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

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.]

judgment has yet to be passed on that one

[ichimyatsu]

[He does just that, looking up to watch the smoke in a vaguely unsettled way, because he looks a lot more human and alive but is still breathing weird smoke and that's weird. It's also pretty metal, but he doesn't wanna say that. He shrugs one shoulder, going back to the flowers after depositing the seeds.]

You need more than that? And I dunno, zombies aren't all bad.

pfh w/e i know how it is

[hellshot]

[He takes a moment to carefully re-wrap the little pouch, now full of seeds from four different districts, and tucks it back inside his jacket. A small shake of his head in reply.]

Should be enough, unless I've lost my touch with the things I'm good at. [He means gardening, but saying it outright, well...]

Hah. Said like you've actually met a zombie before.

waggles eyebrows

[ichimyatsu]

[If you're intending to be growing some of these plants back on the Eluvio Ichimatsu might have some business for you-- he's interested in selling these plants at his shop since they do stuff people would probably pay good money for, perhaps they can forge a business partnership through this. Or maybe he'll just treat Gabe like a drug dealer and buy some plants from him every now and again, who fucking knows.]

[He shrugs his shoulders easily, largely understanding that "things I'm good at" meant probably gardening, or at least something to do with plants and also passing off the zombie mention.]

Well it looks like I've met a self-proclaimed one, doesn't it? [A crooked grin.] And, I've watched a lot of movies.

[hellshot]

'Self-proclaimed'. [He scoffs low, raising a hand to scrub the front of his mouth, hiding the fact that he'd almost fucking laughed at the NEET.] The only thing I 'proclaim' to be is a goddamn psychopath.

[I wish this were a joke]

Movies don't do real undead people justice. If Zombies in those old movies were real, one day of rain would kill them off. You know that?

[Don't get him talking about old horror movies. Don't.]

[ichimyatsu]

Nah, you're a zombie now. [Though points for proclaiming to be a psychopath. Ichimatsu respects that.]

[He hums in thought at that, though, splaying his hand over his mouth and tapping his upper lip. He tilts his head, nodding and then frowning like he's actually sifting through a mental list, and then looks up at him, pulling his hand away from his face and nodding.]

I mean, you're probably right. Gardening seems like a pretty weird hobby for a zombie-psychopath, though.

[hellshot]

You'd think. [because honestly, he's not wrong. It is a weird hobby to have. But much like everything else Reaper does--there's at least a point to it.

He almost considers leaving it at that, but. Being chilled out also comes with not actually minding idle conversation for now.]

Not interested in gardening for the sake of gardening. It has more to do with my biology than it does with my interests.

Never thought I'd miss something like nature when suddenly marooned out in space.

[ichimyatsu]

[That also seems to click once Ichimatsu ponders it for a minute, and he nods slowly.]

There are worse hobbies to have to be into. Think you could grow catnip?

[hellshot]

Trust me. Gardening is about a 9 on the scale of weird things people do.

[He appreciates how Ichimatsu doesn't ask him to explain himself, and he turns to raise an eyebrow at him.]

Catnip is greenery. Just leaves. In terms of growing, it's far easier to cultivate than flowers or vegetables.

[ichimyatsu]

A nine on a scale of what? I can't tell if you're saying it's really weird or not weird at all.

[Ichimatsu doesn't really like being questioned himself, so he usually extends the courtesy to others. It doesn't always work in his favor, but he sees no reason to question an innocuous hobby. He squints.]

So is that a yes? Nyanko loves the shit. Also if you're gonna grow the stuff from here and you're open to it, I might buy dried leaves from you to sell in my shop. Seems like something people would buy the shit out of.

[hellshot]

On a scale of 1 to 10, obviously. 10 being low, 1 being high. Gardening is set at 9 on he weirdest scale. And I don't know. Huffing pulse emmissions is a solid 2.

[Is this a joke? Reaper really does sound dry, sarcastic--and it's hard to tell with how little he shows expression on his face.]

It's a yes. So long as you can find me a seedling or some seeds to grow it in the first place. Don't even know if catnip is available on the Eluvio. [Giving him a look.]

Earth plants.

[ichimyatsu]

[He tips his head slightly to the side.] See, I'm used to 10 being high and 1 being low. Do I want to know what pulse emissions are?

[A beat, and he frowns.]

...ah, right. It's not like I can just... get, stuff like that.

[hellshot]

It's the smoke and chemical kickback that escapes when you shoot off pulse ammunition. It smells. But in a way that's not bad. Just weird. [Weird enough for some soldiers to enjoy the smell of it, which is just fucking odd, in his opinion.

And then he turns his head, looking down at Ichimatsu...]

You're giving up that easily?

[ichimyatsu]

[He quirks his mouth.] What, like how some people like the smell of petrol?

[He purses his lips and looks vaguely annoyed.] Do you have recommendations?

[hellshot]

Exactly that. Or people with pica. One hell of a fucked up habit.

[He tips his head back, thinking...]

This place has lots of districts. And therefore lots of shops. Just a matter of asking around.

Maybe even the black market back on the Eluvio itself. Carries all sorts of shit normal shops don't.

[ichimyatsu]

[He nods, mulling that over.]

I don't know dick about gardening, if I got a catnip plant could I convince you to grow it for me?

[hellshot]

...[He gives a small scoff, like a laugh.]

You find it, and I'll add it to my planters.

Won't even make you say please for that one.

[Gardening's not hard to get him to do, it seems.]

[ichimyatsu]

[He curls in on himself a touch, almost shyly, and shuffles his feet back and forth. Well, if Reaper won't make him say please, he figures...]

...thanks.

[hellshot]

[He turns to face Ichimatsu, a small scoff escaping him. He almost--almost smiles, but that's when he feels a twinge of pain in his cheek. A line cutting across his cheek, and he raises a hand to cover it, subtly.]

Don't worry about it.

[And now it's time to stand up, and make an excuse to exit. Looks like time's up on that perfection plant.]

[ichimyatsu]

[He looks up after him, not quite catching the reason he's suddenly drawn away but definitely realizing that he is. He tilts his head, but doesn't question it.]

You headed out?

[hellshot]

[He'll bless the fact that the effect of the plant is wearing off a little like a drug--slowly, not all at once. Otherwise Ichimatsu would have quite a bit to question. For now, he can just feel his skin rotting underneath his fingers, and getting back to the inn he's staying in to get his mask was next on his to-do list.]

Think it's about time for me to call it a day. Don't sleep much. Should try while the going is easy, here.

[ichimyatsu]

[The good thing about Ichimatsu is it takes... a lot for him to actively judge someone. He probably wouldn't care if you went all rotty and gross in front of him, he'd just be like "oh hey, that's spooky beyond reason,". He nods though, shifting to get up as well.]

Acedia's a pretty nice district, I won't lie.

[hellshot]

[He'd probably appreciate that at a later point, but his problem is mostly vanity, not shame. How embarrassing would that be to admit.]

Better than Ira.

[A pause.]

Stay away from there.

[ichimyatsu]

[He wheezes a laugh.]

I've been, but I didn't stay. The name of the district is pretty literal. [Given that 苛々 was read "iraira" and was an adverb to reference anxiety and irritation...]

[A beat.]

What makes you say stay away? [Reaper were you concerned.]