The walls are caving in [open]

[neverleave]

Who: Natsuno and you
What: Natsuno loses his daywalker privileges and takes it very badly
When: Throughout June
Where: Around
Warnings: Vampirism, self harm in one prompt



I. Windows cracking, heart attacking (Closed to Max Maximum)

[It's supposed to a quiet afternoon. The laundry room is hardly an exciting location, and Natsuno is perfectly content to spend some alone time waiting for the washing machine. He's brought with him and, as an afterthought, the newest package from sundries. It'd be a good chance to open it in private.

Dizziness strikes the moment he removes the lead. One moment he's fumbling to grab something, anything to anchor himself, another moment and he finds himself on the floor. His limbs are numb and useless, his vision darkens and he's struggling to breathe. The sensation is both terrifying and familiar, but Natsuno can barely form the thought before his consciousness slips away.

If you enter the laundry room, will find Natsuno lying on the floor by an empty package. A closer look confirms that he's dead and already cooling, but it doesn't seem like Friday is coming to take him. Weird, huh? Looks like you'll have to handle it yourself, but don't worry. Sun will set soon, and all will be clear...]


II. Cryptic laughing, is this all inside your head? (after dark)

[Natsuno speedruns through the stages of grief until he gets stuck on depression. At first he hides in a lifeboat under the tarps. When the hunger pains become unbearable, he makes a beeline for the buffet, drinks some blood and heads back to boat.

He comes out after a few nights, looking paler and more detached than usual. Those sensitive to such things will notice he's no longer alive but a reanimated corpse. You can find him:

A.At the buffet, nursing a cup of tea. Though blood is the only thing that sustains him, he can still consume clear liquids. Natsuno knows it's stupid, that he's just pretending, yet he can't give up this last semblance of normalcy. When he tries a spoonful of oatmeal, he immediately chokes on it and knocks the bowl on the floor with a twitching hand. He growls in wordless frustration and kneels to clean it up. Stupid, delusional idiot...

B. At the sports deck, shooting improvised targets. Some are set on a ping-pong table, others are thrown into the air in an attempt at moving targets. Natsuno was never a sharpshooter, but now he feels especially out of it. He hadn't realized how much he came to lean on enhanced daywalker instincts, and he throws himself into training with an almost desperate intensity. At least it gives him something to do instead of moping.

C. At the pool, having another movie binge or driving Jade's toy dreadnought. Sometimes he plays with the toy while a campy cult classic plays in the background. When he enters the pool, he deliberately sinks to the bottom and stays there. Don't worry, he's just checking how long he can stay submerged since he doesn't breathe anymore, this is healthy and scientific.

Having a depressed corpse in the pool might ruin your evening/late night swim, but look on the bright side: when Natsuno is around, Schrodinger's Waterslide exists.

No matter where you spot him, Natsuno has Fio's stuffed dragon Callie follow him around. She let him borrow it to practice his sun magic, and even though that power's been sealed, the doll's company is oddly comforting. He'll keep it for a while.]


III. Now you're waking up from a nightmare (daylight, any outside area)

[The one thing he was spared from is the coma shiki fall into when the sun rises. He's tired and the sun is still deadly, but he can stay up. It means that Natsuno must figure out a way to go outside. Maybe it's stupid and futile. Maybe he's just deluding himself, but he can't just give up and hide. Not yet.

A. (CW: burns, self harm)
[Natsuno stands in a shaded part of the deck, shielding his eyes as he stares at the sunlit surfaces. He steps forward, jaw set in grim determination, and extends an arm into the sunlight. His skin immediately starts sizzling as blisters appear on his forearm. Smoke rises as they burst and the scent of burnt flesh is unmistakable. The pain is excruciating but unless stopped, Natsuno will force himself to bear it for ten whole seconds, even thought he's shaking with effort not to outright flee.

He then pulls his hand back and retreats into the ship, curling his burnt forearm. Natsuno leans against the wall and slides to the floor, staring at the slowly-healing burns with an expression of helpless rage.]

B.
[An odd individual is prowling the outdoor decks. They're wearing a pink rappig onesie too big for their size and a disturbing mask. They seem sluggish and occasionally collapse into a pool chair or on the running track, but always get up and keep walking. A stuffed dragon floats behind and above them like a silent guardian.]


VI. Where your whole place looks like a bloodbath

[The wildcard option, you know what to do!]

Comments

The first night, closed to Clarke

[neverleave]

[The text arrives a little after midnight.]

Muster station.
Life boat.
Come now.

[skaikru]

What's wrong?

( she texts like a stone didn't immediately burn through her chest cavity and settle in her stomach with the weight of panic. like she's not immediately swapped flip flops for boat shoes (slightly easier to run in) and for the first time in a month put some effort into preparedness. it's a vague notion that they're about to sail out into the water for an extended period of time that has clarke snatching a prepacked bag of water bottles and nonperishables, and it's a very familiar sense of fear cropping back up through the perpetual haze of dissociation that make her grab a knife before slamming the door to 108 and booking it to the elevator.

she's there in about four minutes, albeit a little winded. )

[neverleave]

[Her reply is left on "read." When Clarke arrives, she will find the lifeboat unprepared and Natsuno empty handed. He sits there, his irises two red circles in the dark, and holds out a hand.

Clarke is the only one he can talk to right now, and the only one he can bear the thought of touching.]

Check my pulse.

II A

[redlightgreenlight]

Natsuno has never been alive in the normal sense of the word, but he was never dead in the same way Erik was. To her, he always felt alive, but now he sits in shadow, as dead as any vampire of myth, sipping tea and very much feeling sorry for himself.

She really should leave him alone, but almost everyone else is asleep and his shift in status is unusual. But then he tries to eat and flings the bowl of oatmeal to the ground with a spike of rage. She grabs a few napkins and heads over to him.

"What happened?"

[neverleave]

Natsuno doesn't know what Valdis is, exactly, but he does know she has a sixth sense of sorts. He'd rather be left alone, but he's under no illusions. Questions are inevitable.

"I got a package," he says in a voice that's almost dead as he is, sharp contrast to the anger and grief bubbling beneath the surface. "Now I'm a corpse."

[redlightgreenlight]

Another 'gift' from the Erda it seems. Like her feathers, the nightmares, the scar.

"Not a corpse, exactly, you are not decaying like one. You still sit somewhere between life and death. Not quite either one. Your soul at least. Your body is in a form of stasis."

Dead, but not dead. It's still different from Erik. It's uncomfortable to be around him. He feels wrong to her senses in a very tragic kind of way.

IIc

[myagic]

[It doesn't take a genius to figure out that something's going on, even if said genius hasn't been leaving her cabin all that often these days (though gradually fading, the bruising still persists, starting the transition from purple to greenish, and like hell she's giving Darcy the satisfaction of seeing it-). Anyway, she's had the sense that maybe he's had something on his mind for a little while, though considering the circumstances and Palamedes' disappearance, that wouldn't be anything unexpected. Yet all of a sudden he seems distant, and she doesn't think she's imagining it--sure, they don't need to be joined at the hip or anything, and she respects his need for space sometimes, but-

If something's troubling him, he shouldn't have to go through it alone. That's part of being together, isn't it? Supporting each other when things get tough. And, well...Rita's patience can only last so long before she decides to just confront whatever it is head-on, so after she's given him a few days and the odd evasiveness remains, she follows her intuition and heads out to the pool deck at night, and...

Yep, there's one of his movies playing, just as expected.]

Hey, Natsuno--

[She calls out for him as she glances around for her totally-not-undead boyfriend.]

[neverleave]

[He has been distant for a while, even before the transformation. Darcy's account of their fight weighs heavy on his heart: Keeps calling me creepy over being undead, because I totally chose to get myself murdered. Natsuno isn't justifying Darcy's violence, but realizing that Rita has been making an exception and would stoop so low as to use it against anyone else... it hurts. He always thought he's resigned to being a monster, but the wound was merely scabbed over, waiting for someone to reopen it until it bled.

So he's been distant and moody, and avoided Rita altogether since he's changed. He doesn't want to see her look at him with horror and disgust. When she finally comes looking for him, Natsuno is sitting with his feet dangling in the water, driving the Tartarus model around the pool. Plan 9 From Outer Space plays in a low volume, but he doesn't seem to pay attention.

Natsuno looks up when she calls to him, expression unreadable. He then turns his gaze back to the toy model.]

[myagic]

Hey...

[From the way he'd initially perked up at learning she had cabin 110 to herself, and the sweet gestures he'd made bringing lattes with increasingly-steady kitty faces in the foam...to the sudden distance and evasiveness now was already enough to concern her.

This, though? This is wrong. It hurts that he barely even looks at her, doesn't even acknowledge her beyond that. But she can set that aside because far more is the hurt she abruptly feels for him, since whatever's happened, it's clearly put him in a bad state. She stares back at him in surprise for a few moments, before abruptly moving closer, stretching out a hand towards his shoulder.]

Natsuno... What's going on? You're...

[He's not himself, he's clearly upset--beyond upset, even--and there's something else just off about his face that she hasn't quite put her finger on yet.]

I

[maximumcake]

[Max arrives with his own recycled sundries box being used as a laundry basket. The sheets don't wash themselves these days. He drops it with a cry of surprise the moment he spots Natsuno on the floor.]

Holy shit!

[He rushes over to shake the teen. That Nastuno is cold as death with no pulse doesn't actually worry him because that's the natural state for all the vampires he knows. The not waking up part is what has Max worried. What was in that Sundries box?]

Hey, wake up. Hey? Shit. Uh...

[What should he do? Should he take Nastuno to the infirmary? Would he be mad about that? Does he... need blood?]

I'm really sorry about this. I hope you won't be too pissed at me.

[Max scoops Natsuno into his arms. With no better ideas, he's going to try and carry the vampire to the infirmary.]

[neverleave]

[There are still a few minutes before the sun sets, so Natsuno doesn't respond when Max calls or when he scoops him up. At least there's no rigor mortis to make it harder.

Max is free to carry the body to the infirmary... until he passes by a window. Once the orange rays touch Natsuno's face and arm, his skin starts sizzling.]

[maximumcake]

[The minute Natsuno's skin starts to sizzle Max pulls back out of the light.]

Fuck! Shit, shit, no... fuck!

[Okay. Okay, that's bad. Didn't Natsuno say that vampires in his world can't go in the sun? But, he was different. Didn't he say that too? What the hell is happening? Whatever it is, Max can't risk moving him that far while the sun is still out. Okay, back to the laundry room. No windows in there.

He speed walks back and, with no idea what else to do, arranges the sheets he brought with him into a pillow and lays Natsuno back down on the floor with his head supported by linens. (Sorry about the sweaty smell.)]

II C

[knotawolf]

[The pool deck is a strange anomaly, that there would be a lake on a ship that's in a lake already. He's already checked out the bottom of it because at first he thought it was a hole in the boat clean through to the surrounding water that he could swim out of. But now when he approaches there's clearly something down there that wasn't there before.

He paces in circles around the perimeter of the pool for a few minutes, debating if he wants to jump in there and see what it is, he just dried out from getting wet earlier in the laundry room and he's not looking forward to dripping everywhere again not to mention how uncomfortable soggy clothes are against his skin.

Plan B: start throwing shit into the pool until he dislodges all the water and brings whatever it is to the surface. Pool chairs. Tables. The little cart selling shaved ice. It's all going into the pool.]

I love him already

[neverleave]

[In hindsight, lying down for a depression nap at the bottom of a swimming pool may not have been one of his best ideas. Even so, Natsuno remains still when the first few item hit the pool. Beach balls are normal enough, a chair not so much, but maybe someone's practicing magic or having a fight. The table makes him sit up and - is that the fucking shaved ice cart? It nearly hit his head!

Natsuno kicks himself up and pokes his head out of the water, glaring at the newcomer. There are splotches of food coloring all around him.]

The hell's your problem?!

[knotawolf]

[Oh neat! It's a person. He wasn't expecting that.]

Hi.

[A head tilt while he thinks about what his problem is. ]

Am stuck on a boat. [Nailed it.] Why are you at bottom of lake?

iiib

[sabigoe]

[ The last time Fio saw Calcite, she had entrusted him to Natsuno. The dragon's shape and mysterious levitating behavior is enough to tell that's her stuffed dragon from afar without a doubt. The individual that he's accompanying, however, doesn't dress anything like Natsuno. Just how did it get into another person's possession?

Cautiously, she crosses the deck to take a better look at the person. When he rises after collapsing, she finally sees the horrifying mask. Usually, she's hardly afraid of the strangest-looking creatures. Many of the masks at the Spirit Halloween on the other hand, terrified her with their sinister smiles. And she doesn't have fond memories of that store for obvious reasons...

She could run. Reach for her phone to call for help. Or scream. Instead, she stands her ground while putting on a brave face. ]

What did you do to Yuuyu?!

[ While her tone and appearance is... very not threatening one bit. Her weapons probably are. Without warning, her two lanterns suddenly materialize behind her, both emitting a blazing white light like a pair of fireballs. Fio is ready to fight!!! ]

[neverleave]

[In retrospect, this has been a terrible decision. Natsuno feels an unpleasant prickling sensation even under all the layers and all he wants to do is sleep. Still, he's nothing but committed. He will cross the pool area and walk into the buffet in full sunlight just to prove to himself that he can.

He forces himself to get up and move on. Not much left until the buffet. Natsuno is so focused on squinting at the entrance he doesn't even notice Fio until she yells. He doesn't react immediately, simply stares at her in confusion. What did you do to Yuuyu - but he's Yuuyu - oh. Oooh, the mask. Right, it must have scared her. Natsuno holds up a hand to reassure here, but the lanterns appear before he can say anything. Their blazing light is painful and quite honestly, terrifying.]

No, wait -

[sabigoe]

[ Fio reacts rather quickly, mistakenly interpreting the gesture of reassurance as... a possible attack. What if he has some kind of superpower or magic that could take her out with a simple wave of his hand. She really doesn't know. Who is this person? Part of the new batch of passengers? She lets out a short, high-pitched shriek loud enough that she's unable to hear the few words coming out of the pitiful person on the floor. That clown mask completely obscures his expression, so all she sees is an unchanging sinister clown smile. ]

Stay away!

[ Trembling in place, this inaction would be a bad spot on her part, if she didn't possess her weapons at this moment. (And if Natsuno were truly a danger...)

As if responding to the little girl's fear, a single lantern vanishes and within moments, reappears in front of her. It slams downward, into the floor. Only a warning, but it might scrape by dangerously close to her "enemy." Not only do the lanterns have some sort of elemental energy coming from them, they do have a couple of pointy edges...

She doesn't want to actually hurt anyone... but she might have to, to find out where her friend is. Right there. ]

III B

[tempingainteasy]

[April is minding their own business, maybe keeping an idle (hypothetical) eye out for fun things to tell Flan about or beg Flan not to do, when they see some shit that could have walked out of the 2016 clown epidemic. Thankfully, the memories of what a pain in the ass all the paperwork and scheduling was for the invasive species control division quickly negate any fear that clown face could conjure, leaving only confusion in its wake.

This is generally the kind of thing April would avoid entirely, but maybe having the distant memory of ruling a circus with an iron fist as one of the greasepaint anointed is making her more bold, or more curious, or maybe it's the juxtaposition of the fucking pyjamas, who could say.

Whatever the case, April turns around and catches up to the guy, now collapsed on a pool chair.]

Okay. I gotta ask. Are you actually a clown under there? Is this a Supernatural thing, or a lifestyle choice?

[neverleave]

[Natsuno's eyes are closed under the mask. He could almost fall asleep if it wasn't for the pins and needles in his limbs - seems like the outfit protects him from burning to death, but direct sunlight is still unpleasant.

He stirs a little when addressed. Oh, it's - that person. He'd seen them around. They look like someone.]

Both. I'm a vampire and this is my way to be outside during the day.

[A while ago he wouldn't be so forthcoming about what he is, but now? Who even gives a shit anymore.]

[tempingainteasy]

[And hey, he's among monsters here, honestly the nonhuman:human ratio is probably enough that it'd be weirder to claim full humanity.

Anyway, April nods, April nods, and then asks:]

Do you take constructive criticism?

iib;

[fonomena]

[Natsuno had at least sent a message of warning this time, before proceeding to become suddenly scarce for the next couple days. It'd been a rather sparse sort of thing, however, only confirming that he's alive and taking a lifeboat for awhile. (Well, in a different sense thsn the ususl seafaring one, it would turn out...)

So, naturally, plenty of questions remain unanswered, and Jade is somewhat concerned anyhow. Natsuno at least likely hasn't blown himself up this time, but that's also a pretty low bar to clear in the grand scheme of Terrible Things Happening. Which means there's plenty other Terrible Things to fill the rest of the possible spectrum. Natsuno had seemed level enough, when he'd set out to attend to some laundry one afternoon...what could have possibly transpired in that time, for him to suddenly want distance from everyone now? Some sort of confrontation? Had something befallen him?

At the very least, here's the first night or so after Natsuno opts to start lingering about the ship proper once more--he hasn't yet returned to 109 at the same time Jade might be in the cabin. Here, though, as Jade's taking his more customary pacing route throughout various venues of the ship to seek any odd changes before retiring for the night...now, on the sports deck. The gun shots are heard first, before Natsuno's familiar profile comes into proper view...

Hm.]

Well now. Here you are. [Jade half-wonders if he's made a mistake, in announcing himself so soon, and Natsuno's going to opt to leave before a good look can be taken at him. ...Though, with his normally sharper senses, he'd surely noticed Jade's presence on the deck even before any spoken word. So...may as well approach, at an idle pace. Jade eyes the shattered debris of makeshift targets strewn about.] Hard at work, I see...how long have you been up here?

[Now, isn't that a dual-ended sort of question? Asked calmly and casually enough, as if Natsuno hasn't been avoiding their quarters for days now. As if Jade isn't peering carefully at the boy's back as he approaches, even despite his even tone.]

[neverleave]

[To be honest, he doesn't notice Jade until it's too late. Natsuno can still see in the dark, but other enhanced senses have been snuffed out with his life once he opened the box. He's focused on the targets and the shots ring loud in his ears, so he only realizes he has company when Jade speaks up.

It's tempting to turn away and leave without a word, but... he can't avoid it forever. Jade deserves an explanation.]

Here? Not long. [He lowers the gun slowly, slides it back in his belt with great care, and only then does he turn to face Jade. He looks... normal. Maybe somewhat paler, his irises two red rings. His expression is flat is a mirror's surface.] And no. I'm not okay.

[Like Jade hadn't guessed already. Natsuno holds out a hand, wrist turned upwards. This is how he told Clarke - much easier like this, hardly any explanations necessary.]

Check my pulse.

iii.a (lmk if you want me to change anything!!!)

[light_mischief]

[Skulduggery's recent forays into his own memories have unfortunately reacquainted him with the smell of burning flesh, leaving him with a Pavlovian instinct to investigate the moment he catches the scent on the air. he's too slow to see Natsuno's attempt to withstand the heat, but he does catch sight of the door closing behind him as he returns inside. just a glance at the back of Natsuno's head is enough to tell him it's probably none of his business...

...but he wouldn't be the skeleton detective if he didn't meddle. so, he follows behind, his pace slow and steady as he enters the ship and comes to a stop in front of Natsuno's slouched form.

the obvious question is, frankly, insulting, and so he takes a step past "are you alright" and dives straight into:]

What happened?

you're good!!

[neverleave]

[Natsuno hears the footsteps but doesn't look up. He keeps staring at his forearm even as the pair of feet stops in front of him - he knows who this is and wishes he would just go away, but to no avail. The infuriating presence wastes no time in asking what happened. Natsuno is so, so tempted to tell him to fuck off and leave him alone, but that's just putting off the inevitable.

People have questions. He should give them something to get them off his back, even if they're Skulduggery Pleasant.]

Package from sundries.

[ Pity that this transformation can't be solved with an accurately-tossed lei.]