TEST POST

[rawchicken]

[you are now in a team game situation and on the same team as this DEFINITELY VERY NORMAL teen. or maybe on a different team i can't tell you what to do

possible scenarios off the top of my head:
-war room game type situation. make decisions about getting people killed!
-aftermath of some kind of trauma game, everyone is sad and in pain
-any kind of silly bingo game thing with silly activities
-bring your own]

Comments

[lightinthestorm]

[there was a trauma game! everything sucked! their team mcfucking died!

and now in endgame with the rest of the rezzing squad is. a lantern sputtering to life. it's purple. is that important?]

[rawchicken]

[and here's a hikaru who is already mostly intact. there might be a bit of something incomprehensible flowing out of the scar on his neck but please ignore that, he's mostly starting to get it stuffed back in.]

Haah, that sucked!

[and then he notices the familiar lantern and crouches down to poke at it]

Hm? What's up with this?

[lightinthestorm]

[it's... not actually hot? it's kind of cold actually. maybe that purple flame just hasn't heated up the glass or metal yet...

then Flins' voice comes from nowhere (the lamp)]

"Sucked" feels like an understatement, but I do agree.

[rawchicken]

-Whoa! That's you in there?

[pokepokepokepokepoke]

So you're not human, huh? That actually explains a lot.

[lightinthestorm]

[patiently tolerates being tapped like a fish tank. yeah the lantern is not warming up.]

Ah, were you wondering? What does it explain, out of curiosity?

[rawchicken]

[sorry he's not going to stop tapping. tappatappatappa]

I couldn't see yer soul. But some people here are just kinda hard to see for some reason, so I thought maybe you were like that too?

[lightinthestorm]

How curious. Did you see it in my true self?

[the lantern, which has always been at his side, but like, that would have been Weird,]

Also, could you carry me home?

[rawchicken]

I didn't see it at all. I think humans are the only ones whose souls really show up for me? Like, there's animals too but they're not as bright?

[don't worry about why it's definitely not because he eats human souls

anyway picking up the lantern]

So what about your body? You gonna be able to get that back?

[stinkytofu]

[ they're on the same team and they're doing some kind of minigame where the other team sends them Things To Do and if they don't do them then they lose points or whatever. idk i'm making shit up as i go.

the point is:

- this guy, Chu Wanning, is on your team but has been largely stand-offish. not particularly rude to anyone, but definitely not friendly
- it doesn't help that he looks like some kind of chinese martial god. impossibly elegant and graceful, and Hikaru's probably seen him whip someone once
- which leads us to: another team has sent them what can only be described as the most spicy looking mapo tofu to ever exist. and one of you has to eat it, or Face The Consequences.

Chu Wanning is just staring the bowl of mapo tofu down. His face hasn't changed, but his fingers, clenched and folded within his sleeves, are shaking. Hikaru has never seen this guy break into a cold sweat before now. ]

[rawchicken]

Whoa.

[watching him in utter fascination]

Ya can't handle spicy stuff, huh? So even a guy like you has a weakness...

[stinkytofu]

I can.

[ shoots back. short. ]

[rawchicken]

Oh yeah? Go on then, tough guy.

[gestures at the food]

[lightinthestorm]

Intriguing...

[Let's Not Worry About That]

I should be able to. This is my true form, after all. Once I regain my strength, that body will be simple enough to reconstruct.

[rawchicken]

Huh? You can just construct a body? Like, outta nothing?

[shakes the lantern in shock shakashaka]

[lightinthestorm]

Please refrain from making me dizzy.

[flame wavering a little]

[rawchicken]

Whoops. Sorry.

[making an effort to keep the lantern very steady the rest of the way to team housing!!]

[lightinthestorm]

Thank you.

[good boy]

As for your question, not out of nothing, per se, but out of flame.

[rawchicken]

Ehhhh, that's still crazy. I don't think I could do that.

[lightinthestorm]

That would be because you aren't made of fire, correct? Would "flesh" seem more reasonable?

[rawchicken]

That just make me think of like... takin' a pile of meat and shaping it into a body? Which is pretty creepy?

[lightinthestorm]

[a beat,]

I suppose.

[rawchicken]

Maybe it's just different when you're made of fire and I don't get it.

[lightinthestorm]

Flames come off much less grisly in general, perhaps. Fewer... connotations, let's say.

[rawchicken]

...Maybe there would be more connotations if humans knew that's what their souls look like.

[lightinthestorm]

Oh! You did mention. Souls come across as flames?

[rawchicken]

Yeah. Or like, sparks? It depends.

But they're all really bright and warm.

[lightinthestorm]

[a thoughtful little hum.]

That does feel correct for humans. I'm glad you can see that nature of theirs.

[rawchicken]

Mm. It's nice. A little distracting sometimes.

[lightinthestorm]

I suppose it would be. Speaking of which, from one non-human to another, may I ask what you are?

[rawchicken]

Don't really know. Some kinda monster.

[lightinthestorm]

What makes you say that?

[rawchicken]

I'm... kinda dangerous to people? Sometimes?

[lightinthestorm]

I can most certainly be dangerous if I wish, but I would not call myself a monster. Is it beyond your control?

[rawchicken]

Sometimes? But it's more that I don't really get stuff like the value of a life.

[there have probably been some trauma game decisions made that make more sense with this information]

[lightinthestorm]

Ahh. This contextualizes a few things.

[rawchicken]

I try not to upset people with it or anything! But it's just... really complicated?

Like, I thought the big problem with death was that it's permanent and you can't do things with people anymore? But nobody stays dead here and everybody still treats it as a big deal!

[lightinthestorm]

It hurts, doesn't it?

[rawchicken]

Well, yeah. Lots of things hurt. But it doesn't matter whether you die from it or not, does it?

[lightinthestorm]

Hmm. There are many things that could be said for holding onto the traditional weight of such things, even in circumstances like these.

[rawchicken]

Such as?

[lightinthestorm]

We may not be here forever. Ideally we won't.

[rawchicken]

...Right.

[does not get it]