hadriel_logs | There's a reckonin' a-comin' (OTA)

Entry tags:

leo flynn,
lup

There's a reckonin' a-comin' (OTA)

Who: Leo and OTA
What: Leo starts getting hungry. This could get bad real fast.
Where: Throughout the city in the most deserted parts
When: First couple of weeks of December
Warnings: Disconnect from reality

This was what he'd been afraid of from the start. It had happened before when the city was deserted and he'd only gotten through thanks to Abigail's sacrifice. Hope was gone and Leo was getting hungry. Well, he couldn't very well go around killing people now, could he? So instead he was starving. Hungry Sunai who went too long without eating went through four emotional stages on their way to The problem is that it was hard to tell which state he was in when it was all happening in his own mind. Outside observers, though, they would be able to tell the difference. He ran them over in his head constantly: anger, madness, joy, and sorrow. And after that, well, he hoped there was someone strong enough to take him down.

When the first stage, anger hit, he was a lot more snappish and irritable than usual, but for most people, they could just chalk it up to his usual charming personality. Those who know him better would notice it wasn't just irritation, he tended to lose his temper a lot easier, and was prone to picking fights.

The next one was a lot easier to notice. Madness took the form of just sort of losing touch with everything and everyone around him. His sister Ilsa had always been this way, a mad little waif who spoke in Ophelia-like nonsense, but Leo rarely let himself get this far. He didn't hear people when they spoke to him and didn't seem to always see what was in front of him. It's like he'd just completely drifted away, his mind a radio that was set on AM while everyone else was on FM.

Joy was going to be interesting. Leo was never truly happy and this form of joy was more like delirium. Everything was wonderful and good, the world seemed shiny and new, like it had when he was first created as a teenager. For anyone who knew him, this would be the most unnerving state, for Leo was completely unlike himself. There was a manic edge to him that could be a little terrifying in how intense it was.

He hadn't gotten to sorrow yet. He really didn't want to.

There was also a physical change that was a little easier to notice than the emotional ones. He'd always been warm-blooded, being made of fire under the human guise. But now he was beyond warm, his skin was feverish to the touch, and only getting hotter as the days went by. Any snow that fell on him melted almost instantly. By the time he reached the states of madness and joy, it would be hard for anyone to touch him without experiencing a little bit of pain. From past experience, he knew he could easily reach the same temperatures as a hot stove. Being outside at least was a temporary relief, so he was thanking his lucky stars they'd ended up on an ice planet. Now if only everyone could just disappear, then he wouldn't be tempted to snack on the populace

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The absence of the gods is felt everywhere in this frozen place. Even for Lup, too undead to be affected by the cold, sees that a world like this without any of their influence is notpreferable to the monthly events they put them through.

But her family is holed up in their home with all of the heat their magic can summon, so Lup's off to check in on her other friends in this place, to pop in on Drake and Elena and Gren, just to make sure they haven't gone all popsicle quite yet. And that's when she encounters Leo out in the middle of the snow, the heat of his body radiating so intensely that she can feel it just walking by, the elf turning to him immediately. Both of her long ears are raised up high in interest.

"Y'know, I haven't run into many folks runnin' around outside since the big move." Still, she thinks, the shittiest vote ever made. "But here you are, lookin' just fine. What's your secret, my guy?"

Leo's already been outside for a while, but he doesn't feel the cold at all, even without so much as a jacket on. In fact, the icy temperatures feel so nice on his hot skin. Maybe he can stave off the hunger a little longer by cooling down. It's worked before temporarily. He has his eyes shut when he hears the crunching sound that says footsteps are approaching him.

He opens up his eyes when Lup asks a question and smiles dreamily. "The fire inside." Indeed, it seems like it's trying to work its way out from under his skin, for his blue eyes are ringed with gold right now, like the flames are burning him up from the inside. "Do you have a fire inside you? Or perhaps water? Maybe air? What makes up the inside of elves?" ...yep, someones fully entered the stage of joy. He definitely isn't quite as all there as he usually is.

Funny how those three little words bring a little shiver along the woman's neck, lips pursing at the sensation, the woman all too aware of the hold fire has over her. At this point in her life, it's like an old friend, a constant companion. She couldn't imagine a life where she couldn't raise her hands at any time and summon it to her.

So it's all too easy for her to imagine what he means, the way it heats it up from the inside out, keeps him moving.

Lup doesn't know Leo that well, but she can recongize that's something feels a little off. "What's inside elves? Mostly organs an' guts I guess. Haven't exactly taken a peek myself, but I doubt that's any different. What're you up to anyway?"

"My sister could see inside people. Or so she said. She could see everything, all around her, in the air, and in the world. And now she's ash. It disappears even faster than snow." He holds up a hand, letting a snowflake fall onto it. It melts upon the touch of skin almost right away into a drop of water. He seems to space out for about a minute or so before he suddenly snaps to again.

There's an uncharacteristic bit of laughter that comes from Leo and it doesn't match the words he's saying at all. "Doesn't matter what makes people upon because it all disappears eventually. Everything turns to dust even if you don't want it to. It'll happen to you too."

Leo says his sister is ash and Lup gets another little shiver down her neck, but this one isn't quite so pleasant. There's a lot to unpack in that phrase, so much about those words that makes her whole heart clench up in her chest.

Then he goes on and on and on, all about everything turning to dust and well fuck. That's another phrase that hits her a little too hard.

"You, uh, you doin' okay there, champ? You get burned by someone? Deal with a messy break up? You're actin' real funny."

"Break up?" He stares down at his hands like they're the most fascinating thing in the world. Then he holds one up, examining it more closely. "Are the cracks on the inside or the outside? She used to ask that too. I wondered what she meant and now I know."

Then he seems to realize Lup is there again and stares intently at her. This time, his vision seems crystal-clear, but it's no less unnerving as he continues to stare. It's the look of a predator watching his prey. Someone's desperately hungry right now and barely reining it in.

Y I K E S

Lup's dealt with a lot of Crazy in her time, but that never really makes the experiences that much easier to digest. Leo's attention gets drawn to his hands. He holds them up, he stares at them, he questions her about them as if it was the most natural response in the world.

She reaches over to drop her own hand over his arm, trying to push his attention off of himself and back to her. And it works, though the look he gives her isn't exactly friendly.

"I think the cold is getting to your head. Want me to call someone to come pick you up?"

At least he seems to hear and react to her normally this time. The madness tends to come and go a little as he vacillates between states. "I don't have anyone I'm that close to here. Not anymore. I live alone." Poor lonely monster. At least he would be if he wasn't in danger of munching on every person in the city.

He pinches the bridge of his nose like he has a headache, and mumbles, more to himself than to Lup. "So hungry. So hard to stay in control." This has never been his specialty. His siblings, they were the ones who stayed in control. He was the one who was always meant to explode outwards and rip people apart like a wildfire.

Poor lonely monster. Living alone isn't something Lup could do, not after her decade-long confinement. Now she has to keep her life filled with people at every moment, just to reassure her she's free and not forgotten. She couldn't imagine being alone in Hadriel.

"Ah, that bites. Sure some lonely bachelors will let you move in with 'em if you put out some feelers on the network." People here are pretty generous like that, even with monsters.

But then he mentions hunger and it would be impossible for Lup to forget their previous conversation. He, what, ate people? Ate their souls? Something violent like that. Both of the elf's long ears pin back in warning, but she doesn't move even a step from him. She's not scared, not for herself. "How do you usually eat here? Hope?"

All things considered, Taako figures this could be worse, at least personally. Yeah they're kinda slumming it, but it's no different than a lot of the time he spent on the road. At least now he has magic, as evidenced by the thin wispy orange flames seeming to lick up his body. He looks rather bored by the whole ordeal to be frank, idly out just to do something other than be the team space heater.

That said, team space heater is a title he's now losing, seeing as Leo is basically a torch. Taako quirks an eyebrow, one ear raising in question. "Uhhhh, hey, my man, overdid it on the fire spell there. You're gonna take all your skin off."

He hasn't quite put together that maybe Leo doesn't eat like a person, and that might be a problem. Oops.

Every bit of snow that falls on Leo immediately melts. It's some relief from being burnt up on the inside, but not by much. He's getting very hungry now, and when he looks at Taako, it's all he can do not to try and take his soul. It might be evident because Leo's eyeing the elf the way a starving man eyes a steak.

It takes him a while to answer Taako, as if he's hearing him from somewhere very far away. When he speaks, his voice doesn't have the same focused tone it usually does. "Some fall into a ring of fire and some have it come from within. And we'll all burn up one day together."

Taako blinks at him, very much like the white man who doesn't know what the fuck he just heard. He knows what Leo is capable of, but he also kind of figures the man would either have some sense or Taako would have to kick his ass if he tried to vore him. Nothing he can't handle, but still making him feel thankful he has the Krebstar hidden on his person to cast from.]

"Uh. Yeah, sure." He's not gonna get closer, but at the risk of putting himself as more of a target, he snaps his fingers once or twice in Leo's direction. "You in there, my man? You sound like a total nutcase. Hit a wall too hard or whatever? Some circuits get crossed? Do we need to dump you in the lake?"

Normally, the mention of a large body of water like a lake would get a terrified reaction out of Leo. Instead, he just blinks, like he's taking in Taako's words as they come at him one at a time very slowly. "Water's the opposite of fire. Snow is water. Usually. But here I am surrounded by the stuff and it hasn't done a bit of good." Yup, Leo's mind officially has flown the coop.

He looks just as feverish as ever. There's a small ring of gold in his normally dark blue irises, like the fire inside has risen to the surface, and is trying to get out. He holds out a hand, looking transfixed as another bit of snow blows onto the surface of it, and then immediately melts.

He stops to just stare at him for a second, rolling his lips in slightly as he tries to think before popping them back out.

"Oooookay! Great! That's uhh, just great my man. How about you, uh-- if you're so into snow, you could like. Bury yourself in it for a while. Might help with the whole kinda on fire thing." Taako has absolutely no idea what's going on, but mostly he wants to survive this encounter and is getting increasingly concerned. "Or like, just stick your face in the lake for a bit. That's an option."

Being without the gods is everything a lot of them have wanted for a long time. But it comes with sacrifices, and the revelations of just how little they have without the gods. It's something that's always played in the back of Kate's mind, since before the city split in two and they found themselves underground without light or food or anything to hold the monsters back.

It's a little easier, now that they're above ground and the lights are natural, but they're still lacking in food and all the other essentials that ~~the gods~~ mostly Hope provides them. Perhaps it'd be easier if the city itself, or the current outskirts, was anything but a frozen wasteland, but since when is life that simple? Of course their only options would be frozen, useless ground or deserts.

She bristles as she pulls her coat (too big but that just means more material to keep her warm. This might not be the coldest weather in the multiverse, but Kate never liked the cold) tighter around herself and hurries down the street with the tight shoulders of someone who doesn't want to spend more time freezing than absolutely necessary. Someone who brushes by an unusually warm body as she rushes and frowns, slowing down, when the sensation of heat blooms from her elbow and disappears once more.

A glance back and a familiar face, though one she doesn't know all that well, who seems to be taking his time wandering the streets.

"Y'reet?"

Leo's vacillating between the different states now, anger drifting into madness, and then back again. Right now, it's anger at the forefront. Everything's an annoyance. Stupid ice planet, and stupid Hope for disappearing with his food source, and stupid people that he had to get to know so he'd feel bad about eating them. Stupid everything.

The icy weather has helped cool him down slightly. Something is definitely off considering he's standing around in a short-sleeved T-shirt in this weather. He closes his eyes for a moment against the wind, just letting it whip around him. They snap back open when Kate asks her question, the normally blue irises now tinged with gold, as if the fire within is already trying to escape.

"I'm fine," he says with more irritability than such a simple question should warrant. Hangry is an actual state of being for Sunai, but then, when going without has such dire consequences, it's more understandable.

It would be less out of place if this was the north of England and he was on his way to a football match, but they're a million miles away from that and it's weird enough to earn a second glance. That warmth which she'd brushed against unusual enough without the summery outfit and the snappish tone.

"...Right." He's fine. And she's a six foot Glamazon (Kate can only wish). Her lips pull to one side, brows raised as she drawls out the response like someone taking their time blowing a bubble with gum. The unnatural heat from a simple touch, the outfit in this weather...

"Sure you're not sick?"

Don't you mind him, Kate. He's only half as much of an asshole when he's his normal self. He rubs a hand over his eyes like he's tired. Being hungry all the time hasn't done a whole lot for healthy sleeping habits either. "Sick in the brain, maybe," he says snappishly.

He might just be taken as being a irritable grump if it wasn't for the fact he also groans like he's in pain right after saying that. The heat is coming off of him in waves, and even for a non-human, that can't possibly be healthy.

Being an asshole is part and parcel of why they all ended up here, really. It's simply one of the facts of Hadriel, and that isn't enough to discourage her from attempting to help. He's hardly the first difficult person in the world.

But she's not exactly the patron saint of niceties herself, and it's all the easier to not care about tact when she has no ties to the organisations here any more. She rolls her eyes and exhales loudly as he groans — so it's going to be that, is it?

"Probably," she agrees, because that also encompasses a whole lot of Hadriel. "But what's wrong with you?"

Sharon often sticks to the more deserted parts of the city, more at ease when she was alone and didn't have to worry about running into anyone and having to play niceties. She dipped into crumbling buildings to climb or explore or do what she could to keep her mind empty and body active.

It's not unusual to run into someone as she explores. The city had nearly a hundred people scattered through it and everyone wandered. The young man appeared a little off, though that was about as unusual as running into someone within the city.

She doesn't bother to bundle too much when she's going out to explore, knowing that she'll more than likely shed the layers after ten minutes of hiking and climbing. She wears a beanie (an obnoxious shade of pink), though, keeping her ears covered and leaving only the shaggy edges of blonde hair peeking out at the edges.

With a huff as she squeezes out of the building she was exploring, and she makes her way towards the stranger, not so out of intention to check on him but rather because it was just the way she was heading next. She keeps her blue eyes on him, curious. She could see waves of heat coming off him from a distance and that's definitely strange.

Leo's attention seems to be completely focused elsewhere, internally as he softly hums to himself. His mind is lost somewhere in that thoughtful state of beautiful insanity, turning things over in his head backwards and forwards until he's worn them out, and moves onto something new.

Then he blinks and his eyes focus back in around him. That's right, he's in a city on an ice planet, and the gods aren't here. No, they aren't, and that's why he's in so much trouble right now. He sees Sharon and his gaze becomes razor-sharp.

Indeed, he looks almost hungry staring at Sharon. Then he laughs softly. "Oh. You're interesting, yes you are." He sees the jagged edges of her soul and they're...off. Not in the normal, sinful way, though she does have that too. It's more like looking at pieces of a mirror that broke and were glued back together. He's never seen anything like it before. Will that make her more interesting to eat? No, no, he's hungry, but not there yet. Have to keep it all under control.

The desire, that burning hunger in his eyes, makes her blood run cold but she manages to keep her expression steeled, fear only evident in her gaze. A yearning like that doesn't breed anything well-intentioned, Sharon knows that from experience, and the chuckled statement cements it for her.

"Yeah, I'm fucking fascinating," She responds with some edge. He could be delusional, he could be sick, he could be being manipulated by the gods but whatever he could be, she knows it can't be anything good, especially not for anyone in his vicinity, "Can I help you? Or do you want to run off and melt the permafrost elsewhere?"

She regrets not trying to take the gun off that asshole a few weeks back. It wouldn't be the most useful thing with Rage gone but even an empty pistol can ward off even some of the biggest possible assholes.

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There's a reckonin' a-comin' (OTA)

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Madness

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