Event Log: Senses Fail

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the Senses Fail event
Where: All over the city
When: May 14th-May 20th
Warnings: None

You wake up on the 14th, and something is different. Maybe it's something small - you can't smell anything, or your hearing on one side seems to be on the fritz. Or it could be something large and impossible to miss - you've gone completely blind, or you seem to be missing a leg. You've lost something, and no matter what you do, you can't seem to fix it.

Will you ever get it back? Probably, but it's impossible to be sure. And even if you're thoroughly convinced that this is temporary, that still means you have to figure out how to live like this for the next week. Even small things can be huge difficulties. Your sense of taste doesn't seem that important, until you accidentally eat something that'll make you sick. And sure, maybe you can figure out how to live without one hand, but what about when you wake up three days from now and you've also lost your magic?

Do your best to keep yourself calm, but remember: it can always get worse.

► This log covers May 14th-May 20th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If your lost sense turns out to have been essential to your survival, please let us know here.

Comments

18th

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin finds Taako at Hope's temple, a place the Elf doesn't spend much time in. It has bad associations for him. But today he's taking a shortcut across the field near the temple and for reasons he couldn't explain, he runs up the steps and takes a look inside. And there is Taako huddled in a corner with a wide-brimmed hat on.

Uh-oh. He's camped out waiting for someone. ]

Taako? What's up? [ His voice is gentle. But he's worried for his two Elf friends. ]

[pocketspa]

[Taako isn't here a lot, either. He doesn't spend time around any of the temples- they're all shitheads and he wants nothing to do with them. But this is the closest he has right now to her. This is where she'll be. So he waits.

One of his ears flicks when he hears his name called, but it just makes him want to curl in tighter. God, why do people keep finding him who know what he goddamn looks like? He can play this off, he can-- he can fake this. He's faked everything else.]

Just, y'know. Gettin' away from it all.

[He forces himself to be a little less curled, but doesn't really raise his head, though he does make a show of adjusting his wizard hat. Just like always, right? Sure.]

Whole place is a mess, but I figure they won't take the house of the dude in charge, so.

[so_dark_a_road]

[ No argument from Curufin on that title of shithead for the gods! They've all pretty much earned it.

Fake it till you make it! Yessss. ]

It's a mess, all right. [ He whistles softly, just as though he and Anakin hadn't had anything to do with the broken furniture and the smashed vases. ] Or did you mean the whole of Hadriel is a mess? I'd agree with you on that one, too.

Say, what's with the hat? You getting ready for a cosplay or something?

[ Clearly something is wrong, but Taako is being reticent. Maybe he'll talk in a bit. Meanwhile, Curufin uses his humor to let the other Elf know he's not alone with it, whatever it is. ]

[pocketspa]

[The problem here is that Taako doesn't just open up- he'd rather lie through his teeth until it kills him. But he's fucking tired. Hope and his crew have put him through a lot, but this one may be the kicker. Things have been bad, but killing Lup? Unforgiveable. Unsalvagable.

He gives Curufin an incredulous sort of look, squinting at him from under the brim.]

What are you talking about? It's my fuckin-- my goddamn hat, I wear it all the time, what do you give a shit?

[He shuffles, pulling himself in tighter. Fuck this.]

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Yeah, Curufin knows that. He does a fair amount of lying himself, instead of opening up. So he can understand Taako not wanting to spill the beans. ]

It doesn't matter at all, Taako. I was just trying to be funny. I guess the joke didn't go over well. My apologies. [ And he means that sincerely. ]

Do you need anything? [ He pulls out a silver flask that he keeps in his satchel at all times. It is full of the Speakeasy's best whisky. He pulls the stopper and offers the flask. ] A drink of this might quell your thirst, if you've been here a while.

[pocketspa]

[It's mostly just surprising to him how people can be so sincere and still sit here and try to help him. Why are people like this? Looking for projects, people to dote on to make them feel better. He's nobody's pity party. He can deal with this himself.

He purses his lips, shifting his mouth to the side, and finally takes the flask. He sniffs it first, and then decides he doesn't much care if it's dosed, and takes a drink before replying.]

Why do you even care? You don't know me. Weren't showin' up to do this I bet.

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Well, at least he's accepted a drink! ]

I don't know you well, but we fought the Null together, if you recall. Besides, we've spoken on the network, and that has been quite enjoyable. I don't need more than that in order to care about you. I'm not so busy that I can't take time.

[pocketspa]

[That entire paragraph is just one long ????????????????????? response.]

I mean... yeah, but you have like. You don't know me.

[How do people do this? Just care about other people for no or basically no reason? How do you ever have the energy.]

I'm not your project you need to fix.

[so_dark_a_road]

I don't see you as a project. I see you as Taako, who is waiting in Hope's temple for reasons I don't know. And I know it's not my business. If you don't want the company or the concern, I won't trouble you further. [ He leaves Taako the flask, though. ]

Good luck. [ And he turns to go. ]

[pocketspa]

[This whole situation is weird. People-- reaching out to him, trying to care. It's not that he doesn't get why. There will always be kind people in the universe, people who haven't been broken by pain. But Taako can't trust like that. He's better, better than he's ever been, but unknown people present unknown dangers. It took him so long to trust the more foolhardy members of their crew.

It's not necessarily personal. It just is.

He shifts his jaw a little, looks down at the flask before holding it up.]

You want your thing back?

[It's... probably not recognizable as a reach out. But for someone whose spent a lot of his life taking shit without remorse, the action of asking is at least one point in his favor.]

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin was not a trusting person in his own world, and it took him a long time to develop the ability to trust. So he gets it.

He smiles when Taako offers him the flask back. ]

If you'd like to have it, keep it. It's Speakeasy liquor, and there's a lot more where that came from.

[ He doesn't leave, just waits for a further cue. ]

[pocketspa]

[He sits for a few tense seconds, considering his options, before he tucks the flask back into his middle. This is his now. At least he can be maybe slightly wasted if he feels like it.

He'll remember this, though. It's not every day someone really listens. And, well- maybe it's especially hard to take from elves, considering his checkered history with parentage. But he tried. He tried, and that means something.]

Yeah. Fine.

[He won't speak again.]

[so_dark_a_road]

[ It's a gift, and it is intended to give Taako the option of getting wasted, and also to let him know that somebody cared enough to wish him the opportunity. And to let him know that Curufn tried, even though he couldn't do much. But, again, he understands how hard it can be to trust. ]

Good, then.

[ He stays a little longer, just as a way of saying that he understands the loneliness of waiting in this temple. And then eventually, he slips away. ]