the other side of this mean twilight

[fidior]

Who: Edward Little / Konstantin Veshnyakov / YOU!
What: catchall for shenanigans — let's plot something or hit me with a wildcard, I'm easy!
When: August for now, possibly September
Where: various places: potentially Milton, Lakeside, Silverpoint

Comments

— Maelle (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 spoilers in this thread!)

[fidior]

Edward's been living amongst people again, no longer reclusively hiding himself away as much as he had been through the summer. The shift in seasons helps — the relentless daylight begins to ease, and the darkness inside of him can breathe more easily again. And he's been keeping himself fed. Never satiated, he's always at least mildly hungry, but he stays fed enough that he won't lose control.

Ever since the incident at Milton House, the girl has been on his mind. He won't dare go find her in the nighttime; he's too much of a predator in the moonlight. The sun keeps his darkness tempered, but he needs to be able to move around easily and stealthily. So he sheds man's skin, wandering as a beast.

It's easy enough to find her. The town is small, and his senses lead him right to her one day as she walks. But he's cautious, staying back at a hidden distance as he slowly follows her through town, haunting wherever she may go. He isn't planning to actually approach the girl, only to watch, to make sure she's all right.

.....But his animal's brain is taking over more quickly than it usually does, an unexpected side-effect for him now that the Darkwalker's curse runs through his spirit. And that animal's brain seeks what it needs in the immediate moment, which is relief from the sun. Even in this state it ails him, making him weakened, ill. If Edward were thinking altogether clearly, he wouldn't startle the girl by approaching her in this form, certainly wouldn't expect to be let into her home while he's like this. But the wolf wants relief, and when she seems to be heading back to where she lives, he finally approaches her.

He's slow, cautious, head and tail dipped low, stepping up as she moves up to her home: a large, fluffy black wolf with mournful eyes. Nauseated from the sun, he licks his lips every few seconds, feeling sickly. As he makes his appearance known, he also gives a low, pathetic whine. Don't you want to let him inside.....

— Ari Tayrey (cw: parasitic alien activity... illness / potential emeto)

[sputnik]

[ There's an abandoned gas station about halfway to Silverpoint, but the winds are biting especially badly, and the need to seek shelter somewhere else becomes quickly apparent. Particularly with the change in the seasons — the sun gradually losing more of its unending light these days, hours of darkness creeping in.

Fortunately there are a few caves along the way to hole up in, and although they're shallow and slight, hardly a true safe haven from the elements, the small team of two manage to find one big enough that Tayrey's sled can fit in. The cavern is also just enough to keep the sharp wind from barraging them, and it's possible to build a small fire close to one of the cave walls, to keep it blocked from the flow of wind that way; they waste no time establishing such a comfort. The flames flicker, kept fed by sticks and shreds of old paper brought on the journey.

And that journey has been an enjoyable one, truly. Konstantin's spirit perpetually yearns for adventure, for purpose, and accompanying Tayrey to the coast to help with her ambitions of establishing lines of trade was one such purpose he jumped right onto. Of course, there's also the matter of wanting to keep an eye on the young lieutenant, to offer back-up should she bump into the variety-pack of trouble too often found in this land, but Konstantin also simply enjoys Tayrey's company just as much. And he's been a cheerful travel companion, never shy to converse as much as anyone allows him to, and happy to provide some singing of his own, this time... Sometimes humming or outright voicing those songs from his culture, the ones the spacemen were so fond of.

The Old Bear's spirit is a burst of vitality his body welcomes all too happily, and it keeps him more hale than he's been since his arrival in this place, but it doesn't make him invincible, and it doesn't particularly help with the chill and the snap of biting wind. In truth, he's also been pushing himself hard these days, maybe a little too hard; with three of his friends vanishing all in the span of a few weeks, Konstantin has been focusing on keeping busy and that often means physically. Perhaps that's yet another reason he was so quick to set out with Arilanna.

...But there are reminders that he's still ill in ways the Old Bear can't quite help him with. That his body is still wrong. When they sit down to camp and rest in the cavern, Konstantin's beginning to really feel it, casually waving off any food or drink with a smile, maintaining normalcy as much as he can. It lasts until it doesn't, until he can't pretend anymore, and there's a sweeping rush of nausea, slick and unpleasant in his throat.

He excuses himself less gracefully than he means to, with a sharp, shuddering breath and a stagger that has him unsteady on his feet. Before anything else can be said he's gone, slipping out from the safety of the cave and its warm firelight and back out into the expanse of openness.

The thing's restless. He can't read it the way he could back home; their tether is broken here, but he can tell by its fitful movements, spasms and squirms in his gut. Maybe it's agitated by the journey, the cold, and all the ways he's been pushing his body — its nest — these days. It shouldn't be hungry; he fed it before he left, and he has food for it now, too, kept in a thermos. But it shouldn't need to eat again for a few days.

....He hopes. He can never know for sure, not for something that's such an unknown as this. But over time, he's learned more of the thing's habits, and it's settled into something of a routine in this place. It's learned how to cohabitate with humans, to some degree. It knows not to hurt just anyone. He doesn't think it would hurt Tayrey; it has no reason to. He wouldn't have come out here alone with her if he thought there was even a small chance of the thing harming her. And it wouldn't evict itself out here in the middle of this biting wind... Leaving his body now could be a death sentence for the creature, who is reduced to its more larval states in this world; it's too intelligent and programmed for survival to do such a thing, right?

But it's clearly unhappy, and his body reacts poorly to its internal conflict. Konstantin shudders as he doubles over suddenly, one arm wrapped around his middle, gloved fingers grasping the material of his thick, warm coat. His throat convulses with movement, but nothing comes up, not yet. He shuts his eyes tightly, tries to breathe through it, in and out. But as in control of himself as he'd like to still claim that he is, the cosmonaut can't escape the lack of true control when it comes to his body's passenger, and as it sends another coiling wave of ache through him, he gives a soft cry of pain that he doesn't quite manage to stifle, complexion feverish and pale, clammy. ]