TDM 012: SLINGING IN THE RAIN

[erkumods]

TDM 012: SLINGING IN THE RAIN

00. Arrival 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. If you don’t manage to get away from them quickly enough, they may even usher you toward the Laid Bare Spa, where new arrivals will be offered free massages, a sauna, hairstyling, and their clothing may come up permanently missing. But you will be given a complimentary towel to leave with if needed! Feel free to explore the Island, though there isn’t much to see beyond what arrivals before you have helped to rebuild. 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 place to live in the now, whether a rundown apartment in the City, a tent on the beach, a bed in the barracks, or your own space at the House of Worship. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● I. THUNDERBOLTS AND LIGHTNING Erku's new arrivals may not be the only residents left dripping wet. Although the weather on the Island is almost always dreary, clouds begin to multiply and darken over the days before that first arrival, turning ominous shades of purple and blue which may look familiar to Islanders who have been around since Erku's beginnings. Perhaps robots will advise Islanders to fortify their shelters and get ready to accept refugees, and they hope their charges take the warnings to heart! When the rain finally falls, it is a non-stop torrent. Even though the weather is warm, the rain itself chills to the bone. Shacks and beach tents won't stand up to the downpour for long, and the shabby apartments may leak and flood. New arrivals who aren't handy enough to make quick repairs may be forced to take shelter in the homes of current Island residents, or else huddle together in the 12 rooms of the barracks for the full week that rain falls on the Island. Cats, dogs, and little dragons will also be begging Islanders for a warm place to stay! Beware of lightning strikes, too, because the skies rumble with thunder throughout the storm. Buildings and residences are frequently damaged by strikes. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and that's very true on Erku - Islanders who are struck by the lightning might find themselves temporarily blessed with god-like super strength. Such power might not always be a good thing for those who aren't used to wielding it, so please be careful not to damage your friends or property! Islanders may choose to keep their new powers, but a bingo square can be used to wish them away. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● II. A TASTE OF ERKU In need of shelter and credits? Then the robots have a task for you! Erku's robot population has taken note of how much Islanders seem to love the humble potato, and they want to contribute! Ready as always to please, the robots have filled the hospital cafeteria with mountains of potatoes in every imaginable variety and color: russet, red, gold, purple, chartreuse, sweet, savory, spicy, and so many more! But wait, there's more: they have provided knives, cutting boards, and peelers too, and are eager to see Islanders work their magic in their open cafeteria kitchen! Robots will monitor every dish produced, as they are eager to improve their food replication repertoire. No worries if you aren't culinarily skilled, however. Islanders will be rewarded in credits for whatever they can contribute, whether it's a gourmet meal or simply a basket of peeled potatoes. Robot-provided potato preparations are also freely available to snack on while you work, though as always, they're liable to be spiked with something to encourage Islanders to get more "friendly" with one another. Of particular note is an invention the 'bots are quite proud of, sure to delight your organic tastebuds: the potato cocktail, which packs quite a punch and - strangely enough - tastes just like a hearty steak dinner? ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● III. NOSTALGIA FOODS Seeking a bit of refuge and some comforting food to warm you up? Signs and flyers are out informing residents of the Straight From Home Special going on right now at the Flashbang diner! Come In For All The House Favorites! For the next few days anyone can walk in and receive a free meal (or two if you’re really nice) from the robot cooks behind the counter! And it just so happens that they know exactly what you want. You will be served a meal of your favorite foods from home just the way you like them. Did you tell them? No. How did they know? Don’t bother asking, they’ll just say that the Cook Always Knows. The robot waitresses will make sure your drinks are topped up and you have everything you need, just like any hometown diner or pub you may have heard of. Eating any of the foods will bring out such nostalgia. Feelings of fondness, sadness, longing, anything when you think about the memories of your past and even of recent events. You won’t be able to stop yourself from sharing those thoughts and feelings with those around you. You’ll want to talk about your life, your opinions on the weather, the sex you just had last night and in great detail. The waitresses are listening and so is everyone else nearby. When you leave the diner you might just have to keep on sharing your thoughts about anything that comes to mind. Walk by someone you think is attractive? You’ll have to tell them. Don’t like someone’s outfit? Definitely have to tell them. Suddenly remembering having sex on the beach? Maybe the person next to you on the trolley won’t mind hearing all about it! The effects of the nostalgia will last for half a day or until the completion of an auspicious act. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

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what makes you haha.mp3

[vaax]

there's a low rumble of thunder in the near distance. it's looming and foreboding, like vax'ildan should quickly find somewhere else to go, before the rain clouds decide to bring hell upon him for daring to be outside. his jeans are cuffed, a style some of the islanders have shown him, and it's nice-- keeps them from getting wet, after all. he's here because this is the day that new people come to the island, and he found percy once, pike another time, so what's to say he won't find keyleth?

the druid occupies his thoughts as he walks slowly through wet sand, ignoring that warning to find safety and shelter. he deserves to let himself drown in the rain, after all, for abandoning her like he had. he'd fallen for her and he'd let her down, left her alone to live for thousands of years. he won't see her again for quite some time, and he's learning to accept that. at least she's happy, right?

it's the dress that catches his eye first, followed by the hair, and last, the shape of her body. his breath stops in his chest, and the whole world comes to a stop before she even turns around. of course vax'ildan recognizes her. she's his other half, and he feels now as though his world is whole once more. his heart is whole.

he doesn't say a word to vex'ahlia, just embraces her from behind while his throat tightens and tears well behind hazel eyes. he clings to her, as though pulling back might mean saying goodbye forever, again. he can't do that again. he can't suffer the loneliness again.

here comes the HURT

[vex]

There's an instinctual moment of pure reaction between swears and stubborn cursing---at the onset rain and the sand now also in her hair---when those arms wrap around her.

The way she's grabbed though, that tells her all. The hug from the back is all too familiar---like returning to your favorite well worn chair. The hands are familiar, and suddenly, Vex'ahlia is shaken from the inside outward.

She had no idea that bittersweetness could be so violent.

If Vax'ildan was here, then she surely was dead. She can't muster it in herself to admit she's happy to see him. She knows she is. But the overwhelming sorrow of leaving Percival, Vesper, and Vox Machina behind compounds. Where Vax'ildan now feels whole---on ignorance alone, Vex feels empty in an entirely different way.

Her hands rest on his and she wills herself to stay standing. She must. For the both of them. Between sniffles, she forces a laugh, bringing up one hand to her chest and kisses it. "My best friend---" she cry-laughs, holding that hand tightly. "I should be happy to see you."

[vaax]

vax'ildan doesn't have it in him to explain things yet. the world around him has gone numb, deafened to the sound of the waves. all he can process is the loud pulsating in his ears, drowning out almost everything else. almost everything. vex's voice could pierce through glass, and it does. vax's walls begin to crack and shatter as she clings to him, holding him closer, and he hasn't even seen her face yet.

"my other half," he responds, giving the same breathy laughter between his own soft sobs. "you'll get there eventually."

he's instantly aware that her tears are not entirely happy ones, and slowly, the excitement begins to wane, just enough for him to loose her a little. he turns her in his grasp so he can see his face, and just the sight of her hazel eyes makes tears spring to his own once again. every new glimpse of her hurts just as much as the first, until he has to force himself to breathe and focus on her pain and how to alleviate it.

"vex'ahlia," he says, breathless, "... you came from your wedding. what's wrong?"

[vex]

Vex covers her next choked sob with her free hand, seeing her brother for the first time in---too long, just a week was too long, it was agony. She's so happy, he's there, and he looks well, but every good thought comes with a Vesper and Percival on it's heels.

"I'm here, and---so are you. So I'm somewhere I'm not meant to be, not yet." she gasps between sniffles. Vex can't stand the sight of him so upset either, so she returns to hugging him for dear life as she admits what she believes to be true to herself.

"I---I drowned, and if I'm here, then I've not made it back."

[vaax]

ah. he recognizes this. it's the same thought shaun had upon his arrival, it's the same conclusion. a perfectly reasonable one to draw, all things considered, especially if vex'ahlia has just come from a particularly difficult moment. but she isn't dead, vax knows. no one here is, not even he, for now. so he slowly lowers them both to the sand, holding both of her hands in his and rubbing reassuring fingers across her knuckles.

"if i may offer some reassurance. you aren't yet beyond the divine gate. you aren't dead. shaun is here, and so is--" ah. he comes from a time where they haven't yet married. he'll have to carry this one carefully. "-- percival. a handful of others from wildemount. i arrived here after i left your wedding--" ah, shit, does she know about that? "-- and didn't make it back to the matron, i. i can't reach her here-- vex--"

truly, it still doesn't feel real. his thoughts spin at a mile a minute, overshadowing everything else. "gods, i'm just so happy to see you."

[vex]

Vex would've been crazy to believe him under any normal circumstance, but...her brother did know death and all it's machinations, given his deal with the Raven Queen, didn't he? If anyone was going to be an expert on whether or not she's still alive (other than herself) it would be him. She kneels back down onto the sand despite having just brushed it off, her thoughts racing---

Hearing who else is here; Shaun, (oh if there was one person she trusted to be here, it likely would've been him), Vax'ildan, Percy, was here, an---

"You were at the wedding?" she asks, all thought halted. So it happens, right? Is that was this was, time travel? Some astral plane bullshit?
"You were there, so it happens, and---and you were there," she says with a squeeze to that hug, now that she feels---overwhelmed. She's not dead, and Vax is here, and oh shit, her brother is here and joy creeps into her tone, with relief.
"And now you're here." Fuck if it didn't make sense, her brother was here.

[vaax]

vax'ildan has no idea what's happening in vex'ahlia's head, but he lets her run through the process anyway. while he might not understand the workings sometimes, he does understand the need, and so he just holds her tightly until she breaks into that familiar grin, oh. the same smile he's worked so hard to forget about so that it might be less painful, and even now it sends a stab into his heart.

"i am here," he whispers, pulling her close again and burying his nose in her hair. she smells like home, like familiar comforts, and it aches in his chest so deeply where a heartbeat should be and isn't. "i was there, yes. i saw your daughter, and your wedding, and percival. scanlan wished me there, and so i was. when i left the plane, i... found myself here. not beyond the divine gate, like i should be. just here. alone, at first. ah.."

vax gets to his feet, then helps his sister up. they will have work to do, if she's here to stay. "let me get you back to my place. we can work out what our next steps should be. there's a lot to tell you about."

[vex]

Oh he was there, and he saw Vesper and Scanlan, the absolute dear. It's all just a barrage of information that nearly bowls her over now that the fear of being dead has passed, and all she can do is just hug her brother.
Standing, she makes to make sense of his situation, which, doesn't really happen. Whatever brought them here was outside the Raven Queen's power, and something they could only figure out later.
Still, no small amount of ache in herself makes her long for Vesper. She can't help but feel like the worst mom possible for every second she isn't there---but she'd have to take the next steps to get back as soon as she could in order not to be.

"Right, right. Yes, let's get back and we can...all figure this out." she says distracted; whether it's by Vax being there and not dead either or that she has to sort out her feelings on what to do about her daughter, now alone in a different plane are two possibilities.

"I'll, ah. I'll follow you."

[vaax]

figure this all out. huh. vex says it, and vax’ildan realizes, for the duration of his time on this island, he’s never had an urge to figure it out. he doesn’t want to. figuring it out means saying goodbye to all of the people he’s learned to love, goodbye to shaun once again, leaving behind a second chance at life with some of these people.

he doesn’t want to say goodbye. he doesn’t want to figure it out.

he doesn’t have the heart to say this to vex’ahlia, so vax leads her wordlessly through the sand and back to the house he shares with his new friends. the houses are large and connected, and it’s a little obvious from the outside which one vax’ildan occupies. he takes her through the front door, keeping her hand clasped tightly in his.

“this is my home,” he says quietly, “i live here with shaun, and a drow named essek.” he can’t help the fondness in his voice when he mentions them both. “percy lives nearby. i... suspect you might want to see him soon?”

[vex]

Vex doesn't catch the feeling Vax gives off, that there might be some hesitancy. No, she's too distracted, tracking where they were going should she ever find herself lost and alone. Parsing through the implications of being here.

"Shaun, so it is just you, him and Percy then? And now me?" she asks, the implication being that of Vox Machina and not just Tal'dorei.
"Well, yes, considering the last I saw him, I was drowning." she says with no small amount of sarcasm.

[vaax]

"and now you," he confirms, keeping one hand out and touching vex'ahlia anywhere he can reach. typically he doesn't mind letting her out of his sight, but after being alone and after going through such trauma together, he isn't going to take any chances.

"there is a group here from wildemount. they've been good to me," vax continues once they're safely indoors, and he leads his sister up to his room where he searches for towels and fresh clothes. he procures both, then sits behind her, unraveling her hair.

"your hair looked so nice for your wedding," he comments quietly, running fingers through her locks and preparing it for a braid. "i wish i could have stayed longer."

[vex]

Vex is quietly led where she needs to go, and takes a seat while she dries herself off, changes, and plops right down, the feeling of her brother just grooming her casually was familiar, and....comforting.

She still worried, about Vesper, about everyone. It's obvious in the tension on her face, in her shoulders, even so that Vax'ildan was right beside her.

It really made her wonder about that stupid adage: be careful what you wish for. Fuck.

"Thank you." she says somewhat defeated. "I've yet to see it myself, so that's. Reassuring." she stammers. "I wish you could have to. I always have." she adds, cautiously. It does nothing to help her questions further.

"Do you know what happens when we come here? What about everyone back home? Vesper and Keyleth and Grog and Pike, I..." she can't bring herself to finish, her words catching in her throat like they did earlier.

[vaax]

vax'ildan stays silent, processing, while the nausea builds in his stomach. he hasn't told her about percy yet, and... for fuck's sake, he hasn't even figured out what he and percy are. he's definitely overstepped, enabling percy to have an affair, for fuck's sake.

vax is pulled out of his anxiety by vex'ahlia asking him about going home, about those in their home, and his heart sinks even further. he doesn't know how to answer this one. vax's hands start to form a thick braid, but his hazel eyes stay distant, staring at something far away. "i... i don't know. i left your wedding and found myself here. i don't know what's happening back home. i wish i had that answer for you."

vex had said keyleth, and like that, the anxiety in his stomach is even more real. it compounds, layer after layer, until he has to drop his hands from her hair and into his lap.

"vex'ahlia, i can't do this shit. there's so much. so many things, i don't know where to start."