Event Log: Extinction V.2

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone participating in the event!
What: The event log for the Extinction event!
Where: All around the city
When: July 22nd-July 29th
Warnings: Fighting, the cruel slaughter of innocent monsters who definitely don't want to eat you, wholesale destruction, and maybe some painting

On July 22nd, Hope puts the call out for a little help with this monster problem he's been having - for the second time. In exchange for some prizes, he'd like you to go into the caves and kill him a few monsters! He'll be keeping an eye out and rewarding you for each kill, so grab a friend and a sword and get to work. Just try not to get lost in the caves - they're pretty extensive, and no one seems to have a decent map. Also, you know. They're full of slavering hellbeasts.

If you're not a fighter, don't worry! Hope also wants to clean things up around the city a little. There'll be caches of cleaning supplies, tools, paint, and other various piece of beautifying equipment available to find in the shops, and he plans to reward people for the time and effort they put in there, too! His sense of artistry is not particularly advanced, so don't worry about impressing him. You'll probably get an A for effort regardless.

For those characters participating in the beautifying portion of the event, please comment here with a brief description of what your character will be doing - for example 'painting three buildings and cleaning up the roads around the clinic'. If your character will be killing some of the monsters, please comment here and let us know how many they've taken out - for example 'three cacodemons and one troll'. For reference, here is a list of the amount of each monster that can be found in the caves:

Monsters Bereskarn (10 1) Blobs (3 1) Cacodemons (14 0!!!) Coeurls (4 0!!!) Deathclaws (6 1) Hunters (1 0!!!) Malboros (9 1) Mimics (11 4) Rodents of Unusual Size (15 0!!!) Skulltulas (12 5) Smokers (5 0!!!) Taxxons (8 2) Trolls (12 1) White Walkers (2 0!!!) Wraiths (8 6) Yeti (2 0!!!)

► This log covers July 22nd-July 29th.
► 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 you happen to lose a monster fight or accidentally drink some paint, please notify us of your death here!

Comments

[solvethepuzzle]

He frowns subtly, unseen under the coat collar and the painter's mask he's got on beneath that. He's not used to Mello sounding so tired, so worn down, so . . . resigned. It's wrong, and Near decides that he doesn't like it. He's not a sympathetic creature; children from the House aren't designed to be sympathetic and Near had taken that more to heart than anyone. But Mello being like this just doesn't sit right, an uncomfortable change in the way things are supposed to be.

He doesn't like that answer, either. Near had simply assumed that Mello would come back after this, now that there is no longer a logical reason for him to be on the run. He'd considered his question a formality. But apparently the living arrangement is tenuous now. They've never been friends, never gotten along all that well. Near has gotten to a point where he can look after himself to a minimum standard. He's been handling it for weeks and could keep handling it, probably. Would it be better for them to separate? Safer, given how they don't truly trust one another?

Possibly. But that's not what Near wants. He'd liked their living arrangement. He wants it back.

Near is silent for a moment, mind working on how to phrase this. Mello so often sees criticism even when it isn't there, and wouldn't react well to anything that sounds like pity. Right now, he's obviously in a particularly bad emotional state and saying things the wrong way could wind up guaranteeing that Near gets the opposite of what he wants.

"You're free to come back to the house anytime, of course. It's yours." It's a fact, an acknowledgement that Near recognizes Mello has the rightful claim on the place. "If you let me know when you're coming should you choose to return, I'll make sure to be there to remove the spell from the door."

Having keys isn't a guarantee of getting into the house now that Near can employ those extra security measures. Not that Near leaves the house often even now, but he has to sometimes. This would just be more convenient for Mello upon his assumed return.

[torrefied]

It's a showing of weakness on Mello's part, this momentary dropping of his defenses in allowing Near to hear just how exhausted he is. He'd been prepared to die in Japan, and a small part of him - a very small part, quickly silenced and pushed away - had been relieved at the thought of his eternal struggle finally finding an ending. It's not the ending he wanted, of course, but it was an ending all the same, an ending that he'd deemed acceptable, and he was ready for it. He's spent months now in Hadriel; it's only natural that indefinitely prolonging the wait until the inevitable to which he'd resigned himself has taken a very real toll on him. And actually experiencing death - a violent, brutal death, a death without purpose, a death not of his own design - that too would naturally have a profound effect on him.

He can recognize that he's handed Near a powerful weapon to use against him, just as he recognizes that Near doesn't take the opening he's been shown. And that's a knot to be untangled at a later time, as is the fact that Near almost seems to want Mello to come back to the house, judging by what he says. While it's true that Mello was here first and claimed the house for himself before Near arrived, Mello doesn't believe that would really make much difference to Near. That's one of the privileges of first place - you get to take what you want. He considers this for a moment, silently studying Near as he mulls over his options in responding. What he settles on, finally, is a parroting of what Near said to him when Mello suggested he stay in the house after he'd arrived.

"You'd like to keep an eye on me?" There's a faint note of sarcasm to it, because the idea of Near caring about what happens to Mello beyond the extent that it affects him is a laughable one.

[solvethepuzzle]

Near is well aware that Mello will know that he'd left an opening, and that said opening is going unexploited. That's fine. Near isn't a good person, a compassionate person, a nice person. But despite what Mello seems to think, even when he's been at his worst, Near's intention has never been to beat him down until he breaks, until he quits. Why would he want that?

The parroting is impossible to miss. Is that what they're doing? Okay.

Calmly: "I'm not your mother. You can stay wherever you want. My option is the best one and the one that makes the most sense, but if you want to be wrong, you go right ahead."

Echoing back Mello's own words, when he'd been pretending not to care. Perhaps Mello will think about that. It's not like Near has never left any clues toward his real sentiments before. He has to say it indirectly, leave room for other, more callous interpretations, ones Mello is more likely to believe are true. To do otherwise would be stupid and dangerous.

[torrefied]

There's a measure of absurdity in hearing his own words come out of Near's mouth - enough so that a quiet laugh escapes from the back of his throat. There are a number of possible reasons why Near might want Mello to return, and Mello will consider each of them in turn eventually, but for now, what Near says is a confirmation that he does want Mello to come back, and regardless of the reason, it's something of a balm for Mello's battered pride, and that's something he's not inclined to push away.

"Well," he says, not quite smiling, "I wouldn't want to be wrong." Wrong doesn't bother him in this context; he hadn't been wrong in what he'd told Near initially - that house is the best option, and it's far better to deal with the devil you know than those you don't.

"I'll call you when I get my phone back."

[solvethepuzzle]

Well, the words are absurd anyway. Near had certainly found them funny at the time. Ridiculous denial and posturing. Near may be using them to garner the same result, but unlike Mello, he's not making any secret of how silly he finds them. It's almost a joke. Not that many people laugh when he makes one.

But Mello does, here. Maybe that's a good thing. There are ways it could be bad, but Near had vaguely meant his parroting to be funny.

He could make some quip about how it's good that Mello would rather not be wrong, since he must be sick of it right now. But he thinks better of it. He'd mean it in jest, but it could be taking things further than he wants. Besides, the game had been in repeating one another. That would just break the pattern and why would he want to do something like that?

"I'll be waiting for your call, then."

It sounds like Mello has made his mind up to come back now, but Near is still going to wait for the call as confirmation. Mello has an entire week in which to change his mind and he can be unpredictable at times.

[torrefied]

Mello and Near aren't meant for things as mundane as laughter; only people like them - the House's children - those who have been broken and remolded in the ways they have, will understand the sorts of jokes they make.

It's strange - Mello hadn't meant to go this long without speaking to Near. It's not the longest they've been out of contact, but something about the routine of living in the same space became a pattern of sorts, and having it interrupted feels wrong somehow. Mello isn't an easy-going person by any stretch of the imagination, and he doesn't ever truly relax, but something about the familiarity Near provides does make him feel more at ease, even if only by a fractional amount.

"You're doing OK, though, right? Nobody's bothering you?" Mello assumes Near would have mentioned it if that were the case. Still - he prefers to ask.

[solvethepuzzle]

Near hasn't laughed in quite some time. The closest he ever seems to get are sly, amused grins when something strikes him as funny. One could have broken out on his face right now, if his mood were slightly better. He could have made some teasing comment about the concern Mello is showing for him, how well they're getting along at the moment.

But he doesn't. He'd rather not push this if he can help it right now. When they're both in a better state, he'll probably get back to it.

For now? "I am fine."

[torrefied]

Mello nods, mouth pursed. He doesn't like having his current situation so far out of his hands; he'd much rather have the ability to move freely, to keep a closer eye on Near, to communicate on his own terms. But there is nothing he can reasonable do about it at the moment except endure and count down the days until he's released from this agreed-upon obligation.

"Good." Is it betraying too much to say so? Maybe. But he's already given Near so much in the way of ammunition, and he hasn't used it. Maybe this is fine. "Then I'll see you in a week." Quickly, he adds: "I don't think they're paying terribly close attention, but it's still probably better if we aren't seen in public together too often."

[solvethepuzzle]

Ammunition can be stored, saved for later encounters. They both know this, have both done this. To others and to each other. The expectation that it could one day be used never quite goes away. But for now at least, Near has no inclination to attack. Has it less often than Mello thinks.

"It's a good idea." He nods in agreement. They think alike more often than Mello realizes, too. Stopping to talk once isn't so strange, but it should not be habitual. "In a week."

He leaves it at that, turning to continue on his way back to the house. He's tired anyway. And he might have an emotion or two that he needs to work out privately.