TDM 013: BARING IT ALL

[erkumods]

TDM 013: BARING IT ALL

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. THROW IN A TOWEL? Erku's new arrivals may be encouraged to seek out the Laid Bare Massage & Spa for some specialized attention and relaxation, but they and long-time inhabitants will also be offered a chance to earn credits. Anyone interested in earning robot wages will be tasked with being the resident towel person! You’ll stand inside of the room while the patrons are receiving their massages, hot scrubs, or relaxing in one of the saunas holding towels for them should any be requested. Or you may be asked to help with the regular cleaning of the Spa, wiping down all of the tasteful nude statues to free them of the grime and filth (or… other things) that builds up over time. You might even be asked to help lovingly clean the murals of nude patrons (that is to say, fellow Islanders) all over the Spa. But this is a job that requires a very specific uniform. Robots will provide you with your very own chiton or toga. The chitons happen to be very short, not covering nearly as much as they reveal, but the togas might be entirely too long. They brush or drag along the floor and what with being barely held together with the thinnest and most fanciful of ropes, who knows how often they might be untucked? Take care, please, or else the robots might pull you into being the next model for their latest mural portrait instead. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● II. GRIN AND BARE IT Erku’s resident mental health professional, Dr. D. Love of Healthy Body, Healthy Mind Therapy Center, has taken a keen interest in ensuring that the relationships of you Islanders are progressing in a productive, healthy, and open-minded fashion. And to ensure this, he’s tasked his robot staff to pay close attention to anyone who looks like they are having trouble with relationships with other people on the Island. And after months of so few (none) clients, these robots are very motivated to seek out people in need of their therapeutic assistance! Arguing with a friend? Telling someone to stay out of your life? Being a hermit who refuses to come out of your apartment? Accidentally bump into each other on the street? Make a joke at your friend’s expense? Playfully punch someone in the shoulder? Walk by someone you don’t know and not tell them hello? Well clearly all of you need help in repairing whatever may be damaging your relationships! Before you know it, you’ve been bundled off by the robots right to Dr. D. Love’s office and sat down to talk it all out. The fact that you may not even know the other person the robots think you need to work your troubles out with doesn’t matter. Dr. D. Love is here to make sure everyone goes home happy and satisfied. You may have to play along with this confusing farcical situation, even making up wrongs and slights you claim you have done to one another before finally coming together in reconciliation. The more you deny there is anything wrong, the more the good Doctor will insist you need even more help than they first thought. They might even have to send you into one of their Privacy Rooms and work out your frustrations with each other with their wide array of therapeutic sexual devices and supplies. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● III. BARE NAKED AMUSEMENT TOUR The trolley is making its rounds as usual with announcements echoing from the loudspeakers that it’s Bare It All Week at Six Flagellants Amusement Park and to kick it off there will be a grand concert at the Loudinus Outdoor Amphitheater that lasts all week long! Not sure what that means? Well, come to the concert and enjoy hours and hours of music played by robots who seem to have taken their songs right from the pop rock crazes of old. Whose old? Who knows. The music may not be completely to your taste, but something about it may make you feel energized and overly dressed. You might even feel the need to strip down until you’re not wearing anything at all! But don’t worry, the robots performing on stage will give you new clothes to wear by throwing skimpy, sexy underwear and lingerie right at you! How did they know your size? Don’t ask questions, just give into the urge to put it on while you rock out until it’s time for the trolley to take everyone right to the gates of the amusement park! Anyone dressed in less for this week will receive free entry, rides, and food and might even receive special prizes at various booths of sex toys, candies that act as an aphrodisiac (meant for sharing of course), stuffed animals, or even a free sex doll! Those are super hard to win from the ring toss, so you should really take advantage and enjoy all the perks of baring yourself for everyone’s viewing pleasure. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[passedthroughfire]

arrival

Something had gone terribly wrong.

Keyleth had finally, reluctantly, stepped back through the tree to go home after the wedding, but this was not home. Perhaps she had not been the kindest to the tree on her way, but surely he understood, right? She loved the tree, it had just been a long few days and...

She paused, vomited up a lot of seawater, and glanced over her shoulder tentatively. "Tree?"

But the only thing over her shoulder was water.

The thing was that there wasn't much to fuck up with the tree. She'd never fucked up before. So maybe this had nothing to do with the tree at all.

What she wanted to do was curl up in the sand and cry, but she knew better than that. Getting to her feet (no throw up this time, win for Kiki), she pointed herself in the direction of the makeshift town. If nothing else, surely someone there had answers.

Grin and Bare It

"I can handle my emotions just fine!" Keyleth yelled, although this outburst of emotion probably indicated the opposite. "I didn't go through an entire Aramente just for some strangers to tell me that I need to talk to some...some...whatever this is about my feelings." To demonstrate her point, she kicked at her chair, her face (and hands) growing warm. Everything has been terrible and confusing and her breaking point is growing ever closer. The situation may still be salvageable, but at this point she is going to be anything but the compliant partner needed to make this exercise a success.



Wildcard

[feel free to throw something else at us!]

arrival!

[halforc]

Traversing the beach on Arrivals Day, an old tradition by now after six months on the island, he sees a woman with wonky antlers get up and stare in the direction of the road between the trees, and by the way she's dressed Fjord feels like she's from a world like his own. It's easier to approach elves and tieflings, he knows what he's generally going to get from them; humans are the folks to avoid, they rarely make sense when they make it to the City.

Like Lottie and her blogging.

"Hey," pacing closer, he raises a hand in greeting, "you're soaking wet. Didn't the automatons give you a towel?"

[passedthroughfire]

Oh, thank the gods. If it's not a familiar face, at least it's a familiar species. Keyleth offers him what she hopes is a friendly smile despite her current cold, wet situation, waves back. "Hi," she says. "The wh--oh. Well, I was afraid they were going to take my things, so I told them no. I don't really need one, I don't think? I can get dry once I find my tree. I think it's probably, I think I just got...it's probably just right over there?" She does not sound convinced. "I'm sure I'll be right home!"

[halforc]

Feeling bad for her (the search for her tree will inevitably be in vain, he knows) Fjord gestures to one of the passing automatons and takes a towel off them, handing it out.

"Here. At least dry off before it rains otherwise you really will catch a chill. The weather's not the best on the island."

[passedthroughfire]

She does accept the towel, frowning a bit. "Island?" she questions, toweling the ends of her hair. "I'm Keyleth. By the way. Thank you for the towel."

[halforc]

"Keyleth."

Of the air ... something. Vax mentioned her at length, the redheaded druid with antlers (oh shit, of course) that he fell in love with. Fjord stuffs his hands into his back-pockets after handing over the towel, hitching his smile back up as something weirdly knots in his chest.

"This is odd. Vax mentioned you, I'm a friend of his on the island."

He thinks, guiltily, of the box of sea-glass and feathers that Vax dropped off at his bedroom door. 'Are you courting me?' Well, shit.

"I, ah. I know that he's on his way to the beach, he should be down here soon. If you want to wait."

grin and bare it

[blumenthal]

Six months into his tenure on the Nameless Island, Caleb has learned that the trick to dealing with the robots' antics is often to nod and smile until they lose interest.

New arrivals, of course, are lacking this experience. Which is probably the reason Caleb finds himself sitting quietly on a chaise lounge while the woman he'd been ushered here with rants with (understandable, honestly) frustration at the situation.

His partner for this exercise is a half-elven woman with hair as red as his own, if not brighter, dressed in clothing reminiscent of Exandria--or a very similar world, at least--with motifs that indicate strong ties to nature. Though they've been ushered together by the automatons as little more than strangers, Caleb has a strong hunch that he knows who this is.

"I for one am feeling completely unhinged," he tells their would-be therapist, expression blank and Zemnian-accented voice flat enough to border on sarcasm. He makes an attempt to catch Keyleth's eye as he says, "I think I could benefit from a little time to talk one-on-one with my new friend here, if that is permitted."

If the robots here are eager to do anything, it's leave their charges alone together. The automaton whirrs happily, pleased by the acknowledgement, but with Keyleth's vehement denial, still seems unconvinced.

[passedthroughfire]

When he speaks, Keyleth shoots her partner a suspicious, angry, what are you doing?! look. But the automaton is whirring happily at him and...well, Keyleth is anything but stupid. Her forehead wrinkles almost imperceptibly, and she's still suspicious of this man's motivations, but if it gets her out of here...

He's not so bad. And she can appreciate the sarcasm. "Actually," she says reluctantly, "Maybe some one on one time is just exactly what we need." She folds her arms across her chest, waits for the automaton to leave, and then looks her partner up and down. "I'm Keyleth."

[blumenthal]

He's grateful, at least, that he must have conveyed enough confidence or sincerity or both to convince her to go along with his plan. After the automaton leaves and she offers her name, a genuine smile flickers over his lips. Just as he thought, then.

"Caleb Widogast." He gets to his feet, allowing her to take his measure, if she likes. What she sees is what she gets: a skinny ginger human wizard with his hair messily tied back and ink stains around his fingertips, dressed in a simple linen tunic and dark trousers, books strapped close to his body beneath a purple coat that's seen better days. He debates for a moment whether to mention what he knows right away, but decides it would be deceptive not to. "I admit, I had some idea of who you might be already. We have a, ah...a friend in common." That's an understatement, but such is his habit. "More than one, actually."

[passedthroughfire]

She takes him in appraisingly and with only a little guilt. It's okay to look.

But her face clouds over a little, hands folding across her chest, and she looks away when he mentions a mutual friend, hoping that the burning in her cheeks isn't visible although she supposes it is. "Vax," she says quietly. It's not a question. "How long do you suppose we'll have to sit here before it thinks we're done?"

[blumenthal]

"Ja," he confirms simply, though that's clearly unnecessary. Judging by her immediate shift in demeanor, she gets it.

Well. Nothing for it but to try and muscle through this first encounter.

"I was thinking we might try an alternative means of escape," he suggests, and gives a meaningful glance toward the nearest window. They aren't on the first floor, but that's hardly a problem for him, and he suspects not for her either.

arrival........

[vaax]

every month, vax'ildan finds himself on the beach, the same shore where he'd coughed up seawater and cursed his goddess for not seeing him home safely. the same shore where he'd been grumpy and unwilling to accept help, the same shore where he'd first met caleb, and fjord, and essek.

so much has happened here, and it only feels appropriate to revisit it every month. besides, he still holds out hope that he might catch a sight of his sister, or maybe grog. but never keyleth-- no, not kiki. having her on this island would be... a cruel fate, unfair. he's always kept a square or two on reserve just in case someone needs something, and in keyleth's case, he would redeem his entire card for her. anything, so she never has to subject herself to the ways of life here.

never does it cross his mind that she might want to.

today, his thoughts are far from keyleth, instead wandering alone and enjoying the wind, the cloudy weather that settles comfortably on his shoulders. his feathers ruffle with each breeze and he would even crack a smile, if he weren't so lost in his thoughts.

but that flash of red hair and the branching antlers catch his eye, and he's ripped, violently, from any kind of peace he might be feeling. he freezes, paralyzed by indecision and shock, and when the adrenaline hits, his body begins to shake.

she can't be here.

vax doesn't know what to say. she hasn't seen him yet, and he's still unsure what to do, how to walk. he's forgotten how to breathe, how to see anything outside of that brilliant orange bob, how to speak.

he whispers keyleth's name, but it barely comes out, and once he hears the letters of her name on his tongue, it seems to break the dam, and vax'ildan breaks into a run towards the druid. if he had a pulse, it would be hammering, speeding along in his chest, but in it's place his breathing is short and labored panting. he can barely believe it. he'd put her out of his mind, accepted that he might never see her again. he was alright with that, or learning how to be.

he gently collides with her, hard enough to knock the wind out of her, soft enough that they won't fall. his arms hold her tightly from behind, securing around her midsection while the wind blows black hair along his cheeks, into hers. no words come to his tongue, and he drops his forehead to her shoulder where wet tears fall onto her freckled skin.

he'll remember how to breathe later.

[passedthroughfire]

Her first reaction is to panic at being grabbed, to flail her arms and try to fight. It's a perfectly reasonable reaction in unfamiliar territory. But then recognition dawns, and she stills.

For a moment she's frozen in place, unable to breathe or move, her vision going dark, her ears ringing. She thinks she may throw up again, her mouth dry. She's wished herself dead, that's it. It could happen. She's wished herself dead and now...

"Vax." Tilting her own head back, resting it against his shoulder so she can look at him. The idea of this being a cruel joke of some kind briefly crosses her mind, but it feels real, and she's longed for it, longed for it and longed for it and she refuses to accept any other explanation. "Vax?"

[vaax]

vax'ildan feels her tense under his arms, but he doesn't let up, too blinded by his own emotion to move. desperate arms hold her to his body, warm and safe, where she's always been. she's close to his heart again, and for a second, vax swears he can feel it flutter with life he's never had.

"keyleth," he whispers, his voice hoarse. "keyleth, oh. oh, my love, my dearest." none of the thoughts occurring to him make sense, none of them are fit to put into words. all they are is her, it's her, it's keyleth, she's here, oh gods, she's here, this is terrible, this is perfect.

for a few moments, he just holds her and cries. his shoulders shake silently, and tears land on her already wet body until he finally pries himself away from the embrace. his hands stay on her, though, touching her anywhere he can reach while sad eyes search her.

"i'm--" clear your throat, vax, come on, "i'm glad you're. alright." he isn't glad she's here. it's going to be a rough adjustment, and vax would almost rather go without.

almost.

"y-you-- you must be freezing. let me, ah, take you back to my house. get you into something warm and dry, yeah? will you let me do that for you?"

[passedthroughfire]

It registers to her, once she's been held in place awhile, that he doesn't have a heartbeat. This only serves to further her theory, and a warm sense of calm fills her.

"I love you," she says, finally. "I love you, I love you, I thought...I thought I was going to have to wait so long, I was so...I didn't...I'm so...I love you." He looks so sad, why? She reaches up, touches his face. "I'm okay, Vax." She wants to kiss him, but she is suddenly reminded that she is very cold, and settles for a brief brush of her lips on his forehead before agreeing to be taken back: "Yes, please, I'm frozen."

[vaax]

his chest twists and aches when she spills those i love yous, so easily said, and why wouldn't they be? when vax'ildan had seen her last, it had been so easy to say. there had been no others, no barriers, no reasons why they shouldn't profess themselves so easily and so quickly.

things aren't so easy anymore. things have changed.

"i'm sure you have a lot of--" oh, her lips on him feel so lovely... "... of questions. i'll answer all of them, darling." his fingers lace in hers, and the feeling is visceral. gods, she's perfect. beautiful, even now.

he leads keyleth through the island, weaving and bobbing around others that all look the same while he's got the voice of the tempest with him. she blurs his world and becomes the center of it, stunning and powerful as she is.

the walk back to the house is short enough, and vax leads her up, up, up spiral stairs to his loft bedroom that he hasn't slept in in a few nights. it's distinctly his, still, with the feathered motifs and the touches of dark navy.

vax sits on the foot of the bed, gently urging her to join him. "sit, keyleth? i have... much to share with you. you've missed a lot."

wildcard for the wildcrafter

[alignmyheart]

Vax told Percy that Keyleth had arrived after tucking her into bed for a while. He knows it's hitting the rogue hard, but he isn't sure how to help, especially when he's been rather explicitly told to keep his distance. So, he waits.

He heads over to the wizard house (also occupied by a certain rogue and sorcerer) and lingers in the kitchen. Maybe it's uncouth to haunt someone else's kitchen, but he doesn't want to wake Keyleth, either, if she's actually managing to rest. A dozen things run through his head, but mostly, he is somewhat desperate to see his friend. To know that it's really her.

To feel a little less alone.

And that is hardly fair, given she's just arrived. When Keyleth does finally appear, Percy forgets what he meant to say to her.

"It really is you," he breathes. He sets down the mug he's been fidgeting with for the better part of thirty minutes and pushes away from the counter. He wants nothing more than to embrace her. Steady on, de Rolo.

"Vax said you were here."

Percival has no idea if Vax mentioned that he was here. Or Pike.

[passedthroughfire]

All of the joy and euphoria of Keyleth's initial reunion with Vax has long since passed by the time she pads into the kitchen after her sleep, and to say she's in an awful mood would be an understatement.

"Go away," she growls at whoever is in the kitchen without fully registering who it is, not wanting to deal with another living being at the moment, unfair as that may be. But another few seconds and she realizes, her still-hatching brain registering it as Percy. Vax had mentioned him, of course, but there had been so much information--most of it heartbreaking--that she had sort of forgotten.

"Percy," she says, and takes a step toward him and then collapses, sobbing, into his arms. Oops.

[alignmyheart]

There's their ray of sunshine. But then Keyleth's attention kicks in and--And quite suddenly, the gunslinger has his arms full of sobbing druid.

Percy has the grace to stay quiet as he adjusts his hold on Keyleth, offering her more support as he holds her against him. One hand gently strokes back her damp hair while the other arm stays firm around her, keeping her close. He's starting to wonder exactly what Vax'ildan has told her. More than that, he wonders what Keyleth remembers. Knowing they can be plucked from various parts of their lives leaves a very wide swath of possibilities.

"I'm here," he murmurs as he presses a kiss to the top of her head. "You certainly know how to make an entrance."

[passedthroughfire]

Feeling immediately safe in Percy's arms, she lets herself cry for a little while.

Once she's mostly recovered she manages a sad, wet laugh at his joke, lifting her head a little. "I want to go home," she says after a moment. "This isn't anything like how I pictured it being."

[alignmyheart]

Percy relaxes his hold enough that Keyleth can move as she likes, even if it's just to lift her head. He gives her a sad smile and lifts a hand to cradle her cheek.

"Don't tell me you somehow managed to get here on purpose." He would be in awe if she had. From what he understands, these things are somehow random and beyond their control. Percival strokes some of her hair back and gives a gentle tug.

Wildcard

[gloriouslygood]

"Keyleth!" A familiar voice boomed the moment he spotted her. Shaun came over without hesitation and a huge grin on his face. He was genuinely excited to see her and caught her up in a warm, tight embrace.

He leaned back and searched her expression, looking her over. "Look at you," he murmured softly. "Just as bright as I remember. Oh, it's good to see you."

Shaun held her hands in his to help anchor her because she did seem a bit unsettled. Anyone would be in this strange world. "You look like you need a cup of tea and perhaps a splash of whiskey in that tea. Hm?"

[passedthroughfire]

In spite of everything, Keyleth was happy to see Shaun, and she hoped that her smile came across as genuine. Things had been...tiring, that was all. She was just tired.

"It's good to see you, too," she said, hugging back with all her might. She did perk up a bit at the suggestion of a drink, nodding her head. "Oh, fuck, please?"

[gloriouslygood]

He chuckled warmly and offered her his arm before heading towards the kitchen. "I thought you might say that."

The island was an adjustment for a lot of people. Even Shaun had a hard day or two in the beginning. He was simply better at adjusting than some people. He was also very happy with how things had turned out for him.

"Why don't you have a seat while I take care of things?" He even pulled out a chair at the table for her.

[passedthroughfire]

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Shaun what she knew, but...maybe it was okay to let this be simple, at least for the time being.

"Thank you," she said quietly, taking the offered seat, watching him as he got the tea ready.