A New Platform [Intro Post February]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

Three days after the Voidtreckers return to the void after their adventures on the biosphere world, they are awoken by a familiar announcement.

"Good morning passengers, it is day Sixteen of the month of Jelly. Points have been updated on the system."

They have indeed, and everyone can spend the morning shopping. Those who have been on the train for a while will also be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and the windows fill with the fog that means they are at a platform. The fog seems thicker than usual and as they step out onto the platform they will find it is cold, very cold. Icy fog sticks to their clothing, makes it hard to see very far; the atmosphere is dark and gloomy.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers: Alexis Rhodes, Elfnein, Itsuki Myoudouin, Ken Ichijouji, MT, Neku Sakuraba, Nike Lemercier, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Rainbow Dash, Rei Saotome, Taichi Yagami, Tsubomi Hanasaki, Yuri Tsukikage and Zechs Merquise all pass through the platform, not looking back before they disappear through the barriers and into the fog beyond.

But on the platform itself there are new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours, in various states of confusion.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam, billowing around them as they come to their senses. As their eyes adjust, they will see they are on a platform, glass and dark stone rising in sturdy arches around them. Behind them is a set of barriers, and in front of them is a single track extending both ways into thick fog.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own and a style they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze; then the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not large with sixteen figures scattered around, all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. To both the left and right, tracks disappear into the mist. Then there is a roaring sound and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out step a strange assortment of people. Some are human, some are less so. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple, though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

The Train

After a short time, the doors hiss open again. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there's anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would lead to something terrible. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information (see
'Publications'). The store rooms have been restocked with fresh ingredients, including several crates of avocados, the ingredient of the month of Jelly, as well as all sundries.

For passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags.

New passengers will find their ticket allows them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk!

Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches full of spare blankets and pillows.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers braving the freezing fog, and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, but they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view again as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express." A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog-filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady itself. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever-changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

Comments

[its_dad_sanzo]

"If the magic lessons go well," Koumyou agrees, "and this."

'This', of course, being the way the ends of the sutra start to trail behind him as they move together. Just drifting like tendrils of seaweed in the water, sliding out of Devero's way as though pushed by some unseen current, but very slowly and gradually lengthening.

And gaining numbers. It's several repetitions of the main steps before there's more than just the two tendrils coiling out through the air, but if Devero doesn't put a stop to it there will eventually be a lot of them.

[subcircuits]

"And this," he murmurs in agreement. He notices the sutra starting to move on its own immediately, and his eyes do fix to it for a moment even as their feet continue the pattern of the steps.

After that first moment, though, an emphasized beat in the music brings his attention back to the dance. He has to, lest he tread on one of the priest's feet, or they get tangled up together. He focuses on Koumyou in his arms and the one-two-three four rhythm of the dance.

But there's no doubt that he remains aware of the growing, waving tendrils of paper that drift and flow around them. He's no longer talking Koumyou through the embellishments, the dips or the twirls, and his eyes keep flicking to unfurling, multiplying banners of the sutra. He watches them with wariness, but in this moment? With interest, as well.

[its_dad_sanzo]

Once there are enough tendrils in the air that anyone else walking into the upstairs music car might not even be able to see them through it all, it stops multiplying.

And the drifting and flowing of the individual lengths of paper starts to actually follow the beat of their movements.

Unmistakably dancing along with.

"Doing okay so far?" Koumyou, of course, has eyes only for Devero. He knows exactly what each and every individual tendril is doing as surely as he knows what each finger on his hands is doing.

[subcircuits]

He's trying to be. He's really trying to be. And when the sutra strands had just been passively drifting, he'd been... mostly okay, but the more deliberate movements coming from so many extensions of the thing has started to get him keyed up. Stoic, he ignores his discomfort--

Until Koumyou asks him directly.

"Pause," he mutters, head and shoulders drooping. "I was."

[its_dad_sanzo]

And all the tendrils of the sutra just... stop. Frozen in place, hovering just where they had been, like some kind of spindly weird sculpture.

"Too much?" Koumyou asks gently.

[subcircuits]

"Too many," he says. He releases the priest and takes a step back, turning slowly on one heel to take in all the frozen ribbons of paper. He's pretty sure he saw an art installation like this one time back home...

Anyway. "I didn't mind so much when they were just sort of... floating, but when they all started moving with us..." He gives his head a shake. Nope.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Makes sense," Koumyou actually looks at the tendrils, too. He normally doesn't pay them any mind, of course, but if he tries to really take in the paused mess of paper around them...

There is rather a lot of them, isn't there?

(His processor can run a lot of tabs.)

"Want me to dismiss most of them?"

[subcircuits]

"Could you?" he asks, turning back to Koumyou with a plaintive expression on his face.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Of course," Koumyou just smiles up at him and without fanfare, without so much as a glance from the priest or a single gesture, suddenly...

Suddenly, there's only three tendrils frozen in the air. They're still contorted to fit around other tendrils that aren't there anymore, holding perfectly still.

"It won't hurt you," Koumyou reminds Devero gently, "it's part of me. It's like... extra limbs."

[subcircuits]

Is it suddenly a little easier to breathe in here, or is it just him? (It's just him.)

"Thank you," he says with a relieved sigh-- before scrunching in on himself and ducking his face away. "I-- I know. I know that. Up here knows that." He taps his skull in indication, then lays the same hand against his side. "But down here sees so much impossibility and just. Kind of freaks out."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"We'll just have to -- slowly -- get your idea of 'possible' to expand," Koumyou says with another smile, and offers his hands up. To hold onto, to dance more? That's up to Devero, the priest is in no rush. "Being around it is probably the only way that can happen."

[subcircuits]

"You're right," Devero says. He squares his shoulders and steps up to Koumyou, taking the offered hand and placing his other on the priest's waist again. He inhales deeply, and then manages a smile for his Sanzo. "So let's get back to it."

He waits for an appropriate beat in the current song, then leads them back into their waltz. "You know," he says wryly as they recapture the rhythm, "if someone had told me a month and a day ago that I would be getting exposure therapy for reality-bending magic soon, I probably would have laughed in their face."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Is that what this is called, exposure therapy?" Koumyou laughs, moving with Devero. Slowly, the tendrils un-freeze and start to move with them again, staying mostly behind the priest, but long enough to really be everywhere as they move around the stage.

"Here I thought I was just being clever."

[subcircuits]

Three strands of sutra is much more manageable for Devero's mind. His eyes flick up to them regularly, but he's able to keep them moving-- though they're still just doing the basic steps over and over right now.

"You were," he says loyally. "You didn't know exposure therapy was a thing, so this still counts as very clever."

[its_dad_sanzo]

Koumyou beams up at him, "'Very' clever, hm? Maaah, I must be burning all my smart points for the week!"

His free hand had settled at Devero's shoulder, as usual for this. He smooths his fingers over the strange new fabric the man's wearing, enjoying the novelty. "The day will come when I'll have to use it to defend us on a mission, the less it bothers you by then the better."

[subcircuits]

Devero grins back. "At least you have your charm and good looks to fall back on this week if you spend all your smart, hm?"

He nods agreement. "I don't want to just shut down, especially if the situation's dire enough that you're using its power to fight. I don't want to be a liability in the field."

[its_dad_sanzo]

The priest laughs at that, "I see, I see!"

But he gentles again for that last bit, nodding, lifting his hand off Dev's shoulder to brush the backs of his fingers against one rough cheek.

"...If the sutra's deployed, the fight's probably very much over," he admits, "but I'd rather not frighten you, even so. Or if I ever have to use it to heal... anyone around you."

Or even Devero himself.

[subcircuits]

Devero inclines his cheek into Koumyou's hand, and says plainly what the priest had evaded: "Or me."

Still leading, Devero tightens up their steps a little, making the waltz shorter, sharper. As he does, he says, "I meant it when I said it: I don't want to be frightened of this when it's part of you. You're so important to me, and I--" One-two-three-four and on this beat Devero initiates that same dip from before. Down, over, and back up. Is it an excuse to let the momentum of the turn bring them that much closer, or just a perk?

Either way, Devero hooks his arm behind Koumyou and pulls the priest against him. "I want to be partner you deserve. I want to be equal to your every challenge."

[its_dad_sanzo]

As usual, it's very easy to lead Koumyou into just about any movement, and he takes the dip with a startled laugh, but no hesitation. The sutra ripples with that motion, like a wave going down the tendrils. Back up again, the smile Koumyou gives Devero at that last bit couldn't possibly be more fond.

"I'm... trying to be who you deserve, too."

Trying, not always succeeding, but trying.

[subcircuits]

Devero's eyes lift to the tendrils, then drop back down to Koumyou's face. He's still so unused to this reciprocity, to someone trying as hard for him as he tries for everyone else. Overwhelmed, he can't help himself; he wraps his other arm around the priest and dips his head for a kiss.

[its_dad_sanzo]

And Koumyou hooks his arms over Devero's shoulders and goes up onto his toes to meet him, smiling into the kiss and more than willing to linger like that, too.

[subcircuits]

Lingering is good. Devero's okay with lingering, and it makes a fine distraction from the sutra tendrils, now doesn't it? He opens his mouth slightly against Koumyou's, tasting the priest's lower lip with a darting swipe of the tongue. Is... is this still okay? They haven't really shared more than chaste smooches since before the mission.

[its_dad_sanzo]

More than okay, for the moment. It's a moment in which Koumyou gets swept up and forgets to be anxious about it, and just... chases after that darting tongue with his own. So there's the tip of Koumyou's tongue against Devero's parted lips, in a shy little swipe.

His arms tighten around Devero, and one tendril of the sutra actually lifts the priest a few inches off the ground to level the playing field a little.

[subcircuits]

Devero gasps against Koumyou's lips, lifting his head to see what it was that had lifted the priest. Of course, what else would it be but the sutra? He can't find it in himself to be scared of a single tendril, especially not when it's making it easier for him to kiss Koumyou.

So he tightens his grip back up and returns his mouth to his boyfriend's with a needy little sound.

[its_dad_sanzo]

And Koumyou's happy to be returned to, swallowing that sound and daring to try to slide his tongue against Devero's, slippery and hot and oh-so intimate past his lips.

For that moment.

And then the priest is pulling away, raising a bony hand to cover his own mouth like he'd just given voice to some terrible secret. "--S-sorry."