Rhodos Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rhodosmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rhodos_meme2022-08-10 10:12 am
rhodosmods) wrote in rhodos_meme2022-08-10 10:12 am
Entry tags:
TDM #1
TDM #1: AUGUST
Jump to: Arrival · Sound and Light · Into the Fog · Waking Up to a Nightmare · The Bonfire
Summary · Questions
Summary · Questions
The buildings of the plaza are all medieval stone construction, but they all have modern awnings and glass fronts. Tables out front display tourist wares: little plastic statuettes, postcards, t-shirts. Among these, it's easy to identify Greek lettering, Greek gods, photos of Athens and Crete. Predominant among the souvenirs are items marked with the name Rhodos.
But there are no vendors selling their wares. Even if characters wander into the shops, they are all empty as if their owners just stepped away for a moment. Lights are on, and some of the larger and nicer shops even have the whirr of air conditioning. Food stands waft the aroma of freshly grilled kebabs, and a gelato cart is cold to the touch and the ice cream inside is frosty and delicious.
The plaza where you arrive is set on a slope, and the direction of the sea breeze and the faint sound of waves against a shore indicates pretty strongly that down-slope is the direction of the sea. But looking down the slope from the main plaza, you can see an open archway in a tall stone wall, and beyond it is nothing but mist. Despite the clear sunny day in the plaza, the mist is a dense fog with barely three feet of visibility. If you enter it, you can see your own arms in front of you, but nothing beyond that. The breeze has gone still and the waves no longer sound so much like waves--the sound is warped through the mist so that it almost sounds like sobbing. After about five minutes of determined walking across what feels like flat ground with no other landmarks, you find yourself back at the archway.
Housing can easily be scavenged. Doors are unlocked and the interiors are clean and welcoming, beds freshly made, as if it is a hotel that's been prepared for you rather than anyone's personal residence. And yet, once you've settled upon a place to live, you start to find little signs that you have lived here all along. The photographs on the wall (which weren't there when you first arrived) depict you and your family and friends, even if you came from a world without photography. Upon arrival, you have only the clothing you are wearing, but within a day the closet begins to fill with familiar outfits from home, and within the first week you may find up to five of your own possessions around your new residence.
Note: Wardrobe is limited to what you can reasonably fit inside a non-walk-in apartment closet, what your character would reasonably wear and possess in canon, or what can be scavenged around town. There are two very small clothing boutiques where you can find most basics and a few cute outfits. For starting possessions two may be weapons or magical items, but you may have an additional three mundane items. All other personal items can only be obtained through regains or events.
The first few days in your new home are relatively uneventful. The days are hot and sunny and the nights are warm beneath a dazzling starry sky.
After not quite a week, the noises of a spectacle will lead characters to a small gate in one of the outer walls with steps leading down into the outer moat. The fog surrounding the city walls has drawn back for just this one little area, revealing an open air theater butting up against the castle wall. A path leads away from the theater on either side, but if you walk into the mist on either side you will promptly find yourself walking out of the mist on the opposite side, as if you'd circumnavigated the entire moat in just a few steps. Behind the theater is another high stone wall. Centuries of weathering has added rough footholds and handholds, but it would be a dangerous climb without equipment. Trees grow from the top of the wall, sticking limbs out of the wall of mist and clawing roots into the stones at the top, loosening them so that they're ready to slip at a touch.
The play that is projected onto the wall features shadow puppets, colored lights, and canned soundtrack special effects like the clop of horses hooves or the burst of trumpets. There is no dialogue or narration, so the story can only be roughly pieced together: there is a king and a queen, then a betrayal that leads to the king's murder. Later, the king and the queen appear again, participating in a ritual which seems to involve human sacrifice, a war and a triumphal procession, and then another betrayal and the king is murdered again.
The story repeats three times every night before shutting itself off. The first performance starts at twilight, and each repetition lasts about twenty minutes. Characters who watch it repeatedly will get the sense that it's slightly different each time, but the whole thing is complicated and confusing without any narration or dialogue to provide context, so characters will struggle to pin down how it's different. A slide projector is set up at the top of the amphitheater, with a pair of old speakers on either side of it. If slides are removed from the projector, they show only blank, uncolored plastic. If something is placed in front of the projector light, the scene is projected onto that object. The projector can be turned off, unplugged, or smashed. No matter what is done to it, as soon as no one is actively watching it, it is restored to an undamaged status and resumes playing.
After watching an entire repetition of the performance, some characters may be overcome by a fit of weeping. Tears roll down your cheeks and you can't seem to catch your breath. Despair clutches at your heart, colored by your own personal sorrows, and the weeping can only be stopped by receiving an embrace.
Others may find that the performance inspires them to reminisce. No matter how secretive you might normally be, you find yourself turning to whoever is sitting near you and telling them a story from your past, something that makes you nostalgic or regretful.
After not quite a week, the noises of a spectacle will lead characters to a small gate in one of the outer walls with steps leading down into the outer moat. The fog surrounding the city walls has drawn back for just this one little area, revealing an open air theater butting up against the castle wall. A path leads away from the theater on either side, but if you walk into the mist on either side you will promptly find yourself walking out of the mist on the opposite side, as if you'd circumnavigated the entire moat in just a few steps. Behind the theater is another high stone wall. Centuries of weathering has added rough footholds and handholds, but it would be a dangerous climb without equipment. Trees grow from the top of the wall, sticking limbs out of the wall of mist and clawing roots into the stones at the top, loosening them so that they're ready to slip at a touch.
The story repeats three times every night before shutting itself off. The first performance starts at twilight, and each repetition lasts about twenty minutes. Characters who watch it repeatedly will get the sense that it's slightly different each time, but the whole thing is complicated and confusing without any narration or dialogue to provide context, so characters will struggle to pin down how it's different. A slide projector is set up at the top of the amphitheater, with a pair of old speakers on either side of it. If slides are removed from the projector, they show only blank, uncolored plastic. If something is placed in front of the projector light, the scene is projected onto that object. The projector can be turned off, unplugged, or smashed. No matter what is done to it, as soon as no one is actively watching it, it is restored to an undamaged status and resumes playing.
After watching an entire repetition of the performance, some characters may be overcome by a fit of weeping. Tears roll down your cheeks and you can't seem to catch your breath. Despair clutches at your heart, colored by your own personal sorrows, and the weeping can only be stopped by receiving an embrace.
Others may find that the performance inspires them to reminisce. No matter how secretive you might normally be, you find yourself turning to whoever is sitting near you and telling them a story from your past, something that makes you nostalgic or regretful.
CONTENT WARNING: Cruelty and violence against (monster) dogs
After the characters have been in Rhodos for about three weeks, a heavy fog rolls into town. Unlike the mist that surrounds the city, the fog smells of smoke. Visibility is reduced to a mere ten or fifteen feet.
The electricity goes out, and shops are no longer replenished. Food may still be scavenged, but the food in shops and restaurants will slowly rot and may run out. Battery operated items will continue to work as long as the batteries still have a charge. Running water inside the houses continues to work, but it is sluggish and smells stale, leaving an unpleasant film on the skin.
While out on the streets of the town, characters will begin to encounter the monster dogs of Rhodos. The sound of a dragging chain precedes them, and then the hazy outline of a dog comes into view. It's walking oddly, however, with a sort of staggering limp, and the sound of the chain is underlaid by a low, feral growl. Furless gray skin peels away in patches to reveal bloody muscle. The heavy iron collar around the neck is studded with long black screws, the ends of which pierce the skin of the neck. Hazy eyes are clouded with decomposition, and yet that doesn't seem to prevent the dog from making its way straight toward you.
The dogs are not very fast, nor very smart. They can be outpaced at a brisk walk, and they will lose track of any character who gets more than twenty feet away or behind a closed door. But they are vicious. If you get within a few feet, they will lunge at you and attempt to bite. If two or three of them manage to corner you in a blind alley, you could be in real trouble.
In addition to the dogs, characters will begin to catch glimpses of Manifestations, both their own or those of others. At first you might just catch a glimpse of them through a break in the fog, but after a day or two they can be spotted standing outside of apartment windows and staring in. In either case, they will not approach or attack characters unless you're foolish enough to get within six feet of them. Then, they will attack, and they will pursue at a fast walk until they lose track of you in the fog.
After the characters have been in Rhodos for about three weeks, a heavy fog rolls into town. Unlike the mist that surrounds the city, the fog smells of smoke. Visibility is reduced to a mere ten or fifteen feet.
The electricity goes out, and shops are no longer replenished. Food may still be scavenged, but the food in shops and restaurants will slowly rot and may run out. Battery operated items will continue to work as long as the batteries still have a charge. Running water inside the houses continues to work, but it is sluggish and smells stale, leaving an unpleasant film on the skin.
The dogs are not very fast, nor very smart. They can be outpaced at a brisk walk, and they will lose track of any character who gets more than twenty feet away or behind a closed door. But they are vicious. If you get within a few feet, they will lunge at you and attempt to bite. If two or three of them manage to corner you in a blind alley, you could be in real trouble.
In addition to the dogs, characters will begin to catch glimpses of Manifestations, both their own or those of others. At first you might just catch a glimpse of them through a break in the fog, but after a day or two they can be spotted standing outside of apartment windows and staring in. In either case, they will not approach or attack characters unless you're foolish enough to get within six feet of them. Then, they will attack, and they will pursue at a fast walk until they lose track of you in the fog.
CONTENT WARNING: Blood imagery
On the 28th, characters are awakened by the sound of their front doors being smashed in. It's your own smashing door that awakens you, but you can hear more distant sounds of destruction from the other apartments nearby.
As you scramble out of your bed, you find that the homey, quilted bedding has been soaked through with blood, and it's sagging in the middle with the outline of a human body. But before you have a chance to properly react to that horror, your Manifestation is coming through your bedroom door — more than one of them, if you were sharing that bed with anyone.
You will have to fight or dodge in order to get out of the room. Your Manifestation is out for your blood. You can do damage to it, creating deep wounds and heavy bruises, causing it to stagger and slow for a moment, but no matter how much damage you do it keeps coming for you. Sooner or later, you will need to run.
When you make it out into the streets, you'll find that the entire world has changed. Heavy darkness fills the city, and no stars are visible in the sky. A few lights glow despite the lack of electricity, but they only provide a sickly, red-tinted light. Streets are slick with something that looks like blood, and the stone walls in many places have been transformed into metal or grate. Through the grate, you can catch glimpses of black metal hooks and gory, dripping meat that looks human in origin.
There is no palatable food or water. Anything you have saved has rotted or changed unnaturally into what looks like rotting flesh or lumps of bile. Liquid has turned into blood or black water. The only mercy is that symptoms of hunger, thirst and fatigue stabilize after 24 hours and don't get any worse. Don't worry, it won't be the dehydration that kills you here.
Your Manifestation pursues you tirelessly, and the monster dogs are faster, smarter, and moving in packs. Your home is no longer safe, and staying on the streets is deadly.
On the 28th, characters are awakened by the sound of their front doors being smashed in. It's your own smashing door that awakens you, but you can hear more distant sounds of destruction from the other apartments nearby.
As you scramble out of your bed, you find that the homey, quilted bedding has been soaked through with blood, and it's sagging in the middle with the outline of a human body. But before you have a chance to properly react to that horror, your Manifestation is coming through your bedroom door — more than one of them, if you were sharing that bed with anyone.
You will have to fight or dodge in order to get out of the room. Your Manifestation is out for your blood. You can do damage to it, creating deep wounds and heavy bruises, causing it to stagger and slow for a moment, but no matter how much damage you do it keeps coming for you. Sooner or later, you will need to run.
There is no palatable food or water. Anything you have saved has rotted or changed unnaturally into what looks like rotting flesh or lumps of bile. Liquid has turned into blood or black water. The only mercy is that symptoms of hunger, thirst and fatigue stabilize after 24 hours and don't get any worse. Don't worry, it won't be the dehydration that kills you here.
Your Manifestation pursues you tirelessly, and the monster dogs are faster, smarter, and moving in packs. Your home is no longer safe, and staying on the streets is deadly.
CONTENT WARNING: Body horror, immolation
Sooner or later, you find your way to the bonfire in the middle of the fountain square. There is no longer water in the fountain. Instead, the whole thing towers with flame, fueled by a viscous black substance in the basin.
A tall man stands by the fountain, gazing into the flames as if he is supervising. His suit is true black, fathomless black, while his skin is a dark red-black like the newly formed crust upon a lava flow. His eyes are black pools reflecting the flames. He takes no interest in any approaching characters, and will not respond to any questions. The only thing that will draw his attention to you is an attempted attack. If you try it, your blow lands, but he doesn't seem to take any damage. His head turns toward you and he considers you for a moment, as if he finds it intriguing that you would attempt such a thing. Then he returns his attention to the fire.
The dogs and the Manifestations will not pursue you into the circle of light cast by the bonfire. You can find a sort of respite here.
Time passes. It feels like days, though there is no way to mark the passage of time. The Dark Figure continues to supervise the bonfire.
At last, your attention is drawn to a sort of commotion approaching down one of the main streets that feeds into the plaza. You hear a rattling of metal, and a sort of gibbering moan. The bonfire illuminates first upon a pale, faceless figure which seems to writhe as it approaches, hovering above the paving stones. As it grows closer, you see that the figure is lashed to a square metal frame and bound with strips of barbed wire. Veiled figures on either side bear it forward, and the Dark Figure turns to watch it approach.
The figure upon the frame has no face and no mouth with which to make its agonized moans, but it continues nonetheless. It has limbs but no hands or feet, each limb ending in smooth stumps.
If no one interferes, the Handmaidens carry the frame forward and place it upon the fire.
The Handmaidens can be attacked, and hurt. They cry out indignantly at any attack, and recoil. They will not fight back, but they also will not be discouraged from their task by anything less than persistent violence.
If the pale figure on the frame is rescued by the player characters, it flails and gibbers helplessly, continuing to moan. If the pale figure is consigned to the flames, it begins to scream, and continues screaming for several minutes until the flame finally overcomes it.
In either situation, you begin to cough. Blood spills from your mouth, dribbling down your chin and spattering upon your clothing. But then the droplets begin to slither into letters, forming words that spell out your deepest guilt, in the words you yourself would use to describe it. No attempt to wipe the words away or cover them will prevent their legibility. The blood shines through whatever covers it, catching the firelight so that those around you can clearly read the words.
The Dark Figure and his Handmaidens made their exit while you were coughing. You are left alone with the other Tourists around you, your guilt, and whatever remains of the pale figure upon the frame.
Sooner or later, you find your way to the bonfire in the middle of the fountain square. There is no longer water in the fountain. Instead, the whole thing towers with flame, fueled by a viscous black substance in the basin.
A tall man stands by the fountain, gazing into the flames as if he is supervising. His suit is true black, fathomless black, while his skin is a dark red-black like the newly formed crust upon a lava flow. His eyes are black pools reflecting the flames. He takes no interest in any approaching characters, and will not respond to any questions. The only thing that will draw his attention to you is an attempted attack. If you try it, your blow lands, but he doesn't seem to take any damage. His head turns toward you and he considers you for a moment, as if he finds it intriguing that you would attempt such a thing. Then he returns his attention to the fire.
The dogs and the Manifestations will not pursue you into the circle of light cast by the bonfire. You can find a sort of respite here.
At last, your attention is drawn to a sort of commotion approaching down one of the main streets that feeds into the plaza. You hear a rattling of metal, and a sort of gibbering moan. The bonfire illuminates first upon a pale, faceless figure which seems to writhe as it approaches, hovering above the paving stones. As it grows closer, you see that the figure is lashed to a square metal frame and bound with strips of barbed wire. Veiled figures on either side bear it forward, and the Dark Figure turns to watch it approach.
The figure upon the frame has no face and no mouth with which to make its agonized moans, but it continues nonetheless. It has limbs but no hands or feet, each limb ending in smooth stumps.
If no one interferes, the Handmaidens carry the frame forward and place it upon the fire.
The Handmaidens can be attacked, and hurt. They cry out indignantly at any attack, and recoil. They will not fight back, but they also will not be discouraged from their task by anything less than persistent violence.
If the pale figure on the frame is rescued by the player characters, it flails and gibbers helplessly, continuing to moan. If the pale figure is consigned to the flames, it begins to scream, and continues screaming for several minutes until the flame finally overcomes it.
In either situation, you begin to cough. Blood spills from your mouth, dribbling down your chin and spattering upon your clothing. But then the droplets begin to slither into letters, forming words that spell out your deepest guilt, in the words you yourself would use to describe it. No attempt to wipe the words away or cover them will prevent their legibility. The blood shines through whatever covers it, catching the firelight so that those around you can clearly read the words.
The Dark Figure and his Handmaidens made their exit while you were coughing. You are left alone with the other Tourists around you, your guilt, and whatever remains of the pale figure upon the frame.
Arrival: August 1
Sound and Light: August 5-20
Into the Fog: August 21-27
Waking Up to a Nightmare: August 28-30
The Bonfire: August 31
Welcome to Rhodos! Going forward, events will take place in two parts. The Normal World part of the event posted on the 5th of each month, and it will be a lighter event both in terms of length and thematic content. TDMs will be bi-monthly and will feature an event element or elements for the Normal World which in-game characters may also play with on their own log posts. The sections on Fog and Nightmare worlds for the TDM will generally be the same every month, allowing players to test drive those elements if they'd like, but not including spoilers for the second part of that month's event. The second part of the event will be posted on the 20th of each month, covering events occurring through both the Fog and Nightmare cycles.
Test drive memes are considered game canon.
This won't always be the case, but for the nerds among you who are enjoying this sometimes-accurate tour of Rhodes, all location images in this TDM and housing are accurate to Rhodes.
Lastly, we are in need of mods! We're most in need of help for processing apps and activity. If we aren't able to get some additional mods, we will have to place a cap on applications, and we're hoping we won't have to do that. If you're interested, please send us a message over on the mod contact page. We've gotten the mod volunteers we needed so we should be all clear to proceed without an applications cap. Thank you to everyone who showed interest!
Sound and Light: August 5-20
Into the Fog: August 21-27
Waking Up to a Nightmare: August 28-30
The Bonfire: August 31
Welcome to Rhodos! Going forward, events will take place in two parts. The Normal World part of the event posted on the 5th of each month, and it will be a lighter event both in terms of length and thematic content. TDMs will be bi-monthly and will feature an event element or elements for the Normal World which in-game characters may also play with on their own log posts. The sections on Fog and Nightmare worlds for the TDM will generally be the same every month, allowing players to test drive those elements if they'd like, but not including spoilers for the second part of that month's event. The second part of the event will be posted on the 20th of each month, covering events occurring through both the Fog and Nightmare cycles.
Test drive memes are considered game canon.
This won't always be the case, but for the nerds among you who are enjoying this sometimes-accurate tour of Rhodes, all location images in this TDM and housing are accurate to Rhodes.
no subject
The series of events that transpire after she takes off at a run aren't really anyone's fault. But by the time he catches up to her, she's so caught up in a panic that she can't really tell it's him. All she feels is terror, and it isn't until she hears him saying his name that she's able to snap out of it enough that she blinks over at him.]
Eddie?
[It feels no different than the day in the woods he had scared her in the middle of her seeing something. And the fact that she's still in the exact same place mentally doesn't feel great. In fact, it feels like she's a liability to him. That doesn't stop her from stepping forward to briefly hug him though. It's a sign that she's alright. Or as alright as she's ever going to be.]
Where are we supposed to go?
[Is there anywhere that's safe here? She's doubting that. But her hand still finds his, and she takes off in a hurry. They've got to find somewhere to lay low.]
no subject
eddie's never really felt more relief than when he hears his name fall from chrissy's lips. a part of him is always afraid that this is part of vecna's curse, that he'll watch her float up with eyes rolled back and hear that deep, taunting voice both nancy and max mentioned.
which is so fucking selfish of him, he knows, because chrissy actually went through that shit.
he shakes that off though, wraps his arms around her in a hug as best he can with a spear in the way. the touch is welcome because they're both tactile people, two kids from hawkins trying to survive. maybe in a better or worse off place, he's not sure. hawkins for him was pretty awful but chrissy doesn't deserve this. ] We just have to hide. [ and eddie's good at that, at finding the places where no one will look. he grasps her hand, takes hold and they take off. there's a row of abandoned buildings up ahead, stores abandoned in the night. eddie hears the bats screeching behind them and suddenly pulls chrissy into one of the abandoned convenience stores. the door's transparent so anyone can see inside and -- fuck -- eddie sees a shelf right next to it, rushes to the other side to push it to block the door and manages that. ] Okay. Okay. Okay. Jesus Christ. Um.
[ he looks around. ] Maybe there's a back room. We can find that, hide out. [ did he just fuck them over? but maybe there's a back way out. fuckfuckfuck. ]
no subject
Which makes grabbing hold of Eddie's hand bittersweet. She's grateful to have a friend here, especially one that's able to put her at ease the way he does. But she also doesn't want to drag him into any more of her messes. And this whole place?
It's a huge mess.
Her heart is pounding, and she has to press a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound of her panting as she tries to catch her breath. But she's quick to help him shove the shelf, and the second he suggests the back room she's nodding and hurrying through the store.]
We need a minute to catch our breath. We can't —
[Ah, but then she spots it. A door to the back. She darts back over to Eddie and grabs his hand, tugging him behind her as she makes a beeline for that back room.
They could be sitting ducks here. But she goes inside and immediately begins to start shoving the wall shelf up against the door. She'd rather be trapped in here with no way in or out than leave the door unblocked.]
Maybe that will keep them away for a while.
[It's said as she slides down the wall to sit on the floor. She's exhausted.]
no subject
eddie helps push that shelf over. he's not strong, no steve harrington, but he's got upper body strength and adrenaline going for him. plus, he's got more muscle on him than chrissy so he's doing the majority of the pushing. not that he minds. eddie keeps moving after that, if only because otherwise he's sure he'll have another panic attack. it's been nearly a month and it doesn't get easier. how the fuck did the kids do it?
the backroom's poorly lit and after they move the shelf, eddie scrambles around to see if he can find anything like a flashlight in the small desk or in any of the shelves that line the walls. eventually he has to give up, sits down along the wall beside chrissy and pulls his lighter out of his pocket to light it. so they have the flame between them until their eyes adjust. ] Fuck.
I think-- I think it's okay for now. [ maybe if he says it with a bit of bravado, channeling someone other than himself, he'll believe it. he lets out a breath, reaches to wrap an arm around chrissy because there's safety in that. ]
no subject
But his arm is around her and that feels relatively safe. Even if his heart is racing the same as hers is, they at least can rely on one another. That's something, isn't it?]
It has to be okay. I'm too tired to keep running.
[They had broken into a run after falling asleep. Much needed sleep, since insomnia seemed to bother the both of them. She had to wonder if it was staying awake to avoid nightmares for him too. But she hadn't worked up the courage to ask him yet. That didn't seem to be changing anytime soon.
She leans up against him, sighing tiredly. Everything here is exhausting. still, she turns without leaving the shelter of his arm, and moves so she can firmly press her legs against the shelf they've pushed over. She may not be strong but she has great lower body strength. If it comes down to it, she can probably push against the shelf to keep anything from getting in.]
Are you okay? I mean, those things didn't hurt you did they?
no subject
it's better to be safe than sorry at what feels like the end of the world. ] We'll wait it out here.
[ there's no need to be stupid, to try to be heroes. ] Uh? The demo-bats? [ he shakes his head. ] Nah, they didn't get me.
Those things took chunks out of Harrington back-- back home. I'm haven't become dinner yet. [ a little sardonic, laced with humor because that's easier than the ridiculousness of it all. ] Are you okay? You hit the fence and... All I saw when I woke up was blood. [ and his arm tightens around her shoulder. all eddie can think of is chrissy floating up, of her blood then. of the way she-- he shudders and cuts off that train of thought. ]
no subject
He may be able to feel it though, because they're pressed so close together. He's fussing over her and she leans into him, arm curling upward so her hand can grab hold of his arm.]
The bed was just soaked in it. I don't think I'm hurt though. I mean, I'm not in any pain.
[And she's been in immense, life-ending pain before. She knows pain. The fact she's not even feeling discomfort now lets her know that she's fine.]
no subject
he sighs, tilts his head back against the wall and looks up at the ceiling. ] As if this place wasn't freaky enough with the fog and the dogs and no one else here.
[ he winces, shakes his head. ] Good, I'm glad. That you're not hurt, I mean. [ because eddie's not sure he would know what to do there. he feels kind of useless, actually, right now. sure he knows what would come next in his campaigns, how to tell a good story, but he's not built for this. for horror becoming reality. ]
You know, I used to really love monster and fantasy stuff. [ he says after a beat of silence, like it wasn't just a week ago where that held so true. ]
no subject
[She tries making a joke, does whatever she can to lighten the mood. He's just as close to panic as she is, and there's something about the way he looks at her sometimes that puts her on edge. It leaves her feeling like she has to try harder to make her presence easier on him. That she has to find a way to make herself seem like she doesn't take as much space.]
It feels like we're trapped in the Neverending Story sometimes. You saw that movie, right?
[The kid in that movie had loved monsters and fantasy too. It's probably ridiculous to compare the trauma they're dealing with together here to a kid's movie. But she's also not about to unload her mounting issues on him. Not when he has his own and is having trouble dealing with them.]
no subject
[ he nods again. ] Watched that one twice. The Artax scene had me crying both times, I gotta admit. [ because if they're going to be talking about watching a kids movie while the world around them is ending, while they have to survive the night, eddie can admit something vulnerable about himself. ] Don't laugh at me for that one, okay?
no subject
They're going to snap eventually. But she doesn't want it to be here and now.]
I don't think I could laugh, even if I wanted to.
[She whispers, reaching over to nudge him. It may seem playful, but a part of her is afraid his being here is just a dream. That she'll blink and he'll be gone. Sometimes, when she lets herself really sit and think, she assumes this is some kind of punishment. Purgatory maybe, because she hadn't done enough to save herself and stay alive. She let her death happen.
Eddie could be an extension of her punishment. And she needs to continually reach out to touch him to make sure he's still there.]
It feels like I'm that horse right now. Sinking deeper and deeper.
[Soon there won't be a chance to save herself.]
no subject
what makes him so fucking abrasive, unable to read the fucking room. he lets out a wet laugh and then clears his throat. ] I think-- I think maybe we're all sinking together here and just have to stick together to figure it out, we need someone else to throw us rope. [ eddie's not an optimist, he's not, but that sounds better than the reality where he worries that's all not enough. that they're fucked. that it's not as simple as henderson, harrington, max and robin had laid it out to be.
there's a loud bang, not inside their room, no but right outside of it. like something's fallen but there's no movement that eddie can hear as he tenses against the wall. his arm tightens around chrissy, pulls her close to his chest. ] Holy shit. Holy shit. [ he whispers, panicking once again because what if this is where they're more fucked than if they stayed running. maybe this is where they sink. ]
no subject
She doesn't have long to think on that though, because the noises outside their hiding place send her into instant terror. They've essentially run and hide, and have trapped themselves somewhere. Their fear has controlled them, making them pretty easy targets.
As he pulls her in close, she turns to press her face against his chest, to try and muffle the frightened whimpers she makes as she just sits there and waits. What else can they do? They've run and backed themselves into a corner.]
We have to find our own rope, Eddie. [It's sobbed out, as quietly as she can.] We can't wait for someone else.