come_sailaway | Are you on the square? Are you on the level?

Who: Deputy Pratt & You
What: A reckoning is upon you (He's storming the halls looking for Sharky)
Where: Everywhere!
When: Mid-October
Warnings: Violence. Cult stuff. Cannibalism. Skinning. Gore. The standard Pratt warning buffet.
Notes: Bracket or prose, live your truth.

1. The World Is Weak - Laundry Room
It's already been well established that the best place to have a breakdown on the ship is in the Laundry Room, so that's where Pratt is. Though he's not crying, he's not yelling or throwing things or freaking out over a jacket like last time. No, he's pacing. Back and forth and back and forth, again and again while staring at the ground. He has his arms folded, clutching across his chest, which is an awkward position while walking but he doesn't move them.

He doesn't know what to do. Well, he knows what he wants to do, but he also knows that he is the master of terrible decisions so maybe he should think about it?

Back and forth. Back and forth.

Enjoying yourself?

"Shut the fuck up."

2. Eviction Notice - Decks

When Deputy Pratt leaves his room in the morning, he's wearing his full uniform, his belt jangling with every step, along with the dog tags around his neck. Idly he trails his fingers along the wall as he goes, dragging through some of those bloody notes left on doors without even seeming to react to it.

"Sharky! Shaaaaarkkkkyyyy..."

For all that people have seen him sobbing into mashed potatoes, enjoying himself in the arcade, or just generally being a morose but kind of endearing dork, there's another side to him that even Clarke hasn't seen. The last time he was walking like this he was losing himself to the conditioning and barely knew what he was doing. This is different. Pratt is in absolute control of himself and that is so much worse.

"It's been a day and we had a deal. A pact even." Pratt normally sounds like a raven with laryngitis, but right now his voice is so low and controlled when he talks that it could probably be used to grind glass. If it's not obvious Pratt is pissed. He's fucking furious. And that cold fury is being bottled up, saving it for later, for when he needs to act.

"It's okay, you can come out. We just need to talk. We're going to have a little chat. That's all."

He gets to the end of the hall of cabins, blood trailing from his fingers across all the doors from the loving notes left to Ebalon. He reaches up to his forehead, using the blood to draw a cross down his nose and across his forehead.

"Did you think you were finally free?"

This is probably fine.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"... Sharky isn't Sharky?"

She lifts her head, alarmed. That's... bad. That is very much not a good thing. If she had fur down her back at the moment, it would be bristling on end.

"Should I get my sword?"

"He's not acting like himself. Everything he says and does is wrong. Off." He snarls and looks back down the hall.

"Be armed. Always. If this doesn't work..." He laughs deep in his chest, "Kill whatever is wearing my skin if it comes to it."

"I am always armed," she points out. "I can turn into a dinosaur. I'm never unarmed. But the sword is a bonus."

Ylva narrows her eyes. "If you want me to kill you if it happens to you, I can do that. But you're assuming that dying and coming back would fix that."

At any other time he'd be super stoked about her turning into a dinosaur because that is the coolest fucking shit. But right now... not in the mood.

"It might not work but it's worth a try. It'll either fix it or do nothing and then we're in the same position as before." His plan might be shortsighted but he doesn't see a downside.

"I can make it quick."

It's a promise, that she knows how to do it and that she would, in those circumstances. "Even if it doesn't work, you'll be dead for a few days, and whatever's possessing you won't be a problem then. And we can figure something else out. And we can do that for Sharky, too, if we need to."

"Yeah respawn thingy is broken I guess. However that works." He's not sure, maybe Friday is also on the fritz like everything else.

"Theoretically I guess we could just kill literally everyone and that would at least pause it. But that would also be.. a nightmare." Mentally for most people, but he's also thinking physically because they'd all hide eventually and he's not sure he could kill Fio or some of the teenagers. Vance yes, Rita no.

"But I'm not gonna do that. For the record." Since he's looking all psychotic and he knows it, probably best to specify that right now he has no intention of going on a killing rampage. Just Sharky. One and done.

"No. We're not going to kill the people who are fine."

She's firm about that. "I don't like killing people who aren't trying to kill me first. And if you try, I won't let you. But people who are a threat? Definitely. That's just sensible. So." She tilts her head. "Do you have a plan? I can help."

"Yeah, I'm gonna kill Sharky and see if he respawns as himself. And if he doesn't then we know that doesn't work and have to do something else. If he does... then we need to figure out who else is fucked up."

Which will start a witch hunt but Pratt isn't really thinking super rationally right now. "I dunno if he's a threat, because I don't know what this thing even is. Or maybe it's not something in him. Maybe he's been drugged or it's magic or I dunno, space lasers that change your personality. Whatever it is, I'm hoping death resets it."

There's a chance that it might kill Sharky permanently, but that's gotta be better than someone inside his body right?

"I guess just asking whatever-it-is is to leave won't work? I mean, it's worth a try."

She paces a little, fidgeting with her hands. "Drugs wear off. Magic can be dispelled. But if those fail, well." Ylva bares her teeth. "Then yeah, we have to kill him. It sucks. I like Sharky. But if it has to be done, then it has to be done."

"If I can threaten it enough to leave then yeah, I don't want to kill my best friend. I think I have to though." And he's weirdly looking forward to actually being able to do something about this. Normally he spends all day trying to resist going nuts and stabbing people, but now he actually needs to and that's really freeing in a way.

"It's been a few days, so if he's drugged it's ongoing. Has anyone else been weird? Like have you noticed people acting strange? Cuz it can't just be him if it's drugging. Especially if it's in the food or water or air or something."

"I haven't noticed."

She has, in fact, spoken to someone who was possessed, but she never met them before, so how would she know? "Everyone I know has been the same as they were before. I mean, there's some really weird people here, but if they were always weird, I don't know how I'm supposed to guess."

Pot, kettle.

"Yeah that's the problem, I think I only noticed because I've known him my entire life. And some people here are so..." He manages something like a grin, "Maybe what we should be looking for is if any of the crazy people are acting normal. Jinx hasn't started avoiding fights and cleaning stuff up for Friday has she? Or Klaus telling stories that make sense?"

She gives a huff of laughter. "I haven't noticed anything like that, at least. That would be something to worry about, though, if it happened."

Ylva considers for a moment, then adds, "You know, I was possessed once. Not here. A few years ago. And the people I was with didn't even notice."

His eyes go wide and his brow furrows, messing up that bloody cross a little bit, but he doesn't even notice, "You were possessed? What the hell? How? Why? And... fuck, that sucks that no one noticed. How did you get you know, un-possessed?"

"Trying to help ghosts." She shrugs. "It was just a little kid ghost. I'm not sure he could really help it. He was mostly just... very scared and confused, and he ended up in my brain for a while. I don't... I don't travel with those people, anymore. But we were already trying to help lay their bones to rest, and that was enough for him to let me go."

Ylva tilts her head. "But I don't think all the ghosts here are so innocent."

He'll understand more in a few days when he finds out his Hangman Ghost Friend is just a kid ghost in Rich's body. But right now he's too freaked out about Sharky and getting him back to even remember that other people are probably possessed too.

"That's.. I mean it's fucked but I guess makes sense he didn't know what he was doing. This is different, and I don't think Sharky is in there, like... I don't think they're sharing that body, whoever is in there took it. But I'll find out soon enough."

He growls, "He's not staying in there. Not any longer than necessary."

Are you on the square? Are you on the level?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject