Make staying alert so hard

[npc_kun]

Characters: NPC!Flight, Contract phantomhivemind, Animus sins_sacrosanct
Date/Time: Evening, Nov. 23rd
Location: Hall of Beginnings
Rating: PG-13 for birthday suits
Summary: Animus and Contract arrive in the sphere, and someone is there to greet them!

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[sins_sacrosanct]

His forehead was wrinkling as he surfaced from the...dream? Weren't those supposed to end before you died? Then again, if it wasn't a dream, what could it be? He could think, and move, so he clearly wasn't really dead.

Unless this was some kind of afterlife. Slowly he eased one eye open, unsure what he was looking for--fluffy clouds? What made an afterlife different from this one, anyhow?

But around him was a sort of--viscous fluid. He jerked in surprise, but it didn't occur to him that he might be drowning--what drew his attention first was how the fluid moved around him, like his body was...was more-than, or maybe there was something else suspended in here with him. He slowly lifted one hand to feel around for this other-or-not presence, but found that something beyond his fingertips was catching on something else--curious, he tried to feel out what it was, but before he could really figure anything out, beyond-his-fingertips had punctured it and it was crumbling and the gel around him was following it and splat.

He hit a surface on his side, wincing from the impact, before shakily pushing himself up to a sitting position, utterly bewildered but trying not to show it.

[phantomhivemind]

A rude awakening, coming to with the world coming apart around him. He felt himself strike a hard surface and groaned, sitting up covered in something that felt thick and almost like liquid. He opened his eyes, blinking to clear them of the stuff.

The place was totally alien, completely unknown. Unknown people, a man and a girl nearby, the girl clothed, the man naked--like him, he realized, seeing his own pale body bare, exposed, vulnerable. Fear was like a hand that seized at him, and with it came anger. Rage.

"What is this?" His voice was as tight as his chest felt. He scrambled to his feet, took several steps back from the man and the girl both, though the man at least seemed to be in the same circumstances as him, exposed and covered in the glutinous green substance. "What is this place? Who are you people?"

((ooc: if you're unfamiliar with the canon, Ciel has two pretty prominent marks: this on his right eye and this (best pic I can find) on his back, which is a brand scar. They might not see the brand right away but the mark on his eye is pretty noticeable.))

[npc_kun]

Oh! there were two of them! She floundered for a moment to grab an extra towel and extended it for the newborns. "Hello, And--"

Oh my, was that little boy angry. The girl startled, glasses upsetting as she shrunk back from the sudden accusations. Her shoulders slumped, but she kept the arms hesitantly outstretched to offer them towels. "This is Ed-Edensphere," She stammered out. She quietly reminded herself that she could always call a guard should things get dangerous, right? That would be fine, that was part of their job? So long as they weren't slacking off and leaving her.

"I'm Flight. You've just been born." She forced a shaky smile to both of the new men. "Uhm. Uhm.... Happy Birthday?" Scrawny shoulders moved in a shrug. "I'm sure you just had a dream- everyone does. So remember it, b-because it's important. I have some clothes for you too, once you dry off."

(Noted! Flight... will probably not notice/mind. being a greeter helps her meet plenty of weird things.)

[sins_sacrosanct]

There was a voice behind him, he turned over to see a small child--a small boy--who looked angry and flustered and was backing away. He raised one hand to him, perhaps to console, perhaps to dismiss him, but whatever he was going to do, he forgot it and instead focused on his own hand.

Well. So that was why the shell had crumbled so quickly when he touched it.

Another voice brought his attention back from examining his claw-tipped fingers, this one female and--well--flighty. "So that was a dream?" He asked, noting the towels she was holding--he tamped down the impulse to snatch them that rose with the revelation of how exposed he was, and settled for discreetly adjusting his position.

[phantomhivemind]

He came forward a step, two steps. Nothing else would have driven him but the towels the girl was holding in her hand; whatever this was, whatever he would have to do to defend himself, he wanted to be covered first. The very idea of being naked in front of unknown gazes set his skin to crawling with a deep and bewildering revulsion.

He stretched out a hand to snatch the towel and retreated again, wrapping it around himself like an embrace. It made him feel a little calmer to have at least that much control over himself again. He took a deep breath and tried to master his tumultuous emotions. What had she called this place? Edensphere?

"What do you mean, we've just been born?" He didn't think he had to point out how ridiculous that was. He did remember a dream, but he paid it little thought in the present situation.

[npc_kun]

She nodded to the man. "Yep! Since we don't remember, we have dreams!" Like the dream she had last night... oh, but now wasn't the time to get sidetracked with that. She shook her head. "Most people name themselves from their dream, or a trait, or just a name that sounds nice to them."

Now that the boy was toweled, she relaxed a little- thankfully he wasn't a violent hatchling. She had heard stories of greeters being attacked, or all sorts of other scary stories. Man, it was good that the boy was just really angry. And--

Greeting. Right.

"Well, you were just born." She timidly gestured to the cocoons. "That's what.. ah.. we call it. So you should name yourself and I'll get both your things! And make friends, since you're brothers and all!"

She turned back to the table, beginning to grab various things- clothing, journals.. what else, what else... Something. She'd figure it out, these were the important things.

[sins_sacrosanct]

The boy apparently lacked his manners about the towel business. No matter, though, as the girl--Flight--handed him a towel. Carefully, to avoid slipping on the mess on the floor, he got to his feet and wrapped the towel around his waist--again, his hands caught on something, but now he was more preoccupied by her mention of names. Most people name themselves... He was about to scoff, before he gave his memory a cursory glance--and reminded himself to stay calm, stay calm.

So he would have to name himself. Hmm... The idea of naming himself after traits of his seemed repellent, for some reason, so he discarded that and went to the dream. He could hardly name himself after what he had been doing in the dream and hope to entertain with polite society...there was something he had identified as a medusa--but the same revulsion as before applied, he was sure he wanted nothing to do with her. That left the only other named entity, Anima--which was a feminine name, but could be changed...

"Then my name is Animus," He said, shrugging before turning to look at the boy with interest and skepticism. They were brothers, now?

[phantomhivemind]

He turned to look back at the cocoons, though only a quick glance; he couldn't abide turning his back to the others for long. Everything about this was ridiculous--people were not born fully-grown in the man's case or half-grown in his, nor did they spring forth from cocoons, yet evidently that was what had happened, or at least that was how it appeared. And either the girl understood little more than she had told them, or her act of ignorance and flightiness was well-practiced.

He could remember his dream, now that he considered it, the chess game, the screaming, the nightmare of terror and pain. In that dream he had felt stabbed and gutted; he shuddered at the memory. And then there had been that voice, that sly, manipulative voice that had seemed to embrace him and told him to choose...

"Contract," he spoke, almost without thinking, and he frowned because it sounded right. He looked up and met the eyes of the man, flinching a little at what he saw there--curiosity, perhaps, and was there a hint of contempt? Or simply incredulity? He wasn't certain. Yet his circumstances, at least, were the same as his. Contract's.

[npc_kun]

She clapped her hands together brightly, all previous tension forgotten. "Animus and Contract! It's nice to meet you, I'm Flight!" Grabbing the clothing and journals, she brought them over and handed them out. "Get dressed and I'll tell you the rest!"

She gestured to the journals, pausing just for a moment to look over Animus's... interesting physical definitions. Not in that sense, mind you. After a moment, she then remembered what she was supposed to be doing. "Everyone arrives here with no memories and with a dream, so we do what we can. it's really nice here, though! I'm going to give you guys some journals, and you can write in them and everyone else can look in theirs and see it! They're all linked, so you can use them to communicate!" She smiled happily.

She looked over to Contract next. "You guys can stay in temporary housing for now, but you've only got a couple weeks to get a job or find someone to move in with. I'll give you enough money to start out with though." Her smile was almost matronly for a moment. "And you're really young, so I'm sure someone would be willing to look after you if you don't want to work the farms or something!"

[sins_sacrosanct]

The pants were taken and gratefully--they were rather small, and definitely too short, but beggars cannot be choosers. With that, he could take the towel to get that fluid out of his hair--only to be surprised once more. But how foolish was it to be surprised by the contours of one's own body? Animus again tamped it down, along with growing suspicion about this...place. Ugh. "Does the ...temporary housing," He said it as though it was beneath him, "have mirrors?" The issue of some journal could wait.

Glancing over Contract, Animus felt skepticism only build. Brothers? He had to have been at least fifteen years older--not to mention how different in appearance they were: Contract had no claws, his hair seemed to hang flat and smooth and--

"Is that eye blind?" He asked, curiousity that could be mistaken for caring in his voice, studying the boy's almost luminescent right eye.

[phantomhivemind]

Contract accepted the clothes and journal much the same way he had accepted the towel--snatching them from the girl Flight's hand and retreating, and though his lips curled with distaste at the shapeless, cheap garments, he put them on with urgent haste. Clothed, he felt better, more in control--the residue of revulsion and fear he didn't understand was still there, but easier to ignore.

He took a look at the man again, his apparent 'brother'. What an odd-looking person he was, rather alarming, really. That hair, for one--did it defy gravity? He blinked when he realized that he was being studied in much the same manner. "What do you mean?" He reached up to cover and uncover with his hand each eye in turn; no blindness was apparent.

He glanced at Flight, his eyebrows going up at that suggestion of a job, though he only frowned when she went on. Well of course he could not be expected to 'work the farms' or whatever the case may be; he was a child, and had no place mucking about in dirt anyway.

He took a look at the journal, another mystery of this place. Apparently his lack of memories was par for the course as well. Very strange, and Contract did not like it. "Then I shall remain with you, for this time, at least," he said to Animus. "Whether we are brothers or not, we are in the same straits, and I would prefer not to take chances with the unknown."

[npc_kun]

She nodded. "Mirrors are in the bathrooms, and they have showers too, so that'll help getting all the goop out of her hair. It gets stick and flakey and just all around gross after a while. You know once I was here and a cocoon hatched right on me- I had to take an early break just to clean up!" The story had nothing to do with anything, but she prattled on nonetheless. "But you guys should be fine, and people are really helpful!"

She folded her arms-- what was she forgetting. 'If you have any questions, write in the journals- all the residents are eager to help newborns. And.. uh.." Maps! They needed maps! She turns on her heel to grab those, as well as the bags of coins.

"I almost forgot! The map'll help you find your way around, and you can't survive without some coins to get you started, right?" She nodded happily. "Now I can't answer any super deep questions, but I can do my best if there's anything you two want to ask."

[sins_sacrosanct]

His opinion of Flight lowered with every word out of her mouth--but still, she knew things he did not. Animus listened as he tried to get that shirt on--twisting every which way, until finally giving up on the conventional approach and making use of those claws: ripping and slicing open the seams on the shoulder, until he had something he could pull the back parts of his...hair? Horns? How pathetic that even he wasn't sure which!...out and through. Even if it was necessary, wearing ripped clothing deeply disgusted him--he couldn't put his fingers on why, only knew that it wasn't right.

"Your right eye," Animus said to Contract, unconsciously leaning closer to get a better look. "It's...strange." Dimly he realized that he was the last person to call another "strange," but he pushed that thought away.

And Flight wanted questions...hm. "Who governs this place? Is it dangerous?"