TDM 005: HAPPY SPOOKTEMBER

[erkumods]

TDM 005: HAPPY SPOOKTEMBER

Arrival This time, you come out of the water, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy drawing people in. It's like being suspended between realities and abruptly pushed from behind through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you to the surface and carrying you to shore. Waterlogged and covered in sand, new arrivals will be greeted by robots who welcome them with towels and bracelet devices. The A5 card is already loaded up. Feel free to explore the Island, though there isn’t much to see. Most of the buildings are abandoned and in dire need of repair, and beyond the city lingers a thick fog that obscures much of the wilderness from view. Wander too far into this fog, and you will find yourself mysteriously looping back to where you began, your memories of what you were doing and how you got there erased. With that in mind, it may be wise to stake your claim on a rundown apartment, a tent on the beach, or a bed in the "comfortable" new barracks. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● I. Harvest Hunt As the daylight grows shorter and the muggy heat of the island’s summer gradually shifts to temperate days and chilly nights, Erku’s accessible wilderness explodes with a colorful collection of tempting fruits, fragrant-smelling herbs, and nuts and seeds plumped and ready for harvest. With warnings to beware of monsters, the robots of Erku encourage Islanders to take advantage of the land’s bounty by distributing basic camping supplies to those who are interested in exploring, hunting, and harvesting. They strongly encourage making the journey with a friend! Any surplus foods that Islanders bring home with them can be exchanged for credits with cafeteria robots! Just be careful out there - some of these fruits have strange effects once consumed. For extra protection out there in the wilds, the robots have fashioned crowns of flowers or foliage to wear on their adventures. The sweet and herbal smells from the crowns will discourage most Erku-native monsters from approaching, they assure - this is ancient knowledge from the planet’s long-gone civilization, so it can’t be wrong! What the robots don’t know is that the crowns have a deeper, more ritualistic purpose: after a few hours, the scent of flowers or herbs begins to awaken primal instincts within the wearer. Those who are wearing the foliage crowns feel overwhelmed by an urge to hunt, while those who wear the flower crowns delight in every opportunity to tease, outrun, and outwit the hunters. What happens when the chase ends? Well, that depends on the personalities and the chemistry between the hunters and their prey. While the robots are very insistent on placing crowns atop the heads of any Islander they see, they aren’t stuck on in any way and they are easy to remove, which can prevent or break the hunting trance. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● II. seeds and sap Of particularly high credit value, the robots explain, is an elusive flower known as the skull sunflower. It appears exactly as one might imagine: at the center of an otherwise innocuous, towering sunflower is the gruesome visage of an open-mouthed skull. Don’t worry, the flowers are harmless! Even if it’s strange how the empty-socketed eyes seem to follow your every move. And why is it that the teeth - which, on closer inspection, are actually the seeds of the flower - only seem to chatter when your back is turned? Any Islander who can withstand their heebie-jeebies long enough to collect the petals and seeds from the flowers will fetch a handsome reward in credits upon exchange with the robots. Beware the sticky, blood-red sap that seeps from the eyes of each skull, however. Those who absorb too much through their skin will begin to hallucinate, visions of frightening or emotional events from their past dancing in the shadows. One might even mistakenly imagine that another Islander is someone they recognize from their past, someone who meant something to them - no matter whether that person is alive or dead in the present. The hallucinogenic effects of the sap can last for hours, or they can be shortened by a dip in the public baths. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● III. Tarot Night comes, and in the darkness, a robot sets up a table by the beach. A solitary candle sits in the center, illuminating a deck of cards. F̶i̴n̵d̸ ̸y̶o̸u̸r̵ ̵f̵o̸r̷t̵u̶n̶e̷?̴ The robot reveals tarot cards and will do a variety of spreads to tell your fortune. Each fortune can be distilled into one central theme, which characters will find pervades their life for the next 24 hours. There is magic afoot: it can be sensed, and perhaps even dispelled, if luck is on your side. Though most robots on the island show a capacity for greater-than-average artificial intelligence, this pseudo-psychic 'bot -- M.S. Cl30 -- is less advanced. It only has six interpretations prepared: Always watch your back. - Characters will be compelled to walk, or even speak, backwards for the duration of the day. Those who mishear it as "wash your back" may spend longer in the shower than usual. Fake it til you make it. - Characters will feel compelled to act performatively. They will more readily fall into acts for serious or flirtatious roleplay, or try on costumes that reflect a particular persona they're interested in exploring. Faked orgasms will seem quite realistic. You will receive an affectionate letter from a friend. - Just as it is said, someone will be compelled to engage in correspondence - and whether it turns dirty or not, well, that's up to you! Characters may also quite literally receive an article of clothing with a red letter sewn on the top. What could it stand for? Hold on tight. - Characters who are given this life advice will start to feel rather clingy. They'll attach themselves to someone's side and refuse to leave, or they may find a "security blanket" item and won't let it go. You are a generous, giving person. - Characters will feel compelled to do something kind for someone else. Maybe they'll invite someone to the movies, come over and cook, or do that thing their partner is always asking for. Don't think. Feel. - Even if they weren't before, characters temporarily experience impulsive and hot-headed urges. They will also become very tactile. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[halforc]

Exactly! You meet someone, you have a little flirt, then it's back to theirs for some fun and everybody's happy! Out before morning. None of this scheduled activities shit.

[ He may be giving away too much of his own history but, meh. It makes his point. ]

[devilstongue]

[ It seems pretty fair to him. Everybody's happy! That's what's important. (He likes this Fjord, enjoys seeing what's underneath that overly macho shell that looks like it has cracked while he was gone.) ]

It just seems fake to me. You're stolen from your world, please bone to rebuild ours? It sounds like one of Jester's novels.

[ Molly smiles a little, a fond look on his face when he speaks about her. Then he returns to the topic. ]

If it was just for the joys of sex games, it all sounds like a fun idea, but I'm not a fan of the coercion. I know I enjoy new things and exploring new experiences, but not everyone does. That poison really seemed to get to you.

[halforc]

It does sound like a terrible novel. Maybe one of Caleb's historical pornos with too much intrigue.

[ He takes a bite of his goose, blowing on the rest of it. As his cheeks heat up with Molly's line of questioning he swallows his mouthful and waves a dismissive hand. ]

It was some kind of aphrodisiac that I stupidly took around someone I care about, of course it got to me. I felt ... I feel awful about the way it made me react to you. It was inappropriate.

[devilstongue]

[ Molly almost drops his spit at that, a surprised look sloooowly morphing into a grin. ]

Oh, you reacted to me? Here I thought you were just generally horny...

[ He preens a bit, even if there's a hint of deeper purple at his pointed ears. Someone I care about. Gods, he's missed so much of this development. This honesty that was refreshing but confusing in one. ]

Don't worry, darling. I'm only flattered. I can definitely lend a hand if you need me to, though~!

[halforc]

I was! [ Fuck!! ] You were right there and I had pure arousal coursing through my veins! I would have reacted to a plate of fruit!

[ Maybe not, but. He flicks some goose at Molly!! That's instead of dignifying his offer with a response. ]

[devilstongue]

[ Molly laughs at that, beaming at Fjord and catching the piece of goose so he can shove it in his mouth instead. No wasting food out of embarrassment, sir!

It's an interesting thought, though. Did it mean Fjord didn't only fancy women, then?

...hm. ]

Glad to know you'd fuck fruit if drugged enough.

[halforc]

You're sleeping on the floor-mattress tonight.

[ Is he serious? He sets his jaw and chomps his goose. ]

[devilstongue]

Monster.

[ Molly says with a pout, before he starts picking pieces off his goose as well. Once he's gotten a few mouthfuls of white meat, he stands to go get that knife to carve the birds for real, making them bowls of meat, drumsticks and wings. ]

[halforc]

[ Fjord is as good as his word, or at least he makes it look that way later as he's piling up blankets pilfered from other abandoned houses so the big bed is more of a nest. He keeps the dim bedside lamp on, liking the soft electric glow that isn't as bright as a candle but sheds the illusion of warmth on the room, even though the pretence of any heat is lost when he keeps his tunic and breeches on to sleep in.

He's full of goose and grapes, content enough to pretend to be falling asleep for ten minutes or so. ]

[devilstongue]

[ Molly uses the last time of the day to draw that bath they had spoken about, filling the bathtub a bit and then pouring in hot water from a somewhat rusted bucket he managed to find. A few passes up and down and Molly couldn't care less about the troubles of this place, just staying in the bath until it starts to get lukewarm again.

That evening, he takes his boots off in the 'watch' chair to stretch his toes a bit and make sure the leather's not cracking. He's a little jealous of that nice nest Fjord has going on, it's more the principle of the thing than any actual need to have the bed, he supposes.

(It's a lot easier to be calm and 'forgiving' with a full belly and after a hot bath.) ]

Think we need a watch tonight or should we just barricade the door?

[halforc]

Barricade. Can you do it? I'm cosy.

[ Loftily shooting that request along, he sniffs and burrows down as though he really is that callous and selfish. ]

[devilstongue]

[ He rolls his eyes at that and gets up, pushing some things in front of the door to wedge the handle in a way that will give them plenty of time to get ready if it starts wiggling.

There's not much to be done about the windows, but at least they're on the second floor.

Brushing off his hands, Fjord gets a fang-filled smirk from the circus freak... and then Mollymauk is taking off towards the bed, throwing himself on it and squishing the poor half-orc.

...because they are the WORST ROOMMATES. ]

[halforc]

[ He was going to be nice, was going to say hah you idiot here's the nice bed after all but then Molly crashes on top of him and Fjord is squeaking as he tries to wriggle around and face him, trapped in all the blankets that are betraying him. ]

You want a fight, you horny bastard ... !

[ Fjord tries to shove him to one side, instead of off, and bundle Molly in blankets. ]

[devilstongue]

It's big enough for the both of us!

[ Molly counters, trying to wrap Fjord even further in those blankets so that he stays trapped. That shove is too much for him, though (5!) and he topples over into his own mound of weaponized blankets. ]

[halforc]

[ Panting with the effort of freeing himself, he dumps all those blankets on Molly and leans over him to put their noses close. ]

I was going to let you have it all to yourself! Let's see how hot a tiefling has to get before they suffocate ... !

[ But instead of crushing him, he smacks Molly with a pillow. Whumph! ]

[devilstongue]

How kind of you, Mr. Fjord!

[ Molly sticks his tongue out, but is then smacked by a pillow. Oh, they really are going to be children, now? Okay.

Laughing, he swats Fjord right back with his tail to get some distance between them, having no pillow on this side to use against his foe. Molly tries to hide in the blanket mound instead. ]

[halforc]

Ouch! [ Tails are what cheaters use. ] Where do you think you're going!

[ Poking at him through the blankets, Fjord huffs. ]

You really can have it, though. The bed.

[devilstongue]

[ Tails are what pillow-unarmed men will have to stoop down to in order to survive, thank you very much!

Molly's glowing eyes peek out from underneath the blankets like the devil version of Pennywise and the sewer, smirking. ]

Like I said, it's big enough for the both of us. Just put a few pillows in the middle if you're worried about nighttime snuggles.

[halforc]

[ ... Creepy bitch. ]

I'm not worried.

[ Why would he be? Huh? Why? How dare Molly, this is outrageous.



But, ]

Do you? Snuggle?

[devilstongue]

[ Molly laughs at that, and then gives Fjord a once-over before he escapes a bit of his blanket cocoon to get uncomfortably close. Because he's a dick. ]

Oh yeah. All the time. I subconsciously think it's Yasha and I just have to spoon with her. We shared a vardo so it just happens, you know? You get used to snuggling with people in the circus. For comfort, for warmth, for support.

[ Probably why he's such an overly tactile person. It's hard to not be when everyone around you have nonexistent personal bubbles and all affection is shown with touch. ]

I'm guessing you're not a snuggler?

[halforc]

[ He has memories of Molly getting all up in his grill from before, touching him just briefly enough to make him freeze up and pay attention. The power was in you all along. Teasing bullshit. Fjord's also ninety-percent sure it would be weird if they did bed down together (for a bunch of different reasons on his own end), but he's unwilling to lose to Molly's goading; there's always been a deeply seeded need to rise to the challenge when it's Molly in particular.

On his side, he listens to every iota of trash that Molly spills to distract him and tries to reason with it. ]

I don't ... Not with anyone. In Caleb's bubble, we ... There wasn't much room.

[devilstongue]

[ 'Caleb's bubble'. Adorable, honestly. Still desperately ignoring all the red flags, Molly chooses to be excited instead. ]

Sounds like it was cuddle central to me. I'll love it.

[ He stretches a bit and then pokes Fjord's nose. ]

Lie down and sleep. I'll do my best to keep my snuggling to a minimum.

[halforc]

[ The apprehension he has over the notion of sharing a bed is assuaged by Molly being Molly, funnily enough, and he cracks a wry smile after shaking off that poke. Fjord lies down on his side, arm around a bunch of blankets. ]

As long as you make an honest half-orc out of me after this. I expect a ring in the morning.

[devilstongue]

[ The tiefling wiggles and pulls himself out of the blanket trap before he starts making himself comfortable on his side. Molly's quite pleased to 'win', and it shows how much Fjord has changed that he's not a blushing, awkward mess about this.

It's nice to see the growth. Even if he missed it. ]

I have several! At least one of them should fit. Maybe your pinkie.

[halforc]

I want a fat gaudy diamond, this sailor isn't cheap.

[ It's a little nostalgic of the bubblehut even if Molly wasn't there for it, sleeping so close together. The room is barricaded shut and Fjord feels a little better knowing he's sleeping near Molly, enough to know by his bodyweight that he's safely there, not about to vanish.

But his brain won't turn off.

In the dim sleepy lighting that casts Molly mostly in shadow, the faint orange limns half his features in a glow. ]

Do you really miss sleeping with Yasha nearby?