Roleplaying

Celeste took the tin and thermos, putting the former near the cot and unscrewing the lid of the latter. She sipped away at the water but kept from draining it away – after all, she'd gotten it for her patient, and she wanted there to be some left in the event he found himself needing it. Then, slowly, she lowered herself onto her back until she was staring at the ceiling.

“Illness... I really don't know what to do with you... you'd make a wonderful assistant... but... oh, I'm really not sure...”

Her hands motioned with each word out of habit, and as her words trailed off so did the specificity of her movements. Eyelids slid shut, and the healer turned her focus inwards on her breathing, on resting her voice. Her hands came to a rest on her stomach, and her knees, pointed upward, tilted together, and she nearly looked as if she were planning on taking a nap right there.

Oh, awesome!

Verit had initially raised his eyebrows in confusion, but wow. Yes. Perfect. He hadn't actually expected to fully silence the mutt with a drink but man. Yes. Yes.

Grinning to himself at the success, Verit stayed silent- not that he really had a choice-, averting his eyes to the far corner of his cell as a kind of superstition. He heard that humans had the ability to know when they were being watched, but really either way it was best to be on the safe side. Double credit went to him if the mutt really fell asleep- since, of course, if the mutt caught him staring at it when it was trying to sleep there was no doubt it would feel too uneasy to do so.

So instead of watching, Verit quickly disregarded the mutt's presence and instead let his eyes wander across the opposing wall, making patterns and shapes out of its rough, grey surface. He stayed stock still, almost perfectly silent save for the faint sound of his deep breathing.

Celeste found herself fading in and out of casual meditation, focusing all of her energy into breathing, and then forgetting to think, turning into a blank slate of nothingness – repeat. It was nearly like falling asleep, though she felt no need for a nap. If anything, she loathed the idea. Jett and his kind didn't understand, their lifespans were far too short, but a day for her lasted much longer than a day for him. Even having been on Earth for so long, Celeste's body steadfastly refused to sleep every night.

Time passed, and the darkness never wavered, not a ray of sunshine fell through. The room only seemed to grow colder, even with the wall heater chattering and gurgling away. The healer began to become aware of her body in full, reconnecting with it, willing herself to loosen muscle and release into the floor, accepting the coldness in her fingers and toes. Her ears became acute, tuned in to every sound from the distant chatter of those in the front lobby to the ghoul's smallest movements and to Jett's breathing.

Which stopped.

Celeste's eyes popped open, and before she could throw herself to fully standing, Jett woke and sat up, gasping for air. A moment or two passed – his ragged breath was the only sound she could focus on, his glazed eyes the only thing she could see, and with one big draw of air all the tension in his body let loose.

She swallowed and moved forward cautiously, shifting her feet forward with her body angled to the side, afraid, uncomfortable.

“Jett?”

He looked up at her, tears pricking his eyes, to say, “It was just a dream. Right, Celeste?”

She nodded slowly. “Just a dream.”

He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and ran his fingers up through his hair, roughly trying to rub the fear and nightmare away.

It seemed that half the time he slept he would wake up, cheeks tear stained, in fright at whatever his mind had tricked him into believing. It was just another reason why she avoided naps.

Verit had relocated further into the cell, his back resting against the concrete wall and his foot propped over his knee. He had been staring aimlessly out through the skylight for the duration of the silence, waiting for any sign of daylight.

Verit hadn't moved a muscle since his initial relocation, and his shoulders had stayed in a rather rigid and uncomfortable position for the entire time. He hadn't bothered to shift into a more relaxed posture, instead just letting the area around his shoulderblades grow sore and then slowly numb.

He didn't spare the human a glance when it came to, not really concerned about its well-being. He'd been half hoping that the human's breathing would have actually stopped, but it wasn't like he was going to lose his mind over it staying alive for a while longer.

The scent of fear saturated in the human's scent wasn't something Verit was a stranger to- he scented it all the time. Though what Verit was foreign to was what the human meant in its response. Wasn't a dream something you wanted? Didn't things shake their heads and say "It's just a dream" when they talk about something they desired that will never be fulfilled?

Verit never had a mind for things that talked wistfully like that in the first place. -Why waste time talking about it? Doing so wasn't going to make anything happen any faster or any more possible.

Verit rolled his eyes at the human's antics. Oooh, I got scared because my dream to be a millionaire was too amazing. I'm going to stop breathing because of the thrill, too. Jerked myself awake thinking about it too hard, am going to act super angsty right now because it hasn't come true yet. So sense, very reason.

Jett strained to rid himself of the left over emotions still clinging to his mind from the dream. He thought he was lucky that time around – Celeste may have been there to see him wake up panicked, but at least he hadn't pulled out of the dream like he usually did. He was sure she'd never look at him the same way again or ever let him sleep without trying some sort of herbal concoction first to quell his dreams and soothe his sleep.

He dragged himself away from the cot and reached down for his hat and boots, putting them on in his own time, ignoring (to the best of his ability) the expression on his friend's face as she watched him try to regain his grip on reality. Laces were tied, and Jett began walking towards the door, intent on finding out the time, but before he could leave a light tap on the arm turned him around.

Are you alright? Celeste signed.

He avoided looking in her eyes, blurring her face out of focus, and replied with an emotionless, I'm fine.

Before he could leave the room, however, the sound of footsteps caught their attention, and Greg bounced down the hall towards them. He had procured a clip, likely found in the drawer of items that had been confiscated from past prisoners, and had his bangs crudely held back, and on his finger he spun a key round in circles.

“Hand In time!” he said, grinning gleefully at them. “I hope you have something, Jett. I found a stash today, might not have to go out for the rest of the week! Celeste, baby, dinner's on me, I know you haven't done any scouting this week, but don't worry about it.”

Jett stared at the healer and held back the aggressive lecture that was forming in his mind. He would save it for later when his anger had died down, but until then he wasn't sure how he would be able to talk to her without letting her know how upset he was.

She signed at him. He couldn't help it – a small sigh escaped his lips.

“Are you up for a walk?” Jett asked, throwing his words at the ghoul.

Verit was standing at the bars of his cell, having lingered closer after recognizing the common-ghoul mutt scent. He was curious as to the other mutt that occupied the space- he'd scented and seen the Agoarn, but he wanted to see for himself the other mix. Yeah, call it nosing into business that wasn't his, but Verit decided that he'd still need to put a face to a scent if he ever wanted to eventually get out. Recognize which ones were potentially dangerous and should be avoided at all costs, and which ones he could just ignore, at least.

Eyeing the male mutt's patchwork skin cooly, Verit decided it was likely some alien-ghoul mix. And by the looks of it, a pretty harmless one at that- that he could tell, at least. Verit couldn't really see it besting him in a one-on-one, even in his current state if he wanted to flatter himself. The corner of Verit's lips twitched in distaste and a hint of amusement, but he kept it low-key, undetectable for the most part unless somebody was looking for it in particular. Verit didn't like, well, really anybody, but among those there were some that he found he disliked just that much more. The purple-haired mutt fell quite nicely into that category.

Turning his gaze to the human as he was addressed, he met its brown eyes and gave a shrug and a nod. Why not. Verit felt 'going for a walk' wasn't going to entail just letting him out of his cell- but that didn't mean he didn't have just the slightest chance of killing the human during that time period.

“Don't even ask,” Greg said, interrupting whatever Jett was about to ask him. “I found a harness a while ago, it's in the cupboard.”

He strutted over and unlocked the cupboard doors to pull out a long jumble of leather braces and straps. As he untangled and tried to make sense of them, Jett turned to give Celeste a questioning look, pointing quickly at the ghoul with his eyes.

Illness lost his voice, she explained.

Satisfaction welled up in Jett's chest. He didn't hate the ghoul, but he certainly didn't like how rude he could be. It would make trooping through the rest of the day far easier, even if their patient tried to act out and misbehave. At least there was little way he could offend anyone.

Greg gave a small whistle of triumph, holding up the full-body harness. Celeste unlocked the cell door and let the two men enter in. She assumed her position there, holding the door at the ready to let them out if there was too much trouble, while they got into position.

“Keep things simple and easy and we might give you dinner,” Greg said cheerfully to the ghoul. “You smell like a new ager, bet you'd love my long pork stew.”

“Stand and put your hands on the wall,” Jett instructed.

Verit backed up- he actually backed up- when the two approached, holding what he knew was going to be the absolutely worst experience.

Oh shhhhhhhhhh-

Verit cursed silently and eyed the two darkly, his icey glare hopping back and forth between the two males. This was not going to end well, and maybe that thought could be conveyed if he gave the both of them dirty enough looks.

Having backed himself into a wall- (crap)- Verit already felt the battle being lost. He didn't even know which one would be worse, pinned down after a very brief struggle or just giving himself up to be descended upon.

What the hell. Verit didn't want to have yet another annoying situation of being sat on, a harness forced over his head. There better not be more touching than necessary in Option A.

Turning, Verit did as told, placing his hands onto the cell's concrete wall in what had to be the most ridiculously vulnerable position he would ever put himself in.

I can't even eat pigs.

Greg moved forward and began clipping sections of the harness around the ghoul's body, keeping careful to not touch him. His hands were nimble and failed to fumble. As he worked he whistle a tune through his teeth and, on occasion, added small, comedic noises reminding Jett of one of the ads or cartoons he'd seen as a child on Rich Street where the buildings still lit up with jumbo screens and the theaters played old human and new alien films.

“His soup is disgusting,” Jett warned, the first playful thing that had crossed his lips all day - it was wearily said, dusted with familiarity and a long standing friendship between the mutt and human.

Greg huffed loudly, pausing to look up at Jett. “You can't eat it, Jett, you wouldn't know. He's allergic to turnips.”

His last words were addressed to the patient in a serious tone. Jett smacked him across the head with the tips of his fingers in a brotherly way, revealing the mutt's words as a joke and throwing his hair out of place. Greg grumbled something under his breath about the art behind good hair as he popped the last clip in place.

“It's not bad...” Celeste whispered from behind them.

Both boys turned at the sound of her voice. Greg's face was lit up with pride and a glorious surprise at being graced by her voice. Jett, on the other hand, was painted over with disbelief and a tinge of disgust at her words, even taking a step away from her as if distancing himself from her words. He couldn't help but feel even slightly angry.

“You've eaten human meat?” he asked quietly.

Greg waved his hand in the air, pausing any answer the healer could have given. “She's half human, Jett, and she has a conscience. I took the meat out before I gave it to her.”

Jett rubbed at his eyes, then grabbed the leashes that the mutt had left on the floor and attached two of them at the neck of the harness. He grabbed the last section of the harness that needed to be fastened and gestured at the ghoul's hands.

“Slip them through the cuffs,” he said.

Verit tensed wherever the mutt's fingers lingered close, really not enjoying being heavily restrained- being splayed out with three other beings at his back doing who-knows-what was just the meat on the bone. Really, Verit was pretty much twitching with suppressed anxiety the entire time, his jaw setting a hard line when the two turned away. It was like they were drawing it out on purpose.

Sitting with his back to creatures on the other side of iron bars and ignoring their presence was one thing. Actually having his back exposed, hands and teeth where he couldn't use them, with two things literally breathing down on him was something entirely different. The back of his neck prickled the longer it dragged on, and Verit could already feel the need to lash out strengthen.

He perked up at the mention of human meat, before becoming neutral- also known as irritated- again as the topic changed. Neither helped the fact that eight hours were being spent talking, which in turn wasn't changing at all how Verit felt about hitting them both.

Verit gave the human the finger as he shoved his hands through the cuffs.

“Someone doesn't like you,” Greg said, winking at Jett.

He sighed and fastened the cuffs firmly, then attached the final leash near the wrists, guiding the ghoul away from the wall. Greg snatched up a leash at the neck, handing the last to Jett before he, in turn, handed the wrist lead over to Celeste. She took it carefully and, without a tug or yank, began walking for the door, lightly pulling the patient along with her.

As they passed near the door Jett grabbed his bag and slung it across his shoulders, gripping it tightly. It never left his side, not even in the walls of his own shack, especially before Hand In. He'd seen things 'disappear' too many times before to trust leaving it anywhere other than sitting by his hip. Even at night it was pushed partway under his pillow, the strap wrapped around the bedpost in a tight knot.

The small party walked down in synch to Greg's soft whistling that echoed off the walls in a short manner, making Jett feel like he was being closed into a small box. It was a great relief to reach the lobby where Eol was pulling his things together, preparing his own haul for the evening ritual. He opened the door for the four of them, letting himself out once they had passed and locking the building behind them.

Outside it the air was thin and cool. Already shadows of people, thrown by the pit fires, were lining up near the main paths leading through the camp, parcels in hand. There was a small gap in the line that the group managed to push in through, Celeste positioning the boys to her patient's left and Eol and herself to his right, all holding tightly to his reigns.

Dang straight.

Verit had no choice but to be pulled along, going pretty much wherever the leash went. He was really wondering if the group didn't think it was at all just, in the tiniest, smallest bit, slightly overkill. Like really what was he expected to do, climb mountains? Honestly, they might as well strap him to a table and pull that along.

Oh wait, that pretty much happened already.

There was a slight pressure on his neck, and Verit followed it. Woof woof. Maybe there would be a tree somewhere he was supposed to mark as his territory before proceeding to walk a lap around a building. Exercise at its finest.

Verit passively took in the firelit scenery as he was walked, making a mental map of the area from what he could see. He eyed all the human he neared, pretty much ignoring the rest as the group made their way towards wherever they were going. After finally stopping, Verit glanced exaggeratedly to his either side at his chaperones. Wow, what an entourage, Verit sure felt important.

Tossing his 'mane', Verit cantered on the spot, making clicking sounds with his tongue in time to sound like hoof clops. Neiiiiigh.

Greg caught the ghoul's noises and looks and winked back, biting his tongue between his grinning teeth in a playful expression. Celeste's eyes had wandered in their direction just in time to see it and pressed a dainty fist against her lips to hold in an escaping giggle, turning her head back to face ahead, eyes sparkling with humor.

Farther down the dirt road was a company nearly a score large, pulling carts and toting bags. As they came closer, dragging the sounds of voices and wobbling wheels along, those across the road and on either side of Celeste began scrambling for their contributions. She stood still, watching those around her out of the corners of her eyes, keeping them downcast near the center of the road. A shiver shook her hands and tried to grab at her spine, but she pushed it away with the clenching of her fists, desperate not to show the butterfly of fear that was dancing behind her ribs. The humor was gone – it had left her to face the Hand In.

The procession reached their group. Eol passed a small sack to a counter who pushed through its contents, inspecting the quality of the contributed food. He passed the food to a cart handler and flashed his fingers at the chip holder who, in turn, passed the Agoarn eight plastic chips.

Celeste intertwined her fingers together and waited.

“Healer? Your contribution?” the counter asked.

“Let me take her, Xzisha,” a female voice said, pushing into the conversation.

The counter moved on without complaint, crossing to the other side of the road. The woman tapped her foot slowly, flipping through a small book before landing on a page and inspecting it carefully. She waved it under Celeste's nose, showing her the numbers.

“Well, healer? What say you to those stats? We haven't seen an average contribution from you in quite a few days,” the counter said.

I've been hea-

“Words, healer, no signing. I've heard about you. They say you rarely speak.” The counter, undoubtedly human (and confirmed by a glance upward from Celeste), had a bland, soulless smile on her face that failed to reach her eyes, expressing how unamused she was. “You now, apparently, also keep pets, I see. I wasn't aware new age ghouls were suitable for camp life.”

“He's a patient,” Eol said, speaking up for the healer.
The counter stared down her nose at the ghoul, lips twitched upwards in disgust.

“The only purpose those dogs serve is cleaning up the bodies left on the streets. It's better left dead on the sidewalk.”

Verit watched the procession still for the most part, taking an idle interest in the goings-on. Plastic chips didn't seem particularly edible, but Verit suspected they could be traded for such somewhere.

Oh, human female.

Verit turned his attention to the conversation at hand, paying attention to the words being exchanged. Seemed about right- no contribution, no benefit. Now, if he was in charge of a sparkly little neighbourhood like this one he sure wouldn't appreciate freeloaders either. Or really anybody- it was far too much working keeping everything in check, why bother.

Verit's attention went back to what was being said. 

-Ooooooooooo.

Verit gave the human the sunniest-freaking-grin he could muster. He liked this human so much and he wasn't even kidding. Forget about the rest of his kill list, this one was going to be at the very top- and the feral glint in his eyes alluded to as much. 

“He's a patient,” Celeste said, her voice cracking out like a slap.

The counter blinked and pulled her head back, startled by the sudden outburst. She took a deep breath and tried to regain her focus, ears still ringing with the sweetness of the girl's voice, but her eyes kept slipping back to Celeste's, entranced by their golden color.

“No credits,” she finally managed, turning and walking past the healer and ghoul.

The procession passed with little more trouble. Celeste stood where she was, holding back tears of anger, even as the rest of the line dissipated into the darkness. She scrubbed at her eyes in a childish manner, cheeks flushing a pale pink. Greg appeared before her and crouched to look up at her face, lips tipped into a sorrowful frown.

“Baby, you know I don't mind sharing meals, right?”

Celeste's fists tightened as she tried to open her throat to breathe. Her nose twitched, and her eyes blinked forcefully. A little huff of air puffed through her teeth, but as her hands began to uncurl Jett's voice cut the silence.

“It's not the credits, Greg. It's the ghoul.”

Earth is a dangerous place, whether in the hybrid-infested countryside or crumbling, dark cities, but no place is more dangerous or rough than New Chicago. Whether out on the streets or high in the penthouses, no one's truly safe.

The world has become a new place. Some people call it impossible, but others just call it apocalyptic. There's barely a government, and what's left of it is corrupt and dangerous - the people live in factions, gangs, or try to survive on their own, and the only peace between them are through the pacts that have been made. The rich thrive and keep themselves safe, but anyone unfortunate enough to be less than that spends every day hoping to stay alive.

Species:
Ghouls - they're intelligent beings, humanoid in appearance. Their skin rots, and their lifespan is determined by how long their meat stays on their bones.

Zombies - they're dumb and benign unless angered or bothered. They're brainless, so essentially they don't do anything except wander around, bump into things, and (on the occasion) turn into a terrifying killing and flesh-eating monster. These aren't characters, but they can be used by any writer as a tool, the way one would write about a pet or object a character interacts with. If you plan on using a zombie, PM me to clarify what you want to use one for.

Humans - just like us, but now they share their planet with many other species. Many feel cheated out of their home, and most scramble to keep their kind from dying out.

Aliens - there are many, many kinds, and over the years they've adapted to the newness of the world. From tall to small, these creatures come in all shapes, sizes, and origins. (PM me to clarify what kind of alien you would like to be - it has to be your own creation or one that someone else in the roleplay has made up).

Mutts - an alien-human, alien-alien, ghoul-alien offspring.

Hybrids - always different, always weird, hybrids are animal-human-zombie creatures. Whether four legs or two, each species of hybrids are as oddly animal as they are humanoid. Some can talk, most can't, but all have a highly feral nature and are willing to 'defend' themselves quickly through force.

Additional - any species you think should be on this list that isn't. PM me if you have any ideas.

None yet.

THE ROLEPLAY SLOGAN: Falcon hug that piece of beef jerkwad

No godmoding, guys - be cool

Come up with your own, unique charater, but make their personality realistic. No one likes a Mary Sue or an impossible character.

You only get to kill another character, or injure, if you have the writer's permission.

Don't let things that happen in character affect or influence how you treat someone out of character, and please don't use your character as a way to get at another roleplayer. Don't be cheap.

If you want to write a huge post, go for it! Write a huge one! But, before you do so, write up a message in the OOC chat to let everyone else know it might be a bit and to wait to post until you finish.

If you need to write a post that connects directly to a previous post, but you're worried that someone else might post before you can finish writing, say something in the OOC chat and everyone will wait to post until your done, but you only have a 4 hour window to finish up and post.

Always check the OOC before you post, just so you know what's up.

Breaking the rules can end up in being expelled (kicked out, or whatever you want to call it) from the roleplay depending on the offence.

Lastly, if you have any questions, hit me up. If you choose to be an alien, mutt, or hybrid, send me a message giving me more information on your character as well as an example of what your roleplay post might be like so I can get a sense of what kind of writer you are. If I like your moxie, you're in.