(semi-open!)

[usurpers]

Who: eren, four, lagertha and others!
When: throughout october!
Where: various!
What: quests, other plans and possibly event prompts! all in one post for less log cluttering.
Warnings: drinking in the open prompt!



plotting comment here, for each character! if you’d like a custom top level or tag into open ones, feel free to do so, or hmu for planning!!

Comments

@ akira

[usurpers]

[ find a smaller source of the lights from the wilde. the heart of it all continues to intrigue eren with its small (but present) connection to their arrival. anything close to unraveling detail was a step closer returning to where they should be. he was no turnskin, but the identification left around the trees and forest of the wilde was perfect enough for eren’s tongue to pick up and map out. if something had been there before them, what and what they may want to convert through the silent messages of pheromones were all in forked-tongue reach.

honestly, he’s tasting around for something else. the pines, the lushness of green and the trail of an emerald dragon somewhere deep within the skips of his traveling dreams. so far, nothing of the sort, but what he and akira will come across is another orb that floats harmlessly to them, out from a dense thicket. ]

There’s one— try and look interested. [ he points out immediately, and hopes it hovers close enough to akira for him to tongue tickle it. what if it had a taste, you know? ]

[scaling]

[ The moonlight that filters through the treetops bathes the Wilde in a faint enough glow for Akira's eyes to adjust, picking out the shapes of trees and underbrush, just enough to be able to map a path. The colorful balls that float among them are especially noticeable out here, fist-sized beacons in the darkness. ]

Got it.

[ The one that approaches them this time seems more bold than the others. Can a light be bold? They certainly feel like have some personality, what with how they float in and out almost playfully, tending to maintain an arm's length. He can see how more curious adventurers get lured deeper into the woods without even realizing how far they've gone.

But Akira doesn't try to bridge the gap between himself and the orb. He's playing... hard to get, kind of, giving it a curious look as Eren suggested but showing no further intent to pursue. The ball of light edges closer. The temptation to try to touch it is definitely there, to feel if it has any heat or magical hum to it, but Akira stays put. Sudden movements might cause it to flicker out. ]

[usurpers]

[ he’s almost got it. the way he moves is more like a stalking predator that a person trying to be careful. eren steps, slow and sideways, while his tongue creates an arch between him and the light. at least this orb, it smells like something.

maybe something he could eat, where the human part of his thoughts short-circuit to give the lizard portion room to run amok, even for a few seconds. seconds was all he needed to come up to the glow closer than he’s ever gotten, perhaps too close to akira in turn—

eren’s mouth snaps down on the light, and surprising enough, it provides chewing material. a bit of a crunch with every snap of his teeth, all until, something seems wrong. his features churn, horrendously, the taste disgusting enough that he nearly gags, hunches over to spit it out and dear lord that tastes horrible what the fuck. ]

[scaling]

[ The soft, flickering glow only just highlights Eren on the approach as well. If the light has the capacity to notice the predator slinking closer, it doesn't, seemingly completely focused on Akira's comparative stillness. His eyes flicker towards his companion, back towards the light, towards Eren again as he creeps right up into his personal space— ]

Eren, wh—

[ That is not the tasting Akira was expecting! Up until now, he's just been doing that tongue-flicking thing. He jolts, hand going to Eren's shoulder when he doubles over. ]

Are you okay? [ And then, once he realizes that Eren isn't in danger of bricking himself eating something potentially magical, his own lizard brain kicks in, just without the excuse of being a dragon. ] ... What did it taste like?

[ Well, now he's curious. ]

[usurpers]

[ AKIRA!!!!!!!

eren!!! eren can’t!!! he doesn’t know which is worse to settle on: the fact that he tried to eat it or the fact that his companion is still asking what it tastes like. he can’t get the extra parts off his tongue no matter how many times he wipes, and makes a sound— makes an ugly, ugly sound as he considers licking grass to somehow get rid of it. behold, at least, the broken pieces of . . . a firefly! an actually massive firefly.

he’s salivating, man. his lips feel numb, and his throat is tight, and it’s. it’s gross, bitter and acidic. ]

Augh— [ eren tried to shake his head and spit more but all this drool. ] Like trash–

[scaling]

[ Hard to miss the bug bits falling out of Eren's mouth, even with the darkness all around. It's both disappointing and impressive—sad that it isn't something more interesting, but at the same time, you really don't see fireflies like that back home. ]

I've heard bugs are good protein.

[ Even if Akira keeps the amusement out of his voice, it's edging into his expression, although offset by the fact that he gets right to digging through the bag he brought along. He's been on enough missions here and back home to know to come prepared with the basics. His hands hit on a canteen, closing around it to pull it out. ]

Here. Water.

[usurpers]

Not this one. [ implying that he certainly eats bugs. the good ones, not. this. eren gladly and rather hastily takes the water offered, careful not to put his tainted lips around the canteen’s opening and cascades a stream from above his head into his mouth. the rest of the water that ends up spilling and missing him by drops don’t matter— his enchanted tattoos glow a dull orange. proof of its protection against water in motion, no matter the amount.

he’s attracting more lights with his lights and now he just wants to swat at them. the tip of his spiny tail jerks at the eminent smell of more about, and with a thankful nod, eren returns the canteen with half left. helps wash it down for sure, but the dragon’s expression continuous as incredulous. ]

It can’t just be these this entire time.

[scaling]

[ It's kind of fascinating to compare this to the person he met months ago—not so different, really, but with a certain animalistic sense to him now. Seeing it on other people makes Akira wonder how much he's changed. Even back home, there were days when he felt shapeless and malleable, like he had no set identity or true form. ]

Yeah, I doubt it.

[ He slips the canteen back into his bag, watching as the fireflies drift closer, lights flickering in and out. ]

Some bugs wouldn't be enough to cause that many disappearances... [ Maybe start some rumors, yeah, but people actually have gone missing—enough to form some kind of urban legend around here.

Akira hikes his bag up his shoulder and nods. ]

Let's keep looking.

[usurpers]

[ he’s gonna smack them the entire walk, let it be known. every time his tongue sticks out, it’s one of the orbs that’re too close for him to pull in another smell, quick long retracting and giving a grunt under his breath. he snaps his tail at one fluttering along his back— but finds it odd when he doesn’t hit anything. the light is still there, but no taste to affirm if it’s something. ]

At least not all of them are bugs. [ he says this while trying to keep his eyes on a light yellow orb that doesn’t seem to flicker like the rest. ] How good’s your smell?

[ smelling, or sense of it, if eren were to be more specific. ]

[scaling]

[ Now that he knows some of them are fireflies, he can zero in better on the differences. There are some that are a little bit bigger that don't bob and blink the same way many of the others do. They simply drift slowly through the trees, camouflaged among the similar lights. ]

Pretty good, I hope. [ Momentarily cheeky, but he knows what Eren's really asking, so he continues: ] Not that much better than my human sense of smell was.

[ Honestly, he would've preferred enhanced senses over some of the other rabbitlike traits he got, but there isn't exactly a committee he can go complain to about it. ]

I'll have to rely on yours here.

[usurpers]

[ oh that’s!!! good. that’s great. he hates the smell of these things already, and just reminds his mouth to salivate . . . they’ll have to follow it, it seems. eren doesn’t take his eyes off the orb, but he does nod as he takes the lead.

and by the way— ]

You almost smell like dirt. [ for the cheekiness! to be fair, so does eren, probably. he digs like a madman. ]