EVENT: ~*~Heat Wave~*~

[trainmasters]

Who: Heroes! Old ones, new ones...!
When: Day 42, afternoon
Where: Around the train

[ Good news, everyone! Those pesky cicadas are gone at last! You might have even had a chance to relax, except....

Except for the heat wave.

It's like the worst parts of the last dregs of summer come to torture you with excrutiating heat. It's heat so bad you could swear that you've started melting yourself the second you step outside. It's terrible. At least with the cold you can add more layers on, how are you supposed to deal with heat?? You can't just walk around naked??

(That's not a suggestion.)

Here's the thing about the heat, though: It's bad enough that it's causing mirages-- mirages of people you may even recognize, people who are lost in the dark. People who will try to lead you into danger, people who don't want what's best for you after all....

That aside, you may or may not have noticed that there's some new teammates on the train! The notification appears cheerfully on everyone's Chains:

WELCOME NEW HEROES

And you may find yourself wearing a label you can't seem to remove until you've spoken to at least one other person: "Hi, I'm ______! Talk to me about ______!"

There's a mischievous giggle in the wind that you may recognize as the same one that ran the plants and secrets game. ]

[[ NOTES: You're welcome to make team posts if you like, or intro directly into this mingle if you haven't already. Until next month's placements, the heat wave will persist. Characters stand the risk of seeing castmates not in the game until that point, mirages from the heat. Enjoy! ]]

Comments

[schrodingerscockroach]

Dug out all the information you wanted earlier?

Worst case, talk about the thing the nametag actually says. Best case, might come off if you talk to someone long enough. Maybe do a bonding thing and generate some sparks.

[time5kip]

All I could care about for now. You're amnesiac and you're enough of a chatterbox. I'll ask if I need to know something. Tell me a joke and let's see if your tag comes off.

[schrodingerscockroach]

I'm actually pretty curious what your joking ability is.

[time5kip]

You'd be surprised. Delores always said I had a great sense of humor.

[schrodingerscockroach]

Well, let's hear it.

[time5kip]

You won't be hearing one now. A good joke comes naturally and with the right timing and delivery.

[schrodingerscockroach]

True. At least if you're not shameless about puns.

So, find what you were looking for?

[time5kip]

No. [ he's going to make a gesture toward the trash bin at that ] But at least I found glitter if I ever decide to change my look to something more fabulous.

[schrodingerscockroach]

It does go amazingly well with the pink, don't it?

[time5kip]

That's what it looks like. Are you going to tell me a joke or not? I still want to see if that'll get the label off of me.

[schrodingerscockroach]

What did the grape do when he got stepped on?

[time5kip]

Get wasted ...?

Bond

[schrodingerscockroach]

Let out a little wine.

[No one said the jokes had to be good.]

[time5kip]

Funny. My guess was better than the actual punchline.

[schrodingerscockroach]

A bit too removed for a proper pun. And puns are supposed to be a little terrible.

Easiest way to get joke points though.

[time5kip]

Maybe, but it's obviously not enough to get this label off. You still got yours.

[schrodingerscockroach]

[Tugs at it to be sure.]

So probably have to talk about the thing. Nothing like forced therapy, I guess.

[time5kip]

Go on then. Tell me about being jaded. [ because he's not going first if it's not going to work ]

[schrodingerscockroach]

And here you'd be complaining about me being a chatterbox.

[This is how you're not treated like a kid.]

[By him giving you shit.]

[time5kip]

[ Considering there's a little smile tugging at his lips, he seems to prefer it ] I'll put in my best effort to tolerate it. Wouldn't want you to think I'm playing the pity card if I go first.

[schrodingerscockroach]

[He chuckles. Okay, he can roll with that.]

[He considers a moment and sighs. Gestures for him to follow to the kitchen in the lounge car. He's gonna get some leftover cold drinks from the movie night.]

Well, I guess it's a question if this is my current level of jaded or if it's talking about my concerns for the future. [He shrugged.] Bad things happen, people develop coping mechanisms. Mine is pretty extreme. [He makes a chopping motion in the air.] I'm disturbingly good at compartmentalization. If need be, I can basically shut off all my emotions when things get fucked and just deal with the situation. Overwhelming enemy forces, impromptu dive off a skyscraper, got my heart ripped out after a trial and made a lich a little while. That sucked.

[Pulling two cans of soda from the fridge and holding one out to Five.] And when things aren't being actively bullshit, it's back to jokes, playing with cats, and being generally friendly.

[time5kip]

[ He's going to make a point to stare at the can and not take it because even if the conversation is going better now, he's still a grumpy and stubborn old man. ] Sounds like pragmatism to me.

[schrodingerscockroach]

[Will set down the can in easy Five reach then and just lean against the counter, opening the can.]

Never said it wasn't. It's why I'm good at what I do. May have even been why Project Freelancer recruited me. Gonna shove an AI in someone's head, why not use the guy who can keep up skill wise whose used to mental walls. [Shrugs.] Does mean I can treat most terrible things seemingly unaffected, or you know, being jaded.

But it does make me worry when most of my later memories show me not turning off that switch. Times where I would still feel comfortable joking or giving people shit is me being very aggressive and....tired. More of an asshole than usual.

[time5kip]

And why does that bother you?

[schrodingerscockroach]

Because being an asshole isn't productive on this train. There's already a lot who are, and me joining that number won't help anyone. Either the Powers That Be are telling the truth and it's needed to save everything, or things will break bad, in which case having each others' back will be our best bet to deal with that.

I'm concerned because even knowing that might not stop me from becoming a jaded asshole once I remember what things actually managed to break that switch. It's....really frustrating, overall.

Which is why I don't like talking about it.

Which is probably why it's on the nametag.