Event Log: Dead Ringers

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone participating in the event!
What: The event log for the Dead Ringers event!
Where: All around the city
When: January 16th-January 25th
Warnings: Evil doubles, so we can assume manipulation, violence, murder, and maybe some nasty words

Everything seems normal on the morning of the 16th - actually, everything seems normal about the city for the entirety of this event. Nothing is strange, nothing is obviously wrong. Well, except that the population has mysteriously doubled, and the new residents each look exactly like one of the old residents. So weird! Definitely not ominous at all.

At least until your new double gets down to business. After all, their only goal is to ruin your life, and that can take any form. Smashing your favorite coffee cup? Telling your worst enemy they're right? Kissing someone else in front of your girlfriend? Brutally murdering you and then hiding your body in a closet so they can more effectively destroy your life? The possibilities are truly endless, and the only way to protect yourself is to kill your double first. They're not really open to negotiation, after all - but they sure might pretend to be in order to trick you.

So watch your back, and try to make sure that really is your best friend and not an evil clone masquerading as them. Boy, that would be awkward. If you can stick it out until January 25th, good for you! But if you didn't manage to and your double survives until the end - well, just as a final 'fuck you', there's a chance you'll come back to life and remember every awful thing your double did. Hey, at least that'll make it easier to fix, right?

► This log covers January 16th-January 25th.
► 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 evil clone happens to take you out, please let us know here, and remember that you will not revive until the event is over.

Comments

[greywaren]

Yeah.

[He rubs at the back of his neck, stepping backward and dragging the shovel along with them. There's nowhere else to go but home right now, and he thinks that they could both use a shower, and so he starts to move down the path toward home, making sure that Adam is moving alongside him.

He doesn't think that he sees Adam any differently. He'd have preferred the clone not to die, but what did he know? It could have been a night horror with skin, and he's killed enough of those. But still, he can't help but to think about the kind of creature it was, what might have happened if they'd let it live.

Stupid, he knows. Ronan doesn't resent Adam for what he did, but it's not ideal by any means.]

Yeah. More or less.

[He sighs, making a wincing face toward Adam.]

Maybe tell me next time? That was a shit wakeup call.

[unknowable]

[He walks with Ronan, toward home. Aspen follows along behind them, cheerfully oblivious to anything that happened, to any tension or discomfort there might be. The life of a dog is a good one.]

Hopefully there won't be a next time.

[At least, Adam really hopes he never again has to murder an identical clone of himself who seems to be evil. One is more than enough, twice would just be ridiculous.

He sort of hopes he never has to shoot someone again, but it's not a realistic hope. He's already had people shoot at him, who knows what they'll need to do when the next time something like this happens? It simply isn't practical to think that he'll never have to do anything like that again.

But Ronan seems - well, not okay with it, not exactly. But he wouldn't lie, and he doesn't seem to want to distance himself. Maybe it'll be all right.]

I think I'm just grateful I didn't accidentally make you pull something really weird out.

[greywaren]

Hopefully, [he echoes a little hollowly, though of course Ronan shares the sentiment- the less people that Adam has to kill, the better, especially when those people look like him, when he feels he doesn't have a choice, when he has no backup from Ronan, who stupidly, optimistically, naively, believes that there was some truth to what the double was saying.

But that doesn't matter anymore. Adam dealt with it and they buried it and now they're safe. They'll try not to let it happen again, but if it does then they'll handle it just like they handled it now. They're capable, resourceful, and- maybe a little traumatized, but it's not like they can do anything to change that.

Ronan offers Adam a wry smile.]

Well, luckily I wasn't there long enough to get my hands on anything. Else that might've been a lot more fucked.

[Moreso than it already was, which was saying something. If the two of them had to deal with some kind of monster right after that, then things could have ended very differently.

Or maybe not. Adam still had the gun, after all.]

[unknowable]

[Now that Adam has thought of it, the thought is not at all pleasant. He should probably have known that the sound of a gunshot would wake Ronan up, and that waking him up suddenly could lead to something very dangerous. But as practical as Adam is, he's not always able to think things through as well as he should.

It could have been a lot worse. He'll remember that for next time, remember the chilling possibilities of Ronan's power. It doesn't scare Adam - not anymore, not when he regularly spends nights next to Ronan and wakes up to find whatever strange thing he's dreamed - but he knows to be wary of it.]

We got lucky.

[He's still thinking about it. And Ronan's reaction is something he'll need to think about as well - how he seems to have accepted it, his easy trust in Adam even though Adam has done something awful. It's - honestly, it's flattering, it's not something Adam would expect from anyone. It's something he would expect Ronan to give Gansey, not him, though he supposes when he thinks about it that Ronan has always trusted him, and being here has only made it stronger.

Still. It's not an easy thing to accept. Not for someone like Adam.]

Let's get home. Clean up.

[greywaren]

Yeah.

[Hopefully there aren't more of these... whatever-the-fucks hanging around and they can continue to get home in peace. Ronan doesn't know if it was a dream thing or if it was a new type of monster- if they'll see more Adams or if they'll see copies of everyone else. It shakes him, but he knows that he has to deal with things as they come, to stand close to Adam in case it happens again and make sure that he has eyes on the real one at all times.

Because this one has to be. The other one was convincing, but Ronan has been with this boy since before- whatever this is. They'll figure it out together and he can leave no room for doubt in his mind. So he sighs and tangles their fingers together with his free hand, so Adam can know that he's still close, that he's still there, that he still believes him.]

We both could probably use a shower.

[Albeit, for rather different reasons- Adam still has blood on him, and Ronan is now covered in dirt.]

[unknowable]

[Ronan's hand in his is more comforting than he has words for, and for a moment he clings too tightly, as if he's afraid Ronan will pull away or vanish, or maybe just that he's dreaming. Then he gets ahold of himself and relaxes his grip, holds Ronan's hand like a normal person. Still. It helps.]

Yeah. A shower would be nice.

[Normally, Adam might propose they shower together. But this isn't normal, and he doesn't want Ronan washing the blood off him. That's something to do alone. But knowing that Ronan will be there, that he'll come out and everything will be - not fine, but okay - that's all Adam can possibly ask for right now.

He holds on to Ronan's hand as they walk home, letting it comfort him and trying, in his own quiet way, to offer comfort in return.]