voidtreckerexpress | Catchall log for mid-Merriment, OTA!

Who: Devero and YOU
Where: All over the train
When: Merriment 17 through 21
What: Devero potters around the train, catching up on things and pretending he's not still really, really worn out from the mission.
Warnings: Recreational drug use in the luggage car prompt.

In the days following the platform, Devero is relieved to find that he's recovered enough energy to be able to stay awake for most of a day, and even to concentrate on projects again! The lassitude is hanging on to him longer than most, so he's still not quite is robust self, but he's present and working again. Between Merriment 17 and 21, he can be encountered all over the train.

Where does your character find him?

In the lab car?
Wait, since when is Devero glowing purple and semi-transparent? Come into the lab car on the right day at the right time and you'll find this specter moving about. Perhaps he's fiddling with a door latch, or you find him in one of the labs, picking things up and putting them back down again. There is absolutely neutral, lifeless expression on his face if you happen to catch sight of it, and-- Wait, is that some kind of glowing core in the middle of the shape?

In the training car?
Devero knows how to shoot a gun. Really. He swears. But if you happen in on him practicing his marksmanship with a sleek, futuristic rifle in his hands, it sure doesn't seem like it. He's visibly frustrated as he misses another shot, dropping the gun down from his shoulder and turning his back on his target. (Claudette tilts her head and chirrups. Does this mean the game is over?)

"Rust and ruin," he swears, shoving his wrap-around tactical Interface up on his forehead. "I'm never going to get the hang of this thing. I'm sorry, Entrapta."

In the library car:
Several weeks ago, Devero had snatched down the slip of paper that he'd tacked up in the standard car, the one advertising lessons in GSL-- Global Sign Language. The day of the platform, he'd tacked it back up again. Find him at the advertised time in the library, staring into the screen of his usual Interface. While he waits to see if anyone's going to show up, he's talking to himself.

You know, with his hands. How else? This is meant to be a sign-language lesson, after all!

In the music car:
As crowded as the train's been getting, the second floor of the music carriage is still a good place to slip away to if you're looking for (relative) privacy. Today, however, Devero's beaten you to it. If you don't notice right away that he's in here, though, that's understandable-- there's no music, no sound save for the whisper of his feet on the stage, the rustle of his clothes, and the occasional audible breath.

Despite the apparent silence, Devero is dancing. He's practicing alone an energetic routine for two, but there's no mistaking the precision and grace in his movements as he performs them, even without the partner.

Do you stay and watch, or leave him to dance in solitude?

In the luggage car?
If you've been on the train for longer than a few weeks, you may already be acquainted with this particular odor: it's savory, herby, as if someone's over-toasted spices in a pan prior to cooking with them. Were it a strong odor, it'd probably be sour and unpleasant; as mild as it is, it's mostly unobjectionable.

The source of it can be easily traced to the obviously hand-rolled cigarette smoldering between Devero's lips. That's right, it's future-weed hours here in the luggage car, folks. And if you look at him twice, you'll find him holding his joint out in your direction. "Want a hit?" he asks amiably.

Somewhere else?
Devero can feasibly be found all over the train: prepping vegetables or washing dishes in the kitchen; soaking or doing yoga in the spa car; working out in either of the gyms; sleeping through a movie in the cinema; or even just traveling up and down the train. Yeah, they have transgates now, but walking (or hoverskating) the length of the train is an easy way to keep his condition up while he's still recovering from the last mission. He's not nearly as exhausted as he was before, which means it's working. Really. He swears! He didn't fall asleep here, he was just resting his eyes!

Feel free to find him wherever you want, if one of the prompts above doesn't tickle your fancy.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He recognises the smell. He has a keen nose, even in his human form and this is something he has smelled before. Back on the void nexus where they had sent messages from. On the mushrooms.

Devero. Devero had been smoking something that smelled like this. Taiki had been returning a couple of bags to the luggage carriage and he looked around smiling softly as he saw the man.

"No thank you." He tilted his head. "Are you alright?"

Devero's returning smile is soft and warm-- and then a little sheepish. Yeah, he remembers the last time Taiki saw him with herb.

"Uh, yeah," he says. "This isn't-- this is just--" Dev. Articulate. "I'm just taking a break. Trying to relax a little. This isn't like... last time."

You know, ehen he'd been chain-smoking herb cigarettes in an attempt to avoid confronting the trauma of having his mind controlled for the first time on Erda.

"Oh..." He nodded, though there was some worry in his eyes still. It was good that it wasn't like last time, when Devero had clearly been hurting and using the herbs to avoid facing whatever was hurting him.

But he's still a little worried about him. After all it wasn't like the last mission was healthy for anyone involved.

"It is something that helps you rest?"

It's his turn to nod. "Helps me chill," he explains. "I... have a real hard time not doing things. Don't want to be just sitting around. If I'm awake I should be doing something, but right now I just get worn out, so fast."

His frustration is showing by the end of that. Devero takes a long hit of of smoke from his joint and holds it for a long moment. Relax, relax.....

He nodded, he could understand that frustration. He often felt it himself, especially after missions when he was sick and weak. He wanted to help and yet just ended up wearing himself out.

"I'm glad it helps you."

"Thanks," he says with a (slightly hazy) smile. He almost offers the joint to Taiki again, but manages to remember that he already has and the younger man's demurred. He sets it aside in the ashtray at his side and then pats the bench he's sitting on on his other side.

"Wanna sit? Tell me how you're doing?"

He sits down next to him, smiling at the invitation.

"I... I'm doing alright. For the most part. That mission was... A lot."

And he's exhausted from anchoring, on top of the blood sickness that was part and parcel of every mission.

Devero puts an arm around Taiki's shoulders and gives him a clumsy side-hug when the kirin joins him. He only holds it for a moment

"It was more than a lot, it was the most," Devero opines. "At least out of all the missions I've been on."

He braces his arm behind himself and leans back on it. "Did they mess with your mind badly?" he asks, more seriously. "The rainbow asshole?"

He leans into the hug, glad for the contact and the comfort. He nodded sadly. It had been more than a lot. All their minds twisted, cut off from another, not knowing who to trust.

Far too close to home. He shook his head, "Not as badly as some. I broke out after a few days and I managed to convince Inigo it wasn't real as well..."

Which had been heartbreaking, dragging him from that dream, from that world where they had been family. "Did.... Were you badly affected?"

It's Devero's turn to shake his head. "Rainbow asshole made a big mistake and split me up from Koumyou Sanzo. I realized real early that something was wrong." He picks up his joint, fiddles with it for a moment, then puts it back down. "He... had trouble, though. I'd wake him up and he'd go right back under." That had been the hard part, watching Koumyou slip again and again into a life that Devero wasn't a part of.

"Ah." He nodded, he knows who Kyoumou Sanzo was and he had seen the two together enough, he knew they shared a room.

So he could understand that being in a life without him, how that would be strange.

"It affected some people more than others... I'm sorry he kept going back under." Tidus had once, and that had been difficult enough. When Tidus knew he was his friend either way.

"Not like it's your fault," Devero says, smiling wanly over at the kirin. The smile fades quick enough and he sighs. "I was able to stay with him, at least, whether he remembered me or not. And his son was there, the one he died for where he comes from. Genjo Sanzo, all grown up. He helped me keep an eye on Koumyou too."

He gives his whole body a ~~dog-like~~ shake and picks up his joint for a puff, exhaling the smoke away from Taiki. Trying to lighten the conversation, he says, "I'd ask you if you got any cool powers, but I think turning into a flying unicorn-thing already counts as a cool power. So did you get any other cool powers?"

"Ah." Perhaps that was it then. If his son was there, someone who he cared for so much to have died for him. That would be hard to pull out of.

He smiled at the question. "I could purify water and other liquids I guess..." Maybe not so cool as other powers but something that was useful.

"How about you?"

"You guess?" he prompts.

"I could turn into a dog," he says with a wondering smile. "That was... that was something else."

"I didn't really experiment that much." He explained. He had broken out of the illusion pretty quickly and hadn't wanted to use the powers incase it drew him back in.

He lit up when Devero told him what his power had been. "A dog? You could change shapes?" He wished he could have seen that, Devero is very nice if a bit intimidating, but he would never complain if his friends were fluffy animals instead.

Devero nods understanding, and just keeps smiling warmly as he sees Taiki perk up so obviously. "I could," he confirms. "I guess you'd know all about that, huh?"

"Yes... I guess." He smiled with a small shrug. "Did you like it? Transforming I mean?"

Though his kirin form was meant to be his natural form he had been ten before he ever changed to it and so it had felt a bit strange at first.

"It was amazing," Devero says wistfully. "Everything seemed so-- so simple, when I was a dog. And it was--" A pause, and his voice lowers before he continues. "It was easier to be happy."

He smiled softly. "I'm glad you got to experience it."

Even if it had only been for a short time. "Sometimes it's good... For things to be simple once in a while."

Because the rest of the time things were very complicated.

Catchall log for mid-Merriment, OTA!

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