haven't you noticed

[starseedling]

Who: Steven, Peridot, Lex, and potentially YOU!
When: Second half of May.
Where: The Haven, the Outskirts, the Outer City.
What: Steven plays music for the poor saps outside of the Bright Wall, explores the city, and also does some other things. Faerie traits begin to manifest. Sleep is disrupted. Includes some closed top levels, but also open stuff!
Warnings: Pop music.

★BUSKING PRO BONO (MAY 20+)

Power or no powers, if there's one thing Steven can bring to the table, it's the magic of music. Specifically, he's volunteered to lend his skills to the Outer City in the form of entertainment, playing his ukulele and singing his heart out while other people do tasks that could be considered more critical.

Not in his opinion, though. These people need food, and healing, and protection, but they clearly also need something to brighten their spirits. Unfortunately, his brand of otherworldly music may not be all their familiar to their ears.

Not quite comfortable enough to break out some of his newer creations, Steven has been running through a long list of Earth-based musical covers. Currently, he is performing a spirited rendition of Haven't you Noticed (I'm a Star), which seems to be drawing an equal mixture of interest and bafflement from the locals. He may have to fine-tune his set list in the future.

"Haven't you noticed that I'm a star?
I'm coming into view as the world is turning
Haven't you noticed I've made it this far?
Now everyone can see me burning~"

He finishes with a dramatic flourish, only now really turning his attention to the uncertain audience. Hm. Tough crowd. Maybe it doesn't help that after the recent full moon, he'll have developed the beginnings of glittery scales around his neck and shoulders, as well as to pink dots on his forehead that are clearly destined to be antenna.

★JUST STRAIGHT UP BUSKING (MAY 20+)

Beyond charity work, Steven can also be found around Aefenglom proper, playing music for pocket change. He can be found in a large variety of places, still playing mostly modern Earth music as well as a couple he's written himself. He's also using this as an opportunity to explore the city, now that he's feeling a bit better than when he arrived.

Also, his big pink lion is with him, playing chaperone and also giving Steven a ride. While Steven plays, Lion will happily nap nearby - though maybe that's not the best way to attract donars.

Comments

★CLOSED TO LEX (AROUND MAY 15TH)

[starseedling]

They've been here half a month, and now real housing is opening up to them. It's nice in one sense - sharing beds with random strangers wasn't the best - but in another, it's a grim reminder of how much time has already passed.

How long are they going to be stuck here? It's a worrying question, for someone who has a lot to go back to. With nothing else to do about it, though, Steven decides to spend some time checking out where people are staying, and figuring out the layout of the Haven.

He's been feeling a bit better than when they first arrived, but still ends up riding Lion most places. After checking out the core of the of the Haven, he'll slip towards the more modest housing as well. Might as well see it all.

[lonewanderer]

The changes have been slow, slight enough that Lex can only suspect - but the full moon is here, and she hasn't stopped pacing. Her teeth are just slightly sharper, her senses just slightly better - it's like taking a body mod and chems running through her system all at once. She's restless, both out of nerves and something baser, more instinctual. It looks like she's in the same boat as others - not a Witch at all, but a Monster.

Honestly, she's not really surprised. Annoyed, for now, but not surprised.

She and Dogmeat are pacing up the street near the barracks when she spots Steven riding his lion. Part of her wants to just nod and keep moving, but the far more human side of her has her crossing the street to meet them instead. Lex will stop short, just in case Lion is offended by her changing scent, but she does lift a hand and wave.

"How are you feeling?" It's both a nod toward when they first met and curiosity about if Steven is changing just like she is, but at least it's polite.

[starseedling]

Steven spent the first portion of the month feeling lethargic and out of sorts, but the closer it's gotten to the full moon, the more that feeling has started to lift. He started exploring the residential areas in the afternoon, and now that it's evening and the moons are revealing themselves, he could even go as far as saying he feels 'chipper.' It's closer to normal than he's felt in a few weeks, even if it's not quite right, either.

He hops off of Lion's back as he nears Lex, actually feeling like walking for once. His skin has felt a bit weird and powdery for a while now, and he finds himself needing to scratch the itchy portions of his neck and shoulder once again. He's been trying to imagine it's some kind of rash, but... well...

"Hi Lex!" he says, grinning. "I feel... better! Kind of weirdly better, actually. It's so bright out tonight, with the moons like that..."

That is, both present and incredibly luminous. Lex may notice that his eyes seem to glow in the moonlight, though maybe it's an optical illusion. Steven trots up to her with Lion following along patiently.

"How are you doing?" he asks.

[lonewanderer]

They're changing. The glow reminds her of ghouls, for a moment - but Steven doesn't look like he's falling apart. Not exactly.

"I'm..." What is she? Alive, still, despite it all. Trapped in a strange place that she doesn't understand, gently picking up and hoarding pieces of information that seem trivial to some, holding them tight to her chest. Still a Wastelander, still not able to shake those habits and beliefs.

She shrugs, then laughs.

"I don't know. I'm here. Looking for a spot to curl up for the night, then get back to exploring tomorrow - kind of the same as usual, but with fewer ruins."

[starseedling]

He's a little confused about her 'curling up' somewhere. Isn't the point that they have a whole housing district now?

"...Don't you have a house or something, now?" he asks, tilting his head a little. "We're allowed to live anywhere we want, in the Haven."

[lonewanderer]

"No."

The answer is simple, quick. She shakes her head, crouching down to rub Dogmeat behind the ears.

"It's too..." It's a lot of things, is what it is. Lex sighs. "I grew up in a sealed off vault. It may as well have been the entire world. Same people every day. Same faces. No privacy. And when I had to leave, it was out into the wastes. You got a room if you were lucky, or you found somewhere comfortable and hoped nothing killed you in your sleep. When I did get a house, it was me and Dogmeat and a robot, but... didn't stay there much. Stashed things and went back out into the wastes, looking for the next ruin or settlement or place that needed help."

[starseedling]

Steven thinks about that, and tries to understand. Personally, he loved his house, and love to share it with the other gems. It almost feels lonely, having it just be him and Peridot, after cycling through beds in the Coven for the last couple weeks.

Everyone's got their own ways of doing things, but maybe she could use the chance to try something different?

"Well..." he starts, cautious but eager, "If you wanna stash your things somewhere... you could do that at me and Peridot's house?"

[lonewanderer]

It isn't a bad thought, really. Steven is sweet enough that Lex doesn't think he'll steal anything, and while she hasn't met Peridot, the name reminds her of what Steven has told her about his world - of gems from outer space. She absently rubs the pad of her thumb over the strap of her backpack, the well-worn fabric familiar under her fingers.

"That might be okay," she starts, glancing down at Dogmeat - who is wagging his tail. "As long as I can get in and out, you know?"

Escape routes, not a cage. Not another vault.

[starseedling]

"Yeah! That'd be great!" Steven says, obviously bubbling with energy at her potential willingness to go along with it. "We could even leave the windows open, so you could get out whenever you wanted!"

She probably doesn't mean she needs to get out that suddenly and immediately, but he's obviously prepared to do whatever it takes to be accommodating.

"Lion is really good at protecting things when he needs to, so we should totally be safe!"

pro bono

[horkbajir]

Human music is one of the many, many things Toby hasn't really had experience with before. If human-Controllers she's encountered on raids listened to radios, they did so covertly. A few snatches have come to her ears, and several people dropping a sing-song note in conversation - this is the first time really getting to listen to a song.

She doesn't like it, is her first thought. It doesn't have the rhythmic percussive element that's so central to her peoples' songs, and so her initial thought is that it doesn't have rhythm, but that's not quite correct, is it. Her second thought is, wait. When Steven finishes the song he'll see Toby nearby, 'dressed', if you can call it that, in a sash and an extremely tattered cloak.

"I know you, but I didn't hear your name," she says slowly. This is the first time she's met someone she saw in that odd dream.

[starseedling]

Steven's shoulders sink a little as he notices how uninterested some people seem in his performance. He's really trying to be entertaining! Maybe this just isn't their sort of music...?

Thankfully, he's distracted from his inadequacies by Toby appearing. He immediately brightens, lifting his arm to enthusiastically wave.

"Oh! It's you!" he definitely remembers her. He's seen her in a crowd a few times since they got here, she sort of sticks out, but this is the first time they've spoken since the dream. "I'm Steven!"

[horkbajir]

She gives a little nod when he waves. Toby's careful how she moves her arms here around all these soft-skinned small aliens. When they're injured they stay injured for a long time.

"Toby," she says. She'd introduced herself in the dream, but it just seems like the thing to say. "It seems you are doing well. I'm glad to see that."

She hadn't seen him. Too small in a sea of other flat faces.

[starseedling]

"Oh, yeah, I'm doing way better now," Steven says, batting off thoughts of how he felt earlier in the month with a note of willful denial. "Something about the full moon perked me right up... though I think I might... be kinda growing scales now."

He's probably referring to the pale, glittery colours that seem to be coming in around his neckline.

"But what can ya do, amirite?" he says, shrugging helplessly. He's trying to worry about the things he can actually control.

[horkbajir]

Steven may be shrugging it off, but Toby's not going off the cue just yet.

"You must be on your way to growing wings and antennae again," she surmises, crouching to bring herself closer to the ground. "Is it painful? Some of those forming scales and such are distressed by it."

[starseedling]

Ooof. The idea had occurred to him, but he'd also been trying to avoid thinking about it. Toby isn't one for ignoring the obvious, though, is she?

"...You think so?" he asks, sounding a little deflated. He lowers his voice, like he isn't sure he wants the various locals to hear, even as they disperse. "I mean... I know people are saying that they are growing fur and stuff, but..."

He's not sure how he feels about fae, or being part of them. He sighs, softly.

"It doesn't hurt, it's just kind of... itchy, sometimes."

[horkbajir]

"I suspect so. It fits the available evidence." This cue, she takes, though her voice is still a low rumble. It's unlikely to be overheard at least. Passersby prefer to give her some space, which is probably better for their health anyway.

The Animorphs were all altered by Andalite technology allowing them to take the shapes of different creatures. It seems like a very different thing, though - their shapes change in a disturbing manner over the course of a few minutes, and then they are entirely that shape, and must change back or risk being trapped.

"I'm sure there are medicines that would ease the discomfort. I can ask at the Coven - it seems this world has decided I am a witch."

[starseedling]

She's lucky, he thinks. The randomness of who gets magic powers and who gets uncomfortable transformations is a bit disheartening. He feels both helpless and imminently dysphoric.

Mostly, he still just wishes he could go home. The idea hangs heavy on his heart as Toby speaks.

"It's not that bad," he says, his anticipation showing. "It's actually really pretty in the light!" His cheeks flush a little. "Being a witch sounds really cool, though."

★CLOSED TO PERIDOT (FULL MOON)

[starseedling]

At some point during the night of the full moon, things start getting more excitable. The deeper into the night it gets, the more wired Steven feels, and when it comes down to it, he can't really remember the circumstances of going to sleep. Only that things were kind of weird, and at once point he presumably ended up in bed.

It turns out that Peridot was also in bed, because as Steven gradually finds himself stirring in the pre-sunrise hours, he's snuggled up close against her. It's actually pretty nice to wake up to, the strange energy of the night before making him feel extra disorientate and sleepy.

He doesn't quite notice any of the other changes, or the thin glittery powder he's left on the bedsheets - and all over Peridot.

[alienwear]

It could be that the reason he's stirring is because Peridot is. Sleeping off the odd feeling she'd laid down with turns out to be a bust; she's awake again now, groggy and just as tense as before.

She staggers to her feet, a hand on her forehead, letting Steven slump over into the spot where she was just laying. She fails to notice the glitter for now; she's too preoccupied with the dull but persistent pain that is currently surrounding her gem.

[starseedling]

Steven mumbles sleepily as Peridot gets up, taking a moment before his eyes flutter open. It's still dark out, he notes, though his own eyes cast a glimmer across the bed. They're glowing.

He's slept off a bit of the brain fuzz he'd been feeling before, but his drowsiness makes up for it. He shifts more obviously, getting ready to go after her if need be.

"Peridot...?" he asks. He sounds a bit like he wants her to come back to bed mostly because the cuddling they were just doing was pretty sweet.

[alienwear]

"IIII... I don't... Feel right," Peridot creaks, waving him off weakly. She breaks off there, sucking in a breath, exclaiming wordlessly in confusion and alarm as something hard jabs the hand she has to her forehead. The poke is accompanied by another stab of pain from her head. She has never felt anything like this before, and though the the pain is more just annoying rather than agonizing, the unfamiliarity triggers an anxiety in her that strikes her right through the gut.

[starseedling]

Steven is confused, to say the least. Maybe more moon stuff is happening? He starts to sit up more completely, wondering if she's hurt, somehow. He pushes towards the side of the bed she left from.

"Wait - what happened? Are you okay?" Peridot is not necessarily known for being restrained about her whining, but he's concerned regardless.

[alienwear]

"No! I-- Steven, I think--"

Unbidden, her mind returns to a conversation she had with Iramaat a few weeks ago, and her metaphorical blood runs cold as she draws a conclusion from that. She turns to look at Steven, eyes as big as saucers. She gulps.

"I think I might be dying!"

She is completely unaware of the nubs of horns that have appeared on either side of her gem.

[starseedling]

"What? Why?!"

Steven springs up onto his knees, and panicked as she is. Through it, he only sort of notices her horns, pausing his terror to squint at them uncertainly. He looks at her in confusion and dread.

"...Whuh...?"

[alienwear]

His dread is mirrored on Peridot's face, as the changes he has undergone finally register properly. She yelps and points a shaky finger at him.

"The disease-- It's spreading! What have I done, I've doomed you to the same fate!"