Atrophy
Evil Ghost Note
Neziul
DrDistasteful
Simply Not Real
Ohm
VenusSundew
Interactions: Olivia’s Mom
Saturday, October 28th. 2:01pm.
Luca’s ApartmentWith nervous anticipation, Luca stared his phone.
He was sitting in his bedroom on the floor, cross legged and with his phone in front of him. It was the day that he and Olivia would normally call - and this week he'd hoped that she would. But there was still nothing. Maybe he should just call her himself? Maybe she was just busy? It was difficult to keep his thoughts from spiralling, even for someone as positive as him.
Not, it was fine! He should just call her.
Luca leaned forward and tapped the call button, easily finding Olivia's number. He leaned back as it started to ring.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Click- the person you are calling can't come to the phone right now. Please-
Luca shot out his hand to hang up before the full message played, dread pooling in his stomach.
Maybe she was just busy? No, it had been too long. He’d have to call her family again… With a frown, Luca dialed Olivia’s family home landline. After a few beeps it got through.
“Hello, Maria Ruiz speaking, who is this?”
”Hi, Mrs Ruiz? It's Luca.”
"Oh, Luca! What can I do for you?"
”It's about Olivia... she still isn't picking up my calls. ”
"Don't worry about that, Olivia came home a few days ago!"
Huh? Without telling him?
"She said she was very busy, and had to go somewhere with work. Didn't give much details, but don't worry too much. It's lovely how close you two still are, but she seemed to have a lot to do. I'm sure she'll call you when she's got time."
”That’s a relief. How is she, apart from being busy?”
"Perfectly fine! Well, she seemed a bit off, but she’s just stressed."
”Off how?”
“Oh just in a hurry, not wanting to talk to us on her way in… But as I said, she’s really busy. I’m sure she’ll be back to normal when she gets back home. No need for you to worry anymore.”
”Alright.” Something seemed… strange about it, but Luca tried to ignore that feeling. Why would it feel strange? Olivia was alive and fine, just acting a bit different because of stress. Nothing to worry about! ”Let her know I was asking after her.”
“Of course! She’s so lucky to have a friend like you. Was there anything else you called for?”
”No, just checking up on Olivia. I’ll let you go now.”
“Take care, Luca. Goodbye.”
”Bye.”
Luca reached over to hang up the call. He didn't have the energy to control his abstraction, phone disintegrating beneath his fingers as soon as he'd tapped the end call button. Ah well. He had another one, and was incredibly familiar with the process of getting his number swapped over.
He leaned back against the mattress that served as his bed, eyes half closed. It was strange for Olivia to be so busy without telling him. Not a single text, or even an email. It wasn't like her... But at least she was alright! That was a weight off his chest. His mind had been going to worse and worse places about what had happened to her, his positivity eroding away as the rot gleefully latched onto his worries. But Olivia was alive and safe, just busy. That was more than enough. He could concentrate on keeping everyone else alive.
With a yawn, Luca crawled into bed. It was only the middle of the day but he was exhausted after the last two nights, and the phone call had taken a lot out of him. Thankfully he'd gotten enough work done that morning... And Jasper wasn't around today, so he wouldn't be causing anyone worry by sleeping the day away. He'd been struggling a lot more physically, especially with some kind of skeleton creature constantly interrupting their nights. The mental load of pretending to not be falling apart was an added stress on top of the constant decay of his body. He was so tired, and everything ached.
Hopefully if he slept most of the day, he'd feel a bit better tomorrow when Jasper was back. That would work. Luca curled up on the threadbare mattress, pulling a holey blanket over him. The already straining threads began to come apart where it touched his bare skin, unravelling into new holes. It wouldn't be there when he woke up, but that was fine. He had plenty more.
He pulled his knees up to his chest, curling into a tight ball, and shoved his face into a lumpy pillow. It didn't take long for sleep to pull him in, exhaustion outweighing the constant burning sensation across his skin and the bed rotting around him.
Jasper put his car into park outside Lucas apartment complex. He had just got dressed back at his place, and was in costume. His body had visible cuts, bruises, and bandages. The past week was rough, but he and Luca had powered through it all the same. Today was a day that Jasper looked forward to, and it appeared that their Skelly foe had granted them at least a few days reprieve from the attacks. His costume fit well, and his legs were fully on display. His chest hair found an escape route through the top of the dress itself, and he had gone a few days without a shave to truly commit to the role (he still trimmed it into a clean look). As he opened the door and stepped outside, he and a random stranger locked eyes. The stranger looked at his costume, back to his eyes, and then they simply shook their head and walked away.
“Prick,” Jasper whispered as he entered Luca’s building.
Eventually he made his way to the elevator, up to Luca’s floor, and back out of the elevator. He looked down the hall and saw that the paint was finally cleared, and the broken window replaced. A smile crept across his face. Maybe things were returning to normal, maybe it was over. The smile faded. No. It wasn’t over. Skelly would be back. Skelly would try and kill then both again He had to be ready. He needed to protect Luca. Jasper walked forward with a frown before he got to Luca’s door and knocked. His smile returned and was genuine. He was genuinely happy to see Luca again, the two had grown closer over the past week. Was it because they were two awesome people? Was it because a weeklong fight against a four armed skeleton tends to make those engaged in the fighting closer? Who cared, all Jasper knew is that he was looking forward to the festival tonight, and looking forward to spending more time with Luca.
The door opened just a crack, with a single eye peeking out. When Luca realised it was Jasper he threw it open the rest of the day.
”Jasper! Phew, I was worried it was a delivery…” He grinned. Luca felt just… a little uncomfortable in the green dress he was wearing. He knew that he passed pretty well, but there were just some things he didn’t have! Like the chest hair he got a full sight of as soon as he opened the door- shit, he didn’t have that. At least his legs, short as they were, were hairy enough to work for the look. Just like Jasper he was covered in cuts and bruises. They had slowly started healing the last couple of days, but about half had reopened just from him existing. It was difficult having such fragile skin… but hey! At least the skeleton hadn’t appeared the last few days! And he got to spend time with Jasper… and Lila and Lynn.
”Come in, come in,” Luca stepped back into the halloween, before glancing over Jasper. A light blush dusted his cheeks as his gaze moved down to Jasper’s legs- nope! Just a totally cool dude checking out his totally cool dude friend’s legs. Normal friend behaviour. ”Damn, you look good, bro- I can’t believe how well these turned out.”
“I had faith,” Jasper sighed at the accidental joke, “and fuck yeah we do, I was never worried about you looking good but it really did work a miracle on my legs,” he paused as he flexed them, “Lynn wanted a photo of us in costume but I told her she would have to wait for perfection,” he paused as he looked at his phone. Lynn had already sent several photos of Lynn and Lila on the way to the festival. They were currently on the ferry and had run into Sypha. It seemed the 317 would be very much present at the festival today.
Though that did put an idea into guy his head. A photo would be nice. Today would be a good day, and he knew he would want that memory to pop back up again as time went on. Jasper looked up to Luca and smiled. The confidence that man had was something that Jasper aspired for. Jasper was confident enough in himself to pull off a look like this and it wasn’t his first time in a dress, but he was also tall and muscular so he knew that he’d be afforded more grace in this outfit than Luca would. Thus, the fact that he was so quick to agree to it and have the audacity to look as good as he did was enough to force Jasper’s smiles wider.
“Luca, let’s get a photo together. Something silly, something fun! Lila and Lynn are going to be all over us later for group photos, I want one with just you before we get that camera fatigue.”
”Hell yeah!” Luca grinned, trying not to think too much about Jasper’s legs. Especially when he flexed them. Calm thoughts! Friendly thoughts! He glanced down at his own skinny legs with a slight sigh. If only it was possible for him to bulk up at all. Well, it was all good. He looked back up with a grin. ”We should do a cutesy fighting pose! You can probably prop your phone on something on the breakfast bar… Definitely gotta use yours, mine has a shit camera.”
Jasper quickly moved to the breakfast bar, careful to not kick up the skirt as he did. While he did have some compression shorts on to keep things.. contained, he still felt the need to do his part himself. He eventually found a way to prop it up, and started the fifteen second timer. He quickly moved back to the side of Luca, expertly keeping out of range of his rot, and struck a pose. He placed his hands on his hip, moved his feet out wide, and puffed out his chest. He took one look at Luca and smiled wide.
Luca put one hand on his hip and thrust it out to the side, while throwing up a fist in the air with his other arm. He smiled brightly, eyes creasing. His raised arm shook slightly, but he managed to hold the pose until the timer had finished counting down and a quiet click sounded.
”Oh, I bet we looked so good,” Luca dropped his arm, turning to Jasper with a grin. He really wanted to see the picture, but it would have to be at a distance or sent to his current phone.. He definitely didn’t want to destroy Jasper’s much nicer one. ”Will you send it to me?”
“Of course we did, we’re both hot,” Jasper said with a wink. He turned his phone showing the photo from a distance, waited a few seconds so Luca could look, before he turned the phone over and sent the photo directly. His eyes lingered on the chat. The two had been up late texting the night before. Jasper paused as her looked at the time. They were a short drive to the ferry, and he wanted to ensure that they made the crossing. “We should get going soon, you ready for tonight? I’ve needed this kind of escape.”
”Oh yeah, I can’t wait,” Luca grinned down at his phone, concentrating on not destroying it. The picture was good… on a whim he set it to his lockscreen. Not like his phone would last that long anyway. He then slipped it into his pocket. ”I haven’t been to the halloween festival since i was… fourteen I think. I’m so excited to get to hang out together and see all the stuff there is to do.”
He’d never expected he could again. He was still not 100% sure about it, because he’d have to be careful around any crowds - but at least Jasper, Lila and Lynn could block him off from other people and the risk of blinds getting close enough to be hurt. ”Lemme just grab my bag…” he scurried towards the couch, grabbing a drawstring sports bag. He’d shoved an extra set of underlayers and a few bottles of painkillers just in case. Today felt like a good day, but you never knew. ”Alright, I’m ready, vamos!”
Jasper led the way down to his car. He could not help but notice that he kept sneaking a look at Luca. If it was just one he’d not think too much about it, but it was a few times. It was totally straight to want to look at a handsome friend every chance you got, right? His car was once again clean, save for the two bags in the backseat. Both were filled to the brim with painting supplies, snacks, and a few claw hammers. A single sledgehammer sat next to the bags, though this one was painted up and decorated with doodles. The drive to the ferry was a short one, and they arrived just in time for the next ferry. It was crowded. Jasper did his best to keep the blind, and otherwise, away from Luca by using his body as a shield.
“Don’t worry bro” Jasper smiled, “I’ll keep them away from you.”
”Thanks dude,” Luca let out a soft sigh of relief. It was difficult being around so many people - thankfully it would take a while for his aura to damage people, even if they were blind, but it would cause instant, intense pain. He wanted to avoid that.
He was like a little kid getting on the ferry, looking around with wide eyes and slightly parted lips. He’d hardly left his apartment the past ten years, outside of time spent with 8th Street, nevermind getting on a boat! He’d forgotten what the sea breeze felt like. He practically ran to one of the railings when they set off, leaning against it and out - his clothes providing a protective layer between him and the metal, so he wasn’t actually going to fall over. The wind tousled his hair, messing up the middle parting he’d put it in.
”Hey, Jasper, look!” he pointed out into the water, where a round grey head could be seen. ”A seal! Lucky us!”
Jasper couldn’t help but keep his eyes on Luca as he had his titanic moment. The way the wind rustled through his hair, making a mess of what was once perfect, the way he had a look of awe about him as he experienced the wonder of the ocean, and the way.. Jasper pulled himself from the thoughts and smiled. He could’ve stayed in those thoughts for the rest of the day, in a totally straight way. This was nice. They had done nothing yet but it felt like they’d done everything together today already. In a totally straight way. “That’s too cool, I’ve been on this ferry many times and I’ve never seen one before. It seems you’re a good luck charm,” Jasper joked as he leaned over the railing next to Luca. “So, you haven’t been to this festival in a minute. What’s the first thing you want to do? Haunted mansion? Food? Both?”
The seal disappeared beneath the waves, and Luca turned his head towards Jasper. He let his arms dangle over the railing, careful not to touch it with his bare hands. ”Hmm, that’s a hard one… How bout we get food first, so we have fuel for the haunted mansion. Or maybe we should save that till last? Do the best thing at the end. And hey,” Luca grinned, eyes twinkling mischievously - he would’ve nudged Jasper if he could, ”try not to get too scared if any skeletons jump out at you.”
“Why would I be scared when my big strong protector is right beside me,” Jasper said as he winked.
”That’s true,” Luca laughed, blushing slightly… but quickly ignoring that. It was normal for his face to heat up! Beside the ocean! Somehow! ”Don’t worry, I’ll keep any skeletons away from you! Or anything else that tries to hurt you, like Sloane.”
Jasper laughed. He laughed hard. “I would never put you in that kind of danger. I wouldn’t want her to glare at you. Or say a snarky retort.”. Jasper looked down. Why did he dislike Sloane? The sudden mention of her made him laugh, but it also bright a raging fire of hate that the cute face of Luca barely kept down. Was it something she did, did she say something? There had to be a reason, somewhere in the past, that caused Jasper to feel this way. Jasper thought for a second and his mind drew a blank. Maybe this week of chaos had helped finally put some perspective into his life? Maybe as long as Sloane did not speak, or show her face, Jasper could put this hatred down.
“But thank you, I’ll try not to be too defenseless, especially when it comes to Sloane. That is my cross to bear.” Jasper paused. There was something.. nice about Luca fighting the fight for him. Something that Jasper did not want to dwell on for too long. Instead, he focused on the straight thought of their plans for the rest of the day. Maybe if they were lucky they could hold hands? No… no they would be totally straight ideas, just like Jasper. “I think Lynn will go straight to the drink stands, and Lila too. When we land I’ll check in with them, maybe we can grab food together and then meet up with everyone else!”. Mission accomplished, straight.
”Alright, but I can handle an occasional glare or snarky retort,” Luca laughed. Though honestly, Sloane had never been mean to him. He didn’t think she was so bad… Just a bit dull. She needed to lighten up a little, but thankfully he brought enough positivity for anyone! Not that he needed to provide it all when with Jasper. ”Sure, let’s grab food first then meet up with them… I don’t want to get dragged to loads of drink stands without food first!”
Not that he could drink at all. His liver would probably just stop working. He smiled and leaned over the railing, gaze shifting to the nearing island. ”Oh, we’re almost there! I can hear the overpriced halloween food calling for me!”
“Like a siren on the wind,” Jasper joked as he stood up. He looked towards the island, and back to Luca. “Let’s try and get off last to be safe,” Jasper suggested. Both to protect the blind, and to steal away a few more moments of alone time before the crazy tonight.
”Good idea,” Luca nodded. It was nice having Jasper look out for him and make sure he didn’t hurt anyone… He hadn’t had that since Olivia moved away. Though it was different than with Olivia… because Jasper was a great bro. It was the difference between manly friendship and non manly friendship! Definitely. ”The food can wait for me.”
As the ship docked, Luca hung back - thankfully not many people went past the area they were in. It was nice to have a little bit more time together, on the peaceful ferry as people unloaded. Luca subtly looked at Jasper, trying not to focus too much on how good he looked in a dress. The bubbly feelings in his stomach was definitely manliness jealousy. Definitely.
”Looks like most people are off, should we get going?”
Jasper thought for a second. He did not really want to go quite yet. He was enjoying the company, the conversation, and some more alone time with Luca. It wasn’t like they were not having alone time, they spent a few nights at Luca’s and hung out during the days, but it was still something that he was left wanting more. But he knew he could not stay here for long, and as such he turned to Luca. “Yeah, let’s get going. My guardian will need a full belly to protect me tonight.”
”Yeah, I don’t want to keel over at the first skeleton,” Luca laughed. He’d also have liked to spend more time on the boat - because it was safe and quiet. He wanted to see Lila and Lynn as much as he wanted to spend more time with Jasper, of course. He started to make his way off the ferry, glad to not have to avoid many people. Once they were off, he looked around with eyes wide with excitement. There were stalls as far as the eye could see, and people milling around in all sorts of outfits.
”I want to get candied apples!” Luca’s eyes honed in on a candied apple stall, with sickly looking apples covered in all sorts of designs. ”Wait, we should get something more filling first. Hmm… any suggestions?”
“Hmmmm….. candy apples do sound delicious,” Jasper paused as he looked around the area. “How about we grab a pair of apples first because they caught your fancy, and then eat them while in line for three more filling food?”
”Sounds like a plan,” Luca grinned. He expertly weaved through the crowds, avoiding getting too close to anyone as he did. The line for the candied apple stall wasn’t too big, thankfully. He glanced up at Jasper. ”What do you want? I’ll treat you to this one, since you’ll have to help shield me from crowds.”
Jasper looked over the various options and put his hand on his chin. In truth he’d want to sample one of everything, but at same time he did not want to bankrupt Luca. “You can never go wrong with the classic,” Jasper said as he pointed to the simple caramel coated apple. “You know if you treat me to this one I’ll have to buy your dinner?” Jasper smirked at Luca as he finished.
”Oh no, you figured out my evil plan!” Luca laughed, winking at Jasper. ”I buy you a candied apple, and you have to buy me a full meal in return!”
Luca grinned teasingly. They’d reached the front of the line already, so he ordered two candied apples - a classic one for Jasper, and one absolutely coated in chocolate for himself. He took them both, concentrating hard on suppressing his rotting touch, and handed Jasper’s over to him.
”Oh, do you mind holding this for me for a moment?” He held out his candied apple, swinging his back round to the front and rummaging in it with his free hand. He’d brought a few pairs of gloves for stuff like this - didn’t quite go with the costume, but necessary so he didn’t have to worry while eating.
“Of course,” Jasper grabbed both apples and held them up while Luca grabbed his gloves. “I knew you were evil Luca, playing me for food like this. I am hurt,” Jasper chuckled as he paused, “I was going to buy you a full meal regardless, so the jokes on you for buying me this snack.”.
”Damn, foiled again,” Luca shook his head in fake despair. He pulled on a pair of lycra gloves and reached out for his apple. He wasn’t so worried about accidentally touching Jasper like this, so his gloved fingers gently brushed Jasper’s as he grabbed the apple. ”Well, guess it’s just a nice gesture then, rather than an evil scheme.”
He grinned, biting into his apple. Fuck. It was harder than he’d expected and his teeth weren’t as strong as they should be. He suppressed a wince, moving to nibbling rather than massive bites. ”Where to for something more filling? There’s too many options!”
“Well,” Jasper paused as he looked around. His face a slight more blush toned after the brushing of hands. There was a pierogi, pizza, burger, and some ox meat sandwich food stand in the immediate area. “You down for some pierogi’s?”
”Hell yeah I am!” Luca nodded, starting to make his way over to that stall, and joining the end of the queue. ”Well I’ve never actually had them, but always down to try something.”
Interactions: None
Anya’s ApartmentAnya woke up with a start.
Her alarm hadn’t gone off yet, with the late morning light gently spilling through her windows. She let out a soft sigh, covering her eyes with her arm.
What a strange dream.
It was rare for Anya to have a dream she couldn’t control, or to dream at all. Often she sacrificed her own dreams and sleep to physically enter others. But this one wasn’t like that. It was more like a movie that she was watching and couldn’t interact with. Something that had been, perhaps. It was a clear warning about the girl, Raven Jones, but why? The name didn’t ring any bells. And the images… it was clearly connected to the Stygian Snake.
Maybe finding the tree they’d sealed it in was a higher priority after all.
She’d have to discuss the dream with Sloane. She could make her own conjectures, but two minds were always better than one.
Anya rolled over to check her watch, squinting at the time. 11:30am. Ah. Perhaps her alarm had gone off, and she’d silenced it and gone back to sleep.
Last night was a long one. She had to wait until midnight until she went dream walking, so there was a better selection of dreams. The first she’d come across had been a hellscape that had almost injured her, teleporting into it in the midst of a volcanic eruption. She’d left just as quickly as she entered, moving to the next which was thankfully much less dangerous. She’d pushed herself to her limits for over two hours, moving quickly from dream to dream.
She was trying to develop a spell that would allow her to come out of the dream at the dreamer’s location - essentially allowing teleportation via the dream world. But everytime she stepped out of a dream, she always went back to where she’d entered it from. It was frustrating. Having so many types of lux was both a blessing and a curse. So many possibilities, but such great difficulty weaving them together.
Another thing to discuss with Sloane, perhaps. Or Jack now that he was back.
For now, she had to get out of bed. Thankfully her shop was closed mondays and tuesday, but she still had admin work to do before getting ready for the halloween festival. If she was quick, she’d be able to get it all done. If not, she’d do it afterwards.
When Anya got off the ferry the first thing she did was look around to check if there was anyone she knew in the vicinity. It would be best to avoid other coven members if possible at first, but she would make polite smalltalk if necessary to keep up appearances.
Thankfully she didn’t see anyone she recognised.
Anya appeared to be dressed up like a half assed witch at first glance - in a long, black dress with multiple layers and petticoats underneath adding volumes to the skirt. But upon closer look, she was absolutely covered in fake bugs. Spiders of all shapes and sizes, cockroaches and beetles adorned her dress. Her hair was pulled into twin braids, with thin white ribbon threaded through it and spiders attached to it. She even had a small spider glued to her right cheek, spider webbing spiralling out from her eyeliner and a small line of ants painted across her other cheek.
She’d organised to meet up with Sloane at the entrance of Cracker Town itself, just a bit out of the way of the festival stalls. She made her way there quickly, just in case Sloane was early… which was possible, but hopefully not the case, considering Anya was also early.
There was no sign of Sloane in the area they’d organised to meet, so she hadn’t made her wait by only being ten minutes early. That was good.
She sent Sloane a quick text.
To Sloane: Here. Are you on your way?It was best to let Sloane know that she was here, in case she’d arrived earlier and was wandering around - or had ended up dragged into inane conversations she needed an out from.
While she waited, Anya checked her sleek, black handbag to make sure she’d brought everything she planned to. Business cards, check, nightmare ward infused crystals, check, a couple of dream locator infused bracelets, check. Halloween was the perfect time for her business, between people who couldn’t handle the eeriness that came with it and those who enjoyed it too much. She wouldn’t be pushing it too hard, because she was primarily here to have a nice time with her friend, but if the opportunity arose? She wasn’t going to miss it.
