january catch-all

[ushiri]

Who: "Kyle" and folks
When: January
Where: Thorne, Horizon, Borrel for the quest later
What: Pre-planned threads and a few open starts tbd
Warnings: General warnings for this character. Will add anything specific as becomes necessary!

Comments

wanda;

[ushiri]

[ Some time after returning from the negotiations he's watching Rousma did holes around the apple trees outside of the temple when he remembers his conversation with Julie, about the nature of Horizon and how it relates to real world physics. Or doesn't at all.

It's silly, he knows. But his curiosity wins out in the end, and some time later he can be found about waist deep in a hole just beyond the little stream that circles his temple. The contents of the hole are much what someone might expect: dirt, dirt, and more dirt. Still, he's persistent, and been going at it for some time. The memory of physical exhaustion heats him up when it really shouldn't matter here, and he ends up shrugging out of his shirt, his bare chest and the many scars across his body on display. Oddly, they're all thin and straight, as if made by the same weapon. On his chest is a red serpent tattoo - sometimes. You may look at him once and see it there, then a few minutes later its gone.

He doesn't notice anyone approaching. Rousma isn't out today - she's sleeping in the hidden room within the temple, the place that can't be accessed by any door. ]

[carmesi]

[had it not been for one of her nosy ravens pushing past the limits of her domain onto a neighboring one, then wanda would never have known what kyle was up to. nosy as her raven is, suppose that wanda is, too, stepping over the rim of the hole that is being carved out by one man and his shovel.

is there a point to this?

wanda's brow furrows as she steps over a mound of loose dirt, going around so that kyle sees her boots (at least), and then she's sitting on her haunches, waiting for him to raise his head and their eyes to meet for her own to express her confusion.

(the scars and tattoo are noted, a question for later.)]

Digging for treasure?

[ushiri]

[ As he begins to straighten his gaze shifts from her boots, to her face. He meets her confusion and question with a toothy grin. Someone else might've not got such an openly friendly welcome from him. ]

Hard to say yet.

[ The shovel gets stabbed into the ground and he leans against it for support, hands clasped and resting on the handle end. He's muscular in a kind of wiry way, someone who relies on speed and acrobatics rather than brute force.

He cocks his head to the side, raising both eyebrows. ]

Do you remember when my domain was humming and buzzing - how it felt like something was shaking it from beneath? [ Back when they were all stuck in strange places, getting punted around domains they didn't mean to enter. ] I know it sounds ridiculous but I was talking to someone else about it and thought - why not see what's there?

[ And thus, the digging. He's aware this is all probably for nothing. Everything within his domain is created by him, including all of this dirt - it's his mind and will literally filling in gaps he's creating right now. But it's one of those things that seem so obvious, and yet - why not just confirm it? ]

[carmesi]

[wanda isn't sure that that's how it works. she lets her weight lean over her legs, arms stretched out before her, resting on her knees, as kyle leans on the shovel. imitating him, she tilts her head to the side, too.]

It feels like you're scratching at an itch inside your head.

[with all this digging. she's skeptical that it'll work, and doesn't voice that if he wanted a hole, he could probably just dig it up using his imagination, see what's there.

she doesn't move, yet, from where she's perched.]

I don't think you'll manage what you think you will, but I'd like to stay for a while and see if you come to your senses.

[she will remain skeptical of his efforts.]

[ushiri]

[ An itch? Probably. That's a good way to put it. ]

I'll take it as a compliment that you think I have senses to come to.

[ There's a gently teasing lilt to his tone as they mirror each other for a moment. Is he in a better mood than she's seen him in before? The possibility of war lingers on his mind nearly constantly, but their forced trip had been good. He got to see Inej in person, and there'd been the exchange in gifts with Jack when they returned. And everything with the negotiations went, all things considered, as best as they could.

He straightens and grasps the shaft of the shovel again, shoring himself. One eyebrow raises. ]

I heard an interesting rumor about the Tertiary Settlement while on our trip. A fisherman was speaking to a guard, he mentioned a lack of offerings after the omens. And how the seas have been roiling when the moon is full.

[ He doesn't know enough about their people to decide if it's superstition or not. But the part about the fish had turned out to be true - Thorne was now helping the settlements with that. ]

[carmesi]

[is this how things are and will be with her and kyle? a constant sharing of information, of comparing notes, coupled with a sort of companionship born from familiarity in loss (and the keeping of sad loss alive, despite knowing better)? wanda doesn't think she quite minds, liking the ease by which their conversations flow.

she grants him a look before turning her gaze downward, as he begins to say something about the tertiary settlement, about solvunn.]

—I don't think things are going very well for Solvunn at the moment, especially the Tertiary Settlement. It's far from where I stay, so I cannot tell you if it is or isn't true.

[about the roiling seas—

she picks at a small stone amidst the dirt, cleaning it up by rolling it between her fingers.]

Things have shifted in the commune.

horizon; open to all

[ushiri]

[ Kyle's domain is a welcoming one to well-meaning strangers. The towering building and statues seem to hold their arms out toward anyone who chooses to enter, and if the door isn't already open, then it's almost always unlocked. Kahlil tries not to spend too many days here, preferring to get all of his business done in a single trip maybe once a week.

Early in the month he can be found with a shovel, digging a hole in the grass outside of the temple, a yellow dog furiously digging her own hole next to him.

During the middle of the month he might be kneeling in front of the iron tree, praying or practicing battle forms with a sword.

Toward the end of the month the hole outside will be much, much deeper. It will be impossible to see the bottom, and if any intrepid adventurers decide to climb in, results may vary. ]

( ooc: will match prose or brackets! hmu if you'd like something more specific )

early-ish!

[princessvegas]

[ When she walks up to Kyle's temple, Julie cannot say she was expecting to find a small mountain of dirt and Kyle several feet deep in a hole. She's well aware that she said she'd visit a few weeks ago, but she would have committed harder if she knew that construction was about to commence.

She peers into the hole from a yard away, her arms crossed over her chest, her brow furrowing before she abruptly remembers telling him to dig a hole. When is she going to learn to stop being sarcastic with some people? She sighs. ]

Find anything yet?

[ushiri]

[ From within the hole he straightens, peering at her. Despite none of this being really real, there's dirt smudged across his brow from when he must've wiped it with his bare arm at some point. Because of said dirt he's chosen to do this shirtless, the thin scars across his toned body on display.

Underneath one of the apple trees on the other side of the stream, the yellow dog naps. ]

Not yet. [ He frowns to himself.

For what it's worth, he understood she hadn't meant literally dig. Call it a lack of imagination on his part, this time. It seemed right, anyway. He shakes his head after a moment, a small smile pulling at one side of his lips. ]

How were your holidays?

[princessvegas]

[ It really is a contrast -- Kyle dirty and bare-chested like it's a hot summer day, and Julie dressed for a nonexistent winter, with a cropped jacket in black fur over a skintight black minidress. She has black stockings under her thigh high boots. Yet both perfectly comfortable in a climate that truly matches neither.

She lets out a soft, amused huff. ] Keep goin' and maybe you'll strike oil. But seriously, I don't think you'll find anythin'. I think you'll just find what your mind thinks should be down there. That's how the Horizon works, y'know.

[ As she takes a step back, a pair of oversized wicker chairs appear next to her, and she takes a seat. He doesn't have to climb from his hole if he doesn't want to, but she wants to give him the opportunity. ]

You mean after the part where we got shanghaied to a polar hell? [ She really did not appreciate how fucking cold it was in Nocwich. ] Pretty good. Yours?

[ushiri]

Maybe that's exactly why I will find something. [ Belief that there's something to find, besides dirt. But what, exactly?

As she creates the chairs he looks at them longingly - they look really comfy. After a second he abandons his shovel and climbs out, patting himself down in a way that shouldn't remove all the dirt on his skin, but it disappears beneath his hands. ]

The food was good. And the flying fish were beautiful. [ He starts to answer as he gracefully pulls himself onto the cushy chair. It definitely could've gone worse, all things considered. What was most important was that there wasn't another attack, like in Nocwich. Nothing in the negotiations to further the tensions.

A beat, and he grins at her. ] My roommate liked the journal I got him. And then he felt so guilty for not thinking to get me something that he gave me a whole basket of gifts! [ He circles his arms as if to make the shape of a generous basket, then lets out a laugh. ] I've never gotten so many at once!

surprise.

[gynvael]

[ Since his semi-rebuilding of Kaer Morhen—or what lies beneath it—Geralt's been drawn a bit more inside the Horizon. Perhaps because there now lies some work to do. Small touches to add, that he's not finished adding. It occupies his time, at least.

He's examining a wall of stained glass—white wolf beside him for company—when a light rumble makes him pause.

That's. Hm. He frowns. Touches his palm to the wall. Then: stone and glass crumble, shattering. Geralt takes several steps back, startled. A hole yawns at him where the wall once stood. An unlit candle flies at him. He catches it on instinct; the rest are strewn upon the ground.

Through the opening, a familiar face looks back. What. ]

The fuck.

hehehlizard.gif

[ushiri]

[ Why this has been going on for over a week, he can't say. Stubbornness, probably. Some of it he's cheated by digging deeper in with his strength of will rather than his shovel, though he inevitably returns to the physical labor. Rousma has been happy with all the little rocks and bones they found, helping him dig in her dog skin. But he was intent on finding something of more substance. How this turned into an actual tunnel is, well - it should've realistically collapsed on itself many, many yards ago, but Horizon doesn't seem to care for physics in that way.

And so, with one more thrust of his shovel, he hits something hard. A large rock, he thinks at first. Behind him Rousma is nosing through the dirt, pulling out a worm. She swallows it and squeals in disgust.

He gives another hard thrust at the wall of dirt, at which point, the whole tunnel starts to shake. There's a breath moment of panic where he thinks the whole damn thing is finally going to collapse, and the air splits to his side - ready to toss Rousma through first.

Instead, he finds himself staring at an opening into somewhere else - where Geralt stands with a candle in his hand, and a wolf at his side. ]

Hello! [ Rousma greets him for them, her mouth wide in a dog-grin. ]

Hello. [ Kahlil echoes, a perturbed and then slightly embarrassed expression on his face as he surveys what looks to be damage... caused by his digging... ] This is, ah, awkward...

[gynvael]

[ Geralt's brows are furrowed the deepest they've been in a while. He's simply. Baffled. Fucking mystified. He expects chaotic bullshit in the Horizon, but something about this having a tangible cause—he can see, crystal clear, that Kyle has dug through—elevates it to a brand new level of absurdity.

The wolf looks at the talking dog with an impassive curiosity. A familiar expression Kyle might have seen once on Geralt's face.

The rubble is granted little attention. Instead, Geralt peers around Kyle. Through the tunnel. It stretches, far enough that he can't tell where it began.

Did Kyle...? No. (Did he?) One: who the fuck would even do that. For two: why.

Additionally. ]

How is this possible?

[ushiri]

[ Geralt peers and Kahlil steps aside a bit to let him see through the opening. It really makes no sense how a single man could've dug a tunnel this size on his own, but look, it's Horizon.

The blond dog tilts her head, and then play bows at the wolf, her tail wagging furiously.

Kahlil glances at the wolf, getting deja vu for a second before flicking his gaze to Geralt, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. ]

Well, it wouldn't be the first time... ? [ Which actually gives him a grim thought that causes him to frown suddenly. This isn't a sign that the heralds are about to make a reappearance, is it? He grimaces. ]

I didn't mean to come here, anyway. I just thought... I might find something.

[ By digging a massive hole. ]

borrel; turtle task; open

[ushiri]

[ Even having been to Borrel before, this is as close as he's been able to get to the its beach. He's wrapped up in a heavy cloak against the frigid ocean winds, his navy scarf wrapped tight around his neck and tucked in so that the ends aren't flapping.

At first he'll be preparing bait traps for the seabirds. The smell from the crabs combined with the sweet, floral scent of the turtle in the distance is especially foul to his nose, and he covers it a few times with his scarf. Impressive, considering all the other smells going around the beach right now. ]

I know this must be the best way to lure them, but...

[ He pulls another face from beneath the cloth covering. ]

Here. [ he'll say to his partner, pointing at a spot on the beach relatively close to an outcropping of smooth rock. That will be his hiding spot, for anyone who wishes to join.

Carrying the birds away from the beach to the designated safe area is another task later on. ]

We're not - [ he starts and stops ] - going to - [ holding the net containing a bird as far away from his body as it flaps and shrieks ] eat you, though I wish -

ow!

[ the flapping continues, and it seems as though the bird has managed to slice him over his knuckles from beneath the net, blood welling from the long cut. He glares at it menacingly, like he's considering tossing it... ]

peanut gallery

[thedevilwhorose]

[It's shouted as Lucifer is walking by:] You're doing great, Kyle! I believe in you! Really! [Funny that it sounds mostly like sarcasm.

What can he say? Outside of the Horizon, Lucifer on the beach looks more comfortable than he has anywhere else.] Keep at it!

[Is he already gone? Yes.]

[ushiri]

[ Just this face, briefly considering how far he can throw this netted bird at the back of his receding form. ]

[stations]

( Kyle might not say anything, but he doesn't really need to. He's not working alone. Jack leans into view from his space behind the rock outcropping just to call: )

Hey! Go fuck yourself on a pogo stick, Mephistopheles!

( Stupid birds. Stupid Satan. )

[thedevilwhorose]

[Weird. Was that a seagull he heard? Sure sounded like a whole lot of squawking.]

[ushiri]

Mephista-what?

[ What's a pogo stick? ]

ʙɪʀᴅs

[stations]

( For the first time in a while, this isn't something Kyle has to drag Jack out for. In fact, he's gone before Kyle is in the morning, set off to the beach bright and early to help. He's having some turtle-related emotions lately, is all — which are only amplified as he brushes by this big boy and gets another turtle-related flash of vision.

You might say he's particularly motivated about helping this massive lad back to the sea.

So he wanders over Kyle's direction once he spots the guy doing a terrible job netting birds, and offers out a mild, )

Need a hand?

[ushiri]

[ He's not so much surprised to find Jack gone in the morning as he is to actually find Jack on the beach. It shows on his face, a flicker of confusion cut between death glares at the squawking bird caught in the net. ]

Do you have more bait?

[ To maybe distract it from trying to peck his hand off. ]

[stations]

Um- no, I think they're running... kind of low in our section.

( Said with a quick glance backward toward the containers of bait, and a sort of pointed, accusatory look at one particularly weird young man who seems to be flat-out just eating it himself. It's fucking disgusting, but also none of his business. No way he's going to intervene on that one. When you see a crazy guy eating bird food, you let him do his thing and give a wide berth. )

I think I saw on the Discovery channel one time if you sort of... turn them upside down and hold them by the legs, it fucks with their center of gravity and it's harder for them to peck you.

raw... crabs...

[ushiri]

[ Kahlil shoots a glance toward the young man at the same time and makes a weird face. Seafood is hard for him at the best of times... is he eating them raw?

His gaze flicks to Jack again and he holds out the struggling bird, its wings flapping beneath the bewitched net. Well, this'll require teamwork then: ]

Can you grab the feet for me then? Just watch for the... sharp parts.

[ As he's saying this he realizes this is not a good idea. He frowns and shakes his head: ]

Or here, you hold this end. [ The part he's got. ]