[ October Event ] The Black Stag Casino

[pumpkinhollow]

**Plain text version here. [Pending - pardon the delay! Plain text version will be created and added within the next 48 hours.]

THE BLACK STAG CASINO

THE LODGE

{ CONTENT WARNINGS: Mild unreality, lapses in memory }

Wake-Up Call

You wake on the morning of October 26th in the most comfortable bed you have ever laid in. Regardless of what accommodations you’ve been used to in the past, no matter how lavish, you cannot remember the last time you felt so perfectly cradled by a mattress or slept at such a perfect temperature. You wake to the sound of a pleasant little chiming sound, repeated over and over until you address it.

You sit up and realize you don’t know where you are.

It’s not that you don’t remember coming here--- in fact, you very much do. Though the action itself is a bit of a haze, you can recall being approached by a stunning woman dressed in all black, with a wide-brimmed hat that had long tassels which concealed most of her face. She handed you a beautifully printed invitation, though you can’t recall the text, just the image of golden antlers and blue flowers on black paper. Then you went home, packed a bag of your things--- clothes, personal items, toiletries, medications, money, things you might need on vacation--- and then when you opened your door, you were standing in a forest. You recall following lights in the distance until you reached a large, ornate wooden door and then---

Well, now you’re here. In a beautiful hotel room decorated in lavish navy and black decor, possibly with others, and there is a ringing sound.

When someone answers it, despite the advent of the speakerphone having yet to occur, the golden handset phone on the desk can be heard at a pleasant volume which everyone in the room can hear. A woman’s voice speaks.

“Welcome to the Black Stag Casino and Lodge!” she says. “This is the wake-up call you ordered when you checked in last night. Just a reminder--- you are visiting us with an all-inclusive package from now until November 4th! All food services and amenities are free with unlimited use, all entertainment is included at no additional cost, a no-cost service to take care of your affairs at home has been added for you, and you will be receiving 50 free casino chips when you visit! The only things that have a cost to them are the shopping areas and additional chips. Check-out starts at 11am on the 4th, and not a moment sooner! If you have any questions, please see our front desk, open 24/7. Also, please be aware that all interpersonal violence is physically impossible outside of the arena, and no weapons are permitted inside the lodge. Enjoy your stay!”

And enjoy it you must, it would seem. When you look out your windows, you will see the misty pine forest sprawling out endlessly in every direction as far as the eye can see. While you’ll have an opportunity to verify it later should you choose to, you likely already have a sense that there is no way to leave. But at least there seems to be plenty of ways to make the best of things. Time to take a look around?

Amenities

The Black Stag Casino’s lodge is well-outfitted with only the most indulgent of luxuries; the beds are just a start! Each room has a pair of enormous king-sized beds with plush bedding and always the exact right amount of pillows. Rooms can each house between 1 and 4 people. (Please feel free to check out and add yourself to the room assignment chart as you see fit. It should be noted that only those chosen by Dahlia Leeds or Prince Aster are permitted to stay in the VIP suites.)

The bathrooms are equally luxurious, each with remarkably advanced independent plumbing, full-sized bottles of shampoo, fluffy towels and even monogrammed black bathrobes customized to each guest. A handy card informs you that you can even keep the robe when you leave, which is wild.

Each room also has a balcony overlooking the expansive lodge grounds and surrounding forest. The views are eerie, but beautiful in their way.

And of course, each room has several copies of a map of the resort, showing the locations of its underground shopping promenade, numerous performance stages, always-open front desk, lavish spa, buffet, restaurants, bars, and expansive casino floor. There’s also something out behind the lodge called the “arena,” though its purpose is unclear just from the map.

Finally, you will also find a phone number and impressive menu for room service, whose prices have been concealed. A card is attached reminding you that anything you ordered is included in your package. Truly, all expenses are paid. If this place were not clearly the work of a demon, it might be a dream vacation. But considering that anyone in the know could easily clock this as the work of a demon representing indulgence and consumption, the message is clear.

Still, perhaps it can’t hurt to enjoy it a little bit. You are trapped here for a while, after all.

THE CASINO

{ CONTENT WARNINGS: Gambling, violence, potential character death }

Game Tables

The first thing you’ll see if you enter the casino floor is, of course, a wide array of game tables run by dealers both humanoid and monstrous. However, the vast majority of dealers appear to be… the exact same woman. Specifically, a woman in a tight black dress and long black gloves, wearing a wide-brimmed hat with tassels that conceal most of her face. They each wear a gold name tag just below the plunging neckline of their dresses, and each and every one of them reads “Daphne.” (On rare occasions, the observant watcher may be able to catch one of these women phasing into a pair of mirrored copies, indicating that these are all very literally the same person.)

The games are all fairly standard casino fare. Betting is simple--- if you win, your bet is doubled. If you lose, your bet is forfeit.

Casino Rules

Each guest starts with 50 free chips and is responsible for keeping track of them on their own. Chips cannot be used for anything outside of the casino and must be redeemed at the prize counter. More chips may be purchased with Brass at a rate of 50 chips for 200 Brass. Chips cannot be redeemed for Brass once purchased and cannot be transferred or pooled between guests. Chips are not transferable between players.

A guest may bet as much as they’d like on each game, which does not have to occur within a thread (although some should, because that’s what we’re here for!) and can play until they run out of chips or wish to stop. Each game will use dice rolls (or a roulette wheel) to determine winnings, which means that all casino games rely entirely on chance to win. You are on your honor not to fudge results! We have four casino games that we have simplified for text-based RP:

Blackjack

Roll a D10. Rolls 2-9 are number cards of any suit. A roll of 10 can be a 10 number card or any face card (Jack, Queen, King) valued at 10. A roll of 1 represents an Ace, which can be valued at either 1 or 11, per the player’s preference. After the first roll, players can decide if they wish to “hit” (roll again and add the value of the additional roll to their previous) or “stand” (abstain and stick with their current value), with a goal of getting to a total of 21 or as close as possible without going over.

Players may continue to roll until they either decide to stand, or until they “bust” (exceed 21). A dealer will roll against them, which the player can either roll themselves OOCly on behalf of the dealer or recruit another player to roll for. Whoever gets closest to 21 without busting is the winner. Players who are able to “get Blackjack” by rolling to 21 exactly get triple their bet!

Craps

Actual Craps is somewhat complex and not conducive to RP, so this is an extremely simplified version. Roll 2D6. This value will determine the “point” for that round. From there, you will have 7 rolls to attempt to roll the exact same value. If you fail to do so within 7 rolls, you lose and your bet is taken by the house. If you manage to roll the point, you win. If you at any point roll “snake eyes” (a pair of 1s), you automatically lose, unless it is the first roll to determine the point, in which case you may roll again.

Poker

Due to the numerous steps in Poker and the fact that it is meant to be played with the other people at the table as opposed to the dealer, most of a Poker game will be done ICly or handwaved.

Poker requires a minimum of 2 or a maximum of 5 guests and D20s. Place bets to enter, roll your D20 once, then keep the number to yourself. Based on your roll, determine whether you wish to “call” (double your existing bet for the opportunity to win) or “fold” (forfeit). Players who folded will not be eligible to win. All players who called will then reveal the number they rolled on the d20. The one who rolled the highest wins. Rather than doubling their own bet, however, the winner receives all money bet by other players, including those that folded.

Roulette

The Black Stag Casino, like most casinos, has a roulette wheel in the center of the room. However, when you approach, you see that it is not like a traditional roulette wheel.

Instead, all the tiles that should be red are blue, and marked with gold lettering that reads “WIN!” and the black tiles all have gold text on them that reads… well, each one is something different.

The rules are simple. Place a bet of your liking and spin the wheel. If you land on a “WIN” tile, then your chips are doubled as usual. If you land on any other tile, you are subject to the effect of that tile. You may interpret it however feels right to you, and one of these effects even supersedes the “no violence” rule! SPIN HERE!

Most Dangerous Game

On the far wall of the casino from the main door, you can see an exit onto a large balcony with seating overlooking what appears to be an enclosed area of the forest, marked as the “arena” on your map. Beside the doors, you can also see a bookie working at a betting counter. Above the counter, you can see the name of the game, which is simply listed in a stark font as “PREY”.

Additionally, you can occasionally hear a crackling audio that sounds a bit like an old intercom making announcements asking that various people (usually two names, sometimes more) to report to the arena booking counter. There are times listed for “matches” on the wall with people’s names listed, and you can place bets on each “match.” The bookie doesn’t care much to tell you what the premise of the game is, just that he’s the one you can sign up to play with if you want to participate, and that there’s a pretty significant windfall for winning.

- HOW TO PLAY -

- PREY -

Any Pumpkin Hollow resident can play the game in the role of Prey, either by deliberately signing up or by ICly “drafted” to play against their will. (OOCly players would still be volunteering their characters, it’s just an opportunity for you to force them to play if they might not want to.) ICly, the Predator that they are matched with is chosen by Aster with the aim of being an interesting and well-matched fight, though the Predator does get some input. (Again, OOCly this is decided by players entirely.)

Prey are entitled to any weapons or tools they request, but have no input on the environment. Their goal is to escape, incapacitate, or kill their Predator. There will be at least one escape route per arena layout whose location and escape conditions are determined by the Predator. The winner is determined by a combination of dice rolls and player communication.

Prey who win their match-ups will receive a significant prize--- a flat prize of 200 chips, plus 50% of all bets made against them. (Bets from NPC demons will be determined on a D100 and PC bets will be added in after, if there are any.) Prey who lose get 50% of all bets made in their favor, but are dead by normal Pumpkin Hollow rules for the rest of the day. No death certificate is needed for deaths occurring in PREY. Sending Stones do not function inside the arena. No other guests may enter the arena, even as ghosts.

In the PREY Betting thread below, it is the Prey’s responsibility to set up a top-level for their match-ups betting pool. This is done by simply replying to the betting thread with the names of the Prey and Predator as the comment’s title. (ex. [Prey name] vs. [Predator name])

- PREDATORS -

Predators are VIP guests specifically brought in by Aster for this purpose, who signed up to participate via a special character claim. No more can be added. Their goal is simple: to kill their prey, by any means necessary. Predators are given some leeway on who is chosen as their prey and are provided with any weapons or tools they desire. They are also allowed to have the arena magically modified to their liking. However, they cannot modify their environment during the match unless that is specifically one of their existing powers, and they must install at least one escape method into their arena. Predators who die are only dead for a few hours before Aster sets them right, and they are not rewarded or penalized for winning, as they are already being rewarded just for being here by Aster (who has promised them each some sort of wish) and are simply here to work.

The Predators available to play against are below the cut. The Predator is responsible for the starters for their match-ups in the PREY thread below so that they can set up their arena, unless otherwise discussed.

Predator Options

Acrid || Risk of Rain
Nama/Anri || acrid_rain

Allyin Kailius || Original Character
Yarrow || allyin

The Butcher || Malevolent
Meghan || sometimesfortissimo

Brooke Augustine || InFamous: Second Son
QV || helltopave

Chase Collins || The Covenant
Dee || bastardofipswich

Dahlia Leeds || Pumpkin Hollow
Rose || thethirteenthchild

David Xanatos || Gargoyles
Batya || still_got_the_edge

Fenrir || Original Character
Kalineh || odinsbane

FUTURE || SAYER
GladHatter || for_humanitys_future

The Goose || Untitled Goose Game
Jesse || a_anser_horribilis

Hol Horse || JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Sentis || emperorcard

Itazura Unmei || Final Fantasy XIV
constellation || bloodyscalesemptyheart

Jack Spicer || Xiaolin Showdown
Kai || howiruletheworld

Julia Montauk & Trevor Herbert || The Magnus Archives
Blue || tapetumlucidum

Leshy || Inscryption
Harvey || scrybeofbeasts

Mary || Identity V
Mira || predation

Max Jagerman || Nerdy Prudes Must Die
Rose || whowillprayforyou

Ned Low || Our Flag Means Death
Rin || forthelulz

Nikola Orsinov || The Magnus Archives
Rose || dancetheworldnew

King Oberon & Puck/Robin Goodfellow || Folklore
Guildenstern & Bash || oberlord & tailorcries

Spamton G. Spamton || Deltarune
Harvey || nowsyourchance

- SPECTATING & BETTING -

In order to bet, please make a comment in the appropriate betting thread stating which character is placing the bet, how many chips they are betting, and who they are betting on to win the match. Please do not use meta knowledge to influence your bets. If you bet correctly, your bet will be doubled as usual.

To spectate a match, grab a seat on the balcony overlooking the arena! The arena may be enclosed or have scenery that blocks the view, but not to worry--- two large magical screens will be tracking both the Predator and the Prey. You cannot communicate with anyone inside the arena.

Prize Counters

When you’ve earned enough chips, there are some exceptional prizes available at the prize counter! Choose from any of the following options:

Cheap Souvenir - 50 Chips
Some kind of weird junk. Can be nearly anything you like, within reason. Fuzzy blue dice, a bag of weird candy, a poorly made trophy, a Black Stag Casino branded pen, or a very ugly stuffed animal are all great options.

Bottle of Generous Garlic Powder OR Vanilla Extract - 100 Chips
A small bottle containing seemingly infinite high quality garlic powder for cooking or vanilla extract for baking, one or the other (you can get both but you must buy each separately). Not for the faint of heart, as in order for the bottle to retain its endless quality, you must always use its contents to excess each time you cook with them. If you follow the recipe, you will find them empty the next time you reach for the bottle.

Decanter of Endless Spirits - 200 Chips
A stunning crystal decanter that will contain an endless supply of an alcoholic beverage of the pourer’s choice. It is always of the finest quality. Be warned that those who drink from it will feel a slight temptation to overindulge.

Deerbone Dice - 300 Chips
A pair of 6-sided gambling dice made of deer bone, with the dots inlaid with gold. They feel very lucky. Anyone who owns these could add +3 to the result of any dice rolls they perform in any context for the duration of the game.

Silvertongue Amulet - 400 Chips
The wearer of this silver pendant would find themselves permanently more persuasive whenever wearing it, and would find it easier to get people to do things for them or give them information. It works even on the most powerful supernatural creatures, though the success may vary on demons, elder gods, or goddesses somewhat.

Infernal Service - 500 Chips
A ticket promising the services of one infernal servant under Aster, for any task that does not directly conflict with Aster’s interest in a non-negotiable way. Which Infernal Servant will be at Aster’s discretion and dependent upon availability.

Unholy Talisman - 700 Chips
A protective ward in an array of designs that will allow the wearer to resist the influence or workings of Nyarlathotep. Would only help with non-physical/mental effects, physical damage would not be preventable.

Fallen Angel Investor - 1000 Chips
A certificate indicating that Aster will personally fund an Entrepreneur career, paying for you to open a business of your choice. The funded business will automatically be a Level 3 business and there are absolutely no catches aside from Aster being a little nosy about how numbers are.

THE EXTRAS

{ CONTENT WARNINGS: Potential for overeating, heavy alcohol use, mental manipulation }

Food & Drink

Considering it's Aster’s specialty, you know that the food has to be good. And the staff is more than willing to identify everything in the food! It’s not human, they promise. (For once it’s genuinely not. Besides, lying was Mendel’s game. The Dark Feast prefers to skirt around the truth instead.)

There are two main places to eat. The first is a high end, luxurious restaurant with rich and well-made food, some of which is unique and a bit experimental. It’s the finest money can buy, and it’s all yours for free. A great place for a date! Never tried caviar? You can get it here.

The second is a buffet. The food here is also fantastic, though with significantly less bells and whistles. It’s all hot, fresh, and widely varied, and it’s never empty.

Additionally, there is also a stunning bar, whose bar-top is carved from dark wood and whose decor incites a close, intimate feel. There is a VIP room that intends to be specifically for Aster’s guests, the Predators and his family members, though others can join them if invited.

It’s worth noting that each of these places make it fairly challenging to stop consuming, and time seems to pass strangely in them, becoming easily lost. It takes a bit of willpower to leave them, and ordering room service doesn’t seem to really circumvent this problem, as you’re still left wanting more once you’re finished. However, the effect seems fairly mild--- except in the buffet. It is extremely easy to get trapped in the buffet, overindulging in the food there and losing hours and hours of time, and once you go the first time, you feel compelled to go back each time you get hungry. Overconsumption is Aster’s game, but it seems particularly potent there.

Shopping

On the bottom floor of the lodge, which is underground, there is a sprawling indoor shopping area designed to look like an outdoor promenade in a fancy commercial district, with stone shop fronts and gold-lettered signs and tasteful street-lamps lining the herringbone-pattern brick walkway. There are a fair few shops down there, some of which don’t seem completely compliant with the time period Pumpkin Hollow exists in. The shops are as follows:

Wolf’s Clothing: A high end boutique with stylists who can put together the perfect outfit. Everything is magically tailored to fit the wearer perfectly.

Quarry’s Demise: A shop that sells powerful magical armor and weaponry from the mainland. Purchase will be sent to the buyer’s home directly, as weapons are not allowed in the casino.

Flames of Yvelas: A shop selling powerful magical items and potions that you can’t get on the island. Combat products will be sent directly to the buyer’s home.

Complete Sustenance Market: a food market selling high end specialty products and health foods, many of which are not available in Pumpkin Hollow. Perishables will be sent directly to the buyer’s home.

Nightingale’s: A well-to-do bakery with fancy cakes and artisanal bread. Also serves coffee and tea. Occasionally you can see the baker, who is evidently a large wolf-monster with open throat lacerations. This does not seem to impact the quality of the product, or the sanitation of the kitchen. Apparently he just looks like that.

Buckskin Spirits and Liquors: A liquor store with everything imaginable.

Spacetime Super Store: an interdimensional clothing store that has clothing from other time periods, ranging from medieval to futuristic.

Ye Olde Pokemart: A shop that sells Pokemon supplies. It has a bakery counter in the corner that sells Pokemon-safe desserts called PokePuffs.

DreamThrift: a thrift store of some sort that seems to sell gadgetry, decorations, or mundane items from various worlds and time periods. Much of it is middling quality.

Spirit Halloween: Exactly what it says on the tin. How did this get here?

Ennui Perfumery: A perfume boutique that sells beautifully bottled perfumes named after abstract concepts, whose fragrances somehow smell exactly the way one expects the concept to smell and also evokes the feeling of that concept.

Price Guide

The specific items found in each shop are up to players, within reason, and are categorized within a set of broad categories. You may use your best judgment to determine the price of something. If the mods receive a massive influx of price check questions, we will explode, so please use the price menu to the best of your ability and reserve questions about pricing for things that you truly have no frame of reference for. Things are expensive because all of them will be things you cannot get back home!

Follow this link to view the price chart!

Entertainment

In addition to shopping and games, there are plenty of other fun things to do at the lodge. You could take in a show! There are magicians, acrobats, musical performances, and a stage that is dedicated to a 24-hour cabaret that becomes distinctly adults-only after dark. There’s also a spa where you can get massages, a magically-heated hot tub and swimming pool, and a dance hall. Take a break from gambling and check out the other indulgences available.

Grounds

Attempting to exit the casino is entirely possible, but not advisable, as you'll be met with a long and grueling journey through an endless woods full of increasingly violent predators and thick fog. Conveniently, however, once you turn back, you'll find the path very easily traversed and the lodge only a minute or two's walk away, even if you've been traveling through the woods for hours.

CHECK-OUT

{ CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A }

We Hope You Enjoyed Your Stay!

On November 4th at 11am, you will be allowed at last to exit as normal. But will you want to? Perhaps some of you will struggle with the temptation not to extend your stay. Remain a while more. Indulge, consume, obey.

Or not! We hope to see you back soon!

Comments

[abhorrently]

"Probably a good thing I wasn't around or close to you then. I would have thrown away my own reputation trying to get even."

It's really only Daisy that she can say things like I'd murder a kid on your behalf without getting significant backlash. Besides, the whole Vile debacle went in one ear and out the other for Fever when information was around - just more overblown drama around those fucking people that she's content to believe are rotting somewhere for eternity. No reason to retain it.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry you had to deal with all of it. Not just him or dying but...everything."

The stress, the fighting, the constant violence, the unending time spent there, and then not even being allowed to peacefully rest. Worn thin, murmurs a voice in her head. At least they're out now, trying to live actual existences, but...it's still a lot for Daisy to have to carry.

"At least you didn't lose her, in the end."

Basira.

[hadnoright]

Daisy snorts. "Yeah. Probably for the best."

She can't judge. Not like she discriminated based on age back on that first cruise, when she was too deep in the blood to care about anything but having Basira's back and chasing down the next kill. Death games were death games. No one was excluded. The Captain certainly didn't care. Everyone killed and everyone died, whether they wanted to be involved or not. The ship got everyone in the end.

The more time passes, the more distant that time feels. Being in the Nothing coated the years before it with an odd haze, and so much has happened since, the year at home, the year on the ship, the time here... it's becoming easier to focus on the future than it used to be. What a funny thing that is. Scary, in its way.

"...yeah. I— I really thought I'd never see her again. Don't think I realised just how big the hole was until it wasn't there anymore."

Even if they are... chafing, against the edges of each other, where they're no longer quite the same shapes they used to be. Close enough to fit, to ease back into place, but just a little off in a way they need to adjust for but haven't, not yet.

[abhorrently]

"...what is she, to you?"

If they didn't have all their quiet understandings, the time they've spent understanding what symmetries they have, how they check for each other in times of crisis, Fever doesn't think she'd get an answer. Call it instinct. But they do, and so it shifts to maybe, if she's so important that Daisy wanted to know she was there. If she left that big an emptiness. If it means so much to have her back.

[hadnoright]

You ever hear a laugh that spells out 'loaded question' without a word said?

"She's... my partner. That's the only thing that never changes." Partner like back-up. Partner like an accomplice. Partner like a part of her. Partner like symbiosis. Partner like a wound. Partner like her heart ripped from her chest.

Daisy drags her tongue over her teeth and tastes the iron.

"Started in the police. She was always... I thought she was better, than me. I tried to keep the blood off her hands. Tried to hide the blood on mine. Turned out she knew the whole time. Never stopped me. Not until Jon, and then... everything else happened. Signed her life away to the Institute to save me from the consequences. Then I went in the coffin. She thought I died and— after I got back I was different. You know? Made things... complicated. But we were still partners. Are still partners. In— in every sense of the word, I guess."

[abhorrently]

There's a respectful hush that settles over Fever as she listens, not a lack of words but giving the admission space, each word weighted with more than Daisy wants to say aloud. It takes no genius to see the sentences formed by the space between her words, and Fever's heart gives a strange little twist she's come to associate with people telling her such things. Someone Daisy wouldn't just kill for, wouldn't just bleed for, but live for. Someone like that, in a place like before...

I thought she was better than me.

"She must be fearsome. Has to be, to stand at your side."

It's a high compliment, thinking about everything at once. She'd have to be extraordinary. Is, then. However knotted up and twisted it is, Daisy at least has her. There's time to sort out the rest.

"Is it still complicated?"

[hadnoright]

"She is."

Doesn't matter that she's still so human it sometimes makes Daisy terrified for her. Doesn't matter that Daisy's very aware of all her flaws. She's survived shit that would've broken others. She walked out of the Unknowing through the strength of rationalisation alone. Basira is one of the strongest people Daisy knows.

As for complicated... "Oh, yeah. Didn't get chance to work it out, back home. Had to let the Hunt take over to save her and Jon."

And then she was back on the ship and Basira was walking through the apocalypse to find the thing that Daisy had become and now they're both here.

"We're— working on it."

[abhorrently]

For a second, Fever looks at her, with a gaze that isn't piercing or analyzing, but just...seeing. Understanding. That decision couldn't have been made if there was any other option, or if they were worth any less.

Then she looks away, as if she can't bear it.

"I know I'm the last person who should be saying this, but...no. Never mind."

The hypocrisy would rise up and choke her. She can't fake being that sanctimonious.

"Just...I want you to be happy."

[hadnoright]

Sometimes the only way to save someone else is to lose yourself. She was at peace with that. It seemed like the least selfish thing in the world, at the time. A choice she could make that would turn out the best for everyone, in the end.

Turns out it feels a lot more selfish when you have to face the emotional damage it left behind first hand.

She doesn't want to think about that.

"...me too," she echoes, not talking about her own happiness. "...we're both pretty bad at this stuff, huh."

Doesn't have to have Fever lay out all the intimate details of what's been going on in her life the last few months to know that.

[abhorrently]

The laugh that comes from Fever's mouth is short, humorless. Pretty bad might be for Daisy. Hopeless might be better for Fever.

"That obvious?"

More like Daisy knowing her, knowing the tells. She doesn't have to unleash the full weight of it all for its shadow to be upon her. Where her hand was cut last month twinges, when she thinks about it.

"I think I'm just not meant for it."

It's the statement she clutches close every day, has to hold onto lest she leave herself too vulnerable.

[hadnoright]

Daisy nods her head to the side—obvious to her, maybe, recognition through the other and all that. (Signs of weakness, easily catalogued by the mind of a predator.)

"Thought the same for most of my life. Still do, sometimes." Until she met Basira, she's not sure she ever felt the pull of love—not like that, not really. And then she spent years pining without ever risking breaking down that wall between them. Not wanting to damage her, not wanting to lose her—she was never sure which would be worse.

The fact she's felt that pull in new directions in recent years doesn't change how... tangled it all feels. How much even daring to entertain such things feels like tearing her beating heart from her chest and placing it in a grasp she can't control, that could choose to crush it at any moment, just waiting for the hurt to come, the consequences for her vulnerability. How much it still feels like tarnishing the people she lets hold her, like the blood leaking between their fingers is a stain that will never wash out, like she's some filthy, feral thing that tracks gore wherever she treads.

"Can't say it gets easier."

[abhorrently]

"How did it change?"

It's not a question Daisy's compelled to answer if she doesn't want. But it's always been easier to ask her, someone who also has the scent of blood ground into her skin that no perfume or bath will remove, no matter how hot the water, no matter how strong the scent. Someone who gets that violence is in bone marrow and breath, where what is vulnerable is seen and noted as a weakness, but not exploited. Could be, but she doesn't. It's trust, because you know the shape of this beast.

(And yet, Fever thinks. Daisy is at least a person. Daisy Tonner exists. She clawed herself into existence, and she's here, and her face is her own.)

[hadnoright]

Daisy exhales, long and strained and thoughtful. Another loaded chamber waiting to be fired. How did it change. Does she even know? Wouldn't she be screwing up so much less if she understood how she'd got here?

"...I don't know," she says, eventually. "Back home. I never would've risked any of this. And it still feels like I'm gonna ruin it. But denying it didn't help either. So— I dunno."

[abhorrently]

Yeah, there it is. The knot of emotion that winds itself ever further in her chest. Something hot and scorching and alive with barbed hooks. Something that sinks them into her and pulls her back from considering different. The thing that clockwork winds itself tighter and tighter, degree by degree.

"Don't worry." Soft as feathers, as the touch of poison on a dagger. "One of us has to get it right. It'll be you."

[hadnoright]

Daisy doesn't react visibly, though her teeth sink into the tip of her tongue. Sometimes a talk feels less like threading the needle and more like trying to slip a blade through a body without hitting anything vital.

"...this is usually where I'd say something blunt and then suggest drinks."

[abhorrently]

"What's stopping you from it now?"

The drinking won't fix anything, she knows. She's already let herself go a few times.

[hadnoright]

Daisy shrugs one shoulder. "Can't think of anything that doesn't catch me in the crossfire. Or that wouldn't give you every right to deck me."

[abhorrently]

"Say it. I won't deck you. Promise on whatever honor I have."

Which may not be much, but hey.

[hadnoright]

Another long, thoughtful exhale. Daisy drums her fingers against the edge of the tub, claws clicking against the surface.

"...you don't get to decide you're not worth loving. And running away. Deciding it's already doomed. Not talking. Letting it sit and rot. All it does is make a bigger mess to clean up later."

The hypocrisy isn't lost on her. People have been driving the words talk to each other into her head like driving nails into wood. Talk, talk, talk. Unpack the baggage. Figure yourself out, figure it all out.

Tongue over teeth. Gaze settling on Fever directly, again. "Stop acting like a dead woman walking. Before you forget you're still alive."

[abhorrently]

It's lucky for Daisy that Fever swore not to punch her - or well, can't in this place. Can't enact any kind of violence. Because that makes her want to lash out, as much as she asked for it. Speaking from personal experience? rises up in her mind with so much hatred that she can only sink further into the water, until just her eyes are above the line, only rising when her lungs start to burn from the lack of air.

When she surfaces, she just looks at Daisy for a long moment, in the same way that a woman pinned down can only twist in an iron grip, knowing she can't get up. And then, after enough air is in her lungs:

"...I want to live, Daisy."

Regardless of if she deserves it or not. Regardless of what she's done. She wants to live. She always has. It's why she refuses to go, why she keeps getting up even on the worst days.

"Even if I'm some monster that parents scare their children into behaving with. Even if every time I try to talk I feel like I'm doing it all wrong and I've got all this empty space in my head. The world's too much to give up on."

[hadnoright]

Daisy doesn't say 'I did warn you', but it's all over her face and body language regardless. She sits quietly, letting Fever's frustration burn down to a simmer, letting her gather her thoughts and words.

And when she finally speaks up again, the first thing Daisy says is simply: "...good."

It's genuine. She knows too well what it's like to have lost that desire to live, to have spent so long where death was the only option for freedom only to have the future open up in front of you and find that your will to go on has already been whittled down to nothing. Building back up anything but the base, animal need to survive has been a battle.

"But living means— living. And believe me. I know that reaching out. Taking chances. It's hard. And sometimes it blows up in your face. But if the rest is worth the risk. Then that has to be too."

They're both figuring out how to live these new lives. Peace and inaction. People that care about you. Maybe a home. Things that can so easily fall apart and yet if you keep living under the assumption they will, are you really living at all?

[abhorrently]

For another long minute, Fever says nothing, letting the words into her skin the way heat loosens muscles. It's not easy, choked up and knotted as it all is. It hurts. But Daisy can't be shrugged off, and Fever can't bring herself to try anyway. Not after, well...

Her nails are still red.

"You know what? I'm going soft. The last time someone tried to talk to me like this, he needed to tie me up after." It still boils under her skin. But she can't do anything for it. Can't let it out, because it can't go anywhere. "Just. Keep thinking about it all falling apart. How much damage I can do."

Because it's a risk, still. It's a risk with a body count. Death sticking or not, can you put someone through that and expect it to be okay?

[hadnoright]

"I know." God does she know. She never can stop thinking about how easy or satisfying a Hunt would be, when she looks at someone. Some days the blood is loudest when she's lying there in the quiet, just listening to her partner's heart beat. "Been thinking about it a lot, lately. Ever since the Gala. Made myself a deterrent. That's got consequences."

It's all well and good turning herself into the monster they have to get through to get to Dahlia until you've got to walk around town afterwards, deal with the looks and the fear.

"Not saying it's easy. You know I know it isn't. But we can at least save burning the bridge 'til it's actually in front of us."

[abhorrently]

Slowly, she raises her hands, runs them through her hair for a lack of better things to do with them.

"...you know Radar? That boy that's also with Dahlia?"

Trust her. She's going somewhere with this.

[hadnoright]

Daisy cocks her head a bit, but she nods. "Yeah. Haven't talked much. But I know him. What about him?"

[abhorrently]

"He knows about me. Not the fine details, but enough. She got to him, and I knew because he started acting like I was the one who was considering eating him alive, not his girlfriend. And then everything went to hell at the gala, and I found him there, and started talking him through the cracks in reality." She pauses, looking down at the water. "Not that it was easy to work through all of Mendel's everything. But...I got him to sit down and listen. I explained to him that yes, everything she said was true, but it's not my intention to be that sort of thing again, if I can help it. And he believed me. Actually called me his friend again, and I got him to safety and all."

This ordinary young man. Human. Vulnerable. Not the same as someone like Daisy, or Valdis, people who could hold their own, but...just a person.

"And I wonder, is it really that simple? Is it really just that easy? Because it can't be, right? A reasonable person hears about everything and tells you to get out, leave their sight. But then, I'd also call Radar reasonable, and here he is accepting it."

Not forgiving. That's a whole different thing. She'd reject anyone forgiving her those sins out of hand.