Gonna Get A Good Grade In Therapy [Open]

[restingslasherface]

Who: "Slasher Face" Jean and YOU
What: General stuff between and around events; prompts may update as more fire
When: September
Where: Jean's apartment, the library, Around (search parties)
Warnings: Discussions of & flashbacks to violence are likely, ongoing struggles with trauma

Sick Leave [Jean's Apartment]

The few days immediately after the parade, Jean has to take off work at the library; conflicting duties, need to help with the search parties and also rest up, you know how it is. You might catch them there of a morning, or an evening as the sun is setting, washing out that bloodstained wolf suit or sitting out front working nicks out of their claymore while they sharpen it. They seem to have a lot on their mind.

This prompt is also very open for other wildcards at their home.

You Are Being Rescued, Do Not Resist [Search Parties]

Jean cleans up their own messes, and joins the search parties for the reviving dead after the parade. That's it, that's the prompt, tag into it if you'd like to chat with Jean while they're searching, if you'd like to be found by them, whatever, I've had one cup of coffee and there's only so much prettying up of this idea I'm about to do. Y'all are lucky I worked in the meta comedy of complaining about the prompt that I myself have written and was under no compulsion to include.

Back To The Grind [Library]

When Jean does return to their day job, they're oddly subdued. No manic bouncing, no popping out from behind corners. A lot of yes ma'am, no ma'am, that edition is currently check out ma'am and then getting right back to work. But a regular patron - or a friend to Jean, perhaps - may notice a different slight change in habits. On their breaks, and indeed Around - when they're sitting on benches in town, out for coffee, in their apartment if you're over - Jean's started checking out fiction books for the first time. They're a fast reader, tearing through novels over the course of a day and night, and though most of their selections remain information about the island and this world a pattern emerges in their entertainment selection. A plurality of their choices are romance; all of their selections prominently feature Women That Can Kill You, or were chosen because Jean thought they'd feature such.

Mind you, it's still Jean.

There's yet another notebook. They are taking notes in their tiny handwriting. Very. In-depth. Notes.

Wildcard

Fuck me up

Comments

Sick Leave

[batteryacid]

Eddie has been squinting and sometimes stumbling his way through daily life since he revived without his glasses. (He hopes they appeared somewhere else on the island and haven't been broken since.) At least gathering eggs is simple. He delivers them to town in the morning as a component of the meals provided for the search parties.

It's on his way back home on one of those days that he notices something catching the morning sunlight. It reminds him of Parade Day, but not a bad memory...

He never got his initial rescuer's name in the chaos, but he's since found out who it was (not hard, with the gossip mill working overtime in town). So he stops and calls out, "Jean? Hello?"

[restingslasherface]

Jean looks up and waves with their whetstone, their resting smile becoming a more...human one. Their face really is just like that, isn't it. Some augmentation surgeon badly needs to be sued for malpractice. "Afternoon, Agent -" Jean pauses. Looks through their head for a different gender-neutral title. Fails to find one. "- Agent, I lost track of you during the containment breach. Glad to see you're well!"

Jean is less well. Jean is still bandaged and waiting to be able to get their stitches out. It sucks.

[batteryacid]

"Eddie," he supplies, "you can just call me Eddie."

And then Eddie remembers Nightshade, and appends that statement with, "He/him pronouns, if you were wondering."

His approach toward Jean is slow and cautious, but merely because of his missing glasses. If he could see clearly and be sure he wasn't going to trip over something and/or accidentally impale himself on the fuckoff big blade that Jean is sharpening... less cautious. But things are what they are.

"Ended up dead for a while. My own fault, really. You made it through okay?"

[restingslasherface]

"Oh people here do know how to introduce that way, that makes things so much easier!" Jean offers their hand up to shake. "Agent Jean, but they/them when you can't say Agent, I get it, Agent doesn't fit everywhere." Their gender is Employee, it's Fine. "I made it out alive, been helping with the search parties! Hahahaha, ha, ha...haaaa....the victims remember some of what happened. Egg on my face, really."

[batteryacid]

With a little squinting, Eddie is able to make out Jean's hand in order to take it properly, and he shakes hands firmly. "It's not part of the usual introductions back home for me, but that's how Nightshade introduced... themself, so I figured it was either local custom or extra politeness.

"I'm glad to officially meet you, Agent Jean."

It's not hard to see how memories of the Parade would indeed make things... uncomfortable for Jean in the aftermath. They had been... very focused... on a violent response to the violence. But Eddie can't judge, and doesn't see why people who'd been possessed on the day of should do so either -- none of them have clean hands, as it were.

"Sorry if I miss some things or squint a lot while we're talking." Eddie gestures toward his face, "I came back without my glasses and I haven't been able to find them since. And basic reading glasses don't do much for me. Anyway, I would hope people are more understanding! It makes me nervous to approach any of the townsfolk I remember stabbing..."

[restingslasherface]

"You should really think about cybereyes -"

They hear it just after they say it. "Right. No artificial eyes here - wait. What happens if someone loses an eye? Do they just - do they -" Jean Gestures with their free hand. "Do they just go fuck themselves??? How do people live like this?"

[batteryacid]

Eddie can't help the laugh that bursts out of him at the question 'do they just go fuck themselves?' because, well yeah.

"Even where I'm from, cyber eyes aren't an option, and I think my home maybe a century ahead of Pumpkin Hollow in the sense of technology. It's still eye patches and glass eyes or nothing."

[restingslasherface]

Whispering: "How do these worlds not go extinct?"

Jean shakes it off and looks back up with an attempt at a sunny grin; they go back to sharpening their blade without really looking at it. "There's books at the library about lens grinding if none of the artisans in town can do it. I'll need tools and...forgiveness for a lot of failed prototypes...but I've ground lenses for other things before! We'll get you taken care of, Mister Eddie."

[batteryacid]

"Thank you, Agent Jean," Eddie says, in the interest of being polite since Jean used a title for him. "I'm sure I can muddle through until we're paid our stipend for next month, if no one finds my old glasses before then."

He's really hoping that his glasses are somewhere on the island... and somewhere not terribly dangerous. (With his luck, they might be on the Paring River Bridge right now...)

"Are you doing all right? I know you're focused on helping the clean up, but... you are getting some rest, aren't you?"

By tradition I declare: damn OCs and their one-liners

[restingslasherface]

"I'm resting right now!"

[batteryacid]

"And what about actual sleep?" Eddie presses, raising an eyebrow. "As the certified regular guy of the community, I can vouch for the importance of sleep."

[restingslasherface]

"I get my five hours a night." Jean is attempting to be reassuring here. Listen to their tone Eddie. They think this is good news. From the faint tinges of awe this may be more sleep than they're used to getting. A wealth of sleep, if you will, a bounty of sleep like unto the hibernating bear.

The grinding of the blade continues with all the regularity of a metronome.

[batteryacid]

"...if that's what you're used to," Eddie replies, relenting. God knows there are enough people who deal with insomnia. "It's the rule of all machines, even biological ones -- you schedule maintenance, or it happens on its own schedule. No avoiding it."

[restingslasherface]

"Hahahahha, don't I know it! Leaving something for the next shift was strictly punished! That dodgy door seal you figured would keep can kill people! And it did! Several times! Hence the punishments!" A full-body shudder runs through Jean. "...I do have trouble sleeping at times, but there's not exactly anyone here who can look into my bioaugmentations. Haven't been able to see my surgeon in, gosh, two years now? I really ought to, but hahaha, ha, that's not happening here, not unless people get very good at some things quickly! It's just my nervous system, it'll be fine as long as it keeps firing."

Side effects of capital-driven cyberpunk may include: insomnia, paranoia, hyper-vigilance, runny nose, fever, and psychotic hallucinations. Contact your doctor immediately if Combat Mode persists for four or more hours, as this may be a sign of more severe side effects.

[batteryacid]

"We should have been given more information about this place and what to expect from it before being forced to make a choice," Eddie says, obvious shades of anger in his tone.

It doesn't bother Eddie for himself, but what about people like Jean and Nightshade? People who are used to -- and might even need the technological advancements their worlds offer. And even Eddie's neighbor Milo, for all that he's doing fine with a less technological prosthetic arm, was probably made to downgrade when he got here.

"If we can't treat the cause, we can at least do our best to ease the symptoms. In some cases, that's all that even the doctors can do." Eddie huffs. "I'll find a way to look into it, or at least try to remember some of the non-medicinal measures I was recommended for insomnia."

If I Had A Nickel For Every One-Line Exchange In This Thread I Would Have -

[restingslasherface]

"If there's chamomile on this island I will tear through it like a Zen temple through green tea."

If you can one line, so can I.

[batteryacid]

Eddie shoots Jean an unimpressed look [see icon] and retorts, "You're not going to be a Roman about this and make the hypothetical island chamomile go extinct like silphium, Jean."

IT WILL NEVER END

[restingslasherface]

"Why would a woman make chamomile go extinct? And also I'm not one at the moment!"

[batteryacid]

Guess what? Monty Python is a reference that Eddie actually knows about, despite being behind the times of some other newcomers to the island. He snorts at what he assumes to be a reference to Life of Brian. "You just let me know if and when your pronouns change, then."

Eddie rocks back on his heels briefly, a contemplative look on his face. "We do have to be mindful of resources, though. Since the ferry is the only boat that comes to the island, and it doesn't bring supplies."

[restingslasherface]

"It's something I've been thinking about, the supply issue, but Agent Holloway seems to have some expertise in the matter. Maybe you can work together with her on it?" Grace confuses Jean a bit, they wouldn't mind a helping hand. "And! Will do! Though at the moment it's just the siren that I wear that installs that particular set. The dress that comes with it is extremely comfortable."

Beat.

"That probably sounded completely insane given that I was just living in a mental world where you have all of the context that makes it make sense."

[batteryacid]

"It would probably be a good thing to address before winter comes. I'll touch base with her soon."

Eddie understands that the 'will do' is in reference to letting his own comment about Jean's pronouns changing. For the rest of it... 'the siren that I wear' apparently installs female pronouns? Siren must be a reference to the mythological creature, not the warning device... although, in a gendered language -- no, they mentioned a dress. Probably the creature.

"I, um, don't know how one would go about wearing a mythological siren, no." Eddie gives a little shake of his head. "But... I'm willing to learn?"

[restingslasherface]

"Mythological? Oh. Oh! You arrived after the - no, they uh, they live here, Mister Eddie, they're a problem you can personally have!" Jean laughs, slightly less...Jeanlike...than their usual offering. "I don't know their role, if any, in the local ecology, but they sure do die when you kill them. Wait here a moment."

Jean sets their sword and whetstone aside, and slips into their house. When they come back out they're holding something like, but not enough like, a thick sheet of paper made from a golden Light. It doesn't quite move correctly in the breeze.

"This is a Page of a Siren," Jean explains, wobbling it (it makes no sound, and yet Eddie's ears report they heard something, they're sure of it). "I'm gonna put it on but I'll need to ask for your patience! It's like a whole affair, ten minutes and change, and I'm not gonna be chatty during it!"

[batteryacid]

Eddie blinks at the information that sirens actually exist in this new world. When Jean goes inside their home, he shakes his head and mutters, "Fucking of course..."

The glowing(?) paper -- no, there's no substance underneath the light Light -- is also strange and new to Eddie. Without his glasses he sees it more like a fuzzy-edged lozenge until Jean wobbles it. Weirdly, it snaps into focus for a second when Eddie does-not-hear the notsound of it.

"Okay... I can be quiet," Eddie replies. He's still pretty lost, but has gathered that there will be a demonstration and/or explanation forthcoming.

[restingslasherface]

Jean settles down, sitting cross-legged and comfy, and starts reading the Page. It is not a process unrelated to language, but its relationship to actual language is distant at best; their mouth moves silently, but the shape of the words on their lips is no shape, has no form.

How long does it take to read one Page? If this were paper, no matter how densely written, it should have been over minutes ago. And yet Jean reads, and reads, and reads, without turning the Page over or moving their body. The Light quivers, shakes, trembles -

- shatters, into scraps and ashes, as if from a burning library -

And settles on Jean's skin. Its glow conceals them, suggests only the barest outline of them, but when it fades Jean is sitting there as one of Marrow Island's sirens, in a comfortable blue dress, flexing her claws and smiling with - well, not sharper teeth, but at least teeth that are naturally sharp rather than whatever fucking happened to Jean's usual mouth.

"Behold! I'm a girl now."

The narration would like to note here that if anything on Jean's body changed it's not currently available to the public. Evidence of girlhood here includes but is limited to:

- She's wearing a dress

[batteryacid]

Eddie watches the process in silence as asked. It's outside of his experience and he's not sure what to say anyway.

But when Jean says "I'm a girl now!" Eddie squints to focus his eyes and take in the difference. What difference there is.

"I see. And this process... does it give you siren powers, too?" Eddie asks. (Because if all it does is change appearance and slap a dress on you, there's makeup and clothing for that. So he assumes there's something special about the magic reading material.)