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kaisou2024-04-03 01:52 pm
April Event Log
April Event Log
Dominant Element: Earth
Waning Element: Water
Full Moon: April 22nd - April 24th
※
Spring arrives in Kaisou once again, bringing with it pleasantly warmer weather and April showers. Trees begin to blossom once again as the rain turns the grass from its dull wintry brown to a lusher spring green. When it's not raining, you can look up and cloud gaze or admire the Spirit Vein in the sky as it turns a lovely, earthy brown. The city seems to be having a calm month, let's enjoy it while it lasts.
April FlowersEager to shake off the last vestiges of winter, the residents of Kaisou seem to be going all in on welcoming spring. All over town, people are finding just about every excuse to be outside and enjoy the warm spring weather. At the schools, many teachers will find excuses to teach their classes outside, and just about every park is full of couples picnicking. Restaurants throughout the town are advertising fresh new spring menu items, including dishes full of asparagus and spring greens. Meanwhile, boutiques and big box stores are pushing their spring collections, which are full of pastel and light colors. Even the merchants of Undertown are getting in the mood for spring, with vendors popping up to sell unusual seeds of plants you normally find just in the Spirit Realm.
But it's not just the Spirit Realm seeds that gardeners will find unusual. Much like last year, the arrival of spring brings with a burst of plant growth. And, much like last year, it is rapid and explosive in ways to an extreme, even unnatural, degree. Flowers and plants are growing at extremely fast speeds, and are far larger and plentiful than one would expect them to grow. The normal folk of the town don't seem too concerned, they're are mostly just excited about their flowers blooming so early and so well. Those with connections to the supernatural are a bit apprehensive, as it reminds them all too well how much closer to the Spirit Realm this city is getting. This isn't going to stop them from taking advantage of it, but all the same, there is a concern. Kaisou's turning into bit of a jungle, tamed only by careful weeding, magical solutions, and the occasional person with a machete whacking at the more stubborn plants.
These Roots were Made for WalkingMuch like last year, there is a massive surge of plant growth in the city. However, this year? That is not where it stops.
As the month goes on, something... strange starts to happen. Trees that you swear weren't there the day before are suddenly right there against your house. And then it's over by your car. And... how did it get the middle of the street!?
The excessive spirit energy that is causing such explosive growth in the city is more powerful than it first appeared. Though they aren't sentient, the trees of Kaisou are suddenly ambulatory, able to walk around and be places they really, really should not be. Those in the city blind to the supernatural don't think anything of it, noting that they should really get someone out to handle the small grove of pine trees in the middle of the grocery store parking lot. The more supernaturally inclined do notice and will try everything they can think of to get the trees out of the way, if not back where they belong.
App users who are interested in getting the trees out of the way can try their hand at tree-herding. Those with a special connection to plants might be able to usher them back to their original location with a little sweet talking. Meanwhile those with more musically inclined skills may be able to do an arboreal pied piper act and lure them out of the way with song. Or you might be able to strong-arm them out of the way, if you're really desperate. Eventually, the potion makers of Undertown will create a concoction that can be poured on the roots of the trees to keep them stationary. Make sure to pour that potion on your trees in your yard, lest they go wandering again.
After the untimely death of Teresa, the Black Order has made it very clear to the Kaisou Guardians that they have until the end of April to investigate and find the culprit. But, they aren't going to let them investigate without any help, oh no. At the start of the month, each Black Order member will receive a metal bracelet engraved with runes with instructions to wear it during the month. The bracelet will clamp onto the Guardian's wrist once they receive it, making it so they can't choose to not wear it.
Once it's on, it's enchanted to detect anytime someone is lying to you (or you're lying yourself). Small lies will just make the runes glow, while large lies will cause the large sound to emit that everyone can hear. And consistent lies? If they aren't stop, the bracelet will start to heat up and cause pain to the wearer.
And top of everything else? It's not clear if the lies the bracelet is picking up on is being transmitted back to the Order or not. Any attempts to trace the spell will just give people a headache. So even if the Guardian wouldn't sell you out, the bracelet might.
New HorizonsOn April 5th, Zodiac will send out an alert.
ALERT: SPIRIT GATE DETECTED IN KAISOU HARBOR.
Element Classification: Earth
Danger Level: Low
Designation: Nook Islands
Zodiac has been contacted by a yokai named Tanukichi. He says he's familiar with the app users from last November, and has a business proposition he wants to discuss with you. You can talk to him at the Zodiac office.
Should you head down to the Zodiac Office, you'll find that the office is strangely empty. There are no Zodiac employees, and the Professor isn't sitting in his little chair. The only person there is a tanuki in a Hawaiian shirt, which some may recognize from last November. When he spots you, he'll hurry over and seem quite cheerful. He introduces himself as Tanukichi- or Tom Nook, as he likes to be called in these parts of the world. Then he starts chatting away in his high pitch voice, explaining with many words about his plan.
You see, since November and the failed attempt to take over Kaisou, Tom Nook realized that taking over already lived-in places really wasn't his cup of tea. Therefore, he decided to start his own island in the Spirit Realm, that he could build to be a wonderful slice of paradise. He's even found a nice abandoned realm that'll do quite nicely. But before he can start building the community of his dreams, he needs some help with making the island a desirable place to live! So, he'd love it if app users would spend some time on his island and help out.
And if you're wondering what's in it for you? Don't worry, Tom Nook has an answer. You see, a good businessmen keeps his ear to the ground, and he's heard of the trouble with a certain ... deceased Black Order Guardian. Now he doesn't want to know details on who did it (in fact, you're getting the sense this might be WHY the office is so empty today), but he is willing to offer temporary safe harbor for anyone who wishes to avoid the Order's investigation. Not even those noisy truth bracelets the Black Order received will be an issue! All you have to do in exchange is some simple labor to help him out. Not a bad offer, now is it?
If you agree to Tom Nook's deal, he'll happily give you instructions to the gate. The gate this time will appear as a small airport in Kaisou's harbor that's run by Dodo Airlines. Inside the airport are a couple of anthropormophic dodos who run the entire airport. After taking you though an obnoxiously long screening and paperwork process (including where they ask you to leave any weapons behind), you'll be allowed onto their seaplane and set for take off! The flight itself is a rather peaceful one, though the only form of in-flight entertainment is a promotional video for Tom Nook's island. Maybe try to find other ways to entertain yourself on the flight.
The IslandFinally, after a long flight, you arrive at your destination. Besides the small airport that you arrived at, the island is pretty much devoid of any civilization. Quickly, you may notice something alarming. Besides the clothes on your back, your phone, and any pets you brought along? Any items you brought with you seem to be gone - including those truth bracelets. If they try to ask the Dodo pilots about where your luggage may have gone, they'll probably shrug and say something along the lines of that this realm probably didn't allow it... whatever that means. Not only that, but while many folks have retained their human forms, some of you may look a bit more like an animal person than before.
Tom Nook and his two apprentices, Timmy and Tommy, are there to greet the app users. They lead you over to their camp that they've set up, which is in a clearing not far from the airport. There's a campfire going, as well as a dinner which consists of fruit (apples, oranges, pears, cherries and peaches) and some fire roasted fish. That's it. Once enough people are gathered, they'll explain once again their big dream of making this a wonderful island paradise. But for now, they had a lot of work to be done.
Once the meal is finished, Tom Nook will go over his plan. Supplies can't be imported into this realm very easy. Sometimes things will show up, but it tends to be pretty sporadic and random. So instead, Tom is thinking that they will just build items themselves using resources on the island! He'll spend the next hour giving a basic tutorial on how to make DIY items using random items that can be foraged around the island. Anything from stone axes to shovels to even furniture. It's actually surprising how much stuff can be built using the bare essentials - but you can chalk it up to the Realm's magic.
After the tutorials are through, Tom and his apprentices will separate everyone into groups. Once the groups are made, they hand each of the group a single rolled-up tent. This will be what you'll be living in, starting off. Now it's up to you to decide where to pitch your tent. There's plenty of space on the island, so your group has a lot of spots to choose from. Maybe you want to be close to where the town center will (eventually) be, maybe you want to be living on the sandy beach, maybe you want to be high up on some cliffs, or maybe you want some waterfront property near that very normal looking body of water on the north side. The choice is yours! Try to make it comfortable as possible, though there isn't a whole lot of room in this tent for four people.
Though if anyone starts getting into fights over the tent space? They will quickly discover violence does not work on this island. Any swung punches will comically miss their target, powers used against other people in violent attempts won't work, and hitting someone with a blade will somehow not cut them. The most you can do is harmlessly poke or smack people with sticks or bug nets. Guess this is what Tom Nook meant by people being safe here. As for other powers... well, they seem to work for some people, while others will find them completely powerless throughout their visit.
Get those BellsAnd so begins your island life. The first night is yours to relax, familiarize yourself with the island, or maybe practice your new DIY skills. The very next morning, you'll get text messages from Timmy and Tommy. As it turns out, the capitalists only needed a day to figure out how to make money off of this. Apparently this realm has a unique currency called Bells, a type of gold coin that when there's enough of them- can be used to magically accomplish a task. So while you're welcome to continue DIYing your way into a better island, you can also do other things to try to earn Bells.
And how do you earn Bells? Well, there's two ways. The first way is exploring the island for any interesting items and selling them to Timmy and Tommy for a price. The twins are pretty keen on running a shop on the island, and so they're willing to buy just about anything. Seashells you found on the beach? Sell it. A cool bug you found? Sell it. The failed DIY project that you made? Sell it. Those dinosaur fossils that keep appearing in your yard every morning? Sell those too. Some items sell more than others, and it's really hard to make sense of why some things sell so well (such as scorpions and tarantulas, they are willing to pay a concerning amount of money for those) - but that's just business baby. Some folks will even encounter glowing cracks in the ground. Digging there will reveal a glowing hole with money in it. Plant something in that hole? And very soon you'll have trees that grow money. Nice!
Meanwhile if you aren't in the mood to forage for sell-able items or you aren't having any luck with money trees, Tom Nook is happy to pay you in bells for doing various odd jobs about the Island. After all, the whole reason you're here in the first place is to help out with that, so you might as well get to work.
Some of these jobs include:
- Planting Flowers: The tanuki will happily give you various flower seeds to plant around the island in order to liven up the place! Help tend the flowers best you can. These flowers are special and seem to reproduce just about whenever they get watered, so any budding botanist could try their hand as crossbreeding flowers for new variants and colors. Just be careful not to let the flower population get too out of hand, as they can quickly overrun an area after a rainy day if not kept in check.
- Weeding: Just like the flowers, weeds have a way of growing quickly on this island. Make sure the weed problem is under control. It seems like every day new weed plants sprout up, so if you happen to be particularly lazy about it? It'll only take a few days before your area of the island is overrun with them.
- Food Gathering: So the island only has two native food sources: the fruit trees and fish from the various bodies of water. That's it. The fruit trees can be found throughout the island, offering a variety of apples, pears, cherries, oranges, and peaches. Be careful during your fruit picking though, as some trees contain wasp nests that seem to pop up out of nowhere and will get a whole swarm flying at you if you disturb them. As for the fish, they can be fished out of any body of water on the island. Though there's also always a chance you'll fish up a piece of garbage... or if you do catch a fish, you'll feel strongly compelled to make a pun about it.
- Building Infrastructure: There's a number of building projects needed in order to get the island going: a town hall, a general store for Timmy and Tommy, a clothing store, a museum, bridges to make river crossing easier, and staircases to help climbing up the cliffs. Help out building where you can either by gathering needed materials or helping build it yourself. Otherwise, you can always sell things to help contribute bells towards the projects.
- Landscaping: While it's important to get the basic infrastructure down for the island, there's plenty that could be done to make the island look even better. Help build and paint some fences, create public spaces from the furniture you build or find, and even use your powers to change the land itself.
Whether you choose to rely solely on DIY projects, or you decide to do work to earn some Bells - as long as you put in the work, it'll start to pay off for you. The first benefit will be your lodgings, as the tent you put down will become a proper building. Sure, it'll start with a single room house that's pretty cramp on space, but eventually with enough work done? It'll grow into a full house with multiple rooms, an attic, and a basement if you're willing to work the extra mile. Or, you can slack off and live in the tent all month. The choice is yours really!
Once you got the lodgings you desire (or deserve), it's now time to actually furnish it. You can build your own furniture with DIY. Or, you can buy furniture from Timmy and Tommy's general store with your excess Bells (though they will only sell a small handful of furniture pieces every day that are completely random). But besides that, you'll notice that items seem to show up... randomly on this island. Sometimes you'll shake a tree, and a sofa will fall out. And sometimes a balloon with a gift box will come floating by. Shoot it down with a slingshot, and the random gift inside is yours! It can be anything from furniture to articles of clothing to clay. How frequently these appear and the contents inside seem to hinge entirely on your luck, so may fortune be in your favor. Though even if you have the worst luck possible, you'll still get a minimum of three gift balloons coming your way with various gifts from the stars.
[OOC Note: Aka, every character can get three free gacha pulls this month! To redeem the pulls, please head over here!]
Island VisitorsLuckily, your time on the island isn't just going to be app users, the dodo birds, and the capitalists tanuki! As you put in efforts towards bettering the island, other visitors will begin to show up on the island. Some of them will be here for short visits, while others will move onto the island permanently. Every single one of them seem to be an anthropomorphic animal and act like it's entirely normal to be one, which gives you the strong impression that maybe humans are the strange ones here.
Some of the more notable arrivals include:
- Blathers: A brown owl that intends to run the museum on the island. While he's nocturnal in schedule, he's happy to chat with app users about various topics and seems to be good friends with the Professor (fuzzy) and Professor Oak... somehow. Since a museum needs things to look at, he'll ask that you donate any unique fish, bugs, fossils, and art pieces to put on display. He'll even happily talk about any of the items you bring him! Well, except for bugs. He is deeply afraid of bugs... the poor guy.
- The Able Sisters: Hedgehog sisters that'll run the clothing store once it's been open. They'll sell a random limited variety of clothes that characters can purchase with bells. These outfits will range from the chic and trendy to the extremely questionable, so keep your fingers crossed you don't spend your month looking like a fashion disaster. One of the sisters, Label, will ask people occasionally to try on various fashion styles for her own research, if you're looking for some quick easy Bells.
- Isabelle: A dog lady who will eventually be hired on by Tom Nook to help with running the town. Unlike Tom Nook, she is not driven by capitalism and will gladly help you sort out any infrastructure projects that aren't profit driven! Not only that, but if you're getting annoyed with your neighbors, you can ask Isabelle to issue a strongly worded complaint to them if you wanna be petty like that.
- Leif: A sloth that'll appear on the island some days to sell various plants. If you want more unique bushes or flowers for your landscaping, he's your guy! Even more importantly, he'll sell you food crops that AREN'T fruit - such as potatoes, wheat, pumpkins and carrots - just so you can get more variety in your diet.
- Brewster: A pigeon that'll open up a coffee shop within the museum, providing this island with some much needed caffeine. His drinks are pretty delicious, though he keeps calling the milk he uses as "pigeon milk". What is that? Should you question it and risk losing your caffeine access? Better not chance it.
- Redd: A kitsune who'll show up in a very shady boat and try to sell you fake art. No surprise, he's related to the kitsune who live back in Kaisou. Though as you deal with him, you start to get the sense he may be the stupid member of the family, as amongst all his obviously fake art? You'll find real famous works of art that he's selling for ridiculously low prices. Where did he get the actual Mona Lisa or a real Van Gogh? Who knows, but you might as well grab it before he realizes how pathetically low his asking price is.
- Saharah: A camel that has an unusual way of speaking but will sell you rugs, wallpapers and flooring for your place. The catch is? You won't get to see what she sells you until you buy it. Sometimes it'll look great, and other times it'll be the tackiest thing you ever laid eyes on. Is this a scam? It feels like a scam. But at least your place will have some carpeting.
- Daisy Mae: A young boar who will come to the island to sell turnips. These turnips can be used for cooking or try to invest in the turnip stock market. Each day, the sell price for turnips will change. Sometimes you can make it big, and sometimes you will lose money. Either way, the turnips go bad after a week so you gotta hope you're picking the right time to sell.
- Kapp'n: A Kappa that sits on a motorboat off the pier. He'll take you to a unique deserted island once a day, where you might be able to grab special resources or just spend time away from your housemates. What kind of island he takes you to is entirely up to change, and he will sing sea shanties the entire trip.
- Zipper T. Bunny (UNLUCKY CHARACTERS ONLY): If you are particularly cursed with misfortune (ie, you have the misfortune regain), sometime when you are alone you will be visited by a yellow rabbit with a zipper on the back. He will tell you that Bunny Day is coming, and so he's left chocolate eggs for you to find. From this point on, anytime you try to gather any resource you will have a 1-in-3 chance to find a chocolate egg instead. Try to catch a fish? Egg. Try to get some fruit? Egg. Go digging for fossils? Egg. You will also dream of DIY ideas you can do with the eggs. No one else will see Zipper. If you try to tell someone anyone with any truth-telling abilities about Zipper, it'll get pinged as a lie.
- K.K. Slider: Another dog that'll show up every Saturday to do performances in front of the town hall. While he's apparently a very famous musician and he's written music for just about every genre imaginable. As for his actual singing skill, well, it's an acquired taste.
Besides them, there are number of other visitors that'll pop up such as Blather's sister Celeste who'll show up whenever there's a meteor shower to watch (which happens about weekly in this realm), the obviously gay couple C.J. and Flick who'll pay extra for fish and bugs, the seagull Gulliver who keeps washing up on the shores after he keeps falling off his ship, the Otter Pascal who'll trade any scallops you happen to find for "Mermaid furniture"; and random animal people who'll show up to stay in a tent for the night. All in all, there's loads of new people to meet during your stay on the island that'll make the place just the all more memorable.
You can stay on the island as little or as long as you like. Whenever it's time to return home, you simply need to head to the Dodo Airport to take a flight home. Otherwise, you're welcome to stay on the island for the entire month if you'd like. The worst harm that'll come to you on this island is getting bitten by a tarantula and passing out, so you can consider this a safe place to be. Tom Nook will thank you for all your help, though how sincere that thank you is will depend on how much work you actually did. He also tells you you're welcome to come back anytime during the rest of the month, just head to the airport in the harbor.
At the end of the month, the realm will disappear like so many others did in previous times. But who knows, maybe you'll see it again someday.
The dominant element this month is Earth! Anyone with an affinity to the earth element will find themselves boosted throughout the month. This could mean a boost to their power, having more energy, feeling more inspired with creativity, having better luck on different attempts -- the boost can manifest in all sorts of different ways. By contrast, anyone with an affinity for Water will be experiencing the opposite. Perhaps their powers will be weaker, they have less energy, they're having a creative block or general worse luck - again it can manifest in all sorts of way and players are free to play with this mechanic as they'd like.
During the month of April, players can obtain up to 3 free gacha pulls! Please redeem these gacha pulls in the plotting post.
The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here. Another Zodiac Post will be going up April 15th to serve as an intro post for new characters and allow characters to react to developments over the network.
no subject
Because you're partly bird and birds lay eggs! [ Obviously. ]
It's been years since I left, so maybe you've been getting... uh... [ She pauses, misplaced anger set aside as she snaps her fingers, trying to remember the right word. She's getting it but not in the right language - ]
Broody, that was it. Broody was the word.
no subject
I can't lay eggs, you stupid ass! I don't got the relevant parts!!!
[Husk stares at her like she's grown another head, ruffling his feathers in annoyance at this absolutely insane accusation dropped at his feet.]
That's BULLSHIT! Why the fuck would I be getting broody? I'm sixty-two!! I don't NEED any more fuckin' kids!
[Then why are you adopting so many fully grown adults in Kaisou, Husk?]
This is crazy talk. You're talking CRAZY. Are you jealous of the fuckin' eggs? The fuckin' CHOCOLATE eggs?
no subject
[ This is a trainwreck.
Her own feathers ruffle in response ( oh this is a weird feeling actually- ), and Lapis knows she's going to be horrified about this in the morning.
But for now - ]
I'm not jealous! But you're not denying you don't want anymore kids!
no subject
[This is an absolute trainwreck and Husk is feeling weirdly upset at the thought that Lapis thinks he can just replace her. As if she doesn't know she means the world to him?
Of course, this is Husk as his ability to voice his emotions is pretty terrible on a good day and he's drunk now, so it's making things worse.]
I JUST said I didn't want any more! But you know what, fine! Maybe this make-believe kid you're SO sure I want would be less fucking noisy than you! They'd probably bitch at me to look after myself less, too!!
no subject
But why talk this out and when can just yell at each other instead. ]
Like you even listen when I bitch at you anyway! [ Lapis Does Not Curse in English, but Italian is free game. ]
But yeah, I bet you would prefer a kid who would let you just... just do whatever. Maybe they might leave you in the gutters, since you're always in those!
no subject
No! Because you do it all the fuckin' time! I never get a break!
Maybe I WANT to be in the goddamn gutters! Maybe that's where I fuckin' belong and you keep dragging me outta there like I don't. I know my lot in life, I get it. Maybe it'd be nice to be left to fuckin' rot for a change.
no subject
Because you barely take care of yourself as it is. If I didn't bitch at you all you would do is drink and eat crap!
And maybe I don't want you to rot! Even if all you want to do is live in the fucking gutters!! I'm not your actual kid, but I'm not going to leave you there even if you're a complete asshole sometimes!!
no subject
I know! That's all I wanna fuckin' do! It's called alcoholism!
[He's gonna take a BIG slug of the awful moonshine. To make a POINT.]
I don't know fuckin' why! Your life would be a whole lot easier if you just didn't fuckin' bother. You can go off and live your life with your new boyfriend and have a chance to be fuckin' happy for a goddamn change. Just leave me in my goddamn gutter!
no subject
Well I want to fucking bother. This is why you're an asshole, you don't... fucking listen to me sometimes!
[ You know what, she's just going to take a chug of her drink too. Ough that burns a lot, this was a mistake - ]
I'm not going off and living a new life with him, I want a life with him and you! I want you here, you stupid old bastard, not in some gutter!!
I know I'm... [ Words hard, but motivation to argue is stronger. ] I'm just some brat you mentored for years, but I still want you around!
no subject
[This is a massive error. Husk makes an unhappy noise in the back of his throat.]
I don't know why! You'd be happier without having to fuckin' deal with me. You got a chance for a better fuckin' life so I don't get why you wouldn't just make your life easier.
[Oh. No. He doesn't like that one bit. His ears pin to the back of his head.]
What? Fuck OFF. You're not "just" anything. You're my fuckin' KID. You fuckin' matter!
no subject
[ Lapis can feel her fur bristling even more, and honestly maybe it would be nice being human-shaped again because this still feels so weird. ]
Because I want you there! I know you fucking hate the city, but I was happy you got reassigned here!! I care about you, I always have and the reason why I'm even trying for something better is because of you.
[ And now she makes her own unhappy sound at the back of her throat. ]
And I shouldn't! I don't want to be what the... what THEY use to keep you in line, I don't want to do that to you!
no subject
Of course I hate this fuckin' city, but that's not because of YOU, you goddamn idiot. I was fuckin' happy to be able to see you again. I missed you. And good! I'm fuckin' glad one thing I taught you sank in!
[Oh. Shit. And now she's bringing up That Thing They Don't Talk About. Husk finishes off his moonshine, before sitting heavily on one of the egg stools.]
I don't want you to be that either, but you are, and there's shit-all either of us can do about that. I ain't sorry how it ended up that way, though. Weren't for you, I'd be fuckin' dead or Sealed by now. They might've given me someone they could use against me, but they also gave me someone I wanted to actually fuckin' live for, so jokes on them.
no subject
[ Ah. Even in her drunken state she can tell she's pushed this to Usually Ignored Territory. Her own ears pin back as she stays standing, twisting her own bottle between her paws before she just... downs it. Fuck it. ]
But I want something better for you. I want you to be happy, that's why I bitch and nag all the time so you look after yourself. [ Wow this is very personal all of a sudden, she's just going to keep drinking. ]
I thought... maybe another kid could do that, better than I can. But I still want you to be my dad.
no subject
[He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of ruining her. Not if he could have anything to do with it. He shakes his head, firmly.]
Don't work like that, Kiddo. I ain't allowed to be happy. Not in this life, not in the last. Always got some fucker holding the leash 'round my throat tight as they can to make fucking SURE of that.
[He's deep in his cups and his emotions have been pulled at- he's not realised he slipped into talking about the thing he absolutely definitely never ever talks about. He scoffs instead.]
That's fuckin' stupid. You're being fuckin' stupid. I don't want or need another kid for any of that. YOU'RE my kid, you're all I need, because I love you, you dumbass.
no subject
[ But hearing that... Even in her incredibly drunken state, she knows not to ask further. Later, that's for later. ]
And that's unfair! You shouldn't have to deal with that again. [ And even if he sees this as the drunken bluster of a very emotional catbird - ] Then I'll do my best to make you happy, okay! Even if I can't do much, I'll try.
[ If she's going to be free someday, so is he. Though then she immediately puffs up into a pout at that. ]
It's not stupid. [ Yes it is. But she's quick to deflate again. ] I love you too, dad. And I don't wanna end up dragging you down and making you more miserable.
no subject
[So... fucking there. That is definitely a later conversation. That is not a drunk, yelling conversation. ]
I know it's unfair, I'm not fuckin' stupid. But it is what it is. I found ways to cope. [That's called alcoholism and is in fact, not a very good coping mechanism. ] You DO make me... 'bout as close to happy as I can be. Ain't no one else managed that.
[Except Angel. But that's a different situation and a whole different life.]
You don't make me miserable you fuckin' moron! It's the opposite of that. Where the fuck do you get the idea you're dragging me down anywhere?
no subject
Though hearing that does get through the current drunken fog she's brought upon herself - she is never drinking again after this - and her ears press even more flat against her head. ]
Because I've never been easy to deal with. Not as a kid, and not now. [ She has some self-awareness. ]
And with all the other... shit going on. If something happens to me, I don't want it to affect you.
[ She means particular zealots arriving and how she might react, or what they might do to make her backslide. Even drunk out her ass, she knows not to actually say anything where people can absolutely hear. Like over at house 9. ]
no subject
[At least he knows his problem is a problem. He scoffs, raising a hand skyward.]
No shit, Sherlock! Tell me something I don't know! You've always been a pain in the ass. It doesn't mean shit - sure as hell doesn't mean you're dragging me down fuckin' anywhere.
[He does know what she's been getting at, though. He's pretty damn certain more zealots will be on the way and he would not be surprised if they were all going to be punished for their inaction around Teresa's murder. It's a fair assumption to make they will send zealots who can push their buttons.
And if it's who Husk is afraid of, he's not completely convinced he can keep himself from doing something extremely fucking stupid. ]
Well, sucks to be you, it's gonna affect me if you want it to or fuckin' not. Because I'm gonna be in your goddamn corner either way. So you might as well accept it for what it is because it ain't fuckin' changing.
no subject
[ Lapis says, not meaning it in the slightest. Even if the mental image is funny. ]
You're such an asshole, honestly! [ She finishes off her bottle, before huffing loudly when there's nothing left. ]
I don't want you to get involved but you aren't listening to me! I don't... I don't get it. [ But the fight is starting to leave her now, despite her attempts to keep arguing. ]
All this shit isn't worth it, not even this... stupid fucking argument. [ She isn't worth this, is what it all chalks up to - someone deeply insecure and now only drunkenly venting about it. ]
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[No!! Leave him to his alcohol and gambling :(]
And you're surprised? I've never been anything fuckin' different, Lapis.
[He wishes he had more booze, he doesn't want to deal with this conversation without something to drink. Something to half-occupy his hands and mind. He doesn't even have his cards here to shuffle- so he just picks up a small stone to roll it between his fingers in sleight-of-hand that's second nature to him even after all this time. ]
Correct- I'm not listening. Because I'm gonna get involved if you like it or not. And I'll keep fuckin' arguing you about this until the goddamn heat death of the fuckin' universe. Because you're my kid and you're always gonna be worth it to me, regardless of what you think- because you think wrong. I love you, you goddamn moron- what, you think I'd ever think you weren't worth the whole goddamn world to me? Don't be stupid.
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So she huffs loudly and throws her hands to the air, stomping over so she's a little closer to him. ]
Fine, fucking... fine. I give up. You're going to be involved whether I like it or not, and you're gonna bitch at me if I keep doubting myself so -
[ She stops, another emotion choking on her words. It's something she's thought about for years, every since just before she left on her first solo mission, ever since he first called her "his kid". It's a request that's been pushed aside and ignored, scared of his reaction. Fearful of what would happen if he said no.
But fuelled by drunken bluster and the fact she's already said so much tonight, she chokes this words out. These aren't yelled, there's no more entertainment for their onlookers; with ears pressed against her head, it's just an earnest request from a girl to her father. ]
- So let me take on your surname. Let me actually be your daughter, officially.
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Husk still didn't really believe happiness was something he could really obtain - but Lapis really did bring him within spitting distance of it. ]
Damn fuckin' right I will. I already told you about not letting self-loathing fuck you over. That shit won't get you anywhere. I KNOW you know better than that.
[It was a lesson he'd done his best to hammer home. That no matter how shitty things got, turning that inward did nothing. Better to accept the bad situation and find someone who can bear the load with you than let it bury you. Most of the time, he's sure that lesson had sunk in, but once in a while it rears its ugly head again and he has to remind her.
He'd been preparing himself for more of that. Bitching at her and refusing to budge on her incorrect assumptions about herself until his stubbornness outlasted hers. It was an old, familiar process. But that's not what came - that's not what came at all. And for a moment, he turns to look at her like a deer in headlights, trying to process the curveballs she just hucked at his head.]
Wait, what?
[That bit came out in English, drunkenly swimming through the confusion of it all. ]
2/2
Much as Husk lectured against self-loathing, he always knew he wasn't anything fucking special. He was an alcoholic, a gambling addict, a goddamn mess of a man who'd fucked his existence over in two separate lifetimes though his own shitty, stupid choices. If he was asked to filter through both this life and his last to find something, anything worthwhile that he'd done... well, Lapis would be about the sum of it. He wasn't someone he'd expect anyone to actually want to tie their anchor to. He was fucking mess.
And yet here she was, asking for just that. He blinks once, trying to work through the booze and surge of emotions to find words again. When he does find them, they're in Russian because he's honestly been knocked off track with her request and has latched onto the first thing that comes back to his mind. His voice is a little gruffer than usual, his chest feeling tight and weird. She knows, she fucking knows that he's a loser. And yet- ]
You... you actually want that?
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But still he doesn't let that happen, even when she tries to stubbornly argue. Lapis insists she'll only make him miserable in the end, but he still insists he loves her. That he'll stick with her no matter what happens.
The switches in languages takes a moment for her brain to catch her, but after a moment, her words settle into Russian as well. It makes her remember when she was young - when she had nagged at him to teach her, wanting another thing she could share with him. ]
Of course I do. [ Her words are strained, choked as she rubs stubbornly at her eyes as her vision blurs. She cannot cry, she is not crying again - she's been doing it so much lately and being an emotional drunk is not helping.
(But that's a good thing, that she can still cry. That she hasn't locked up every little feeling deemed as a weakness.)
And of course she wants this. It doesn't matter to her that he's a drunken mess of a man. He was the one who was with her every night as she was plagued by nightmares, as she mourned the loss of her life. He dealt with her when she was angry, furious at everything. With every change in her life, big and small, he's been there.
She wouldn't be standing here right now, with friends and family, if he wasn't for him. ]
I've been thinking about it for a few years, but I never knew how to ask. I was worried about how you would react. But... you're my dad and I love you, and I wanted to have that... connection. Like we're an actual, official family.
[ The drunken bravado has mostly faded from her now, ears pressed to her head and shoulders hunched as she tries so, so hard not to let that old panic get to her. ]
So... Can I use it? Can I use your surname?
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The Russian is easier- it's the language he grew up with alongside English, speaking with his babushka in their shitty little apartment, trying to distract themselves from the Las Vegas heat while they waited for his parents to finish up working the casino floors. Teaching Lapis the language after she'd pestered him enough had been a connecting link between the both of them- forging a family link even then.
His wings droop a little, as he lets the weight of what she's saying settle on him. It's good to see her tear up. If the Order had their way, she wouldn't have a single damn emotion- they'd want everything locked up in a neat little box. Being messy would make her human and they didn't want that. He's so fucking proud of her for letting herself still feel.
He can feel tears prickling at his own eyes- with the confirmation that she wanted that- him. Despite what a monumental fuck up he is. He sucks in a breath, feeling solid clarity despite the metric-ton of moonshine in his system. ]
Of course you fuckin' can. I didn't think- [That he was really worth that, but here they are.] Yeah, Lapis. I'd like that. I'd like that a fuckin' lot.
[He can see the panic building in her and moves to stand, opening his arms in invitation, a genuine smile crossing his face.]
C'mere, Kiddo.
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