(Untitled)

[codexthepriest]

I can't be blamed for kind of being freaked out after the whole Halloween thing. Seriously, werewolves? Zombies? This is the kind of stuff I'm supposed to only have to deal with in video games. I don't even like them there. Graveyards in my game creeped me out, okay? So does the weird death animation stuff

Comments

[wishesandsmoke]

"Cyd, are you okay?" Eden asks, walking up behind her, gaze averted. There are plenty of people who have to deal with that all the time here and, for the most part, she's grown accustomed to it, but that doesn't mean she's about to spy on someone else's life. Not, at least, someone she already knows. "Is that... is it you?" It could always be a doppelganger, after all.

[codexthepriest]

I guess it's weird. I'm sitting here watching myself, knowing I'm from - a TV show? Maybe? I don't know - and all I am worrying about is what's going on. Maybe that says something about me, I don't know.

"Yeah," I reply, embarrassed a little bit just because of what I'm doing on screen. Apparently things are so bad I'm stooping to the level of creating the closest thing to war in and out of my game I've ever been through. "This is way into my future, though, I think."

[wishesandsmoke]

Eden nods absently. It has to be weird enough, just seeing one's own face on the screen; watching the future, a future she won't even get to because she's here instead, just strikes Eden as too surreal to contemplate fully.

"You're handling it well," she observes instead. "Most people I've seen get pretty upset."

[codexthepriest]

I guess I'm used to being someone else that it doesn't bother me so much that I'm not real. That's kind of hard to explain to someone who isn't into the games I play, and I have a feeling she'd just look at me weird if I said it outloud. I still don't really know why anyone would watch a show like mine. That's actually the weird part for me.

God, but I bet my horrible brush with Stunt Guy was out there for all to see. That knowledge I could've lived without knowing. It was mortifying just with all the people around who saw it.

"I don't know. Getting upset won't change anything. At least I really doubt anyone has seen this before," I say, attempting to crack a smile. It doesn't work. "Is it kind of weird I want to see more? I think I might."

[wishesandsmoke]

Eden considers that seriously, head tipping to the side, and shrugs. "Not that weird," she says. "Unusual, but... it's your life, right? So I understand."

She doesn't really. In theory, yes, but she'd never want it for herself. Then again, she hasn't got a future to watch. Still, if it's what Cyd wants, then Eden can only be glad it isn't freaking her out.

[codexthepriest]

"Everything is so bad now there," I explain. I don't think I would've wanted to know otherwise. "It's like this place purposely made sue it was so far in the future I'd have no idea what's going on."

[wishesandsmoke]

"At least you get to see your friends, right?" Eden suggests, brow raising a little. It's instinct to try and comfort, even when Cyd doesn't particularly seem to need it. Circling around, she perches on the arm of the couch, elbows resting on her knees. "Although it sucks, if they're going through bad things and you can't help them. I'm sorry."

[codexthepriest]

"I think I'm making it worse for them back there," I reply, rolling my eyes. Whoever thought it was a good idea to make me guild leader was crazy. "I don't know if I miss being back there or not. I didn't do much back home, you know?"

It's not like I'm doing much better here, but at least I'm getting out more. Kind of.

[wishesandsmoke]

"Yeah," Eden says, smiling wryly, "I know the feeling. And this place is pretty good. You know, if you have to be stuck on a magic island in the middle of nowhere." But then, she could be incredibly biased. She sees no reason to tell Cyd that, though; as little fazed as she is these days by telling people about what happened, there's no point in doing so most of the time.

[codexthepriest]

I don't know if I can say I like this place yet. It's hard to like a place that's always doing something to freak me out. I know I've gotten to do more here than I ever did at home, though, so I knew I probably ought to be grateful.

Besides, I finally even have a psychologist that hasn't called me a lost cause.

"I try not to think about the magical part until it forces me to," I say, knowing it's one of the ways I keep sane here. "Which is really not as easy as it usually is lately. I still don't know what to think about all those monsters roaming around a few days ago."

[wishesandsmoke]

"That was so weird," Eden agrees, nodding. She's just relieved it was only zombies who wanted hugs, not hallucinatory versions of men she once cared about or powers she doesn't want anymore. It was too much to handle; it's still too much to think about. "I'd really rather have got candy or something and left it at that, but I guess it can't be that simple. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, though."

[codexthepriest]

"I heard," I wince. Peter had told me all about it, actually, and I know I'm glad that didn't happen too. I didn't need more of a reason not to want to go outside. "And I'm glad I missed the last time something bad happened. The nice kind of those things is more than enough for me."

[wishesandsmoke]

"Yeah, the song-and-dance routine that went on in here was overwhelming enough," Eden says, "when all the zombies wanted was a hug. Or last year, people just got young again. That wasn't too bad." She didn't experience it herself, but as island changes go, it's pretty mild, and she really doesn't want Cyd to worry too much.

[codexthepriest]

"Do things happen every holiday?" I wonder. I mean, I haven't really been here long enough to see for sure. I guess it'd make sense, though, but I figure I should be prepared if it is the case.

[wishesandsmoke]

Eden bites her lip, thinking back over that. "Only the big ones," she says after a moment. "I mean, there's usually something around Valentines, Christmas, Mardi Gras, New Year's... but they're usually really harmless, like a party or a Christmas tree or snow." The really crazy stuff happens when no one's expecting it.

[codexthepriest]

"Well, I guess at least we all can prepare for those," I say, trying my best to look on the bring side. It's not always easy here. Falling quiet for a moment, I finally add, "I guess it's possible people know me and just aren't saying, huh?"