December Catch-All; OTA. 'Marley was dead: to begin with.'

[moralabsolutism]

Who: Rorschach and you!
What: Joining the town creeper on adventures
When: Throughout the month of December
Where: TDM prompt areas, the new library, winter solstice celebration

Content Warnings: Rorschach's right-wing views, burns and blindness from the serpent prompt, more to be added as needed.

A. Library

Towards the end of the month, Rorschach had finally finished the initial work on the library he'd been developing for community use. Exactly how long it would remain in one piece was something he wasn't optimistic about but he decided to focus on just dealing with its upkeep for the moment. He posted a notice in the Community Center.

Since sleeping was something he engaged in so little as it was, he took the opportunity to catch up on a nap for the first week while he served in his new role as the town librarian. It wasn't uncommon to walk in and find him fast asleep with his face still on, legs propped up on a desk he'd put near the front door, leaning back in a comfortable chair with his head lowered down down onto his chest. Well, libraries were meant to be quiet after all, which promoted a good atmosphere for sleeping.

Don't worry though. He'd wake up upon hearing anyone enter like the hypervigilant guard dog he was at heart.

B. Misty Falls Cave

There hadn't been many times in Rorschach's life he'd been glad he was quite a bit smaller than the average man. Right now was one of those rare moments. This place was a tight fit, and if he had been any taller or broader, there was every chance he would have gotten stuck already. Even as it was, he was having a hard time getting through the ever-narrowing passages.

"Doing alright?" He called out, certain the person he'd ended up in the caves with was close by. He hadn't so much teamed up with anyone as just announced they now had help whether they wanted it or not as he usually did.

C. Serpent's Breath Aftermath

Being who he was, Rorschach had gone off to try and kill the dragon/serpent/evil wyrm that had been plaguing the town. Alas, he'd been woefully unprepared for what he was dealing with. While he'd managed to escape with his life, the beast was still alive. And unfortunately, trying to kill the beast had its price. Rorschach had inhaled the fumes while battling the serpent, severely weakening him for about a week.

Worse yet, he'd temporarily lost his sight as well. Never one to be for showing weakness, it would be obvious that something had happened to him, for he stopped his usual nighttime patrols. Instead, after seeking out medical care, he'd holed up in one of his cabins for as long as possible. Much as he tried to be independent, he wouldn't turn away anyone who tracked him down to offer help during this time.

He wouldn't move any further than the porch of the cabin he was staying in but could be found on it while his eyesight slowly returned. Perhaps someone could convince him to at least heat up the cold soup or beans he was likely eating as he got some fresh air in, hoping it might have the effect of helping to heal him faster.

D. Winter Solstice

Considering his experience with magical animals here had been a solid 50/50 on whether or not they were evil (something he'd noted in the portion of his journal that he'd dedicated to his conspiracy theories surrounding Milton), he was a bit suspicious of the holiday board. Still, he decided to see what would happen if he asked for something he'd been desperately craving: a large box of sugar cubes. They were even the individually wrapped kinds, much to his delight (and after he got over his disgust of the giant boar horking them up covered in saliva.) But to make sure they weren't poisoned, going to turn him into a giant boar as well, or otherwise do something negative, he sought out a couple of test subjects first. After he was sure nothing was going to happen to Ken or March when he gave them the sugar cubes, he was happy to put a bunch of them in his trenchcoat pockets so that he'd have a nice good supply of them for the foreseeable future.

By the time the Winter Solstice rolled around, Rorschach was fully healed from the injuries he'd sustained while battling the serpent. He wasn't one much for celebrating, never having many fond memories of the holiday season in general. But there he was, hanging on the outskirts of the bonfire, more in the shadows than anything else like the eternal lurker he was. He'd eat anything that was offered to him but otherwise kept to himself. Still, if anyone came near, he'd be in the holiday spirit in his own way. "Sugar cube?" He asked as he pulled one out of his pocket, offering it to whoever he was near.

D-I. Winter Solstice: For Kate

He kept an eye out for Kate during the festivities. He'd observed that a lot of the clothes she wore were oversized and didn't fit her at all. Besides just the fashion aspect, there was the practical aspect that having a well-fitted base layer would help keep her warmer considering how cold things were likely to get now that they were firmly in the middle of winter. With that in mind, he'd cannibalized some clothes to create a sweater he estimated would be the right size for her. It was neither fashionable nor cute but it would serve the purpose.

When he saw Kate, Rorschach came over. "Enjoying all...this?" He asked, gesturing to what was going on around him. Rorschach wasn't quite a Grinch though he was close to being a Scrooge at time in temperament when it came to being happy during the holidays.

E. Wildcard

[Want a different or custom prompt? Give me a poke at Light_shade or at .lightshade on Discord!]

Comments

[solitarysoul]

The kitchen isn't too hard to find but Levi takes a moment finding a pan of some sort to put the meat it. That should work to heat it up, right? Maybe flip it over after a bit. He had no idea how long to put it on, but hopefully Rorschach would know how hot he wanted it.

The lighter not being obviously apparent, he uses one of his matches to light the stove once the pan+meat is ready.

"Um. I don't really do any cooking," maybe he should learn? "But just heating is up is pretty simple, right?"

Please let it be pretty simple.

[moralabsolutism]

"Simple enough." Or so he thought. Rorschach could just barely get meat to an edible state on his best days. He'd never learned how to cook and half the time he just ordered takeout from Gunga Diner when he was too tired to fix himself a proper meal back home.

He sat back and let Levi deal with the food. So long as he didn't burn the house down, they'd be fine.

[solitarysoul]

"Yeah." He lets the meat sizzle for a bit before flipping it over. He errs on the side of caution as not to burn anything, so while its warm when he's done its not really hot.

"Do you want a fork or something?"

[moralabsolutism]

Rorschach nodded. He wasn't a barbarian and even without being able to see he figured it was better to use utensils than his bare hands. He couldn't really smell, not with his face on, but his appetite had been stoked nonetheless after too many days of sparse eating when he couldn't see.

[solitarysoul]

Utensils were probably better in a place like this, since he didn't know how easy germs were to wash off when the water was so cold. He finds a plate to put the meat on and a fork then holds them out to Rorschach.

"Here. I don't think anything fancy was done with it before, so its probably bland. But its food." Taste barely mattered when you ate more to survive than to enjoy.

[moralabsolutism]

Rorschach reached out hesitantly until he found the edge of the plate and then accepted it from Levi. He shoved his mask up just enough so that he'd be able to eat. At least it smelled like it had cooked for long enough.

Then, stabbing it with the fork, he started eating it. Manners were not considered during such a moment as this.

[solitarysoul]

"Let me know if you need anything else. Hope your sight returns soon." He nods and, unless stopped, leaves Rorschach to eat and do whatever he does alone. Brood or strategize or whatever.