EVENT ★ BACK TO THE FUTURE

[futurologists]

BENDED TIME As outlined in the OOC post, things start to slow down and grow quiet in Oska for a few days as the bugs crawl away and slowly disappear. But then the cocoons hatch. Fully grown temporal insects claw their way out of them, each about the size and temperament of raging bulls. They come out far more aggressive and eager to fight, are are willing to take on anything that moves with jaws and claws alike. Except, of course, another insect — when two of them encounter each other, they enter into a mating dance and then slip away into another dimension, leaving behind only the temporary ghosts of years gone by. If you can’t find a way to pierce that thick shell to take one down, better find another one to pair it off with instead. Just try not to get bit while leading them around and find yourself suddenly 5 years old again. The insects aren’t the only thing going on in Oska, though. As it turns out, unicorns really hate this adult form of the temporal insects, and will start kicking their way out of their stalls in the stables to get at the insects in an attempt to impale or trample them. According to Uruz they’re gallant warriors, but not always quite cut out to take on a bug, and can easily get themselves hurt or killed. She would really appreciate recruits taking a moment to recapture any stray unicorns they may come across and leading them back to the stables. Try to avoid any insects on the way, or you’ll find yourself suddenly fighting insect and irate unicorn, which is no one’s idea of a good time. The lake is getting more active, too. All the fighting has woken up something in the depths of it. Dark red tentacles sometimes creep up onto shore — and don’t worry, this time they don’t belong to a sea goddess. The tentacles don’t attack unless attacked, and can in fact be quite agreeable. Nodes along the length of them act as primitive eyes, which see well enough to interact with anyone nearby. They’re also all a little peckish. Toss a tentacle a bit of food and watch it curl around and ingest it using tiny mouths on the underside. It might even be willing to play a few rounds of fetch or slap a bug into the sky for you if you put it in a good mood with a morsel of food. The senior ALASTAIR members can be seen out and about and doing their part, too. Uruz and Dagny fight as a team, centaur and elf, sometimes fighting back to back and sometimes as mount and rider. They’ll stop and lend a hand, but the cats are a little less generous. Cherenkov and Crowley fight inseparably and use magic and science in deadly combination to ward off and destroy the bugs, but can usually only be seen darting on their way from one place to another. They have a lot of magitek to repair in the destructive wake of the insects. Pomarr, neither as senior nor as invested in actively picking off the bugs, offers shelter near a tentacle-free portion of the lake, calling down storms to toss away bugs for her and anyone in the vicinity. OOC NOTES This log spans a week ICly. Characters will find themselves beginning to understand each other again as the bugs first vanish, as the effects of the cats’ work on the magitek pays off. The translation problem will be completely fixed by the time the cocoons hatch. All of the bugs will have been killed or shipped off by the sixth day, leaving the last day before their departure to the next mission blissfully relaxing. Any temporally misplaced recruits will be back to normal by the last day, as well. A reminder to anyone still texting: the texting feature of magitek jewelry operates based on thought! There are no physical keyboards, recruits merely think the message that they’d like to send to another recruit.

Comments

[secondnature]

You know, when you say it like that, you sound five times more suspicious. [That accent of his is familiar. Keith wonders if he should be making the connection that he is making, but he's more worried about his bayard. How the heck are they going to form sword ("the" weirdly always left out) without it? He got that upgrade right away!]

You don't even know what you have. It's gonna turn on you before long. [Worth a shot.

But Keith is not a trickster, not like Loki.]

[badnewsboy]

[ there's a little brow raised from beneath Loki's hood, bright green eyes dancing along his features as if he's figuring out how fast he needs to go to lose him. Loki spends most of his time running, and he's spent most of his time in Oska running, Keith doesn't look that much faster than one of those temporal insects.

for a moment he looks baffled, then: ]

Oh! Do you mean turn on?

[ he obviously means turn on. ]

What turns on?

[secondnature]

Betray you! Not ... like a button. [There is definitely a button. Child brat, please don't find the button.] It's going to betray you and blow up and all because you stole it from its rightful owner!

[Again, not a trickster: this is a really bad cover story to get back his bayard.

The thing he is good at is strategy on the fly, and he's keeping an eye on Loki's tendencies while he ... shouts at him. The real plan here is to slow him down long enough to come up with a plan of his own to run and catch him.]

[badnewsboy]

Ah—What did you say? Press the button?

[ Loki's juggling the bayard in his greedy little Asgardian child fingers, now looking at it with a sudden new curiosity now that Keith's trying so hard to get it back. turning a sharp corner, Loki goes clamoring through the dining hall. with no sign of slowing down, he leaps over chairs and onto tables, running the length of them and weaving back and forth to make it far too difficult to tell exactly where he's planning on going next.

he's impressed, usually people have a harder time keeping up with him.

juggling into his tunic, he produces the bayard, and loops his arm through it for better running. ]

Gimme a sec!

[secondnature]

[Chaotic and random, huh? Keith can actually handle that as soon as he recognizes that it's exactly what Loki is doing. If this kid can pilot through an asteroid belt with little difficulty, he can catch an annoyingly random Asgardian god. (Not that he knows that he's a god, but that doesn't matter much.)

He chooses to take a straight line, figuring out the eventual trajectory so that he can face Loki and start rushing toward him. He eventually leaps off one table to wrap his arms around his midsection to yank him down. Keith might be quick, but he isn't as physically strong (being rather slender all in all), so he doesn't actually have any way of telling that Loki is three times as dense along the way.

It ends with the two of them colliding with the floor painfully as a result, though Keith is quick to reach out for his bayard to take it back.]

Keep holding it like that and it might stab you.

[badnewsboy]

[ it's much like a small, gangly green ball hitting a mullet pin. Loki tries to stop the collision by skidding on his heels, putting the brakes on far too late to stop the momentum. he bowls into him, knocking them both of their feet (and the air out of them, at that) and into the nearest bench and table.

Loki deflates as Keith demands the bayard back. ]

Stabbing doesn't scare me.

[ he rolls over onto his back, looking forlorn at the loss of his prize. ]

[secondnature]

Oh, yeah? Do you think most people won't use a weapon on you? Because if you keep stealing their stuff, you're bound to run into the wrong guy. [While there's an edge to Keith's voice, there's a noticeable lack of him turning the bayard into a weapon for the sake of proving his point to Loki. Hurting innocents, even innocents who steal stuff, isn't really his thing. He can get angry and cantankerous, but that's a whole other matter altogether.]

[badnewsboy]

On the contrary, I've had those who've meant to threaten me with weapons before.

[ it's to a crouch first, and then to his feet. Loki brushes off the dust that he assumes he accumulated during the chase. he's still as careless and reckless as ever, watching Keith with a sudden curiosity. ]

If it's what you say it is, I would like to see it. What have you for stabbing?

[secondnature]

[This feels like a lure into something he doesn't want to do. Keith eyes Loki suspiciously as he shifts into a sitting position. After a moment, he holds the bayard down at his side and produces its sword-like appearance: complete with the bright blue light down the middle of it.]

Trust me. It stabs well enough.

[badnewsboy]

[ the suspicious look doesn't seem to deter him, instead he counters with an Innocent Kid Look that he pulls off much better when he's young. he flits around Keith, finally settling eagerly by the hand that's holding the sword.

when it turns, he takes a few steps back, elicits a little excited gasp and then leans forward again. ]

Cool.

What have you stabbed with it?

[secondnature]

[Caught between bragging about all his stabbing and finding the question really, really odd, Keith doesn't know where to begin.

Does he react in a suspicious manner or does he brag about all his stabbing, and thus become the sketchy one himself?

It's hard to be decisive when caught in this particular Catch-22.]

Aliens. Bugs. Plant life. [Simple, and said so casually that it's clear he's trying to sound Cool and Casual.] Why? Are you into stabbing people?

[badnewsboy]

[ crouching down to get a better look at the sword, Loki rolls back on his heels, canting his head as if it would somehow offer him a private angle that he hadn't noticed before. he keeps his eyes on the blade, rather than Keith.

he says, half dismissively, half matter-of-factly: ] No, I don't stab things. I'm rather bad at it, actually. My cleverness is as sharp as anything, so I use that, instead.

And I'm good at running away!

[secondnature]

Well, you aren't as good as you think you are at it. Maybe you should stick to your wits a little more. [Loki's only a few years younger than Keith, so he doesn't feel too foolish about having this conversation with him. Pidge is the same age, after all.]

Anyway, if you're so clever, why are you trying to steal things from people? Wouldn't you find some better way to get stuff?

[badnewsboy]

[ there's a little, exaggerated frown on his face, as if Keith's somehow hurt his feelings. ]

That's a bit harsh ...

[ he sticks his tongue out at him for a good measure, to show that they're mature here, before answering the next question. ]

Er—well ... have you ever stolen anything before? It's not usually about the thing ...

[ it can be, but not always. ]

[secondnature]

[Does sweeping in after setting off an explosion to save his former hero and mentor count as thievery? Keith seems like he's actually debating it for a moment, but then shakes his head. Saving Shiro is not theft.

But he's definitely snatched food that didn't belong to him a few times out of rebellion ... and hunger. Still, it's not the same, especially since he always has a reason for doing things.]

Then what's it about?

[Focusing on that because, eh, it wasn't that blunt.]

[badnewsboy]

It's about the stealing, of course. Satisfaction that you can do it, ah ...

[ he rubs the back of his head. it's bad, he knows, but at least he can find it in himself to admit it. after all, Keith had gone through all that trouble with chasing him, and catching him, he deserves that, at least. ]

Haven't you ever stole something from someone just because you could? [ he purses his lips. ok, that sounds bad. ] Er ... sorry, by the way. I would've given it back.

[secondnature]

No, but I guess there are other things I do just because I can. [Namely tricky piloting and piloting. Keith can understand that particular sentiment, at least. He pauses for a long moment before being dubious.]

I'm not sure I believe you. You ran with it.

[badnewsboy]

Only because you started chasing me.

[ he did have a leisurely pace until Keith figured out something vital was missing and bolted after him. Loki maintains his somewhat innocent face at that, canting his head and looking up at him from beneath his hood. ]

I wouldn't have run otherwise ...

[secondnature]

So, I should have just casually walked up to you to get my bayard back? My super, super important special weapon that's required to form sword on a giant robot? I didn't know I had to keep my cool when facing a thief. [Way to blame the victim, Loki!

Not that Keith knows how to do any of the things he just described.]

[badnewsboy]

[ well, Loki doesn't know he doesn't know how to do any of the things described, because his eyes light up with childlike wonder. ]

Tell me about your robot! And your special weapon! And your robot with the special weapon!

[ what about everything else again? ]

[secondnature]

[There was something else, wasn't there?]

No, I don't want to.

[badnewsboy]

It sounds really cool!

[ ok, he'll try buttering him up. if the butter doesn't work, then there's definitely something else. ]

[secondnature]

First you steal from me, and then you demand answers from me. [The reality of this situation is that Keith is now going to deny him answers just to be difficult. It's not surprising most likely, especially given the person in question, but it is what it is.]

[badnewsboy]

...

You can't really do anything cool, can you?

[ well, that chase was kind of cool, he'll give him that. the weapon was cool, but he certainly could have constructed the story about the robot, and the cool robot weapon. ]

[secondnature]

Maybe I'm not interested in your definition of cool. [Besides, he's the fire guy. He doesn't need to be cool—he just needs to deal in fire! With his lion. That he is sorely missing.]