welcome to the jungle we've got fun and games

[saddleclub]

Who: Y'all
When: Day 8 noonish
Where: THE JUNGLE

[So there is a mostly unexplored jungle out there.

It seems like a good day to explore it, eh?

Please look out for:

Venomous snakes, the smaller ones will leave you fevered and nauseas, the larger may stop your heart.

Spores, inhaling them can leave you with mild to severe continuing hallucinations

Pollen, it may make you sneeze.

Dark shadows in the undergrowth, that seem to whisper as you pass. In familiar voices...? Or that's just the wind.

Vicious monsters. They want to eat you.

And look out, if you go exploring, because halfway through your adventure the sky seems to open up and pour on you, try to find a safe shelter--if that exists in the jungle.

For those of you not inclined to explore well, you may see lights in the jungle, little wisps, of light in the growth, or maybe it's your team colors you see? The more you look the more you feel practically compelled to follow those lights and flashes of something familiar....

Maybe you get caught by the jungle's dangers, trapped in a cave by the downpour, or maybe you make it to an odd break around a still pond, the surface so smooth it's almost like a mirror. If you look in, your reflection looks back. And it smiles at you.

And if you make it this far, if you look deep into your reflection and let it stare back, you might find yourself leaning down, towards it--hopefully you have a companion to pull you back before pale arms reach to pull you in and drown you.

Even if you're pulled back from the glass pool, a strange dread lingers with you for a while. And the urge to be near others is incredibly strong. Be it their presence or their touch you crave, you need reassurance.

((OOC: Explore, use this an excuse for wet huddling together in a cave while hallucinating, get cool new scars from fighting beasts, encounter the glassy pool, or whatever! Grab a buddy, have a good(?) time.))]

Comments

[ruinatings]

[Hmmmm okay he'll stay.]

He is. But I find it... hard to understand.

[Which is hard to admit to in itself. Rufus is so, so smart, and good at reading people and predicting what they'll do, and yet...]

I can almost always tell how he'll react to something. But the feelings behind it... I thought I knew, but I really didn't. So I can't say I could copy it under pressure.

[crimeson]

The feelings behind it, hm...

[looks at the ceiling thoughtfully]

Well, that'll probably take some time to work out. But you're really good at reading people, even so. Is there someone else whose feelings you might be better able to understand in the mean time? Who'd probably also make moral choices, I guess.

[ruinatings]

[Well yeah there's one guy but the definition of "moral choice" there is a little confused and Rufus' own feelings are too complicated and wrong--

And then there's another guy who definitely makes the moral choice as Rufus thinks he's supposed to see it, but that's someone that even thinking about makes him want to throw something. And he still doesn't understand it, even though he's tried and tried and tried to grasp that truth and make it his own.

Class VII tried to explain it all to him. He gets it, theoretically -- at least the basics. But being able to say "well the right choice is this" doesn't actually allow him to defend it when questioned, and Rufus is very uncomfortable with the idea of looking like he's blowing hot air.]

...

[He looks away, putting a hand to his mouth as he tries to think of the ideal answer to this riddle. He's not used to being uncertain and it sucks, so he's turning it around in his head like some kind of puzzle with a quantifiable solution he can just logic out if he looks hard enough.]

...Maybe...

[crimeson]

I'd recommend one of your teammates, but...

[waves a hand vaguely]

[ruinatings]

Maybe I'll try to emulate you.

[This is a joke. Not an actual bad idea but a joke.]

[crimeson]

[--???????]

What?

[ruinatings]

Do you think you're not the type to make moral choices? I seem to recall needing to send you very far away to prevent you from doing so in the past.

[crimeson]

[oof. kind of cute that he's saying so, but he's obviously mistaken, so--]

Pretty much everything I do is out of personal loyalty, though? I just... like people with morals, generally.

[this is outright not true and obviously so, he's just FUCKING DELUSIONAL]

[ruinatings]

Oh, well. If you say that, then I'm denying you the right to correct me on my own estimations ever again.

[You delusional fuck.]

[crimeson]

--Aww, c'mon!

[ruinatings]

"Do as I say, not as I do", is it?

[crimeson]

Look, I just...

[can't really defend it]

[ruinatings]

You are a man of remarkable character, Randy. That's what I read from you. I always have, even when it was a massive inconvenience.

[crimeson]

[he's being attacked. he looks full-on deer in the headlights, too, just absolutely spooked and compromised, drunk enough to not have an off-the-cuff denial at hand.]

Rufus...

[ruinatings]

[Look Rufus has class and Randy has human decency. Rufus knows it and he thinks Randy should, too.]

And it was massively inconvenient. But your assistance to Rean was an important factor in the real plan, so I hope you'll keep that in mind.

[crimeson]

This... got turned around on me really quick, didn't it?

[Randy's shoving his hair out of his face, glancing away.]

I'll try to.

[ruinatings]

You opened yourself up to attack. It's my habit to take advantage.

[crimeson]

S'what I get for letting my guard down, I guess.

[he sighs

then pulls Rufus into a headlock.]

[ruinatings]

[Wow! Rufus is so unused to that kind of affection that he's totally startled.

He also totally reacts to being startled by jabbing his elbow into Randy's ribs but y'know. A lifetime of being ready to be attacked at any time.]

[crimeson]

[Randy yelps, but gamely ruffles Rufus's hair]

Anyway, I'll do my best to admit that I'm not a shitty person, I guess. S'the least I can do given the work you're putting in.

[ruinatings]

It is a lot of work. This "improving myself" business may be the most difficult mission I've taken on.

[Yes he's going to talk about it like it's a scheme. But he's also letting Randy ruffle him so there's that.]

[crimeson]

[ruffles, ruffles, then releases him from the headlock, apparently satisfied.]

Yeah, I can tell you from personal experience it's pretty rough. But I know you're a capable man.

[ruinatings]

[delicately smoothing his hair back into place]

That's quite true. I'm tenacious, if nothing else.

[crimeson]

Mmhm. Just gotta put that tenacity to good use.

[ruinatings]

That's true. I suppose I'll just think of it as a matter of strategy. It'd be shameful to lose based on something like this.