TDM 011

[goldmods]

【 Thank you for choosing the Golden Peacock, 5-star resort and casino. You are currently registered as a WILDCARD in our system.

We are thrilled to announce that the Golden Peacock will be embracing autumn with a special outing. Current and new guests are invited to join us for a refreshing outdoor experience where participants can unplug, unwind, and connect with nature. During this time, all Watches will be disabled to the most basic functions (texting, calls, checking chip account) in order to encourage guests to disconnect.

Please look forward to two weeks of finding yourself amongst the trees. We hope you enjoy your stay, and have a fan-CAMP-stic time. 】

CAMPING

GETTING OFF THE GRID

As the resort moves into what it claims is autumn, the days grow shorter. The projected sun in the Vale sets in the afternoon, after which a faint chill falls. Then there’s the most excessive transformation of all – a portion of the Vale has transformed into a campground complete with a scenic lake, seemingly overnight. Statues nearby have been dressed up with flannel jackets and suspenders. Folksy banjo fills the air without any discernible source.

A section of the campgrounds have been reserved for tents. These tents vary in size, shape, and supplies. All tents, regardless of quality, are supplied with sex toys and lube. Staff and long-standing guests all agree — pretending to live in the wilderness and 'rough it' for a while is thrilling. This is what the peasants feel like all the time!

NOT ALL TENTS ARE EQUAL

► High-rank guests are allocated spacious and luxurious tents. These elaborate mini-homes come with TVs, beds, heaters, and plenty of supplies. Provided camping gear is high quality, ranging from state of the art flashlights to designer backpacks. It can't quite be considered roughing it in these tents, but glamping is camping too!

► Mid-rank guests are allocated moderate tents that comfortably fit up to three guests. These tents come with cots or sleeping bags, as well as standard camping gear to make their time living off the land fairly comfortable. While these tents lack the bells and whistles of the high-rank accommodations, they are more than enough for a comfortable but realistic camping experience.

► Low-rank guests are allocated the shabbiest tents. These sagging accommodations can shield one guest comfortably, but that doesn't stop staff from pairing low-ranking guests together in order to save space. Their 'sleeping bags' are a single blanket and hay bale pillow. There are no other included amenities aside from sex toys and a single lantern.

► Last but certainly not least: our Wildcards! All Wildcards have been randomly assigned. Whether they end up in a glamping tent or sleeping beneath a propped up sheet is left to chance. Wildcards also may find themselves waking up beside a current guest or another new arrival.

► Guests that "go camping" will discover that the door connecting the Vale to the rest of the resort has mysteriously vanished. Uh oh! Looks like there's no going back to the comfortable life anytime soon. Don't worry, the door will return when it's time to pack up and head home.

LET'S GET CRAFTY

► New characters still wake up naked save for a robe, as is standard for the Golden Peacock. This round’s robes are flannel gingham to embrace camping and autumn aesthetic. Some of these robes are much shorter than others; watch out that the lake breeze doesn’t reveal more than you wanted.

► Unlike the standard, there are no racks of clothes waiting for new arrivals outside of their tents. You're roughing it out in the woods, remember? Instead of clothing, Wildcards will find an assortment of raw materials to make clothes.

Fabric rolls, hemp, buckets of leaves, leather, and other assorted goods are waiting to be cobbled into something new. The staff have been kind enough to leave some small hunting knives and wooden needles to make crafting a bit easier. Of course, they won't stop anyone that wants to embrace the wild side and strut around naked.

HOME ON THE RANGE

Welcome to the Peacock Campgrounds! Nicknamed the Stomping Grounds by long-standing guests. Rustic and right off a sparkling lake, guests will find everything they need to live in the wilderness. Staff have expertly set up fire pits, benches, hammocks, and a wooden shed to act as a tool depository. There's even an outhouse, which is a real novelty to many of the long-standing guests. Do they just... squat over that hole and do their business? How wild!

Unlike previous resort-sponsored excursions, guests are expected to manage without the help of staff. That pile of wood won't be replenished once used; guests will have to go chop down trees and split their own. Food won't magically appear in their tents regardless of rank. Camping is all about living off the land. Though staff make themselves scarce to make the experience feel real, they lurk in the shadows, discreetly providing necessary tools and fixing broken equipment so guests won't struggle too much. It isn't fun if it's real hardship, after all!

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO COOK?

► On the first camp morning, guests will find barrels of ingredients and cooking utensils left beside the central fire pit. These barrels are stocked with fruits and vegetables that won't spoil quickly, many of which are seasonal to autumn. They have also been left a few protein options like eggs, jerky, and canned ham. These ingredients are communal and limited. Once they run out, guests will have to hunt and gather in the Vale to collect more.

► Guests must prepare their own meals while camping. Not even the high-ranks are given any special treatment on this! While oil and firestarter are included in the initial supply, these too are limited and won't be replenished after use.

► Staff would never let their precious guests go without a sweet treat. A generous supply of hot cocoa and all the fixings for s'mores has been left behind as well. While none of the other food will be replenished, the hot cocoa and s'mores goodies seemingly never run out. A night around a campfire without roasting marshmallows or sipping cocoa would be too cruel to subject guests to.

SUPPLIES RUNNING LOW

► Guests will have to hunt and gather once ingredients dwindle if they want to eat. The wooden shed is home to a selection of tools that can be used to hunt: bows and arrows, hatchets, axes, fishing poles and line, etc. All tools are rudimentary and can break if not taken care of.

► The Vale is lush with wild fruits and vegetables. However, much like in reality, not all vegetation in the Vale is safe to eat. While some berries and mushrooms are consumable, others are toxic or psychedelics. One must also not forget that they're in the Golden Peacock: some unusual plants that grow in the vale may trigger arousal. Watch out that you don't eat something funky by accident!

► Before 'leaving', staff will explain that guests can fish or hunt small game running throughout the Vale. One particularly enthusiastic staff member will suggest guests track down the snoggleboffs, as they're extremely delicious after roasting on an open fire.

ACTIVITIES

TWO WEEKS OF ROUGHING IT

Camping can't be all about survival. Where's the fun in that? Before 'leaving', the staff arrange activities and events for guests to enjoy. A wooden bulletin board outlines times for group hikes, camping experiences, and wilderness delights. Adirondack chairs line the edge of the lake and a few tire swings hang over the water, tied to strong tree branches. For the first week and a half the weather is pleasant and sunny. Perfect for camping.

At night, acoustic guitars and other wooden instruments come out so that guests can make music around the bonfire. Projected stars dapple the night sky, forming various constellations sourced from guest worlds. The moon enters a different phase each night, shining a gentle silver across the campgrounds. Why not pull your sweetheart in and cuddle beneath the night sky? It's so romantic.

IN CAMP

► Guests that don't want a cold shower should make their way over to the shower stalls quickly. These outdoor showers hold very little hot water and run cold after about five minutes. First-come first-serve!

► A wood-chopping competition begins around lunchtime. There are two goals: to split as much wood as possible and looking sexy while doing it. Guests that chop wood unsexily immediately fail! Alternatively, sexiness with a pathetic number of chunks is more acceptable, but still a loss. Those that achieve both goals will instantly win a large payout. Failing to sexily cut wood won’t have any penalties associated with it, and you can always try again tomorrow!

► Bear hunting is a popular activity that even the spoiled long-standing guests are getting in on! No, not hunting real bears. That would be insane. Peacock's version of bear hunting involves hunting down bear-like guests and capturing them! Any guest that fits the criteria of big, thick, and strong may potentially be assigned the role of bear. Hunters who manage to tie up, handcuff, net, or otherwise 'capture' a 'bear' will instantly receive a large payout.

THE LAKE

► This sparkling lake is rich with fish. Enjoy sitting back on the long pier with a fishing rod or take one of the wooden boats out for a row around the lake. It's also safe to swim in, for guests that would like to take a dip and rinse off the sweat of camp living! Don't mind the random swim trunks or drink umbrellas that pop up now and then. This water is definitely fresh and not recycled from the summer beach extravaganza.

► Guests that do decide to take a dip may encounter a familiar friend. Fernando the tentacle monster is camping too! This randy tentacle monster is as horny as ever, eager to embrace guests and stick slippery tentacles into any reachable orifice.

► Once the sun goes down, many of the long-standing guests strip off their shoddily crafted clothes and sprint into the water for skinny dipping by moonlight! What's a camping excursion without a lake-side orgy? The best way to drown out those erotic moans from the lake is to head to the central fire pit and join in on some campfire songs.

OUTSIDE CAMP

► Those that head out of camp for a hike or hunt can enjoy any of the Vale's usual wonders. With autumn, shiny apples dangle from the trees and pumpkins pepper beneath their protruding roots. Along with autumnal fruits and vegetables, canned beef and ham have been mysteriously left in pockets close to the campgrounds. A little act of kindness from the staff; not everyone is cut out to hunt their own game!

► For those interested in hunting down some fresh game, walking around the forest in the morning may come with a stroke of luck. Strange little creatures the size of an adult's fist are active during this time. These hairy beasts come in brown and white, and screech, "Scrun scrun screeee!" when agitated.

Yes, these are the alleged snoggleboffs! Don't feel bad about hunting them, they're an invasive species that are unfriendly and eager to steal from unsuspecting guests. Their main strength is their speed, but once caught, they don't put up much of a fight.

► Guests that explore deep into the Vale may find a dark cave mouth that leads downward into a damp chamber. The ceiling glitters with stalactites and, along the wall, they'll find a horizontal crease with what seems to be... hair? If touched, this crease will creak open, revealing a large eye that darts back and forth before focusing on whoever woke it. Black pupils and iris bleed into one endless abyss.

Those that gaze directly into the eye will freeze. Their mind will remain active while their body locks in place, not unlike sleep paralysis. This trance will break once the eye blinks, which it will do after some time... but it can also be forced into blinking by force if there's someone who hasn't made eye-contact around to help. Frozen guests will be overwhelmed with the fear of abandonment for the duration of their paralysis. This fear will fade after the connection is broken, as if it wasn't their fear at all.

Like a regular eye, dirt or debris can force a blink. If this route is taken, the eye will go bloodshot and shut, refusing to open again. Any guest that inflicts damage to the eye may find that their suite, upon return, has been trashed. As if someone or something threw a big tantrum in there while they were gone. Wonder why that happened...?

HOWLING

CALL OF THE WILD

Temperatures drop drastically at night as the camping excursion nears its end. Nights become so chilly that morning dew frosts over, crunching beneath guest feet. Every day the light and its warmth set a little bit earlier. Staff remain elusive and do not provide warmer blankets or clothes for guests, leaving them to cuddle for warmth or find other ways to sleep comfortably during nightly cold snaps.

The moon hits its apex on the final night of camping. Unlike the other nights, this full moon shines blood red. The Vale stills under this ominous sign, silent. Snowflakes begins to fall, spreading an endless clean sheet across the campgrounds. That reflected pink hue is inescapable.

THE WEATHER TURNS

► Along with chilly nights, the last few days of camping feature inclement weather conditions. Clouds overtake the sun and rain falls, alternating between light mist and heavy downpour.

► Winds pick up, with speeds threatening to whip away the less stable tents. Guests that don't hunker down and add additional support to their tents may end up chasing them into the storm. Other loose items around the campgrounds may end up blown away as well.

BLOOD MOON

► Wild instinct rises with the blood moon. As crimson moonlight beckons, some guests may begin to feel ... strange. As if they need to claw their true selves free. Those that answer the call to bathe in the light of the blood moon will undergo a transformation.

► Basking in the light of the blood moon triggers a were-transformation. While the standard were that the blood moon inspires is the classic werewolf, guests may transform into any kind of were. Along with hybrid transformation, the blood moon stirs mating and sex impulses in these new weres. Remaining humans are at risk of being eaten... in the sexy way.

► Transformation into a were is not mandatory. Other guests may step into the blood moon's light and not experience any kind of transformation or impulse. These guests are now actors in a sexy horror scene, given the task of surviving the night surrounded by monsters! At least they're sexy monsters? Giving in and fucking on the wild side may be more fun.

PACKING UP

► After the crazy weather and horny werewolves, the staff judge that it's high time to wrap this excursion up. Guests will once again openly see these diligent workers the morning after the blood moon. They come flooding into the site with clothing, snacks, and other comforts while praising everyone for surviving for so long without the resort's usual luxuries.

► A first aid tent and cleaning station are swiftly erected. All guests that volunteer to treat injuries sustained over the course of the camping experience or help clean up the site will be compensated with a large payout.

► Every guest that participated in the camping event, regardless of whether they help wrap things up, will be issued a spa voucher. Go relax, you've earned some pampering after all of that hard living!

OOC NOTES

INVITES | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS

▶ BLANKET CW: altered states; eyes (descriptions only, incl. eye injury); exhibitionism; hunting (incl. hunting fantasy creatures); orgies; public sex; survival; temperature play; tentacles; transformation; violence

▶ All characters on the TDM are WILDCARDS, which means they have not yet been assigned a card value. Suits will not manifest until characters are accepted into the game.

▶ All TDMs are game canon. This TDM acts as the game's September event. Camping will ICly begin September 15th and end October 3rd.

▶ Current characters may top level on the TDM. Any current characters posting to the TDM should note they are current in their subject header.

▶ The top level directory is for new characters only. We want to make sure new characters are prioritized and receive attention! If you would be interested in a game invitation, you can note that in your comment header.

▶ Smut threads that take place on this TDM can be used for rewards. If both parties in the smut thread join the game, you may retroactively apply the character's initial card values to your 52 bank. If one character does not join the game the thread will not be applicable toward rewards (as that character would not have a card value). The character that does join would still receive a small payout for the encounter. Hopefully it was a fun thread regardless!

▶ We ask you to kindly add content warnings to your threads as appropriate.

▶ If you do not currently have permissions and kinks listed in your character’s journal we suggest leaving a note in your top level of any limits or boundaries for other players to reference.

NAVIGATION • LOG • NETWORK • OOC • MEME

Comments

[snakelace]

The only kind of trouble they’re apt to encounter in a place like this, Baizhu thinks, is the one designed to encourage…ah, intimacy.

The fact that Phainon doesn’t seem to have realized it yet means that he still has some keeping up to do—because Baizhu isn’t blind. He’s just glancing back to make sure that Phainon’s all right, of course. The fact that he can enjoy the way the cool green light of his magic illuminates every mark, every line of muscle.

Right, Phainon’s gesturing to something, and with a sigh of no small regret he casts the light toward the cave walls with a chuckle.

“Be careful not to touch anything, now. Unless you’re willing to take responsibility, that is.”

[greatestworks]

Phainon has eyes. He's learning - the habits carved into him through the long and arduous journey won't be overcome so easily. As he approaches the fungal growth, he plucks from his waistband the burlap sack he'd tucked there, unraveling it with a flick of his wrist. Baizhu's warning brings him up short.

Take resp--

Blue eyes catching the light, he angles a glance back at the doctor over his shoulder, choosing to meet his chuckle with a sly smile.

"Hey, I can be a gentleman, don't sell me short," he tosses back, the stakes low and his tone lighter than the caution sinking into him as he turns back. Phainon now regards the mushrooms with renewed suspicion. On second thought... he'd better heed that advice. Pushing his hand through the bag to turn it inside out, he uses the rough-woven material like a glove, grasping the gilled shelf with bated breath. Carefully wiggling it until its grip on the rotted roots loosens, the fruiting body comes away without consequence.

After a moment, Phainon steps back into the pool of Dendro light, a thoughtful frown on his face. He's no expert by any means, but he's foraged before, but the problem is that everything he's used to is worlds away. Not to mention... fundamentally different in its origins and composition from anything here.

"I don't recognize this at all... What do you think," he asks, "Worth bringing back with us?"

[snakelace]

He chuckles, gazing down at Phainon’s haul with a smile and a nod of satisfaction, as he tumbles in a few other specimens he’d gathered himself—barehanded at first glance, but there’s no mistaking the sheen of magic on his fingers and palms as he’d gathered up his bounty.

“A perfect gentleman and a capable research assistant. I wonder where else your talents might lie…”

There’s a sly glint to his serpentine eyes that’s there and gone again as he turns around to cast his light deeper into the cave. A trail of bioluminescent growths glows in response, as though beckoning them ever closer.

“Now, come along. I’m sure we’ll be able to find something you can add to your stews.”

[greatestworks]

Phainon's eyebrows shoot up, but the searching look in his eyes telegraphs how he's realizing how Baizhu had protected his hands. Resourceful, sure, but that also demonstrates how Baizhu thinks outside of the box. A power that generates light and protects from harm... yet doesn't make the air smell as sweet as a soft spring rain like a certain other healer.

"Gladly," he says agreeably, giving the satchel a shake before he closes it, tucking one end of it into the robe tied around his hips. If they do end up acquiring some edible mushrooms, they'll be a valuable source of flavor and nutrients, and not only that, if dried out, they'll keep quite a lot better than some of the other stuff they forage in the Vale.

"If you don't mind indulging my curiosity," Phainon asks, his guard lowering in light of their moderate success, "I've a few questions about that power of yours."

[snakelace]

Perhaps not so much the rain itself, but of the forest after the rain, of tender shoots pushing out of the wet soil as they stretch themselves toward sunlight.

Baizhu’s magic isn’t the only source of light and warmth here, as it turns out.

“Please feel free. I’m always happy to indulge you.”

Phainon can take that as he wills as they venture further and further into the toothy maw of this damp cavern, where more bioluminescent patches of mushrooms glow amid stalactites and stalagmites reaching out for them like giant, grasping fingers.

Quite hospitable, this cave.

[greatestworks]

It's pleasant. Much like his conversations with Baizhu. Thus far, the man has proven himself to be someone he can take seriously, a learned man with a playful and coy personality. It makes playing 'research assistant' not too bad an experience. The warm glow of Dendro is cooled by the bioluminescent light that softly grows the deeper into the cave they explore.

That glow is captured in the blue of Phainon's eyes, while obscuring Baizhu's, reflecting on the lenses of his glasses, lending the other man a mysterious aura.

"Forgive my ignorance, but I don't think I've seen anything like it."

Well... that's not entirely true, but it is in the way Phainon sees it. He continues, "Providing light, even protecting your body... what could you tell me about this versatile ability of yours?"

[snakelace]

“Those eyes of yours don’t miss much, do they?”

He’s noticed the unusual nature of those pupils, of course, even if he knows that all this can just be attributed to Phainon’s being observant. It’s not at all surprising, considering how attentive he’d been since the moment they met.

It’s almost as if he’s the type to put himself before others, even at great personal cost…

“But, to answer your question…I suppose you can call it a blessing, a power bestowed upon me by the god of wisdom and nature.”

[greatestworks]

As for that first observation, Phainon answers him with a silent smile. He could say the same of Baizhu, as he's only seen pupils like that on the sole survivor of Dolos, but for the little he knows, it's no more different or peculiar from anyone else from the lands he calls home.

Speaking of observant...

"The gifts of the gods are not given freely," Phainon answers, not so much the warning it might sound like as much as an acknowledgment of the assumed sacrifices made to obtain such power.

"Does this god have a name?" He asks not out of any special desire to know more about the powers that be in this world or any other, but because with every word Baizhu says, he feels he's gaining a better understanding of the man he has chosen to protect.

[snakelace]

His light flickers briefly at the mention of the gift of the gods, and for a moment he forgets the question spoken aloud.

Then he chuckles, as lightly as he can, as though the crushing weight of his terrible ambition and two long years spent stewing over it in this strange and perverse world hasn’t been eating away at him.

He might be overcompensating just a little.

“You sound as though you’re speaking from experience.”

[greatestworks]

"In a way," Phainon freely admits, "Amphoreus has a long and... storied history with the gods, their gifts, and their influence on our civilization."

Now, is Baizhu dodging the subject? He's not so sure. This is nonetheless an interesting conversation, and it's much too soon to tell if his company has something to hide. He'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt, and besides - it's not really like the name of a god of a distant world matters much to him.

But if he is avoiding the subject, that invites the question of why.

[snakelace]

He’s definitely not Sumerian, then, though the unfamiliar name only makes Phainon an even more curious study. The mark of the sun glinting faintly upon the other man’s skin are emblematic of Natlanese art, and yet…

No, there’s no point in speculating over a man who’s clearly not from Teyvat.

He certainly looks like he might be, though.

“I wonder about that… The Lesser Lord Kusanali isn’t overly fond of interfering in mortal affairs, or so I’ve heard, but she does provide her assistance whenever she can.”

[greatestworks]

Perhaps he needs to spontaneously combust to fully make a connection. Too on the nose? Yeah.

"Interesting," he answers, reflecting on that information as he pauses to tap his fist against his chin thoughtfully. While it's not unheard of for a god to be distant and uncooperative with mortals, the title used here begs another question: Phainon opens his fist, asking, "Is there a Greater Lord?"

His steps have slowed; there's a cluster of luminous mushrooms that seem a little brighter than the others surrounding it, and of a lighter shade, too. Curious, he takes to a knee for a closer look, motioning for the other man to join him.

[snakelace]

“Who knows?”

He kneels down to inspect this new find, clustered beneath some odd wrinkling of the cave wall. How strange. A lifetime in the land of Geo informs him that such seams in the rock are unusual.

Little does he know that he’s pondering quite insignificant subjects in light of the fascinating muscular medical anomaly kneeling next to him, asking him thoughtful questions like a dutiful student.

“History is a bit foggy on their existence. Perhaps, like these mushrooms, there is a great deal of knowledge just buried underneath.”

Just how deeply do the mycelia of these fungi penetrate? He reaches for one with his hand glowing, but pauses over the cap of one mushroom with a frown, as he senses some faint stirring in their surroundings.

A trick of the dim light, perhaps?

[greatestworks]

"Lost to time, huh?" he guesses, his attention fixing on Baizhu as he answers. Maybe he's just taking advantage of the opportunity to scrutinize him more closely. Between the two of them, the herbalist is by far more willowy and delicate. Although remarking on his eyes would be a little hypocritical on Phainon's part, he's noticed.

Now, he's noticing something else, his pale brows furrowing as he starts to rise to his feet, shoulders squared.

There's a building tension in the air. He can't pinpoint it immediately, whether what he senses is a kind of bloodlust of a passing predator or some sort of malevolent intent. It's almost like a draft on the air, different from the trickle of breeze moving steadily away from the entrance to the cave.

"...Sh," he hisses briefly in warning, scanning the depths of the cave ahead. Movement, out of the corner of his eye, bids him to turn, just as dark, sparse 'fronds' lift from the wrinkled rift in the earthen wall, and he finds himself faced with the impossibly dark iris of an equally impossibly large eye.

Phainon is barely able to register the sight with a gasp before he feels as though he's fallen into that great, black terminus staring back at them. What starts as the momentary drop of his stomach, the surprise of expecting a step on a staircase and instead putting one's foot down over nothing spirals into a visceral feeling he knows too well.

[snakelace]

Instinct tells him to glance opposite the wall, but the sound of Phainon’s voice draws his gaze upward, where the faintly illuminated outline of the man’s impressive build appears to seize up, as though frozen in fear.

“Phai—”

Which in turn causes dread to seep into Baizhu’s gut as he turns toward the wall where Phainon’s facing, his mouth hanging open in a soundless cry as his eyes likewise meet with the pitch-dark gaze of some monstrous being…

The light of his Dendro is immediately snuffed out, plunging them both into deeper darkness still.

[greatestworks]

With only the faint, ethereal glow of the mycelia can eith of them make out the outline of each others bodies; but what could they do but see only that endless, bottomless dark swallowing them into the eye’s fathomless gaze?

Phainon is no stranger to the existential dread, the formless fear that sinks into his marrow. This spirals slowly into the terror that must fight or flee, and still his body refuses the call.

What is it? What does it want? If they don’t get away, they will surely be devoured-

He has to get him out of here!

A dim spark ignites, a soft, golden glow stealing into his eyes, as his unseen battle with himself rages. The pale blue glow all around the cave marks all the physical manifestations of his fear, every bump on his skin, every bead of cold sweat, the quickening of his breath. Phainon’s fingertips tremble; still, he cannot move.

[snakelace]

Somewhere within him Baizhu sees only the eternity he imagines his friend Keita to have glimpsed—the long stretch of years and silence awaiting him, the fact that he must suffer alone, Changsheng having faded away…

But…

The glow at the edges of his vision snaps him out of his daze, and his Vision glows as the mushrooms they’d been observing earlier immediately swell, before bursting in a glittering blue burst of spores dusting their bodies and irritating the massive eye, which promptly shuts in response—

[greatestworks]

Like a marionette whose strings have been cut, Phainon staggers with a grunt of surprise. He scarcely gives himself the chance to take stock of his body; an arm catches up Baizhu and drags him up against the other man’s sturdy frame.

Spores rain down around them, their persistent glow like snowflakes falling through a moonbeam, impossibly beautiful despite the overwhelming danger echoed by the pounding in his chest.

To urge him on ahead, Baizhu is given a shove before he sets off at a run. If the other man stumbles, if he seems about to fall behind, then he’ll he intercepted by Phainon’s shoulder and pulled up against his body, carried over a shoulder.

If they have time for apologies, he’ll have them. Later.

[snakelace]

Were it not for Phainon Baizhu would have dropped to his feet. Instead, he stumbles dazedly along, conscious of danger but not quite registering what it is just yet, beyond simply allowing his body to react to Phainon’s as they hurry out of the cave, the persistent glow of his Vision now lighting the way.

He barely even notices the spores, as he’s too busy struggling to keep up—eventually allowing himself to get hoisted over that muscular shoulder he’d been cheerfully admiring only moments before until they finally escape the darkness of that cave, his Vision’s glow fading at last, the glitter of spores dissipating behind them.

Their bodies are still streaked with sweeps of color from their adventure, innocently catching the artificial sunlight as Baizhu finally exhales, and manages a feeble—

“Are you all right?”

[greatestworks]

A sprint like that, even while carrying Baizhu, isn't enough to wind Phainon; the soft pant is the dregs of instinctual panic and adrenaline burning away in his golden blood. To think, after everything he has seen and experienced, there are still mysteries like this - as ineffable as time.

Phainon's mind struggles with what he's just seen. Rather than continue to gnaw on an unsolvable puzzle, he focuses on the things he can do anything about. Coincidentally, it means his own voice - bold, a little shaken - speaks the same question in time with Baizhu's feeble:

"Are you all right?"

He sighs, taking this moment to cast back a glance at the cave before he hazards taking a knee, leaning Baizhu against that bent leg and his shoulder, his arm heavy around the doctor's more slender frame.

"I'm fine."

Even if this provides him with a sliver of comfort, its purpose is a little more self-evident: it's in case he needs to grab him and run again, keeping one eye trained on the cave mouth as he spares them a moment to regroup. "...You saw it, didn't you? It almost looked like-"

[snakelace]

“An eye.”

He can feel his stomach lurching at the memory, his arms closed loosely about Phainon’s shoulders even if he should have taken the opportunity to pull away.

Somehow in this moment he’s afraid to be alone, even if he can only think of Changsheng slumbering away in the more opulent part of the campgrounds the staff had prepared for them. He can feel aching emptiness on his shoulders, and shudders.

But Phainon has it worse, he thinks, as he presses a hand to the man’s cheek. His palm and all the rest of him are smeared with spores still glittering faintly in the light of day, and he knows that they’ll need to take care of that soon, but for now…

He takes a deep breath, peers into those wide blue eyes with the strange sigils within—

“What did you see?”

[greatestworks]

Phainon's head bobs, just slightly, reluctant to take his eyes off the cave entrance. The negligible weight of Baizhu's arms loosely placed around his shoulders is reassuring, but he would feel better with the weight of Dawnmaker in his fist.

An eye. Impossibly large, growing out of the very earth. And it's gaze...

A violent urge rises in him, a smoldering thought whispering that it's too dangerous. What if it ensnares someone else, someone who won't be as lucky as they were?

It cannot be suffered to live-

Baizhu's palm steers his attention away; the cool of his touch brings down the temperature of the Destruction simmering in his veins. In truth, Phainon is a little taken aback, when the gesture seems so intimate, so tender. His throat convulses through a swallow.

"Nothing. I saw... nothing." It was a feeling, old and familiar, the absolute desolation at the end of everything, and the rage, the all-consuming fury that threatened to fill the vacant void, anything to propel him onward. It was the same... again, and again.

And again, in Nikador's trial. "You?"

[snakelace]

“Eternity, I think.”

His eyes flutter shut for a moment as he recalls that awful feeling as he stared into the depths of that abyssal gaze.

Cracking open his eyes, he adds, “Or perhaps it was death. I can’t be certain.”

It’s the kind of thing he might joke about, if he were in a joking mood. But all this does is bring to mind other terrors, from months and months ago. He’d thought they would all be confined to those hidden corridors the staff use, but it appears that this new cave might be in a similar vein.

Perhaps even literally.

But it seems that whatever he recalls pales in comparison to what Phainon must be feeling, what Baizhu can sense from the little tells from his body language, the faint glow of gold he’d seen in the dark.

“Phainon…”

[greatestworks]

His breath shudders.

Death would have been a kindness, he thinks. Eternity... now that's warmer. He was afraid. Desperately. Like forever was spread out before him and he would be rooted there, unmoving, to bear the crushing weight of loneliness. Was it... different, then, for Baizhu? Did it feel that way because of-

The great, imposing image of Kephale, the Dawn Device shining on their back, appears when he closes his eyes. Baizhu says his name, and he opens them.

"I was trying to think of a way to prevent anyone from stumbling on..." he shakes his head, "That thing.

"Forgive me, but I must cut our search short."

What can he do, without a weapon? Plenty. But he doesn't want to risk Baizhu's safety more than he already has, and... admittedly, Phainon thinks he might need backup for this. And he has a pretty good idea of who will be up for the challenge - not to mention, uniquely suited to a being that evokes such primal terror.

[snakelace]

“Of course, but…”

They’d both just gone through quite a terrifying ordeal, and already Phainon’s thinking of dealing with that creature. And Baizhu…he can’t help but recall the heartbeats in the dark, the way the staff had fallen ill…

His other hand squeezes at Phainon’s shoulder.

“You should take care of yourself first.”

Much as he agrees that they need to at least put up a sign warning others from entering, well, he can feel an unnatural warmth permeating his skin, the blue dusting of spores scattered all over his clothing (for he’d been permitted to keep his usual attire, impractical as it is), smeared over his exposed arms and midriff, and he knows their escape hadn’t come without a cost.

How to explain this to a poor, traumatized newcomer…

“As a matter of fact, we’d best return to our tents before the urge takes us.”