in fire, in whispers

[hellshot]

WHO: Reaper and YOU, (some private prompts)
WHERE: Down on good ol’ Bajikan.
WHEN: Various days throughout the fleet’s visit
WHAT: A grumpy zombie dad and his (mis)adventures in ‘Paradise’.
WARNINGS: Always warnings for talk about how disfigured he is under his mask.


[ Reaper has, in every meaning of the word, absolutely no interest in surgical procedures that may change the biology of his body (again) or fix the possible effects that a certain angelic doctor’s experiments did to him. Getting ‘fixed’ ran the risk of him either dying for good this time--or it would take away the strange ‘powers’ he’d gained while losing everything else he’d ever given a damn about. He’s this deep in, now, and he has no interest in changing back into who and what he used to be.

But what he is interested in were the rumors he heard through processing about the strange plants on this planet. Their effects, and most especially, the fact that there was no law protecting these plants from being taken back aboard the Eluvio once the little repair mission they were on was over. ]


Side 1 - vanity’s not a good trait - OPEN


[ Might as well start with what was closest, he decides--and he finds himself in the 7th district of this apparent ‘Paradise’ they’ve found themselves in. After a few minutes of wandering around, he’s already realised he’s not made the best choice in places to visit. He’s not interested in ‘perfection’ and ‘beauty’ with a face like his. Hidden under his mask and a torn and rotting mess, he’ll do his damndest to avoid the gaze of damn well everyone he comes across and continues his personal mission of gathering flowers and their respective seeds to bring back to the Eluvio later.

However, after ten minutes of picking through different clusters of flowers and bushes--(allowing his bare hands to brush against the petals of some of the dying ones, watching them wilt as his body draws their life force into his own body)--he starts to feel different. Confident, good. It’s definitely an odd feeling when he actually feels like pulling his mask off to breathe a little easier.

When he stands, pocketing away the seeds he’s collected, he’ll catch a glimpse of his own face in one of the district’s many mirrored surfaces, and he’s met with an image he hasn’t seen in some ten, fifteen years. He doesn’t look dead anymore. The imperfection of unlife hidden by the star-shaped bush he’d absorbed a bit of earlier.

Either stop him from admiring himself in said mirror surface too much here, or leave him be. Whichever you choose, he’s going to look far less grumpy than he has since he’s arrived on Eluvio.]

...It looks good, right?

Side 1.2→ video; UN: REAPER to ░░░░░░ - closed to doxing

Don’t know what trouble you’ve gotten yourself into on this planet yet, but I’ve already found something worthwhile down here. Don’t know where the hell you are, but you have to come see this.


Side 2 - I’m just tired it’s a symptom - OPEN


[And after what promises to be one of the most awkward conversations of his life and a trip to the red district, he decides to never visit it again. And also avoid Sombra for a few days until they both forget the most embarrassing conversation they’ve ever had in their adult lives. And to do that, what better to do than sleep. He’s heard rumors, now, of the blue district that will help him do just that.

Thanks to the pain his constantly regenerating-degenerating body likes to cause him, a decent night’s sleep isn’t one he often gets to enjoy. Trying to shake off the effects of fairy moss tea he’d had a short while ago, here goes another attempt to collect flowers and plants that might help him sleep when he’s back up on the Eluvio.

But this time, he’s a bit.. Unsure about picking them himself. After all, his gloves were back in his room on the ship, and he couldn’t control what his nanites did to organic material once he touched it…

At least his face looks moderately human right now as he turns to look at the person closest to him, a relaxed and nearly harmless tone to his voice as he asks:]

...Can you help me get some seeds out of these? I don’t want to touch them.

[That voice is still unmistakably Reaper’s, isn’t it.]


Side 3 - like a bullet in a battlefield - closed to rockthemonkey


[ And like hell he was going to visit an alien planet and not go see what kind of weapons and weapons technology they had to offer. His personal hell shotguns were rare enough, but reloading them was a pain in the ass and having secondary weapons while out in space was becoming something more apparent as the days passed.

He has no interest in extra training or the fighting pits, and finding places that sell anything other than mixes and ‘aids’ to help in aforementioned battle pits was starting to become a pain in his ass. The worst part, whatever good mood he’d garnered while hanging out in the blue district with some others was starting to wear off, and what was replacing it was an entirely hostile feeling of irritation.

He hadn’t felt this on edge since meeting up with 76 and Ana back in Egypt, and he could feel his teeth grinding under the pressure of how set his jaw was underneath his mask. Seriously, all he needed was one--

One thing. To set him off. And it comes in the shape of a small little monkey kid who barrels into his back without any goddamn warning. Either the kid came running at him full force on purpose, or he wasn’t watching where he was going, but. Whichever it was, Reaper couldn’t find it in himself to bother finding out. Instead, a gun is pulled out from under his belt, and pointed right down at Goku.]

You chose a bad day to play around.


Side 4 - Wildcard

[Anything I didn't write/you want to do? HMU honestly I'm good for w/e]

Comments

(1.2) VIDEO, UN: ░░░░░░

[doxing]

(give her a moment, she's flatlining.)

...

Why are you hot?

[hellshot]

[Ha ha ha ha.]

Not exactly the reaction I expected.

Flowers here. They've got some weird effects. Some I can actually appreciate.

...

[Does he detect concern in your voice.]

[doxing]

(squints at him, don't you bring attention to it or you'll DIE. AGAIN.)

This is weird. Don't get hooked on that stuff, Gabe, it doesn't grow everywhere.

[hellshot]

[He learnt his lesson the first time. He's not getting burnt again any time soon, thanks.

Leaning back a little, he lets a thumb run over his cheek. Black smoke still rises from him, but his features are perfectly not-dead.]

We both have different definitions on 'weird', hermana. I, for one, can actually appreciate something about getting stuck out in fucking space away from home.

[His imperfections are being hidden, but... it's still Reaper, and it's easy enough to tell when he speaks.]

And I'm bringing the seeds back aboard the ship.

[She's already guessed it--if not careful, he really could get hooked on the stuff--after all, who the fuck wants to look like a corpse for their entire life?]

[doxing]

Well, don't get pissed off later when I keep giving you weekly reality checks.

(we have to go home someday. even if that keeps looking further and further from the truth, especially with the recent problems with the eluvio — and whatever the fuck is killing people on it.)

In the meantime? Knock yourself out.

(finally smirks, beginning to walk.)

So where are you? I wanna see this up close.

Side 3

[rockthemonkey]

[Goku doesn't need extra weapons. Nyoi-bo will regenerate no matter what happens to it and he's perfectly happy to rely on his fists against anyone. But exploring Bajikan means exploring all of Bajikan and Goku's been hoping that he might have an easier time finding people on the ground than he has on the ship. Maybe Mio came down to do some shopping. Maybe she's been avoiding him for the past week on purpose. Maybe Koumyou somehow got down to the planet early and Goku will find him around here. It's possible. It's just not likely.

The more he looks the less likely it feels. By the time he gets to Ira, there's a sick feeling in the bottom of his stomach. The longer he's there, wandering from shop to shop, stopping for a long time in front of a display of pistols, the more it starts to boil. This is bullshit. This whole thing is just... bullshit. He wants to kick someone's ass and he doesn't care who it belongs to. With a frustrated growl he storms out of the shop and back onto the street, not paying attention to where he's going, just wanting to find some asshole who-

... Oh, look, an asshole. Goku glares up at Reaper, rubbing his head a little from the impact and completely unphased by the gun being pointed at him.]

Don't point that at me, ya creepy owl.

[Goku knocks Reaper's arm aside to push the gun away from his face. Get that weak shit out of here.]

[hellshot]

[The expression on Goku's face is one he might comment on--were he not in such a shitty mood--as being good, free from a foolish expression, concentrated and actually serious, for once. He knows this brat is more than he looks, so seeing him doing something other than food-hunting and fooling around would be refreshing.

But when his gun is knocked to the side with a snide remark calling him a creepy owl, he almost wants to laugh. The kid is just itching to get on his bad side today, it seemed. So of course, what is Reaper to do but to pull up a second gun, identical to the first, to point that one at him, too.]

You'll find that I'll point my weapons damn where anywhere I'd like. [For one.] You wake up on the wrong side of your banana tree? If you need a bit of knocking around to get your head back in the game, I'll be quick to deliver.

[rockthemonkey]

[Honestly, the expression is just as childish as it is when he's food-hunting and fooling around. A resentful frown aimed at no one in particular, a petulant child not far off a tantrum. But it is different than his usual carefree nature.]

You lookin' to get your ass kicked? [He knocks the second gun away too, completely failing to be intimidated. Yeah, he's not bulletproof (at the moment) but guns just aren't scary right now. If anything, it just reminds him even more of who he's missing.] Quit talking 'bout dumb shit, I'm not in the mood today. Either shoot or get the hell out of my way.

[Sanzo would be proud, maybe.]

[hellshot]

Me? I think you're entirely mistaken. If anyone here is looking to get a beating, it's you. [He might not underestimate the monkey anymore, but he still over-estimates himself. I.E.: he doesn't believe Goku could pass down an asskicking worth his time.

But when Goku says the magic words of 'either shoot or get out of my way', well.

That's an easy decision, honestly, what with how shit a mood he himself is in, and how he's been itching to shoot the damn things for weeks now. Aiming at Goku's feet, he squeezes the trigger only too easily. The large shotgun letting out an echoing, horrid blast of gunfire, shrapnel finding a home in between the monkey's feet.

He might have felt the heat the thing gave off as well, the red bits of metal still glowing in the dirt.]

2!

[finethanks]

[Reaper isn't the only one looking to save some of these plants. Eichi is holding a pair of small pouches, one of them blue with flower print and the other a very basic beige. He's a weak looking boy who'd just been staring at some of the flowers until he's addressed, but now as he offers his own relaxed smile, he wiggles his pouches.]

Are you also looking to save them for later? Fufufu, they say that great minds think alike. [He points out each of the types of flowers, glancing up to the stranger as if to gauge which one he's trying to get seeds from.]

My frail hands are unused to work like this, but to have them covered in dirt and smelling like flowers, it's a thrilling thing. ♪ Are you afraid of getting dirty? [That's clearly not it..........]

[hellshot]

[He takes a moment to look over the guy he's asked for help, the cheerful response and the cheeky little laugh after the additional great minds think alike quip catches his attention. Were he not in Acedia right now and feeling moderately to extremely chilled out, he might come back with some sort of rude quip.

But given he's feeling uncharacteristically chilled out right now... he just gives the guy a slow blink and an expression that nearly reads 'you can't be serious.']

I'm going to grow them back in the ship, for my own reasons. [A pause, as the other asks if he's afraid of getting dirty... this kind of cheerful is still something he's not good at dealing with. Give him a second.]

You'll get even more dirty and worked down if you're going to put serious work into making your own garden.
But no. I'm not afraid of getting dirty. I don't want my skin absorbing the seeds when I'm not sure what the effects of them are yet.

[Because that explains everything very well.]

[finethanks]

For your own reasons, is it? Fufu, how secretive. That makes me awfully curious, you know? I had planned to take some seeds back to grow the plants so that I could prepare some special tea, but your own words make it sound almost ominous.

[Eichi is always this level of relaxed, or at least acting like it, so his excessive talking hasn't changed at all in here.]

What's more ominous than that is such casual words about your skin absorbing things. What do you mean by that? [But hey, he's going to gather some seeds, he'll help!]

[hellshot]

[He gives this guy another quiet, flat look. He's so... bright and cheerful, replying with almost mischievous curiosity. Honestly, Reaper's first thought is how allergic to this sort of personality he is.

So much so that thanks to his current too-relaxed mindset--he might take a little longer to reply than what seems normal. If it's not obvious how bad this guy is at social interaction, then something would be seriously missed here.]

...Might not look like it. Thanks to some plants in Superbia. But I'm not as alive as I look.
It's a lot to explain unless you have any experience with nanotechnology.

[So this is his 'please, please don't ask me to explain' face.

...

Eichi's going to ask him to explain, he can feel it.]

1

[sweatysometimes]

[Pidge is feeling pretty confident herself as she wanders the district. The use of tokens to control exits and entry seems pretty interesting, if she's honest. Maybe after this she'll check the green district. Even with all the scars, though, Reyes cuts an imposing digure and she stumbles a little as he stops her to ask a question. Pidge blinks, rubs the back of her neck. What's she supposed to say?]

Uh, yeah, I guess?

[hellshot]

[Maybe if he were feeling more himself and less confident, he'd not feel so bold as to stop someone he's only ever spoken to once (and over text, for that matter, so he won't even recognise her right away) to make a vain comment like that.

But he's feeling better than he usually does, so:]

Maybe when you get into your sixties and can still say you've got a good look about you, you'll get what I mean.

[sweatysometimes]

[Pidge squints for a moment, trying to decide what to say again. This conversation is a little... strange as far as she's concerned.]

I mean, you do look pretty good, all things considered...? Yeah.

[hellshot]

[It's extraordinarily strange. He'll later pretend that it didn't happen, but for now, he's still crookedly smiling. But after a minute, he does actually take a moment to look at her.]

Knew you'd see things my way. [A pause.] You native to this place, or are you down from the Eluvio?

2; this just seems to be how he keeps running into reaper

[ichimyatsu]

[Seems like they were in similar places for similar reasons. Ichimatsu could sleep all right in the tiny bed in the quarters he shared with Karamatsu, given the ostentatious second-born was the only one he'd slept next to in a number of years in their weird giant futon, but if something was meant to make a person sleep soundly he assumed it would also be a general sedative, and he would never turn down a means to free things that would keep him calm. Especially rooming with Karamatsu.]

[If the voice hadn't parsed as Reaper's, Ichimatsu may have never known it was him, given he's never seen him without his mask on. He scrunches his face and looks him over, reaching out to do as he's asked without really answering, right at first.]

Thought you were dead or something under that mask of yours.

just keeps asking ichimatsu to do shit for him

[hellshot]

...

[He takes just a moment to look Ichimatsu over, figuring out which twin it is surprisingly easy--(it's the tone, it's always the tone)--before reaching a hand up to draw over the scruff of his goatee.]

You caught me on a good day. I found a flower here that covers up the fact that I look like a zombie on most days.

[His tone is... so chilled out, it's hard to tell if this is a joke or if he's serious.]

you're damn lucky he thinks you're kind of cool

[ichimyatsu]

[You got off easy on that one, Ichimatsu and Karamatsu are about as different as night and day when it comes to telling these assholes apart. He scoffs, rolling his eyes.]

Oh, this isn't looking like a zombie? [When he starts giving you shit, you know he likes you. Though he's mostly confident enough to do it because Reaper sounds so daggone mellow.]

um he's really cool thanks

[hellshot]

... Cheeky brat. [He scoffs, looking at the other sidelong with a smirk crawling up his face. Black smoke escapes out of the corner of his mouth as he exhales, bringing out a little pouch from his pocket so Ichimatsu can deposit the seeds into it.]

Big difference from looking figuratively dead and being actually dead. You wouldn't want to see me with my mask off on a regular day. [If he wasn't feeling so mellow, he might not casually say this at all, and be a hell of a lot more biting about it. Lucky you.]

dos; in which an alien is judgmental and nobody was surprised

[canadese]

[Ax is out among the flowers for much the same reason--alien plants are fascinating, and he wants to study them as much as he can when he's back on board. He's in his natural form for this, because humans are clumsy and he can't appreciate flora properly that way. Anybody who happens on him without expecting it will just have to deal.

He's caught off guard when Reaper speaks. Partly because of his appearance, but mostly because he's kind of astounded that the man can apparently do nothing himself.]

<Why not?>

why must u always judge me ax

[hellshot]

[Well. He recognises that blue alien face and that weird, uncomfortable voice in his head. If not for Acedia's relaxing air and calming effect it had on the wraith's demeanor, he might greet Ax with an extremely unfriendly remark or some sort of snotty, rude retort.

As it was, for the first time since they first met, he's ... strangely chilled out. Only rolling his eyes as he's asked why instead of anything else.]

Because my skin has a habit of absorbing anything organic it touches. And after my experiences in Luxuria and Superbia, I'd rather not risk something strange happening to my body because I forgot my gloves back on the Eluvio.

[Amazing, a civil reply.]

because everything reaper does must be judged

[canadese]

[Maybe the flowers are already having an effect on him as well, but Ax isn't inclined to be snide either. Perhaps... they can even have a conversation like adults...

Without questioning what happened in the other districts (or at least not yet) or even commenting at all, he takes the plants in question and easily and quickly removes several seeds. Benefits of having small hands and too many fingers. Then he holds them out awkwardly for Reaper to take, because he didn't quite think this through.]

<Is that all you needed?>

yeah I can't even argue this

[hellshot]

[Yeah just excuse the second of staring he's going to do at those hands. He's seen Ax unmorphed in this form before, but he'd not taken the time to actually examine what he looked like.

When he finally clicks into the fact that Ax asked him a question--the air in this damn place was really distracting him from his usually serious facade--he almost scoffs, and jokingly quips:]

Not unless you know anything about growing plants on a space ship.

[Haha.]