#rp thread start

An experiment. Thats what he was conducting. Whaat? It gets boring sometimes in the spire!! A simple spell, just to spice things up… but well. It hadn’t gone as planned…

…and what was wrong with all the cookies around?! They looked… bizarre. And he’s someone who knows bizarre!! They looked like… well, similar to the witches… and yet not quite.

And to throw that on top of everything, he felt… weird. The kind of he’s in a new disguise weird, something about his dough felt weird, I mean— It always felt weird in a new disguise, but never quite… THIS weird.

Where was he?? What happened to him??

- @thegreatbeastofdeceit

Ah.. the fresh breeze of Monstadt. The nation of freedom. Varka was recognized by many, a nod towards everyone - some who admired him, some who were knights, some were shopkeepers — and a newcomer that had quite the hydro flare! Wait... a newcomer with a hydro flare? The grandmaster rose a brow, placing his hands on his hips as he walked over.

"Greetings, stranger. Welcome to Monstadt."

Varka spoke, a grin on his face — but that can easily mask the silent wariness he had around the other. He didn't know what their purpose here was, or how they arrived - but, he always has to greet newcomers with kindness, just like he seen Amber do! After all, his role IS the grand master; supposed to treat /everyone/ nicely and with some mount of respect ... even if that respect isn't easily gained.

@silver-blooded-synthetics w/ Alien!Alma and Rachel

It had been a decent while since Rachel had first discovered the injured alien in her backyard. A few months, if she had to guess? Long enough for an entire winter to pass at the bare minimum. Once he was healed, they went to find his ship and ensure that it was safe and secure (and, most importantly, hidden). Once they were able to confirm that it had suffered no damages upon arrival to Earth, they safely hid it away and Alma carefully made note of where its specific coordinates were the next time they had to find it.

In the months that followed, he had essentially been her housemate. It was a bit of an adjustment, at first, but Alma very quickly became easy company to have. It was strangely easy to get used to having him around, once Rachel was able to set up a surround sound speaker system in her house that was able to be connected to through Bluetooth to make communicating with her as easy as possible. Technomorphs, as they were called, were a fascinating species.

Of course, she couldn't reasonably take him out during the day. Not until she was comfortable enough to be able to do so without risking physical injury to him by passersby. And since the winter had closed in on them, she didn't want to risk him getting hurt by the cold. So, during the winter, whenever she was home, she spent her time with him. She had to admit...it was nice having someone else living with her. Her house felt significantly less empty.

But now that the snows and ice had thawed and winter had swiftly made its exit, the pair of them now located Alma's ship once more to check on it and perform a routine diagnostic, especially with the weather it had endured. The ship was apparently as sentient as Alma was, functioning more as a steed of sorts as the closest human equivalent than a ship while still being technological in nature, much like Alma himself.

It fascinated her to no end...and she wanted to learn as much about it for herself. And she wanted to make a good impression on it, so she tried to be as helpful to Alma as she could while he checked to make sure everything was as it should be. They did this during a particularly warm night to be as less disruptive as possible.

The interior of the ship was just as fascinating to her, of a similar aesthetic to Alma himself. It thrummed to life once they boarded and even while walking through it, she could feel the life that emanated from it. Such a fascinating thing, almost like living technology in a way...she couldn't help but constantly shower compliments on it as they navigated the ship, Alma guiding her as they did so.

{@rotten-dough-rodeo, I couldn’t pick who out of those who got the letters Chili should tell first so I shall leave the choice to you!}

“And what’re you doin’ ‘round these parts, outlaw~?”

It’s easy to tell who has wandered their way into the joint, that raspy, hissing voice slithering its way throughout the establishment before coming to rest beside Chili. The sound of boots clattering and spurs jingling follows behind it and, with a chuckle that blows out a soft gust of warm heat, Jambalaya settles down in the seat across from Chili. He’s dressed down from his rodeo attire, bright flannel traded for a simple jean jacket and a red t-shirt underneath, but that smile underneath that worn hat remains the same. Warm and easy, one eyebrow raising as he throws on arm over the back of his seat.

“Long time no see, bud! Ah’d ask if you were hidin’ from me, but yer the one that invited me here, so.”

N-Pacer held her octoscope steady, her sight trained onto the agent. 

Why were they here? Why were they just sitting there, just awaiting her to release the trigger and end their life?

N-Pacer slowly lowered the scope, and moved to get a bit closer. She pressed herself against a rock, running a hand over her head in order to get her kelp to not sway in the wind. As much as it was a source of pride, it was a bit noticeable. 

He didn’t expect to get this far stranded. He was driven away by a strange moving iceberg that continued to follow him and he didn’t want any trouble with potential predators.

Not that there were anything that could hunt down a merman of his size or species, but there was always room to be surprised.

So here Cyrus was, far away from his familiar environment in waters that were far warmer than he was used to, hunting penguins that were different than what he was used to hunting.

They were small penguins. Not enough to fill his belly reliably, but he would survive.

Hopefully getting this far out was worth it. He didn’t want to be followed by that strange floating iceberg that wasn’t made of ice. He hadn’t seen anything like it and he didn’t trust it.

Perhaps there was a way to outwit it and get back to his natural habitat. If he wasn’t so lost and confused.

Beneath the surface of the dark waters, a faint blue glow seems to be getting closer, gradually growing until its light can be seen reflecting in two pale eyes. They watch intently, never once blinking as they continue to swim closer. - a wild mer!Alma for whoever you'd like him to meet >:]

It was one of those nights. One of those nights when the melancholic nostalgia would hit her and weigh heavy on her. As much as Rachel tried her damnest to remain focused on the present, it was so damn hard not to fall into reminiscing on the past.

And it wasn’t usually the good kind. Because she was someone who suffered from a sort of...temporal wanderlust. Walking through her memories as a spectator, wishing she could go back to those times.

What times? There were...many to choose from. And they just went back further and further. When she was talking to Frank just before the accident about starting a family? When she was living with her sister after her parents kicked her out? Before her parents kicked her out, when their relationship wasn’t so strained and her mother hadn’t completely destroyed it? When she was in high school and when she was in university and surrounded by friends and loved ones?

Though...perhaps those times were so bitter because of how they ended. She wanted the happiness without the sourness. The simplicity. The ‘befores’ of every tragedy of her life.

It was hard not to reminisce...and even harder not to desperately wish for the way things were before.

Even though...if she were to be honest, her olden days were not idyllic. Not by a longshot. She knew that.

But where else could her mind wander out here at night, alone on Hank’s fishing boat that she borrowed for a couple weeks at his insistence. ‘You need a vacation,’ he said. ‘It’ll be good for you,’ he said.

Maybe...if she had someone to share it with. Someone to distract her from the horrible loneliness she felt whilst swimming through her own sepia-toned memories. Of course, the mornings weren’t actually that bad. In-fact, she liked waking up to the peaceful quiet of the sea. She felt at peace.

But ironically, at the period of time when she was most active and most energetic, was when her worse thoughts would creep in and dominate. And without a feasible distraction, she could only fixate.

That was...until a couple of stray tears hit the surface of the seawater and shattered the peace, a light from underneath shimmering on the ripples. Her curiosity was piqued just enough to pull her out of her melancholic wallowing for a moment, Rachel eyeing the odd reflections under the water.

Springtime. That middle point between winter and summer. The warmth between the cold and the unbearably hot. Rachel was most definitely a winter person, but the spring was nice.

Save for the mild allergies. But out here, that wasn’t much of a problem.

Hank encouraged her to take a vacation for herself. After all, she never really asked for time off and worked way harder than he thought she should (she would disagree). But a vacation sounded nice.

And besides...she missed the coast. The lakes were the closest she had, but they could never compare.

Out here, there was nothing but herself and the sea in the boat she’d rented. Nothing too large or luxurious. Just something comfortable enough for her to spend a couple weeks on. She didn’t anchor herself too far from civilization, thinking she might need to go back to shore and restock in the city. But for now, she had everything she could need.

Sitting on the edge of her boat with a bowl of cheap soup in her lap, the setting sun’s intense hues kissed her tan skin and made her look as though she was radiating warmth.

She never really knew what to expect. For all the vastness that she could see, she was never sure of what lay beneath the waters. Well, she was sure, but she knew that the ocean depths were one of life’s greatest mysteries.

Occasionally, she would notice movement somewhere in the distance. Dolphins or whales or seals en route, she guessed. But they always disappeared faster than she could discern.

Having nothing else to really focus on as she was eating her evening meal, Rachel dipped her toes into the clear blue water, the yawning depths darkening the further she looked.

And yet...something mysterious glistened underneath the sunbathed surface. Something that looked for a moment like a trick of the light. But it seemed too...real to be. Too specific. It looked like a large fish. A large brightly coloured fish. But that had to be impossible. Fish that large didn’t come in such colours and the only brightly coloured fish she could think of was an oarfish, and those were not only rare, but they were deep dwellers.

As much as Rachel preferred dealing with straight-up incompetence rather than outright malice, the incompetence was still a pain to deal with. And a headache. She and Richard were assigned together to work a case and when they were double-checking to make sure everything was in working order, Rachel threw a fit at the carelessness displayed by the officer who shared in handling this case.

"He mislabeled the weapon! Like an idiot!" She ranted, her hands trembling as though she were about to wring his imaginary neck. "And it almost got filed with the wrong case! He could've ruined months of work!"

That was the bulk of what she was upset about, but when she was angry, she tended to go on for a while.

However, she was also very easy to distract and redirect. All Richard had to do was get her attention.

And get her attention she did. With a small aroused and surprised yelp when his sharp teeth sank into her flesh. Not enough to puncture, but enough to make her go stiff and shudder in the RK900's arms.

Looking down at his hand, she knew he was right. Though her anger was quickly snuffed into something else. Something much different as she stood there meekly. Like a rabbit frozen in a wolf's stare.