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
climbing the ladder, faster and faster impending disaster goes faster, and—
Nate’s other hand lifts to cup Adam’s cheek, gently forcing him to meet his gaze. Sunburn just barely darker than the flush from the drug sits high on his cheeks, his lips shiny from his tongue swiping out regularly. Terribly gentle reassurance shines in his eyes, wordlessly insistent. “It’ll be okay.” It may only be because of the drugs singing through his blood, but Nate believes the words effortlessly, holds Adam’s hand and leads him towards the same conclusion. “Puppy’s gone and run away toooo…” the doctors foot jabs out to prod Sunjata to supply the forgotten answer.
Thumbs stroke along Adam’s cheeks, distracting from the movement that comes from Nate’s foot jabbing into Sunjata again. His heel digs in this time, trying and failing to drag the enforcer in closer, filling in an all encompassing physical reassurance. “You don’t know. F’it gets hot you don’t know, right? S’not the same.” The words are soft, kissing against Adam’s face like a secret.
it's bad enough to see the sunlight through your seams the thread of you and hem of me it's bad enough in between
He should expect the hesitation – having thought about it briefly before the drugs took hold and Nate had ensured that he’d be okay. After all, he was the entire reason Sunjata didn’t slip out of the borders of Ok’Kotoll and head into Garanenz. But still, in this induced haze of his, he works his jaw, only looking over when Nate’s foot presses into him, silent as he typically got when he was watching and waiting for the consequences to drop.
The I like you, but… is the initial spark that has him already prepared mentally to get up and get ready to leave (once he was sober, of course), but with the way Nate tries to draw him closer, Sunjata sits up, lets a swollen gaze drift over toward Adam, still keeping that speck of distance (being touchy and close were not things Sunjata was used to, high or otherwise.) “I told Vera I was leaving to go to Garanenz to find my mom.” And the trek between here and there? Any number of predators lived out there.
“Any luck… At all, ‘n my dad’ll think I died or something.” It’s what Shaju had hoped for so long ago anyway. But something tugs on him in his induced state, and he looks at Adam a bit more fully, torn between the words he wants to say. “I can keep m’head down ‘n out of the way.” An offer, before he follows it up with “and if it doesn’t work, I’ll just leave like I was gonna do. Deal?”
Options for Adam to chew over, even as a small part of Sunjata where Nate had built some hope starts to flicker in uncertainty, keeping the Plater reserved and to himself.
Adam wished he was high enough to believe the look in Nate's eyes, but the unsettled feeling in his chest refused to budge. Since he'd been very young, Enforcers kicking down his door had been a constant fear - this seemed like a shortcut to making that fear a reality. Silently, he looked back and forth between the two of them, wishing they hadn't dropped this idea as his brain was starting to fog up from the very strong supply Nate had brought.
"Uh..." Were he not sure Nate would collapse on the way, he would have told the Doctor they needed to talk in the other room. For the moment, trapped between the two of them on the couch and (hopefully) with no one there to capture Sunjata just yet...he sighed and shrugged. "Just be careful, Arbiter jr. Y'haven't seen how it is down here when you're just another Drencher. You're..giving up a hell of a lot."
Not to mention power in any kind of upcoming revolution - in fact, the more that Adam thought about this, the more it seemed to be clearly a bad idea. Glancing to Nate with a look that said we will talk about this later, he dropped the other questions he had.
climbing the ladder, faster and faster impending disaster goes faster, and—
It’s no fun if Adam isn’t having fun too. Nate slams into the realization like a brick wall, his eyes wide and a definite pout starting to pull on his lips. When was the last time this had even happened? Long enough ago now that Nate couldn’t remember, especially not when he was like this. Hands reach out to wrap around Adam's jaw, fingers intoxicated rough, like he can’t remember his own strength. “Don’t be cloudy.” Nate has to force the words out around the lump that’s filled his throat, while his eyes search Adam’s face, the world reduced, just for a moment, to the two of them.
And then it isn’t. Then Nate remembers the third, the cause of the wall between him and dazed bliss. Blank eyes cut across to Sunjata as Nate presses in closer, lips grazing Adam’s cheek on the way to brush against the shell of his ear instead. “Should he go?” The whisper is loud enough to not deserve the title, though Nate has taken the care to make sure his voice is breathy as it should be. “Is he bad?” An arm sneaks around Adam’s back, pulling him closer – and away from Sunjata – as he speaks. “I could make him.”
None of his wishy washy words cut to the real issue, the poorly thought out choice he’d made, but Nate is beyond thinking about that at the moment. He’s merely focused on the quickest way to fix the issue, on closing the doors to the empty barn and proudly proclaiming the problem solved.
NATE
(This post was last modified: 04-19-2023, 04:06 AM by Nate.)
it's bad enough to see the sunlight through your seams the thread of you and hem of me it's bad enough in between
He knows. He knows just how much he’s giving up. But to him he’s simply trading one cage for another, one that seems like it may be brighter despite the overshadowed Plates above. “Yeah, I know.” He couldn’t stand to stay up there any longer — selfishly — without there being someone who at least cared about him, who wasn’t forced to show it. And since his mother had been trapped outside of the city, the only person he had that had even somewhat cared about him was Vera.
But even their time together had been forced and scheduled with ulterior motives to keep the Platers and his father happy.
For Sunjata, it was either getting stuck down here and dying as he tried to escape or dying up there. He’s trying to figure out how one could be better than the other when Nate “whispers” to Adam. It captures his attention, of course, as does the way he tries to tug the man between them away from him and Sunjata knew that despite Nate’s attempts to draw him in, it was a mistake. He was the mistake.
So he reverts back to how he had been taught to act on the Plates, namely in his own home — looking away, pretending he didn’t hear just what they were talking about, and readjusting on the couch to give them space, his fingers absently tugging on a loose thread in his clothing as if that might be enough of a fidget to keep his mind from racing further down. If Nate wanted to make him leave, so be it.
He’d just try to find his way back to the Drowning Trails and try to sneak out again. But at least they’d never have to see him again, whether he did or didn’t escape.
Damn, Nate really was far gone - Adam bristled a little at the strength of the hands on his jaw and raised his eyebrows at the word 'cloudy'. Was he being cloudy? He felt like he was just being fucking reasonable, though with the drug eating away at the edges of his conscious that was getting harder by the second. Staring back into Nate's eyes, for a moment, he too gets lost in the nothingness - but the problem would not leave him be, the fear of what might happen if Sunjata stayed.
"Look, I... Rubbing his temples, sighing, trying to wrangle his mind back (not something he did often, usually all too happy to stay high), Adam shook his head. "No, he's fuckin' down here now, isn't he, and-" Turning to Sunjata, he tried to place a hand on his knee, though with the way his limbs were beginning to feel ten feet long it was hard to know if he landed. "I'm just worried, alright. But y'here and I don't...I don't leave people behind...but we gotta work something out..."
Maybe Sunjata could get plastic surgery and put on ten pounds and shave his head. That might be enough to hide him for a while.
A glance back to Nate, and a properly annoyed sigh: "I wish you hadn't announced this after giving me your fuckin' stash. Asshole."
climbing the ladder, faster and faster impending disaster goes faster, and—
In little bits and pieces Nate relaxes, the deep breath exhaled and the suddenly empty space filling with slick guilt, his insides squirming uncomfortably. It's not enough to keep anxiety from piercing him when Adam reaches out, but that too abates the instant nothing happens. Nate leans into the back of the couch, his hands falling away from Adam and his complexion growing pasty, almost green.
Wide eyes watch the other two interact while Nate tries desperately to pull at the cords of himself, recognizing far too late the real gravity of the choice he'd made, dreading the time when he was able to properly feel it again. "I didn't..." The words are quiet, numbed by his tongue and the weight sitting on his back now. His hand reaches out to cover Adam's, holding it where it is and letting it hold him upright.
The look from Adam has him shrinking back a little, guilty eyes looking anywhere but his closest friend. "I'm sorry." There's no promising he'd remember the lesson, but at least in the moment it's a genuine apology, his fingers squeezing Adam's hand while he leans in to rest his forehead on Adam's chin.
it's bad enough to see the sunlight through your seams the thread of you and hem of me it's bad enough in between
He does his best to pretend, even if his fidgeting with the loose thread is a dead ringer of the anxiety eating up at him. To have someone claim that they can stay only to decide in an instance whether or not he should leave? It sat uncomfortably with him, wondering if he’d really made a terrible mistake. Would it have been as terrible of a life for him to sit up on the Plates and be a terrible Enforcer, working double shifts until his father died, marrying Savera and hating every second of their friendship getting warped in a Plate-side advantageous way?
He doesn’t know, nor want to think on it for too long – pretending not to listen as Adam speaks to Nate. He only stops with the fidgeting of the loose thread when Adam’s warm palm touches his knee and his heavy steel gaze lifts to meet the other man’s face. “I can be careful.” He says quietly. “I already wanna shave my head.” He points to the stupid insignia shaved into the side of his head, one that Adam had commented on once upon a time.
His gaze bypasses Adam momentarily as Nate’s voice lifts, quiet enough for him to still hear, full of what Sunjata can hear as regret, and as Adam’s attention flickers back to the other man and Nate shrinks a little, Sunjata finds some boldness within him, reaching out with an equally heavy limb, resting his own warm palm atop the DJ’s, even has his gaze remains on the doctor. “We’ll figure it out when we’re sober, mkay?” No use in trying to figure it out when his mind kept wanting to swim.
"Mmmmm." Adam hummed in irritation, but as Nate's head came towards him he pressed a quick, annoyed kiss to his hair. There would be words later, this had been a rash and stupid choice...but it was one made with compassion and good intentions. They'd probably have decided to do it anyway, though perhaps with more time to prepare.
When Sunjata mentioned his hair, a snort came bubbling up out of Adam, the laughter sudden and surprising in his sour mood. [b]"Thank fuck. That makes it all worth it." Sunjata would definitely stand out with it in the Drench, but more importantly, it was a fashion disaster.
The other hand touching his was a surprise too. Adam looked down, both of his hands taken by the two men, and sighed, letting out the anger which was getting harder and harder to hold onto anyway. The drugs certainly helped, but regardless he wouldn't have been able to keep up the grudge for long. Leaning back, squeezing their hands, he spoke up into the air. "So like, where's he gonna sleep and stuff? Seems a bit obvious to put him in here. Not at my place. Sorry Jata, but I ain't getting raided."
(This post was last modified: 05-09-2023, 11:09 PM by Adam.)
climbing the ladder, faster and faster impending disaster goes faster, and—
By the time he'd had this idea, he'd been beyond the details. Beyond thinking about how obvious it was to have Sunjata hide out in his apartment. Hearing it said did jam those pieces together though, Nate frowning and chewing his lip. Some distant part of him hopes he makes it through the puzzle of his mistake before his skin. Some pessimistic voice hisses he won't.
And then glorious, golden realization dawned.
“I’m so fucking smart!” The shout surprises even him, Nate’s eyes widening as he sits up and looks around, as if to confirm that yes, it had been him whole made that sound. Hands rise to paw at Adam's shoulder, batting him and demanding attention as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Meant to tell you, cause I'm the fucking... I'm the best, I, I, I," the words trail off with a giddy trill as he shakes the other man.
No explanation escapes him, Nate's mouth opening and closing while he waits for some kind of reaction, some praise. "Say it too!" He demands, glancing between Adam and Sunjata and all but pouting, unwilling to share until his wants, however flighty, have been met.
