Event Log: Is It a Wonderful Life?

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for Is It A Wonderful Life? event
Where: All over the city
When: Jan 4th-8th
Warnings: None

Throughout the next few days, you may find yourself plagued by visions and dreams of back home. The dreams will be lifelike and difficult to tell apart from reality, as the world will be constructed from what you remember of your world. However, unlike usual dreams, you won't be present, and will find yourself unable to be seen or heard by those around you.

The dreams are vivid reminders of what might happen in a world without you: a world in which you disappeared when coming to Hadriel, a world which desperately needs you back for some reason or another. You may see your parents putting up missing posters, your significant other moving onto their next relationship, or even your hated villain finally taking over the world without you there to stop them.

When the vision leaves, you're back here and nothing about the city has changed. Though maybe you have a different outlook on it now...

► This log covers January 4th-Januray 8th.
► 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 you try a weird solution to make it back home, please let us know here.

Comments

Trafalgar Law - OPEN

[hot_mes]

[It isn't the first time Law has seen visions of a great beastly figure stomping all over a battlefield with pirates dying at his feet. Last time, though, they flickered in reflections for anyone near him to see. Now, they're private, thankfully. Life without him is a plan dashed, a crew decimated, an island left to continue under the thumb of a despot. No, it's worse than that. It's not just the Heart Pirates bereft of leadership, it's the Straw Hats going ahead with an attempt to help the samurai of Wano and failing miserably. It's all of them dead, the samurai wiped out, the child daimyo enslaved. It's the last two independent captains of the Worst Generation failing to upset the balance of power and take down a single emperor. It's Blackbeard, getting to the One Piece. It's darkness and pain and government corruption.

It's upsetting, at first, but Law quickly catches on what's happening to him and to others. So, even though there's a lingering touch of doubt in the back of his mind, an uncertainty whether this is his own worries being used against him or possibly more real due to the recent visitors who came through the Door, he isn't sad. Oh, sure, maybe dreaming about Bepo missing him is a tad bit heartbreaking, if his heart wasn't completely stone, but mostly, Law is just angry. Frustrated, annoyed, occasionally really pissed as he finds himself waking up yet again from the same scenario. All flavors.

He spends nearly all of his time for the first few days in the clinic, nose buried in his work. Research, medications, notes. He'll still treat anyone who needs it but beware the hair trigger temper. After the 6th, though, he's briefly in the shops, raiding them for supplies with an uncommon urgency. After that? Sorry, Trafalgar Law is not available, please leave a message.]

[glazedonutholes]

[ Donut is in one of of those shops tuckered away in a corner while he tries to ignore yet another vision. He's looking haggard and tired but when a door slams loud enough to wake the dead, he jumps the vision disappearing but not the weight in his heart. ]

Go away.

[hot_mes]

[Law spares the fellow in the shop a quick glance and then just. Goes about his business.]

No. I'm busy.

[on the one hand, he doesn't come over there and start coddling or asking what's wrong or anything. On the other, he really doesn't care about someone else's pain. He inspects the selection of matchbooks for something labeled 'waterproof,' and then goes hunting for containers of all sizes made of anything but plastic.]

[glazedonutholes]

[ How rude! ]

Hey! I called dibs first!

[hot_mes]

[rude is his middle name! Well, no, it's not, it's D., but...]

Did you? When? I heard nothing like that.

[glazedonutholes]

It's not my fault you weren't here.

[ He pouts, his heart growling lighter in face of adversity of age old rules of the universe. ]

Dibs.

[ There. Happy? ]

[hot_mes]

Oh what?

[not even fazed, just casually picking out specific supplies and stashing them in his pockets. He's got shit to do and universal rules never apply to pirates anyway]

[glazedonutholes]

Dibs!

[ He points an accusatory finger at his blatant disregard of international laws. ]

I called Dibs! You can't just take things once Dibs has been called. Don't you know the international dibs protocol?

[hot_mes]

[just look at that asshole face]

I'm a pirate. I disregard 'dibs' the way I disregard every property law in every dimension.

[ooh those are nice gloves taking those...]

clinic whee

[aroundthecoroner]

So... who pissed in your Cheerios?

[It's said sort of hesitantly after a few hours of watching Law stomp around the clinic, snapping at people and frantically throwing himself into his work.

Michael's not stupid, he knows something's going on in the city, because it's happening to him, too. The only reason it's not affecting him more, probably, is that he's already come to terms with it. He's not planning to go home. And he's... well, he's working on making peace with that.

Clearly, whatever Law's seeing is harder to make peace with.]

[hot_mes]

The damn gods, who else?

[yeah he's kind of a pissy bitch and doesn't care. But Michael is one of a very select few who can get more than "leave it alone" out of him]

Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to have your work constantly interrupted by hallucinations? Which obviously can't just be medically treated to go away.

[aroundthecoroner]

I don't think we have the right meds for hallucinations, anyway.

[Helpful.]

But yeah, I've had the same thing. Visions of the place you came from, right?

[hot_mes]

Shame, that. [not...that it's a frequent problem compared to all the run-of-the-mill bloodshed?]

Ah, so you've had the same problem. At least this time other people can't just look in a mirror and see what's in your head or anything. [and as he's not going to share, he won't pry into Michael's, either] I don't even know what they're getting at this time.

[aroundthecoroner]

And at least this time people can't see your memories if they touch you.

[That event didn't go too badly for him because he figured it out pretty quick. But it very much could have.]

Are you seeing where you're from, too?

[hot_mes]

Ugh. That too.

[likewise, imaginary high-five for fellow dudes who don't want to touch people]

Yeah. It's similar to the thing I saw in windows and mirrors, I assume it's. Tied to our worries or something.

[aroundthecoroner]

Oh. Huh.

[In Michael's case, the two things are very different. In the mirrors, he saw himself as a monster. In the hallucinations, he sees his world as it probably will be when he leaves for Harlan's.]

This time is less bad for me. Not that I like it, just, it's something I'm not as worried about. Something I've kind of already made peace with. Now I'm wondering if we're all getting the same or not.

[He's still not asking. But he wants to.]

[hot_mes]

Oh? Hm. [that makes him equally curious and vaguely interested] Lucky you, I guess. The only thing that bothers me is that it can't be warded off. No amount of concentration, haki, anything...it's utterly inconvenient.

[yeah, sure, that's all it is]

clinic;

[deviledlegs]

Thud goes the box as Sanji drops it over Law's shoulder and onto his half-finished notations. It contains two meat and egg burritos wrapped in cabbage rather than tortillas. Without a single word, his face very purposefully hidden behind long bangs, the cook turns to leave.

Someone isn't in the mood to talk. Still, gotta keep that last living ally fed.

[hot_mes]

It's not until the lunch delivery that Law sort of suddenly realizes how much he relies on Black Leg these days, how he takes those deliveries for granted. He isn't as quite sold on the visions considering he's been through this before, but there's still a sense of...if it were true, then they'd be the last of their crews, wouldn't they?

He sets aside the lichen he's testing for medicinal uses and pulls the box closer, and then glances over his shoulder. "Oi..."

He's bad at starting conversations nobody wants to have, but he can read that body language like a book. Something's really bothering the cook and he can guess what. Maybe a word is enough to stop him from rushing away.

[deviledlegs]

As it turns out, one word is more than enough. Sanji stalls a few steps from the exit, quick to misinterpret Law's attempt at serious discussion. He grinds his teeth around an unlit cigarette. "If you've got some shitty complaint, you can damn well wait until I leave. The vacant doorway is more likely to listen anyway."

[hot_mes]

Law's own jittery nerves have him reacting more or less like his normal asshole self and not some kind of valuable ally. "Calm down, I wasn't going to complain," he...complains. For real. "Get back here unless you want me asking personal questions out loud where anyone in the clinic can hear."

[deviledlegs]

Personal questions? Seriously? Hearing that out of Law's mouth, like he's a real doctor or some shit, is a disturbingly polarizing experience. As soon as he manages to get over that, Sanji sighs, shoves his hands into his pockets, and stomps back to the desk. He's not going to sit.

"If you're about to ask whether I'm sexually active, I will burn this clinic to the fuckin' ground."

[hot_mes]

Deadpan. "I don't care about that."

It's not about health this time, but it still takes Law an awkward moment to figure out how to really broach this. He tries to cover it by reaching for the box and uncovering his delicious lunch. God, he does owe Black Leg a hell of a lot for this, keeping him on a regular diet instead of whenever he cares to bother to eat. Without looking straight at him, he murmurs, "You're seeing it too, aren't you? Wano."

[deviledlegs]

As boastful as Sanji is when it comes to food, he's just as thankful for the chance to cook as Law is for the chance to eat. Preparing food for people he cares about in a kitchen he's maintaining... It's as close to home as he can get while he's here, and he needs that chance to breathe.

He certainly needs it now. One word from Law, and his throat constricts like it's caught in a vise.

Wano.

Luffy, Nami, Carrot, and the others have been defeated, destroyed on their shitty quest to find their shittier cook. His precious Robin, Usopp, even that damn marimo... No one is left to come for them. They're trapped in a hostile country, and they have no way out. One by one, they fall - like assorted fucking chocolates tumbling from their box into the greedy hands below.

It makes Sanji want to vomit. He won't allow himself that relief.

"Fuck you."

Law isn't the one he wants to kick as scream at. But he is the one who has the nerve to put this utter shit into words, and that is something Sanji absolutely does not want to do. He can't give this physical form. He can't.

So he snarls, teeth bared, and kicks a damn chair.

[hot_mes]

Yep, that's what he thought. Law has been through this before so while he can't brush it off entirely, he's coping considerably better than most. Better than Sanji, at least. If the cook wants to be angry at him, so be it, he can take it. But since Rage isn't around he's pretty sure both of them being pissed as they are isn't doing anyone any good.

"It's not real," he says in a low, quiet tone. "They've showed me this vision before. Kaidou, winning. It's not real, it's never real."

Words are faint comfort, but Law is determined to get this fact across. Without fact and logic he would be far worse off than he is.