sticksandbonesmods: (Default)
sticks and bones. ([personal profile] sticksandbonesmods) wrote in [community profile] sticksandbones2024-02-17 08:11 pm

MATTERS OF THE HEART

Who: Livio, Wolfwood, Elsword, Mizuki, Add, Heimr
What: heimrquest
When: several days after the bar is built, late in the evening
Where:
???????
Warnings:
mentioned child death, mentions of plague, paranoia, supernatural-driven insanity, survivor's guilt, death, possession, impersonation, body horror. more will be added as needed.

The General Store isn't always the most bustling place, least of all in a small make-shift town of only a handful of people, each one more troubled than the last. But at some point, each and every one of you has needed something from Heimr today. Maybe it was just a bag of candy. Maybe it was something more pressing, or some groceries. Regardless, one by one he's tended to your needs, and you leave the store with little fanfare save for the fact that it's unusually foggy out this evening- not enough that you can't see other buildings...

Until you can't.

All around you is a heavy mist, and the scent of a wood fire and warm spices floats through the air. There's no turning back, so all you can do is move forward.

On an OOC note, the Choose Your Own Adventure threads will eventually merge into one group thread. Once this occurs, mod tags will occur after each involved character has tagged, or after 24 hours have passed. That said, if it looks like good banter or development is happening, the Mod will hold off a bit or until dramatic irony strikes.
livlaughlove: stuck in my head for eternity? (037)

[personal profile] livlaughlove 2024-02-18 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)
for the most part, livio remains quiet, mindful that much noise at all will discourage the deer from coming by. he only makes a sound at aldric's request, if ever.

the more time passes, as he learns this rifle, and he thinks about what he'll do with it... before he realizes, before there's even an animal in sight, his cheeks are wet and his eyes stinging. he hardly notices over his desire to please aldric, until he's forced to blink repeatedly to clear his vision.
livlaughlove: nightmares in my head (095)

[personal profile] livlaughlove 2024-02-18 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
he doesn't fight the embrace, even if he tries to insist everything is fine.

"Sorry -- I'm sorry. I just -- never killed anything before." somehow, he knows that's a lie, but it feels distant, like maybe the time and place in which he has killed is the dream. and despite his emotion, he still wants to be here -- to help aldric and the town and the kids like they've helped him. he tries to sniffle the tears away, to calm himself. "I'll be fine... We're gonna scare 'em off."
livlaughlove: getting high on a pure, black void (251)

[personal profile] livlaughlove 2024-02-18 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
that aldric asks him out loud, to know that an adult genuinely cares more about how
he feels than themselves, is reason enough for liv to agree. his wobbly voice is muffled as his face is currently buried in aldric's shoulder.

"I promise. And I promise I wanna help. I do."
livlaughlove: but that won't do no good (237)

[personal profile] livlaughlove 2024-02-18 11:47 pm (UTC)(link)
having the options is good... and maybe he will look more into it. but they're here now.

"Is it okay if I still wanna try?"
livlaughlove: now i'm feeling like i'm running in a dream (206)

[personal profile] livlaughlove 2024-02-19 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
he leans back to look up at aldric, confusion written across his features.

"Do you want me to...?"
livlaughlove: couldn't explain it at the time (200)

[personal profile] livlaughlove 2024-02-19 12:32 am (UTC)(link)
liv will probably always be a little bit miserable, he thinks -- even now, it feels like some amount of sadness runs bone-deep in him -- but he can't imagine that feeding his family will ruin his spirit forever.

"... It is still intimidating." he straightens up, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "But I want to try."
livlaughlove: and i know that you loved me too (232)

[personal profile] livlaughlove 2024-02-19 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
"Alright --" he catches himself again, mouth snapping shut before he murmurs, quieter, "Aldric."

liv clutches at the rifle, hands shaking less as he regains his composure. as they wait, he steadies his breathing and tries to clear his mind, reminding himself that aldric won't think less of him, whatever may come.
livlaughlove: begging you (220)

[personal profile] livlaughlove 2024-02-19 01:37 am (UTC)(link)
livio senses something wrong as soon as he sees the deer, same as aldric. he seems to have forgotten any confidence in holding the rifle that he had earlier, and his grip trembles all over again. are there predators in the woods? wolves? bears? he can't remember. he just stares off in the direction the deer fled from, straining to see or hear anything out of the ordinary.
livlaughlove: living with eyes wide open (104)

cw: body horror

[personal profile] livlaughlove 2024-02-19 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
is this a fever dream? the way the plants wither beneath the tangentially-familiar man, the thrashing of his skin. he looks to aldric after staring for a good few seconds, to verify from his reaction that livio isn't fucking hallucinating, or something.

aldric's gun is aimed. surely he isn't going to shoot a human being? after all they've just talked about, while the man is begging for help from god knows what.
livlaughlove: but i now know why (201)

cw: body horror

[personal profile] livlaughlove 2024-02-19 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
aldric sure doesn't have to tell him to be quiet any more than that. not when even the trees themselves feel deathly silent.

livio's feet only respond sporadically, though. his body trembles. it feels like he can only focus on moving one foot backward or listening to the awful sounds coming from the poor bastard deeper in the woods. it's all he can do to keep pace just behind aldric.
livlaughlove: please, tell me you knew (234)

[personal profile] livlaughlove 2024-02-19 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
he knows running right away might be leaving aldric for dead. but the seconds it would take to make sure he follows could mean they both die. at the thought of dying, livio thinks of the other kids he's been doing his best to look after -- and that sets him off. he'll hate himself for this later, when he sees their faces again.

...

only he won't be the only one to see them, if that thing keeps pace with him or trails him. he realizes this only after he's started sprinting for all he's worth. but they're far enough away -- he turns, changing the angle he flees at to avoid town entirely. he sure as hell doesn't know where he's going, but at least he isn't leading a monster to a smorgasbord.
livlaughlove: and that i'm not there (226)

[personal profile] livlaughlove 2024-02-19 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
it's almost a small mercy that he eventually trips over a root, otherwise he may keep on running for as long as his muscles and lungs allow. but as it goes, he scrambles in the dirt to collect the rifle and scoot his way under a shrub.

heart pounding in his ears, he readies the firearm to shoot -- like aldric taught him -- as he clutches it in his hiding spot. if the thing hadn't succumbed to aldric's first shot, well... livio can at least go down putting another piece of lead in it.
livlaughlove: and i gotta get to you by whatever means (213)

[personal profile] livlaughlove 2024-02-19 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
his instinct is to run to aldric, especially after who knows how long he spent psyching himself out in the bushes... but didn't that man sound human up until he wasn't?

livio eases his way to his feet, steadying the rifle. it isn't aimed directly at aldric, but just in front of his feet, and liv is ready to fire if he needs to. at least, his hands are. maybe not so much his mind.

"Are you... you?"

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