(no subject)

[pullsneedles]

Lucas had a feeling today was going to be one of those days. He made a point to get outside and stay out as long as possible. He attempted to work on the gardens but couldn't think clearly enough for it. The grass is too purple and the trees too pink.

The earth is still brown, the Dragon assures him. Look! Despite the lies your body tries to tell you, the earth is still brown.

Lucas sits with the dirt, scooping it in his hands and pressing his face to it. The color and touch anchor him, and the aroma is much more pleasant than the fetid stink of Milliways.

GET OUT!!! Get thee behind me, Satan!

You are not bad, and what you know is not bad.

Any parent would be ashamed to have a child like you!

You were loved. You are loved.

Everyone's waiting to make your life Hell. Who's everyone? Everyone you love.

Your friends don't see you as a burden. They are with you because they love you.

Of course I went to school.

No two people have the same experience. There is no shame in living differently.

And as the thoughts continue to flow, the Dragon continues to refute their evils. Lucas, not up for defending himself against his sick mind's lies, is thankful for the Dragon's shield but has little strength or will to supplement it. So he remains sitting outside, even as the day stretches on, even as his stomach complains with a combination of hunger and nausea. Sitting there knowing he needs help but unable to seek it.

Maybe, and he almost laughs at the thought, maybe if he sits there long enough, he could grow into a sunflower, too.

Comments

[for_good_taste]

Sasha has been attempting to walk around the lake. (There is something very strange about the local geography.)

He picks up on Lucas's mental turmoil from about 20 yards away and stops cold, considering how to proceed.

[pullsneedles]

The Dark Dragon, for one, is glad for Sasha's presence.

Mr. Nein is here, the Dragon informs Lucas. The man from the Psychonauts. He, too, has offered to help you.

Lucas looks out towards the lake, though he stays in his spot. It still looks like a lake, which is a plus as far as memory goes.

If you don't have the voice to call him, I can, the Dragon says. He is not here to hurt you. You can call for him.

"Mr. Sasha?" Lucas calls in his own voice. "Or Mr. Nein? Sorry, I don't 'member what you wanted me to call you."

[for_good_taste]

Gently: "Please, call me Sasha." He walks slowly closer.

[OOC: This is the sort of situation where Sasha might go for a direct mental intervention. Except he's not sure that would actually help. This looks like PTSD, not delusions.]

[pullsneedles]

"Sasha, then," he says. And then, "It's been a bad day."

And the closer Sasha gets without turning into a cycloptic monster or an octopus, the better.

Sasha, the Dark Dragon greets. Lucas has been having hallucinogen-related flashbacks today.

[ooc: The easy summary is Lucas is a mental mess with PTSD being one part of the mix. This in particular is tying back to Tanetane Island, a dungeon which starts when the player forces the party to ingest some strange mushrooms. If we want to do a direct mental intervention, I'll gladly help put Lucas's mental realm in Psychonauts-style terms. Can we chat and discuss?]

[for_good_taste]

Sasha applies a psychic trick perhaps best described as the opposite of invisibility. He is very present, and very much himself rather than something else.

He doesn't say anything. He is just there, being real.

[OOC: Sure! I should be visible as 'hob_org' on AIM.]

[pullsneedles]

Lucas breathes in some relief. It always feels better when someone's in focus, rather than melting away into something gruesome. There was nothing unkind in Sasha's voice. In fact, none of his friends here have come up in the flow of bad thoughts.

There's not a fight about to happen. Good.

"I dunno how to fix things," Lucas says, feeling safer about saying so. "Missy had given me a whap on the back of the head before to get rid of it. But it still comes back sometimes."

[for_good_taste]

Sasha makes a mental note to inquire about Missy later.

"For right now," he says, "look at me. I am real. The ground below me is real. The grass and the flowers are real. The lake behind me is real. The trees around the lake are real."

As he names each of these things, he brings each of them into the anti-invisibility he is projecting, attempting to drown out the hallucinations with his own sober perception of the world.

[pullsneedles]

It feels better when the grass isn't purple, the trees aren't pink. Just as the Dragon said, the earth is still brown no matter what. The lake isn't hiding any toxic waste or visions of Claus.

It's still enough for Lucas to exclaim, "It ain't the wrong color anymore! An' you didn't even have to whap me on the head!"

[for_good_taste]

"I am using PSI to show you the world as I see it."

Sasha produces a tiny smile. "This Missy perhaps has different talents. I do not think it would help if I whapped you on the head."

[pullsneedles]

"I didn't know PSI could do that."

He brushes the dirt off of his hands and stands up, already feeling better.

"Missy was somethin' different all together. She was a Magypsy. They don't always got patience for human ways."

[for_good_taste]

"It's sort of the opposite of invisibility, and sort of the opposite of clairvoyance. I am encouraging your mind to be aware of the world as it is, and to assist, I am providing it with my own awareness." He looks back at the lake. "I'm not altogether sure about this lake, though. It does not seem to be possible to reach the far side."

Then, thoughtfully: "We have gypsies where I come from; they would rather be called Roma, though. But I have not heard of Magypsies."

[pullsneedles]

"There's enough room for the giant squid in there," Lucas says. "The land here is funny, though. The woods don't really go anywhere, an' sometimes people come outta them. I've been found out here a few times without goin' through the door like you did."

And then, "Have I been saying somethin' bad? I guess it's kinda different, but I know Missy an' Ionia an' the others wouldn't want me saying somethin' that hurts people."

He briefly thinks over the concept of finding a new word for them, the Dark Dragon handling the concept that they'll be finding a new everything at some point.

"My friend Autor said he noticed somethin' about their names. He said they're the same as modes of music?"

[for_good_taste]

"Perhaps only part of what we see here is part of the pocket dimension, and the rest of it is a view into ... other worlds. And somehow it is arranged that one cannot normally walk out of the space this way, but there are exceptions."

Such phenomena would be nothing startling for someone's interior landscape, but this is the physical universe.

"Your Magypsies are probably not related to the Roma in my world. What matters most is what they wanted to be called. ...I'm afraid I'm not much of a musician myself. Did they do anything musical themselves?"

[a1enzo]

Enzo and Minus spot Lucas at more or less the same time. Minus beeps and zooms on ahead; Enzo does not by any means run, but he definitely lengthens his stride.

"Lucas? Are you okay?"

Well, you know, he might be. Theoretically.

[pullsneedles]

Lucas starts at Minus's approach.

It's only Enzo and Minus, the Dragon says. They will not hurt you.

He stops in his reach to defend himself and sighs in some relief.

"Oh. No. No, I'm really not."

Lucas has been experiencing hallucinogen-related flashbacks, the Dragon tells Enzo.

[a1enzo]

"Minus, heel." Enzo grimaces and, reaching Lucas, crouches beside him. "How can I help?"

[pullsneedles]

"I dunno. I usually just gotta wait until it stops."

Not that he particularly likes that idea.

"It's not as bad with the Dragon so far. But things're still wrong, so I should... It'd be best if I stay put. Nothin's attacked yet, so....."

And Enzo hasn't attacked. Or melted away into a hideous cyclops or anything.

[a1enzo]

"Do things usually?"

[pullsneedles]

"Sometimes, when I wander. It was the animals on the island when it first happened. It happened here, an' I had probably run into some demon bunnies."

He hopes, anyway. If he had actually hurt another patron, someone probably would have stopped him, right?

"I can't tell when I do 'cause they look like people I know from home 'til they get up close."

[a1enzo]

"Well, I'm right here. I'll keep off anything that does show up."

Minus, making a sad sort of chime, descends to the ground and nudges its shell against Lucas' hand.

[pullsneedles]

That he understands better. Lucas is experienced in pets, scritches, and other animal feel-good touches.

"I'll let you know when things aren't the wrong color anymore. Things're usually all right when that happens.

"I never noticed before, but the dirt's still brown no matter what."

[a1enzo]

Shell or not, Minus does seem to enjoy being stroked, but it's more for Lucas' benefit.

"Huh. Why do you think that is?"

[pullsneedles]

"I dunno. Maybe it's too dark to switch. Or maybe it's the Dark Dragon. He slept in the earth so long that maybe it's always under him, y'know?"

[a1enzo]

"Maybe. Does anything else stay the same?"

[pullsneedles]

"Not really. Not unless I get a whap on the back of the head. Only, I don't really wanna get a whap on the back of the head."