come_sailaway | (no subject)

Who: Venti and open /o/
What: laaate post-event thing for him, waking up from a little stress nap and being tiny.
When: near september!
Where: hurikane mostly!
Warnings: none really except maybe coming back from death and trauma-y memories if he talks about that. other than that he’s just a small fairy being an idiot.

[ it's not very responsible of him, but 1) responsibility and 2) venti: pick one. he is actually the kind of person who tends to disappear at occasional moments, sometimes at the most irresponsible times. he's also the kind who could stress-nap entire decades away, so maybe a good couple of days or even a week is being almost responsible for him. there's darkness, then he wakes up in bed rather unexpectedly and painfully by his new roomie. he processes that he's returned to life and rafaela is back and instead of talking to her or going out and checking on other people, why not just... go back to sleep. so he does.

a day later or so, he kind of disappears entirely, like wind invisible that may float away.

and maybe a week after that, the wind may slowly pull himself together. but he is weak, he's not terribly strong, he's rather tired and maybe lost more faith in himself. venti himself hasn't been around in a good while but a fairy-looking thing, something small and white that practically looks like a bird from a distance, would be slowly floating through the ship towards a bar. you can maybe find this creature:

1. fluttering rather dazedly, like a dizzy bee, charting a little path through the ship en route to deck five.
2. it seems to take breaks every so often to simply sit on the ground, or maybe even float to sit tiredly on your shoulder or head if you're nearby and make a nice perch.
3. sitting on the ground staring up at the door to hurikane, looking bemused at how to open it, chirping tiredly at you if you're nearby to please open the door!
4. if he manages to get in the bar, the critter is sitting on the counter making half-hearted little chirps to the ghost bartender who apparently doesn't get the hint that he needs wine.
5. eventually, or maybe a day later or so, venti would find it in himself to transform back and simply be found in hurikane at a table surrounded by bottles. he needs this, he really does.
(6. wildcard/anything else!! i might just make this a catch-all for september too i don't know yet) ]

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[ he could kind of hazard a guess that jinx might be looking for… possibly a new father figure, or some kind of leader now that silco is gone, and might be seeking it in those captains. whether or not that’s true, he’s unsure what to think of it, simply cushions his cheek in a palm for now. ]

It might be nice to be part of a crew, but… I just hope you keep your best discretion in mind as well. I’ve been thinking lately that perhaps force isn’t the way to go in regards to this mystery anyway.

[ even if the captain did unleash those zombies. which, did he spring those or not? but he supposes it’s hard to say. ]

Oh yeah? (she doesn't really turn to look over his direction. her eyes are practically up to the stage curtains but lazily reaches over to flick his braid with her index.)

What's your new thoughts about it?

Edited 2022-09-08 01:23 (UTC)

[ well. … he tries to gather his thoughts with some effort, but a longer moment passes because thinking of the rise of that horde and those corpses just kind of has his mind run into a wall again. one that he knows he’ll have to confront more fully, but maybe right now is still kind of fresh and raw. his hand tightens to his cloak, reflexively. ] I…

[ a pause, his stare goes distant, then he forcibly tries to focus back to her. ] What… what do you think of that excursion? Or about the… what we saw, what happened to the Captain for instance.

Edited 2022-09-08 03:12 (UTC)

(she stops in mid-flicking his braid to finally turn her head to him; quirking an eyebrow. jinx's been hearing somehow these excursions are linked to something.)

I didn't get to see what happened but Darcy explained it to me. Some... small kid he turned into? Which practically means he has an Arcane talent of a shapeshifter.

[ he kind of waggles his braid back at her, a brief smile, then trying to collect his thoughts more. ] Hm, I think…

We were warned that things could get bad here, but maybe what was interesting was that he did offer a… not exactly a fair chance, but he noticeably didn’t try to cheat or overtake Mr Skulduggery in the race. They did both die, but then his corpse burned and he rose from the ashes, like a revival… so even if he’s killed, he’s presumably able to recover himself.

As terrible as the undead were, he did offer us more of a chance of escape and survival than that first Battle Royale, in which there could be only one victor. I can’t say whether there might be a pattern, but I wonder if he might be offering more fairer chances, for some reason. It’s been almost half a year, but that Battle Royale was so far the only and worst instance of pitting us against each other, whereas in this excursion we were almost encouraged to band together in order to elect a racer like Mr Skulduggery.

(jinx listens attentively while scrunching up her lips (aka duck facing it) as she takes in his thoughts and letting her own gears turn, too. it is pretty strange how the last excursion seemed so different and how he gave them so much wiggle room. she folds her arms over her chest before returning her glance back up at the curtains/stage lights above them.)

He could also be fuckin' with us. That's another possibility. — If I were him, I'd do a lotta random stuff just to throw everyone off. It's a lot more fun to watch everyone scramble around and trying to figuring me out when they're not even close. Or when really there's no meaning to anythin'. It's just pure mindless fun.

(she shrugs her shoulders before letting out a deep breath.)

Buuuuuut the Cap and I work differently. Well... more like our brains do their things differently. So you can't really take my word for it.

Edited 2022-09-09 04:08 (UTC)

Mm, all we have is speculation. Or perhaps other people know more about him than I do, I don’t try to seek him out at all. [ though he occasionally wonders if he should. ]

… By the way, Jinx, did you happen to hear a voice while out in the desert, before the race occurred?

(it's a blank stare for a moment before she pulls herself back up to sit. jinx bends her legs so she can prop her elbows on her knees in a loose fold. with her cheek resting on her palm, jinx can't help but to display a grin over his question. in fact, she doesn't reply right away in hope venti would able to retrace the question and figure out the flaw in it.

but just in case he didn't catch it, she'll explain:)

Braids... (she grins further.) — You're askin' a girl who hears voices almost every single day if she heard a voice.

(jinx then teasingly raises her eyebrows at him. she is probably not the correct person to ask this to.)

[ . . . ] You’re right, but I meant… a different one than usual! Or maybe—

Oh, maybe it’d be difficult for you to tell if it happened or not. Never mind then! [ awkward. and now he’s embarrassed, his face goes a little red as he sits up in fluster. he really was out of it, to ask a question like that. ]

Edited 2022-09-11 02:57 (UTC)

(okay she can't help but to just laugh at him stumbling along that. jinx bumps her shoulder to his to at least try and make him feel better.)

Ha ha ha, it's okay! I mean, I do believe you. If there was a voice out there, then there was one out there. Just, y'know, I hear a lotta of 'em. They get pretty noisy so it's not like I can pick what's what.

Edited 2022-09-11 03:31 (UTC)

Mm, of course. It might be I’m still rather tired.

… I heard the voice of a friend, out there in the desert before the Captain arrived. It makes me wonder if there might be other entities out there in that reality or others.

Like an alternate version of that place with different people we can't see?

(that... would be rather wild if that were the case. a different realm where the exact same thing is happening with them but with different people. a mirror version.)

It might be…? I’m not sure, though I know at least one other person heard a familiar voice. I suppose I’m not sure what to do with this information at all.

But I rather miss her. She sounded as if from very far away, shouting a warning… I hope she’s all right, back home.

(humming softly, she scoots a little closer to link her arm around him -- rubbing his shoulder for reassurance.)

Hey, I'm sure she is. From what you've told me about Mondstadt, it sounds like a really beautiful place. And I know she's probably surrounded by so many people there taking care for one another. Or if there is a problem, they're workin' together to set things right.

Edited 2022-09-11 04:14 (UTC)