interstellar5555 | ☆INTERLUDE: YOU WILL BELIEVE IN ME

Who: All the opt outs, and DAFT PUNK.
What: Gold and Silver waste everybody's time.
When: December 7th, 2054
Where: A warehouse in outer Vista City.
Warnings: NPCs being cryptic.

“I will cry for you,
I will cry for you.
I will wash away your 
pain with all my tears,
And drown your fear.”

☆YOU WILL BELIEVE IN ME

You were late, for some reason. It doesn't matter whether it was because of an important photo shoot, a performance that ran late, or just being generally slothful and slow: you're all getting shuffled onto the last shuttle out. Maybe you didn't want to go to he party and were trying to avoid it. There's a weird tension that been leading up to it, especially on Virgo's side, and as you stare out at the cityscape beneath you may find those same misgivings rising up again. No matter your feelings, attendance has been made mandatory. The punishment for not showing is likely not worth the relief of avoiding it, at least if its your fault.

So maybe it's a blessing when your shuttle driver suddenly seems to cease, and then takes your shuttle abruptly off course. It's less obvious at first, but it becomes more and more so as you fly - you're supposed to be heading to the coast, but your flight path is heading down to the south, out to a comparatively barren industrial sector of Vista that you've never actually seen. They are unresponsive to speaking and shouting, and the layer of glass that separates you make it impossible to actually disrupt them.

You're more or less the prisoner of this little detour until it finally begins to land, sailing gracefully through the doors of an otherwise unremarkable warehouse. There are two shuttles arriving within the same few minutes - one marked with Pride colours, and the other with Virgo.

The entry gate closes, and seals itself. A few minutes after that, your pilot moves for the first time in a while and opens the doors for you, leaving themselves sealed within the cab and apparently not being very fussed about it at all. You're released out into the warehouse, and you can see there are...bean bag chairs littered about? And some coolers filled with beer and vodka? What the hell?

One of the walls even has a projector connected to a computer, apparently set up to watch movies. Ultimately, it's not really what you expect out of a sudden hijacking. A few moments later, a pair of masked people who may or may not be familiar come riding out of one of the upper levels on a shared, flying motorcycle, landing and dismounting at a bit of a hectic pace. Gold helmet is at the wheel.

"You made it!" they declare, somewhat awkwardly. They sound a bit rushed. Silver pushes themselves off of the back, tucking some kind of device into their leather jacket.

"Look, guys, let's make this simple. So far as you're concerned, this is a stick up. You're ours for...the next five hours, let's say. Behave yourself and everyone goes home, no problem."

Gold looks over at Silver for a moment, and then addresses you in a bit more friendly manner:

"So...point is, you may as well have some fun and just deal with it! Nobody here wants to fight, right? Let's be chill." There's a pause. "We brought booze?"

☆YOU WILL BELIEVE IN ME

So, you're stuck here for the foreseeable future, it seems. Your captors don't seem to mean any harm - if you stay non-violent, they will too. There could even be an opportunity to gather some information, if you can keep your cool. The pair of them will be cycling in and out over the night, and despite an apparent tension in the air, they also seem...bored? Maybe just restless.

There is something going on that they're not telling you, and it's up to you whether you want answers or not. As it is, they seem happy enough to sit back and watch the movies they have set up on that computer and knock a few back.

No ones phones will be able to get signals, in the meantime. You can only wonder what this means for your friends stuck on the other side.

“See your face every place that I walk in;
Hear your voice every time I am talking.
You will believe in me,
And I will never be ignored.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Nariko's on her way back from getting her third beer when she stumbles upon whatever Ivan's got going on right now and it's ... It's a trip.]

I'm not going to?

[But then there's lights and some weird symbols and shit and what??? The???? Fuck??? When he starts that unholy, heat rending screaming Nariko is a calm, rational young woman who screeches right along with the fox, kind of like crying at a baby who is already wailing. She drops her beer and tries to get a hold of Ivan.]

Hey! Hey, hey, hey, just come here! Stop - you're fine!

[JUST GET IN HER ARMS ALL THINGS ARE SOLVED BY BEING HELD! OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT GOOD GOD JUST STOP SCREECHING.]

[ Ivan struggles against her hold for a moment, fearful of what's going to happen to him next. (Hopefully he didn't scratch her in his panic.) However, her words stop him from thrashing further. He's tense like a compressed spring and trembles in her arms.

I'm not fine! I'm not me right now, and I don't know why!

But his words only come out as more upset whines. He hasn't learned or remembered how to use his own voice while shapeshifted. ]

[If he's accidentally scratched her she hasn't noticed yet, Nariko's mostly focused on keeping a hold of him without gripping too tight. Now that Ivan's whines have settled a little bit she can think somewhat clearly.] This is weird, okay? I get it. But freaking out isn't going to do you any good so try to calm down.

[It's either that or keep running around like something was about to cut his tiny head off.] I'm going to sit down and just keep a hold of you for a little bit longer, okay? Someone might step on you or try to keep you as a pet or something.

[But she still moves a little carefully, doing her best to avoid freaking him out anymore than he already is.]

[ Both his ears and tail droops. He has a tail and giant ears he can move somehow now. Ivan shifts a little to be held more comfortably, moving one limb at a time to "understand" how to better.

If he's stuck like this, then can he be Pao-Lin's pet? He can at least go back home to the Flowers Over Bones penthouse. He whines again, but it's quieter, smoother. Can there be something that can be done? Is he stuck like this? ]

[She drops into the beanbag chair, mindful of the furry body in her arms even as she tries to place him on her lap, somewhat. Eventually she lets go of him and if he wanted, he could hop off of her and take up some other part of the bean bag. As long as he doesn't wander off to far she won't have a reason to be worried.] You're going to be fine, Ivan, I'm sure this is some weird universal fuck up but it'll reverse itself.

[Granted Nariko has absolutely no reason to think that but it kind of feels like he needs some kind of positivity in his life right now.] If it helps any, you're even cuter than usual now!

[... That's ... Not going to help at all ... Is it ...]

[ Ivan struggles to figure out how to stand when he's dropped to her lap, so he ends up just staying put. (He may be in a fox form right now, but he's human inside. Being in a woman's lap is awkward enough without trying to move as well.)

She knows his name? Ivan's large ears perk up. So they aren't complete strangers even if he's not sure who she is besides someone from Pride's Cosmic Indulgence.

But then at the mention that he's cuter, Ivan goes to cover his muzzle with his paws. Not exactly what he wanted to take away from from the conversation, but hey! Distraction is working. He's not panicking or even worrying about himself right now. ]

[She pouts a little at him and gently pets his head.] I'm going to assume that you're very embarrassed at being culled cute by such a gorgeous woman. [She's clearly going to win awards for humility.] And, hey, this has got to make a great excuse! 'I couldn't go to the party because I turned into an adorable critter and had to be protected for my own safety'!

[The petting has advanced from his head to his back, now, she's still trying to be as careful with him as possible.] Oh, man, do you think you can get drunk in this form?

[... Good luck, Ivan.]

[ Ivan starts wiggling and scrambling once more when she start petting his back. Okay, now he needs to figure out walking and moving because this is getting too awkward, and he doesn't want to be a drunken fox on top of being a tiny fox.

One leg. Two legs... Ivan manages to wiggle out of her lap only to end up flopping to his back on the beanbag. ]

[Okay, so no alcohol, then! That's cool, she respects that decision! And she has to work really hard to keep from keeping Ivan in her arms. There's something about watching small animals suffer that's just difficult.]

Alright, let's try again. [But he has to learn to get used to this form just in case he's stuck in it for a while. She picks him up very gently and puts him on the floor directly in front of her, leaning forward to stop anyone who might edge too close.]

You can do it, Ivan! I believe in you.

[ Trying to give thanks, Ivan nods at her. It's the best he could think of given his state. Now, he had to work with what he had. Step one, work on standing. He shuffles uneasily and works to get his legs in the right order. He starts putting his weight on his front legs. The wobbling steadies. Then one hind foot presses down on the ground. Slowly, he straightens his leg and did the same with his other hind foot.

Ivan waits to see if he'll collapse to the ground, but he doesn't. He looks up at the woman. Despite being a fox, there's something a lot like a puppy going "look what I can do" in his expression. (His tail wags like a dog's too.)

It's a small victory, okay? ]

[She watches him as if he might be deciding the fate of the universe with his actions. When he wobbles, she worries, but once he's got up on all fours, hah! She was totally right.] Good job! [There's absolutely nothing patronizing about the words, she really is quite proud of him.]

Now try walking around a little bit. [It was literally the next most logical step (hah!) and he had a momentum going now!]

[ Ivan barks, and he returns his attention to directly before him. Each move is just as slow and concentrated as before. His first step with his front foot is very deliberate, and he waits until he's sure he's not going to fall before he moves his other front foot. Then he repeats with his back feet, one at a time.

This... doesn't seem right. He feels in danger of getting his front feet too far from his back feet and ending up doing a belly flop onto the ground. Is there a right order for this? He tries a different order and... plop. Down he goes. ]

☆INTERLUDE: YOU WILL BELIEVE IN ME

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject