psychoshenanigans | GRATIA // PSL

Entry tags:

GRATIA // PSL

The first thing he feels is the cold.

It permeates everything down here on the lower levels. What little warmth humans have made for themselves is greedily gobbled up by the stone walls that surround them on all sides. Despite the stirring of people in the streets, in their homes, and around corners, this place feels like a grave. A similar sense seems to loom over the heads of most who make their way through this deep, dark part of the world, hovering around them like a cloud of inevitability. No one has been outright sentenced to death, but they may as well be.

Upon waking, Tek will have found himself in a dark, wet alleyway. Attempts to orient himself reveal that he has been brought, somehow, to an impressively large network of tunnels that all lead, more or less, to three or four larger chambers. There is far more vibrant life above him somewhere, far, far above the layer of caves he's in now, and there is also a very deep, sluggish form of life somewhere far below his feet.

No one is coming to get him. No one follows him in his immediate vicinity--the few stragglers hanging around doorsteps and windows don't give him a second glance, or even a first one. The place is crowded, but not busy. Everyone keeps their heads down. The people are all dressed poorly, in rags and robes and bundles that suggest a certain level of consistent poverty all throughout the level. The buildings in these tunnels look man-made, either built from scrap or carved straight out of the rock of the cave, but the majority of the actual roads and cave walls seem to have been formed with very little help from human hands.

The place is lit with lanterns and dirty-looking florescents suspended high above in the cave ceiling. The air is thick and stuffy, the smell of mold and mud prevalent over even the smell of human stagnation. It would not be hard to drag someone off, and he gets the immediate feeling that if he did, it's unlikely that anyone would come looking for them.

What does he do?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Tonic does not seem to need a hand up, nor does he ask for one... he climbs just high enough to get his shoulders over, stopping for a moment to cross his arms and lean forward over the edge of the bowl. he watches Tek busying around with the pillows, smiling quietly. his lower half is doing a good job of keeping him propped securely against a rung of the ladder.]

It's been a while since I've been in one of these.

[this may not mean anything; it sounds like an absent little thought he just had.]

If you would rather go somewhere else, speak up now.

[he smooths out the center-most blanket as a finishing touch, and stops to admire his work. obvious sinkholes have been filled with smaller, tougher cushions, and the edges of the nest have been fortified with a balanced arrangement of freshly-fluffed pillows. and with the center area now nice and even (instead of rumpled and abandoned by the previous occupants, the space is ready for them.]

I would spend my whole day in something like this, if I could get away with it.

Sounds like a good life to me, darling.

[he must not have any concerns, since he hoists himself up the rest of the way, slithering into the nest to find a spot to settle in. he ends up sitting with his back up against some of the pillows fortifying the edge, his good leg stretched out in front of him, and his bad leg tucked up, knee close to his chest. it gives his hands somewhere to go, holding that leg securely close to him, fingers woven together to catch his shin.

this is nice. he seems to relax pretty quickly, going so far as to close his eyes for a moment.]

[Tek finds a nice spot to settle just as quickly, angled with a good view of both the doorway and his companion, elbow propped comfortably on the biggest cushion he's leaning against.

he enjoys being this close whenever he can get away with it. everything is easier to read, like this. he can really get a sense of who he's working with here, without distance and distractions between them.

he takes a big breath and indulges in a sigh of contentment.]

...Maybe he won't find me in here, and someone else will have to take him home.

[Tonic suddenly laughs, ruining his own tranquility... but he tips his head back and glances over at his new friend, looking pleased by the situation all the same.]

It'd serve him right. That guy's a mess. You deserve better, babe.

You don't know that.

[he looks sly about it, of course, because... oh, if Tonic only knew.

which brings up the fact that he could know some of it if he tried hard enough, and they did come up here for that exact reason. so, Tek rolls right into officially introducing the game... though, he doesn't budge from his lazy place against the pillows, which ruins any formality it might have had.]

So... on your turn, you can ask any question you would like, or you can request to be told something. You may even ask to be told something about a certain topic, if you'd like to narrow the field.

[he waves his hand to gesture aimlessly between the two of them.]

Then, you guess whether the answer you receive is a truth or a lie. Whoever loses that contest, loses an article of clothing. [a little smirk, then.] ...And if someone is doing spectacularly poorly, or we'd like to drag out the game for whatever other reason we want, we can always change it to every two or three wrong answers as we go.

[what do you say, friend?]

[the staring returns. it sneaks in so quietly that it's hard to realize that Tonic is staring at all, but being corrected gets him invested, gets his attention fully on the matter at hand. whatever level of intoxication he may be under, he doesn't want to miss a second of this.]

All right. Sounds good to me.

[he glances away just long enough to stretch one of his arms, really committing to getting comfortable and finding a place where he can watch Tek and keep an eye on the door at the same time.]

Since you're the rule-master here, how about you ask the first question?

Fair enough.

[while he leans on his hand, gazing up at the ceiling and mulling over possible questions, he also lets his other senses drift out. he can't tell many useful things from this distance (a reading of poisons in the system, for example, really requires a touch to bring it into focus) he can still hone in on an aura. he assumes the man is human, so no surprises there, but maybe there is something else interesting hiding in or on his person. he doesn't know.]

I'll start simple. How did you get into your line of work?

[there is nothing magical hiding on his person. his aura, however, has a faint trace of... something. it is barely a wisp of smoke compared to the bonfire that emanates out of Robin or most of the people they had known from their world-hopping adventures... but compared to the true, average human around here, Tonic is definitely different.

it's hard to say how, exactly, but Robin would have told him enough between this world and previous adventures for Tek to warrant a guess that Tonic might be one of those "mages" this world is so quick to permanently silence.

Tonic doesn't have to think for very long before an easy smirk spreads over half his face again.]

I fell into it.

[Tek smiles to himself--half due to Tonic's answer and half because of the way that his aura stands out from the rest, even by that little bit. it makes the time that he's spending with him just that much more worth it. now, he has something he can point to as an excuse for all the attention he's giving him.]

I suppose it's safe to guess that one as a truth... though, I'm now left even more curious as to the details in either case.

Ah, you got me.

[but he doesn't seem bothered. he sits up and starts peeling his jacket away, shrugging out of of his sleeves. doing so does not reveal much of anything, because he's wearing a separate set of sleeves underneath his jacket. they tie across his chest and back, over some third piece that forms the majority of his shirt.

he drops his jacket nicely near his feet before settling back again.]

You can always ask me more questions about it, if you really want to know.

[sounding playful about it, he's ready with his question.]

Okay, what is your line of work?

[ah, right. the question that prompted him to remember this game in the first place. the moment when he switches from contemplating his next turn--deciding whether he's going to go after further information about his first question or ask one of the many others he has lined up in his head--to dwelling on the question asked to him is quite clear. whether he's going to tell the truth or lie with his answer, the frown is honest.]

Ah... my family takes their business very seriously, and my siblings and I were all drafted into it by the misfortune of our birth.

[he sighs. the whole thing is such a tragedy.]

Notary scribe, I'm sorry to say. Terribly boring business.

Oh dear...

[he finds this story amusing, whether or not it is true. it's Tonic's turn to glance out the door, thinking of what little he knows about Tek--but not actually taking that long to decide.]

I think you're lying.

[said with a cheery half-smile. notary scribes don't long for the Underground world, let alone the world of Skeleton City.]

[of course he doesn't act like one, when he has been forced into it the way he has. Tek looks offended by that accusation.]

How dare you... questioning that I would go along with my family's noble business, however much I loathe it...

[but he's sitting forward so that he can unbutton and shrug out of his own jacket as he carries on, tossing it beside Tonic's when he's done.]

[that gets Tonic to laugh again. it's a charming subversion of expectation, on top of a little thrill that his instincts turned out right.]

Noble indeed...

[now freed from his jacket, he settles back against the pillows once more, and throws his next question out casually, as soon as he gets comfortable.]

Aside from his stunning personality, why do you hate Robin?

Oh... Hm...

[this may end up being the state of things, back and forth, as the two of them are asked and have to answer questions: Tonic's smile slips from his face as he has to think his way around something unpleasant, trying to decide if it would be safer to tell the truth, or to make up a lie.

he looks right at Tek when he states his final answer.]

He ruined a very important opportunity for me.

[and then there is maybe the most honest look from Tek yet, as he drinks in that eye contact and makes his judgments--looking from one of Tonic's mismatched eyeballs to the the other.

he could see the truth going either way, given what he knows of Tonic and Robin both. it sounds true enough, and it sounds as though his opponent is giving a small concession in exchange for keeping the majority of the secret to himself. and, if that's the case, then Tek has already learned as much as he can from the answer.

the only way he has a chance to glean anything more is if...]

Lying.

[even if he's guessing wrong, there still might be more to see, and he's watching for it.]

[this really is a good game. right or wrong, they're always getting something out of the interaction. in this case, Tonic smiles... and slowly leans to start unlacing one of his heavy boots, the one on his good side.]

Caught me... That was a lucky guess.

[though he is immensely pleased with himself, his little chuckle is all for show. it's to help make the gesture of reaching over and patting his friend's arm seem natural. he's being both conciliatory and good-naturedly patronizing at the same time--as well as curiously reaching for a taste of just how much the alcohol has actually made an impact on his system.]

Don't worry, I'm sure I won't be gloating for long.

[Tonic glances over in the middle of unzipping his shoe just to see what Tek is doing at his arm, but once he confirms that it’s nothing but a cruel-spirited pat (or so he thinks), he huffs and goes back to taking his boot off.

Tek has been around long enough to have a pretty good idea of how much Tonic should feel poisoned, and what he gets doesn’t really fit. it’s not just that Tonic is far more sober than he should be, given the amount he quickly ingested... it’s that the aforementioned poison doesn’t seem to be there much at all. it can’t be that Tonic somehow didn’t drink it; Tek watched him do it, unless the man is secretly a wizard with sleight of hand. but his body can’t have processed it in this short a time, either, because there are almost no signs that Tonic is suffering from the normal hangover that would come from something like that. it almost seems like the alcohol is just... disappearing from his insides, and it isn’t magic.]

Okay. [he puts his boot aside, revealing a black stocking.] My question. What did you do to your eyes?

[Tek is settled back again by the time that Tonic finishes removing his boot, arms folded behind his head, quietly mulling over the information he'd just gleaned directly from the other man's system. he hardly bats an eye when the question is sent his way, almost as if he doesn't realize that it's meant to be part of the game.]

Nothing.

[Tonic was just settling back himself, and he fixes Tek with an odd stare.]

Nothing?

[...whether it was the answer or the quickness with which it was given, that was not what Tonic was expecting to hear out of this round.]

Nothing.

[though, he may be beginning to look a little self-satisfied now.]

Huh.

[Tonic wants to claim that Tek is lying, because he doesn't really know what to think otherwise... but he's also still invested in not losing, so...]

Truth.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject