

"You deserve the right to choose though."

Shion nodded, taking a shuddering breath as tears threatened to overtake him again. He really didn't want to cry, breathing was hard enough as it was. "Everyone should have the... right to choose."

To go home, to go elsewhere. They should be able to live somewhere where they weren't controlled. "No one should be... stolen from their worlds."

"Yeah..." Soft agreement and he just holds on a little more firmly when it becomes clear that Shion is fighting back tears. It's okay to cry but he's pretty sure the younger man knows that, or at least knows that he will not be judged for it. Not here, not by him.

"Where would you go? In a perfect world, a perfect life... where would you be?" Think of something happy, something to ease the pain, even if it's only a dream.

"It wouldn't be perfect." He shook his head. "It shouldn't be perfect." Perfect was No.6. Perfect was his bliss dream, made to torment him, kill him with happiness at the expense of everything else.

"But... No one would have absolute power over anyone else. No one would be killed. No one would be imprisoned or killed for not conforming..." That was the gist of it. A world where people had choices.

"What... What about you?"

He's right. He's so right and Gladio is suddenly so proud of Shion for saying that on his own. It's not something Gladio has had any influence on so maybe it's odd for him to feel that surge of pride but it's just another reminder that Shion is, if not physically, emotionally and mentally so strong and resilient.

"Wiser than me, kiddo." Warm and affectionate and he's completely forgotten he's not supposed to call him kiddo.

"That sounds good though. Freedom to make your own choices, not be shoved into roles based on the circumstances of your birth. That's not fair." No gods, no prophecies, only your own will to succeed.

Tears did spill then. He couldn't help the slight flinch at kiddo, but the whole thing sounded so much like something Reno would say. He had said stuff very similar to it before and the ache of missing him is like physical pain. But it's also not fair, not fair on Gladio who is not Reno but is being so kind, helping him, holding him when it is the only thing he can do to comfort him against the flowers that are trying to rob him of breath and life.

A world of freedom was what Gladio wanted as well, freedom to make choices and to not be forced into roles because of where you were born.

"You... You're wise too... You're kind. I hope... I hope one day you can find such a world."

Reminding people of their loved ones is apparently something Gladio is good at, for better or worse. Normally it'd be something he'd be proud of. The fact that he can make people feel comfortable and at home, that he feels like family to the people he's grown close to.

But in moments like this when it hurts so much. He kind of wishes he was a little less keen on adopting half the islands.

"Wise? Nah, I'm just a big dumb brute." It's a little bit teasing, light and playful and for the first time Gladio's breath catches in his chest. He coughs a little, has to clear his throat and Shion might be able to feel the way he flinches as he does. "Okay that was dumb. Sorry. But I don't think I'd go if I found it now. We have the chance to rebuild and make things right back home. Maybe that makes it more worthwhile."

Shion twisted a little so he could see Gladio's face, he had flinched and Shion had known his words to be a lie. Even before Gladio had began coughing. He reached around to squeeze Gladio's hand. "You're not dumb..."

If Gladio wanted to go home, back to his own world. If he had the chance to make things right then Shion would help him fight for that. Just as he would help Aster. Even if their worlds weren't perfect, even if they contained painful and difficult choices it was still better than having those choices taken away completely.

"We'll get out of here... We will find a way. I just..." He closed his eyes, breathing for a moment. Honesty was how he had to fight this.

"I'm scared. What if... I ended up here after escaping the tower, what if my soul just ends up stolen elsewhere? What if I get seperated from Aster..."

He wouldn't wish her anywhere but where she wanted to be, her world. But the last few months had proven beyond a doubt that he relied on her so much. He wouldn't know what he would do without her. Flowers loosened and he found he could move his arm a bit more freely.

"You gotta believe in the best, trust that everything will work out." He truly believes that.

"But you gotta plan for the worst." And this is what drove him apart from the others over the years of darkness. They took his caution to be a lack of faith. "What if something does happen and you get separated before you get back home? What if you're forced apart? What if..." He laughs softly, shakes his head a little. "What if it takes a decade for the Dawn to come?"

"Planning for the worst doesn't mean you gave up it just means you're ready for whatever's coming. I knew I couldn't just sit around and wait for Noct to come back and I couldn't trust that I could always be there. So the best way I had to protect my sister was to teach her. Train her how to handle herself, how to defend herself, protect the people she loved.

And I waited too long to do it. If I'd started as soon as the Night fell she'd have been able to get out faster, maybe even have been able to get her boy out. So Ollie never got to meet his dad and that's on me. Not because I wasn't there but because I didn't prepare her for what she had to deal with." The same principle applies here. It's not practical or feasible to say that you just have to always be there to protect the people you care about. Its why he was so hard on Noctis when they were young.

August Event: Overgrowth

12th-ish

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Cw: a more different kind of body horror

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