The full seasonal event can be read here! Below are the main seasonal items for quick reference:
1. A thread reacting to the season's weather in some ways.
2. A thread in the part of the city your character doesn't live in!
3. A thread relating to your vocation.
Of The Season
Quote
"Tell Dr. Nate that Gale sent you, and he still owes me for the mushrooms. Except that it takes you a while to reach the clinic, and by the time you do your fever is spiking, and so instead of the requisite message you instead tell the poor soul who greets you that 'A gale'a m'shrooms sent me cus'a my hands.'" - Zephyr in Oh help me, please doctor, I'm damaged
He hates it down here. Not because of the place or the people, but because of the fact he’s wearing all the gear the Enforcers are mandated to wear, forced to project a face he doesn’t wholly believe in, all under the orders of the Houses who as far as their concerned as so hands off and out of touch of everything that it’s a recipe for disaster. He can see that, but there’s nothing he can do about it now other than the inevitable do what you’re told.
And so, he’s here. Just like that. Covered up to the brim with his uniform and his Enforcement issued guns, a mask that covers the majority of his face to keep him from being affected by the smog down here, alongside the attempt at keeping the enforcers as anonymous as possible. It’s rough all around. It’s too dark, and his steel gaze struggles to focus alongside his team, stepping through the Drench to get toward the edges of the Neon Alley where it was far more likely to find those that intended to break the curfew announcement.
Another enforcer behind him walks along with an old janky megaphone, announcing the lockdown curfew in case anyone hadn’t heard (though how anyone could miss it was a surprising thought to the young enforcer). Regardless. The countdown starts. The dread and regret builds in his stomach until he’s almost nauseous, and when one of his partners finishes the countdown and speaks another countdown of thirty seconds under his breath, Sunjata feels like his feet are made of lead, like he’s rooted to the spot.
The thirty seconds go by in what feels like forever and yet not long enough, because once they hit zero one more time, the pack of enforcers with him spread out, and Sunjata remains, still as a statue, delayed in his attempt to start moving a heartbeat later than the rest of his power-hungry team.
He does move, not before the biggest prick on his team notices, though. And it’s with the brush of movement that has him shoved forward does he start moving, swallowing down everything and begins to shout a repeat of the orders to any that linger outside of the doors, breaking off down an alley on his own, the mask amplifying his voice only a fraction more among the calls from the other Enforcers down the rest of the alleys.
'cause i learned all my lessons that way
(This post was last modified: 09-24-2022, 07:15 PM by Sunjata.)
As soon as Adam had heard about the 'curfew', he knew exactly where he would be shoving it. The enforcers already regularly came down to swing their dicks around and ruin life in the Drench; they weren't about to give him a bedtime.
Still, he knew better than to stand right in front of them and defy orders - that was a swift way to get bruised ribs and a night's stay in a dark cold room. This particular group of enforcers were loud and, he was sure, cocky with their new orders to make sure everyone was indoors. Perched on a balcony made of metal grates a little above eyeline, hidden behind a sign, he took the smoke from his lips and watched some of them individually. One seemed a little unsure, a little less confident; instinctively, he focused. It could be nothing, but any crack in the Arbiter's wall was a chance to get information.
As the soldier he'd picked out separated away from his comrades, Adam slunk up from his kneeling position on the balcony and around the wall, booted feet confidently landing on points he knew he could balance until he was in the alley looking down at the masked man, the two of them now relatively alone. He let him yell out the orders a few times, rolling his eyes at the wording, then simply let his cigarette fall from his lips and to the ground a few steps ahead.
"Hey." He called, after getting the enforcer's attention. "You ever think about what you're gonna do down here, on your own, if everyone decides to fuck your curfew?"
I'm the gap between a tragedy and comedy Don't come at me I'm the main character and you have to like me
(This post was last modified: 09-24-2022, 08:25 PM by Adam.)
He really, really doesn’t want to be down here doing any of this. Especially not when there’s a tall shadow above him, one that he’s aware of but ignores in favor for getting the others into their homes as gently as possible – an opposite to the events in the alleys happening down the street. But when his attention tries to move back toward that shadow, he finds the man on the same street – relatively alone – and Sunjata finds his gaze lifting just from the sheer height of the other.
“Saints.” He curses under his breath, keeping it from being projected. Of course it had to be the tallest Drencher he's seen down here, doesn’t it?
He straightens up, hands hovering by the belt on him as he remains masked, but his steel gaze focuses through the darkness and the smog to the other, setting his jaw and pulling on all of that faux bravado within him. “Ah, but I’m not alone.” He projects to Adam – despite the fact that he is very much alone in this alley with this stranger, with a group of Enforcers who half of them would be more than ready to leave Sunjata to whatever fate he stumbled across. At least he’s consoled with the fact there’s a few in there that would come and for him the second he radioed any kind of SOS.
“And I don’t exactly see everyone fucking with it.” He gestures with one hand to the homes around that have people within them, the fact they’re practically alone here in the alley. “So I’d suggest you go along with them and get into a house and stay put for the night. Deal? It's less bullshit for you and me.” There. Compromising. And no where near as heavy handed as the rest of his team typically tended to be.
Adam slid down to the alley proper, still hidden a little in the shadow inherent to these tight spaces but more visible than he usual let himself be in front of enforcers. This one was clearly either fresh or just coming out of some kind of mental breakdown (he'd heard those were common among the Plate's soldiers, but couldn't find that much sympathy inside his heart), the voice through the mask still having that twinge of nerves to it that betrayed the person within.
"Not alone?" He turned a little and whistled, smiling a crooked line as it echoed pleasingly against the long line of buildings behind them. "I mean, sure, your buddies are all around, but they're a little busy shoving old ladies into walls, aren't they?" The words were cocky, but Adam's eyes did flick down to Sunjata's hands at his belt - his own hand went to his hip, where his revolver hung. Not much by the standards of Plate weaponry, but enough to get him out of immediate danger if he played his cards right.
Projecting an image of confidence, going to lean against the nearest wall and put his hands in his pockets, Adam rolled his shoulders. "Tell me why I should. 'Cos I gotta tell you, this is still bullshit for me. I got stuff to do." Hopefully, this was the kind of enforcer willing to have a conversation before resorting to violence, or he was going to have more than a sore ego after this confrontation.
I'm the gap between a tragedy and comedy Don't come at me I'm the main character and you have to like me
It’s never been something he’s condoned. The heavy handedness of the Enforcers with the Drenchers. And he’s thankful for the mask that hides the tightening of his jaw at the mention of it. Instead, he simply zeroes in on Adam, focusing enough that any shift is accounted for, while he continues to make no move to strike first even if he notices the way the stranger’s hand hovers by his own hip before slipping into his pockets. And with it, one of Sunjata’s own lowers from his belt, sucking in every ounce of courage he could as he steps forward, closing a bit of the distance between them.
Enough to chat, hopefully, because Adam’s right in the fact Sunjata’d much prefer to talk through things first. “It’s bullshit for me too and I’m hoping it’ll be over in a couple of days.” He projects, steel gaze scanning Adam with a hint more calculation before he leans to the side slightly, away from the wall that Adam leans against to peer down the rest of the alley, to see what’s going on further down, checking to see if any of his team have decided to investigate, before returning his attention back to the tall man.
And after a moment, he heaves a heavy sigh – projected through the mask – as he withdraws his hands from being anywhere near the belt at his side. “So for tonight at the very least, we can make it easy on the both of us and you can put the shit you have to do tonight aside and just deal with it in the morning when curfew's lifted. Otherwise,” he pauses, gesturing with gloved hands. “It gets messy for the both of us and I really, really don’t want to have to deal with that tonight too.” A dark brow rises beneath the helmet, steel gaze singularly focused on Adam, shifting only when he hears the voice through the earpiece asking where he is, to which he turns his head and breaks his eye contact, pressing a button to the side to speak into. “Alley’s almost clear.”
"My heart fuckin' aches for you." Adam levelled back with a sardonic stare, imagining where the enforcer would be going back to: not a shabby little nothing in the Drench like most people here. Probably a real house, with luxuries and guaranteed breakfast in the morning.
It seemed like they were actually going to talk, Sunjata's hands leaving his belt; Adam relaxed a little and pulled a messy clump of rolled cigarettes from his pocket, selecting one to light with the equally shoddy lighter he produced from his other hand. The small flame lit his face in the darkness for a moment, revealing his eyes, surrounded by dark make up and sharp, still staring right at his enemy. "Okay, that's why you want me to follow your little rule, but I'm asking why the rules there. Jealous of all the suckin' and fuckin' we get up to down here at night?" He couldn't resist the little jab, though he seemed to regret it after, a brief break in their eye contact as he glanced down at the ground.
Still, he was in good enough spirits to laugh at the announcement made over the radio. "Well, it's about as clear as it was when you found it."
I'm the gap between a tragedy and comedy Don't come at me I'm the main character and you have to like me
“I thought it was pretty clear.” Sunjata grumbles through the mask, something within it glitching and shifting his voice into a robotic swivel of sounds. “Due to the rising tensions surrounding the construction of the newest part of the city, a few measures have been taken by the Bravlet and Bratena houses. Until the perpetrators of this unrest are apprehended, lockdown will remain in effect.” He parrots his father’s voice to an uncomfortable degree, one that has him crumbling into dust internally as he catches the kohl colored smudges around Adam’s face with the light of the cigarette.
Of course, the mask continues to buzz and twist, a wire loose on the side that he knows how to fix (he always ends up with the shittiest one and at this point is certain it’s on purpose. Hissing a sound of annoyance, he steps back from Adam, turning halfway away in an attempt to obscure his own face. “It isn’t clear because—” he unhooks the mask from his face to inspect the wire “— you’re still out here, aren’t you?” Comes the annoyed snap in a Plate accent much like Shaju’s, less muffled and robotic without the help of the mask as he shoves the piece of wire back into its connection, and makes the mistake of glancing toward Adam briefly just to make sure he isn’t going to try and pull something.
The voice-changing-mask-thing enforcers did always creeped Adam out; he wrinkled his nose as the tinny transformation took place, recognising hints of the Arbiter's voice and not liking that either. Still, he heard the words (he'd heard them before, read them too, but that wasn't the point) and after a long, slow drag on his smoke, shook his head. "So...because you lot can't do your jobs, everyone has to stay in at night?"
He was going to say more, try and delve into what Sunjata's actual opinion was - see if he was a true believer in what the Plates had to say or if he was just following orders - when there seemed to be a malfunction with the enforcer's mask. Continuing to stare straight at Sunjata, swapping the leg he had his weight through, Adam snorted. "Yeah, and that's unlikely to change, so--Oh, shit." Another cigarette fell to the ground, but this time it wasn't intentional.
"You're the Arbiter's kid!" Shocked enough to not even use one of his many oh-so-creative nicknames for their 'leader', Adam leaned forward towards Sunjata, an amused and surprised expression taking over his features. "Shit, dad's got you on the dirty work, huh? Well, I'm honoured. It's uhhh...Sunjata, right?"
If there was any fear or anger at this revelation, he didn't show it, jokingly holding out a hand as if they were having a polite introduction right there in the shadows.
I'm the gap between a tragedy and comedy Don't come at me I'm the main character and you have to like me
“It’s to help us do our jobs.” Sunjata mutters, annoyance clear in his voice when he shoves the wire back in and goes to slip the mask back on, ready to snap something else back at the tall-as-fuck stranger, when the shocked comment rattles him suddenly and he whirls, unable to get the mask on his face, clutched tightly in his hand as he encroaches on Adam’s space.
“Shut the fuck up,” he starts to say before surprise overtakes him, dark brows pinching as the stranger extends his hand. He simply stares at it for a moment, confusion clear as day in his face when he looks up at Adam and takes a step back, slipping the mask back into place. He doesn’t expect to be noticed down here, at least not so quickly without the mask. Apparently, Adam’s up to date on all the Plate Gossip.
But that’s neither here nor there. He doesn’t end up shaking Adam’s hand, instead, lets his steel gaze lift to try and meet the other man’s gaze. “No.” He says instead, quite belatedly, immensely already fucking up with all of it. The answer’s yes, and if he wasn’t Sunjata he wouldn’t have delayed so quickly in saying that he wasn’t.
After all, there were plenty who wished to be in the position he was in. He’s just not one of them.
Whatever comment Adam had about the enforcers usually managing to terrorise the Drench without a lockdown had been long forgotten in the wake of discovering his rival's identity. Very much not shutting the fuck up, he continued to laugh and stare as Sunjata fiddled with his mask and got it back on. "I know who you are, Sunny. Didn't know you did actual work. Figured your dad would have you on, I dunno, paperwork and sucking off silver spoons." There was still a smile on his face, still a joking tone in his voice, but Adam couldn't hide the real bitterness behind the words.
Crouching down to find the smoke he'd dropped and pick it back up (hey, it was expensive), he got it back in his lips just in time to shake his head and fold his arms, leaning back against the wall. "Uh...nope. No, can't say I am. I'm gonna go visit a friend, maybe go for a walk - unless you're actually gonna fucking do something about it." A challenge, one reiterated in the hardness of his gaze and the way he drew himself up against the wall to his full height.
I'm the gap between a tragedy and comedy Don't come at me I'm the main character and you have to like me
