❂ open!

[thoughts]

Who: river & you!!
When: over the first week of december!
Where: nocwich and castle thorne
What: exploring nocwich for that good cross-faction CR and then a week later when river's canon powers return with a suckerpunch
Warnings: possible mentions of human experimentation, torture, and child abuse. there are content warnings for canon themes and an opt-in/opt-out post for her psychic abilities over here, please check it out!

☾ backdated - nocwich

[ being new to abraxas - alarmed and terrified at being stolen away, having spent the first day traversing castle thorne in a daze as she tried to accept the reality of this world - there is no small amount of trepidation as she steps through the portal to nocwich. as far as the theoretical physics of it all, a portal is more outlandish than teleportation, which makes more sense from a logistical standpoint. although she's not a fan of the molecular deconstruction of her body just to be reassembled elsewhere, so maybe a magic portal won't be so bad...

anyone by the castle thorne portal might hear her mumbling about this for a long while before she finally takes a deep breath and steps through.

more than the notion of magic being real how is magic real, river's main curiosity is the fact of being allowed to go to nocwich at all. she isn't used to her captors being willing to let them leave, even if it's on a tight leash. nowhere close to freedom, but it falls to the back of her mind the moment she finds herself in the bright and lively nature of oleuni square.

with no money to spend and no inclination to buy anything in the first place, river spends her time just wandering around looking at everything with eyes the size of saucers. with a staunch lack of propriety, she'll pick up anything she's curious about and may or may not put it back where it belongs. she watches the performances on stage with rapt attention, stares a little too long at any non-human folks walking about, and otherwise seems to float about in a happy daze as she wanders alone through the streets.

might be best she's not left unattended for too long, lest she overstay her welcome and disturb the locals. ]

☉ current date - castle thorne

[ despite her early misgivings and intense mistrust of those what brought them to this world against their will, there is so much about the castle that excites the childlike wonder that encompasses river in her entirety. it's stunningly beautiful, and she spends a lot of time aimlessly wandering around ( generally barefoot ) as she takes in the architecture, hangs out in the gardens, and puts her fingers all over anything that even remotely looks magical.

more often than not, it looks like she's having fun. she might get shy or suspicious when people approach her, especially any of the thornean mages, but she does well enough to explore with a brightness to her features.

in many ways, it's a blessing of her eyes being closed, her mind shut to the influx of noise and chaos that ordinarily floods her senses. river knew better than to hope the silence might stay forever, but it still catches her by surprise when the moment comes during breakfast on her eighth day. like a tidal wave crashing over her, the thoughts and emotions and worries and fears and secrets and everythingeverything around her overloads her senses.

anyone in the dining hall might hear a loud scream and the clatter of dishes as river flings herself out and away from the table. she winds up on the floor, eyes wide and shaking like a leaf in the wind, ready to be blown away by the slightest breeze. she rambles in distress, seemingly without seeing anyone in front of her even as she sees everything. ]

No, no no no. No! You can't - you can't be here, you can't! Qǐng shàngdì liánmǐn - stay away!

[ tears in her eyes and screams in her ears, river may be hard to console as she tries and fails to fight back the rising tide of panic. let's just hope nothing sharp or pointy finds its way into her shaking hands... ]

[ ooc: as a reminder, hover over any chinese text for a translate, and please hop on over to her opt-in/opt-out post to let me know how you'd like me to play her psychic abilities around your character. feel free to reach out to me at ragemarshmallow on discord or varooooom if you want to plot anything out! 💚 ]

Comments

[satanicpanics]

[ You know, this particular experiment hasn’t been buried in dirt yet as far as he’s aware. He’s pretty sure this experiment would be left to the bats in an alternate dimension if it weren’t here right now instead. But River is sure to be the first to know if he starts to have any maggot problems.

He can already tell that whoever this girl is, he’s not half as intelligent as she is, but he’s used to that. The gaggle of freshmen he pulled into his ranks back home were all ridiculously smart and he still managed to keep up. Confidence and honesty goes a hell of a long way. ]

I don’t know what that means.

[ See? Honesty! Complete with a confident grin. ]

But if it’ll get her off the stage faster, then v a-ten it is.

[ Listen, he’s trying his absolute best with the pronunciation. ]

[thoughts]

[ it's okay eddie, there aren't many in the entire 'verse as smart as river. but confidence is charming, and so is his mispronunciation. she laughs lightly. ]

V a-ten. French. Instead of "again," it's "go away."

[ not a terribly polite thing to say to someone but it would certainly serve the purpose of getting her off the stage faster. if... she spoke french... a flaw in this plan! ]

[satanicpanics]

[ Listen, Eddie is well aware that he’s not at the top of list as far as intelligence goes. The smartest people he knows are a good seven years younger than him and they aren’t even here. He doesn’t have a lot to go on as far as people being smarter than those guys.

He does practically light up at the meaning of the phrase, though. Thank you River for providing him with his new favorite heckle. It sounds way more polite than “get off the stage”. ]

Well, in that case…

[ As the singer’s last song draws to a close and she accepts a smattering of applause with the clear intent to begin again, Eddie stands up, cups his hands to his mouth, and chants v a-ten, v a-ten, v a-ten. No, the singer doesn’t seem to understand French, but she does seem to understand that she’s being heckled—likely in part because Eddie has done it before.

Regardless, it works! A miracle! She takes her curtsies and sweeps off stage in a huff, leaving Eddie to beam victoriously at River. ]

So, I’ll definitely be using that one again. Thanks for that, uh…?

[ He trails off, prompting her to introduce herself. ]

[thoughts]

[ river can't help the way she bursts out laughing as eddie takes the phrase and runs away with it. maybe someone with better manners wouldn't condone heckling someone that's just playing out their bit, but it is funny and she's still a child, after all.

so she smiles right back at eddie, amused and delighted. ]

River. De rien - you're welcome.

[ she doesn't quite ask for his name in return because, again, manners - but she eyes his guitar and looks at him curiously. ]

Will you go next?

[satanicpanics]

Eddie. Pleasure doing business with you.

[ If Eddie can get a genuine laugh with his antics, it’s probably a good day for him. He was probably a court jester in his past life. He grins and sweeps into a theatrical bow as the stage clears of the singer and instrumentalists. If he doesn't make it quick, someone else is probably going to snag the spot, but he ha enough time for a little more chatting. ]

Well, I was, but uh…now I think it kind of depends. Are you gonna be up here v a-ten-ing me?

[thoughts]

[ eddie. she likes the way he thinks, the way he speaks. all the theatrics are fun and excitable; it reminds her of wash somehow, the one most likely to be silly and have fun on serenity. river eyes his guitar for a moment. she really wants to know what he would play, just as curious as she had been with the other performers, if not more so now that she's heard his smile.

but first, she gets a bit cheeky and lifts her chin in a bit of a challenge. ]

It kind of depends. Are you going to make us decompose?

[satanicpanics]

Nope.

[ He seems pretty sure of himself as he beams, slings his guitar over his back, and hurries toward the stage before another hopeful can take his spot. Just before he takes his place, he shouts back to River: ]

And if I’m wrong, you can throw all the rotten fruit your heart desires!

[ And he plays his set, probably the most high energy acoustic set this side of the Horizon. He’s a good showman, and while there are plenty of audience members who shuffle off covering their ears, several stay and listen, and new bystanders even wander in to see what the fuss is all about, because it is a very different sound from the previous performances.

It’s a small crowd, but there are some genuinely devoted followers. He plays three songs: two parred down metal covers, and one original creation that he prefaces by letting the crowd know it needs work. He takes a theatrical bow when he’s done, and hurries right back to river, still beaming. ]

What do you think? Still awake?

[thoughts]

[ his confidence is charming yet again and river eagerly waits to see what he wants to say with his guitar - but what he ends up playing is totally unexpected. maybe it's due to the delicate sensibilities of people in the core or the fact she hasn't spent much time around folks beyond it, but she's never heard of anything close to this type of music. even being acoustic, it's still more energetic and excitable than the classics and folk songs of her 'verse.

she can't help getting swept up into it, clapping and cheering after each song. her fave is bright and she beams right back at him when he returns. ]

That was gāo gān - very cool! They're all yours?

[ the songs, she means! ]

[satanicpanics]

Mine? Absolutely not.

[ He laughs and bounces on his toes, energy from his performance still surging through him. If he had his electric and any ability to play it, he’d be unstoppable. Granted, he did recently have a wild idea about creating a goat wheel-powered battery, but he can’t imagine the people of Solvunn would appreciate that too much. They do love their goats… ]

I can’t lay claim to any of those. Except, uh…the last one. The one’s mine. You can tell by the nosedive in quality.

[ He grins easily, though, to show that he’s making fun of himself rather than slipping into self loathing. He hasn’t written much of anything in over a year, and he’s rusty. ]

But you know, maybe someday you won't even be able to tell.

[thoughts]

[ even with her empathic powers lying dormant, his giddy energy is infectious. maybe that's just the type of person he is - open and free, enjoying life to his own tune regardless of what anyone else is doing. river laughs lightly. ]

I can't tell now.

[ it's true! maybe the songs he covered are more practiced and well-versed, but it's easier to copy something than make something of your own. she eyes his guitar, eyes warm and curious. ]

Will you play again? Not an encore - [ pfft ] - but I would watch the next one.

[ congrats eddie, you have a new fan! ]

[satanicpanics]

Alright, my ego does not need that boost.

[ He grins though, and offers another one of his theatrical bows. He jokes, and he’s more critical of himself than anyone else, but that comment really does mean a lot to him and it won’t go unremembered. ]

Yeah, I’m here pretty often so, uh, drop by if you want. I’m even gonna give you official permission to heckle me so don't hold back.

[thoughts]

I'll be sure to save all my very best insults in languages you don't know.

[ said with a happy, cheeky smile. she would never - it's not her way, although maybe that'll change with the playful permission of someone whose it is - but she's looking forward to seeing him play again all the same. ]