[log] There's snow easy way to say it [open]

[darkincrement]

Characters: Steph, Al, Sylar, and Vanitas.
Location: House 316
Date: Evening 272 - 274
Summary: Sharing is caring, Kingdom Hearts???, Automata Event, and wonton destruction.
Warnings: Vanitas, Violence, Kingdom Hearts, Sleeping Pills, Maybe touching on operation talk, etc...

[ The cut is a lie.

316: This was a house once, but all that's left is a living room. Still, it's lavishly decorated in blacks and reds, thick tapestries depicting the prophet's eye symbol covering the windows and a delicately carved eye drawn on the inside of the door that exits into the rest of the area. At least, with the tapestries, it's a bit warmer in here than in other places. ]

Comments

[darkincrement]

A. Arrival

[ He pushes the door open with much more force than he intended. His unversed skitters into the room and stops as it notices people there. Vanitas is a little slower with noticing the company thanks to his state. Freezing up immediately when he realizes that there are people and who exactly they are.

The warning from his sound coming from his tablet is letting him know he doesn't have much time to actually find any where else. And he's not even sure if he can make it to the trap door without being obvious that he's trying to avoid them.

So he'll just deal with it. It'll be a test to see if the distance helped. ]

Looks like quite the party.



B. Come bother him

[ Sitting in a corner away from the others with his pack close by. He's keeping his helmet firmly on to make it hard for anyone to tell if he's actually paying attention to them. His unversed is sticking by his bag, munching away at a candy bar. ]

[spoileralert]

[ Steph's actually a lot more okay with Vanitas, not because she knows he was one of the converted but because he was willing to take Dumpy off her hands. Also because she's avoided talking to him since the last time he pissed her off, and because she's still a little too depressed to care.

Of course she spots him right off. She doesn't spot Dumpy though, and is curious. ]

Hey. Where'd the robot go?

[darkincrement]

He decided he missed tweedle dee and tweedle dumb. Went off to go find them.

[ So no longer his issue. ]

See you picked up replacements already.

[spoileralert]

Oh. Good.

[ She hopes he didn't give them radiation poisoning. ]

These ones scream way less.

[darkincrement]

[ It's Jack's fault for being impatient. Wound up working in everyone's favor since he wouldn't have been able to deal with the extra company after getting people'd out. ]

Might prefer the screaming to the friendship speeches.

[ Because Al is weird.

He's making sure to not look at Sylar. ]

[spoileralert]

[ She shrugs. ]

To each his own. You should probably learn when to stop engaging.

[termineur]

[ Sylar freezes in place for a moment, not even breathing, when he sees Vanitas come in.

Of course he remembers what happened. He can't forget it, even if all that torture isn't what haunts his dreams. Vanitas hardly looks like he did then, and maybe that's what helps him push past the flashes of memory that were threatening to overwhelm things. As a result, he basically looks like something in him turned off, then on again, and he manages a tired nod. ]

Guess so. This is the happening new place, after all. You explored any of it yet?

[darkincrement]

[ He notices something is up, but isn't going to say anything about it. There might be a noticeable shift of his helmet towards the trapdoor as he starts pondering it again.

He can still feel. And it still sucks.

Keeping his tone even and detached as he responds. ]

Arrived today. Didn't get very far.

[ His pet seems tense as it looks at it's master and then back at the people. ]

[termineur]

Us, too. We just looked around the building and came back in for the night. There wasn't anything out there.

[ Something in him is settling down. Maybe it's the pet- Sylar likes animals. Is it a pet, though? He does vaguely remember that someone had posted about it before. He rustles through his bag for a pack of crackers and sets one on the floor, far enough away that it doesn't have to come too close to him. ]

I assume he eats, too?

[darkincrement]

[ Talking about the creature is much more easier than trying to figure out what it is he's feeling at the moment. ]

It does here.

[ The creature looks at Vanitas before cautiously moving towards the crackers. There is something almost funny about Sylar feeding Vanitas' feelings.

Crossing his arms as he tries to be discreet about looking at Sylar. ]

It might have picked up bad habits from the child.

[termineur]

[ Sylar thinks it's a little easier to just focus on the creature, too. He sets out a second cracker a couple inches to the right of the first, then sits on the floor cross-legged. That should be enough of an indication that he's not a threat, right? ]

Oh yeah? Was it traveling with a kid for awhile? Makes sense, if it was getting spoiled.

What is it, anyway?

A

[armoured]

[Al has been doing a little better since his conversation with the Cat, though it's still hard to suddenly see another convert face to face and remember what they both did. But he can also remember another conversation they had, a wager made that Vanitas had refused to take, and so he approaches after only a few moments.]

You're welcome to join us, you know?

[darkincrement]

[ It almost sounds like Al is offering for him to stick around longer than the night. He's shaking his head as he looks over towards Sylar. ]

I'll be gone in the morning.

[armoured]

That doesn't mean that you have to sit on your own all night long.

[Don't be antisocial, Vanitas.]

[darkincrement]

I'm used to it.

[ Before this place, he's been doing it for most of his life. ]

You're back to normal.

[ He's not sure if he should feel relieved or annoyed at that. ]

Evening of 273, cw: sickness

[termineur]

[ Sylar's pacing. It's not the unmotivated movement that's about to happen shortly to some of the residents, for him its out of frustration. The sleeping pill didn't last like he wanted, and every step is making him dizzy and nauseous, and he's not sure what is going on with their nanomachines. He just wants it to stop.

He eventually takes a turn too fast and nearly just keels over, and it's at this point that he decides to maybe stop pacing for awhile. He sits back down, where his blanket nest had been made next to Steph, and tries his best to situate himself in a comfortable position. Maybe he'll be able to read this time. ]

[spoileralert]

[ Steph has been wandering too, more lazily than Sylar but just as aimless. Every now and then she tries to leave, and Al turns her back.

Then, suddenly, she pulls the letter opener out of her belt and darts at Sylar. ]

[termineur]

[ Sylar's busy reading, and Steph's been wandering around for awhile. He doesn't pay her any mind until she's darting in towards him. Realizing that letter opener's aimed at him, his eyes widen and he attempts to roll out of the way. The blankets are not going to help with this sudden need to dodge, unfortunately. ]

Steph--

[spoileralert]

[ Steph says nothing, doesn't even emote. In fact, from her expression she might simply be sleepwalking. Her movements, on the other hand, are skilled and precise. She stops in a lunge as he rolls out of the way, swiping the blade out at her side. A second later she shifts her weight and swivels on the extended leg to kick out with the other. ]

[termineur]

[ He catches the blade on his upper right arm and hisses as he feels it sink in at an odd angle. ]

Steph, stop. Wake up already. Damn, how much did you sharpen this thing?

[ He's still trying to scramble away and just about gets to his feet when Steph knocks him back down again. Curses run through his head as he weighs his options. There aren't many. He sticks with trying just to move away from Steph as much as possible. At least she wasn't going to hack off his limbs, probably. Just murder him. Probably.

That was less reassuring than he thought it'd be. ]

Al? Need some help, here!

Early Morning 274 - Aftermath, cw: knife wounds

[termineur]

[ That's been a long night, but Gabriel's not tired. He's rearranging his pack, then checking on Steph, then messing with the tapestries to see if he can at least turn them so the stupid symbols are harder to see.

Finally, he ends with deciding the bandaging on his arm was too hastily done, and he pulls off the gauze just to reposition it- and maybe get a look at how the wound was doing. It went deep, but the cut itself was fairly clean, at least. His right arm's going to be pretty weak for awhile. It would be more of a worry if he was going it alone. ]

[spoileralert]

[ Steph slept for a lot of the time after she'd been restrained. Every now and then she would wake up, try to move, fail, then give up and lie still until she fell asleep again. The morning is different. She's woken by that nasty pinch and kept awake by the slowly but surely increasing anxiety as the numbness wears off.

By the time she can move again she just shudders as she takes a mental inventory. She knows that she attacked both Sylar and Al. She doesn't really know why. She does know how alarming that is. She's reasonably sure she isn't going to do it again. She might, but that scares her, which means she's feeling things like a normal person again.

Finally she clears her throat. ]

Could somebody maybe cut me loose?

[darkincrement]

[ Between the short paralysis and all of his emotions slamming back into him in one go, his hatred for the place and those in charge are renewed. He's in the process of retrieving his helmet and packing his things when he sees what Sylar is doing.

He knows stabbings happened. He wasn't facing it, so he didn't realize how bad it was.

Finding himself taking a couple steps closer to Sylar before he can even think. He wanted a closer look to see how bad they were.

That kind of doesn't happen.

Gripping his fist as he looks over to Al. And then back to Sylar. Looks like she got them both and he doesn't like how that makes him feel.

Once more, he's thinking of bolting up until he hears her voice. Looking over at her with narrowed eyes. ]

No.

[armoured]

[The knife wound to his side was deeper than he initially thought, but not enough to be dangerous, especially with bandages and being able to rest up once Steph was properly contained. It's not pleasant to have had to tie up a friend, but he's actually feeling pretty good about it.

He protected the others, he stopped her hurting anyone, that's-- that's more than he's been able to do for a while.]

He means yes.

[Al tilts his head at Vanitas.]

If she can talk to us, then she's not like she was any more. Right, Steph?

[termineur]

[ As soon as he hears Steph's voice, Gabriel starts hastily rewrapping his bandage. He'll look at it in a minute.

He's up on his feet, brushing past Vanitas and intent on walking over to Steph almost immediately. His eyes are bright as he checks her over carefully. He's excited, but he won't be letting her go until they're sure. ]

Good mornin'. Feeling more like yourself?