Event | Turtle Dive | January 20 - 23 | Underwater zombies crave your briiiiiines

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and all PCs
Date: January 20th - 23rd
Location: All Sectors
Situation: Tu Vishan continues swimming along the ocean floor after his monumental dive, but it turns out there are a whole bunch of undead that want in on the party!
Warnings/Rating: Underwater situations, violence, potential gore; to be updated as noted.

>See the comments of this post for various situations and areas available for tagging.
>Each header will be set for a date and/or area.
>Feel free to start your own header for specific situations.
>The Palace subplot will be run in a separate log.
>Refer to the two OOC posts for further details. 01 | 02

Comments

Dorian Gray | Fire Sector | OTA

[depicted]

[Early on, after the usefulness of fire has been made clear, Dorian is outside looking for material for torches, not especially worried. They're zombies. They couldn't possibly kill him. He stuns and runs when confronted by them, because there is no point getting into a fight you can't win, but some of these things are much faster and much stronger.]

[Thus, a jiangshi ends up getting hold of Dorian Gray and biting into his neck. Dorian cries out in pain--

—and the jiangshi recoils, looking more or less like someone who just bit into a rotten apple.]

[The wound is already healing, but now Dorian is indignant.]

What? I—but—oh, my God. An undead philistine. For the record, vampires think I taste divine.

[Now he really wants to burn all these zombie jerks. He is so irritated that he wastes the bottle of alcohol he had planned to use as a last resort, smashing it over the head of the jiangshi (who is no longer interested in him) and setting it on fire with his lighter.]

[emasculates]

[Well she was about to intervene. Now, though, the muzzle of the pistol she's using moves from the zombie to Dorian himself.]

You heal. Will it mitigate the effects of the bite?

[Because she's not wasting ammunition on him if it's not needed, otherwise? Sorry, you're getting shot.]

[depicted]

[Wow there is a gun pointed at him. Dorian holds up his hands as the zombie burns beside him.]

Yes, it should do. Always has before, anyway, and I don't feel any immediate desire to consume the flesh of other living beings, so I'm assuming that holds true. How do you do?

[All that calmly, with the mildly irritated air of one who has been held at gunpoint before and still dislikes being shot.]

[emasculates]

[This gun is pretty much going to remain trained on him for the time being.]

They are not interested in flesh. They are after the soul.

[POINTED LOOK. Zombies ate her just fine. And that's saying something.]

[depicted]

[But he hates having guns pointed at him!]

[Still, he keeps up the attitude of vague disinterest, and of course there is his irritation leftover from a zombie telling him he tastes bad]

Oh, is that what it was? Then I have even less to worry about than I thought. What nice surprises today has had for me. Care to introduce yourself? I'm Dorian Gray. [And if she doesn't know from that why soul-eating monsters don't think there is anything delicious about him, then he doesn't really want to tell her.]

[emasculates]

[You know what she hates?

Other people.

Looks like you're both on a losing streak today, because that gun is going exactly nowhere. Also: she's a quadruple agent who's been in numerous wars all over the world what gives you the idea she's ever had time to read Wilde.]

Aisha. Are you otherwise armed?

[She's hardly the good Samaritan type, but having a meat shield that can apparently heal from zombie bites wouldn't be a bad thing.]

[depicted]

[As long as he doesn't have to explain, he is happy. People tend to look down on others who trade their soul to the devil in exchange for eternal youth (it was an accident!) and it makes everything awkward, so he just likes to avoid that conversation however he can.]

Not yet. I came out to get material for a torch.

[You know what? His arms are getting tired. At least if she shoots him, he'll get to rest for a few seconds. Or... you know, experience the horrible agony of a gunshot wound. Whatever. Dorian drops his hands.]

[emasculates]

[And she thinks about it. More idle curiosity than anything. She didn't expressly say don't move. What sort of ballistic damage would a 9mm shot do to someone with nigh on instantaneous healing?

(and where can she get some of that devil-soul-exchange stock market because you bet she'd do it in a heartbeat and give precisely nyet fucks on the matter)

And then she eases the gun skyward.]

Then move.

[Yep she sure did just invite herself along for the ride.]

[depicted]

[Wow, what a charmer. Dorian lifts his eyebrows, but he is just going to accept this. It's not like she'll be a liability to him. Dorian rubs his neck, easing away the last of the soreness from the bite.]

[With a smile] Your wish is my command.

[Because a cranky woman with a gun and no manners is no reason to forsake politeness! Dorian turns on his heel, his pretty silver lighter back in his pocket, and strikes off towards the remnants of the bonfires. Aisha can come if she wants, but he isn't going to wait.]

[emasculates]

[She snorts in a sort of wry amusement at his words and then moves to follow him. She has a light step and moves with the grace and gait of one long-used to a killing field.

Which, for the record, is more or less what this place entails. She does keep just behind her new companion, though. There's an inherent lack of trust in everything she does, and this is hardly different.]

How long has this been happening?

[She was busy being dead, she has no idea how long this whole affair's been started or how long she was in the water before being pulled onto the turtle. She also has no idea how her body survived the exterior pressure of the ocean at this depth.]

[depicted]

Mm, half a day, at a guess? [He talks quietly, but he lacks Aisha's grace as a soldier. He is a pampered gentleman. All Dorian knows of danger is urban and personal. Immortals in warzones tend to reveal things about themselves better kept private, after all.]

[But he does at least know horror, and is careful to avoid the corpses sprawled on the ground. And as his priority is keeping the ordinary (if combat-ready) human safe, he doesn't take issue with being first into the metaphorical minefield.]

[emasculates]

[Then she could not have been long dead. That's an interesting selling point. Aisha isn't inclined to caution at the best of times, but having unlimited respawn does wonders for a woman's blood lust.]

And we've heard nothing from the local authorities?

[depicted]

They're opening the Palace of Landed Sky to the population. Their patrols are focused on the immediate area.

[usavatar]

[Steve hammers his way around a corner shield-first, just in time to see Dorian's attacker recoil and to hear what the man says to the jiangshi.

Though the jiangshi itself snaps backwards, head smashed in by the edge of Steve's hurled shield. His calculations are as true as usual - the rebound and ricochet of the weapon put it in perfect range for a catch as he joins the other man.

Steve stares at the healed spot on Dorian's neck for a moment before meeting his eyes.] You're really him, aren't you.

[depicted]

[Dorian smiles then, and it is that perfect Prince Charming smile, the one Oscar described as full of all the frankness and passionate purity of youth.] In the very flesh. Now, care to accompany me to the bonfires? I hate walking through a Gothic fiction without any armaments.

[Dorian thinks he recognizes the voice, but he can't be certain. Might as well keep the costumed hero around to ascertain it.]

[usavatar]

[It's alarming to be the focus of that smile. Steve's forgotten at the moment - preoccupied as he is by other things - that the last time they met, he was wearing a mask. He drags a hand across his forehead, leaving a streak of dirt and probably other nastier things.] Mr. Gray, I don't think - even if you heal from the bite, these things could still hurt you.

[A pack of them could tear the man to pieces, and Steve isn't about to let that happen if he can convince Dorian to get somewhere safe.] There are barricades, and the palace is temporarily open to civilians.

[depicted]

Oh, you are sweet. [That, with the voice, confirms it.] But Captain Rogers, I'm not a civilian. You should know that, knowing who I am. What I am.

[Dorian gestures in the direction of the bonfires, and in the fog and horror, his voice is sweet.] Let me put a few good deeds in my ledger, won't you? The Devil knows I need them.

[usavatar]

Who. [It's quiet, but still firm. He addresses the jiangshi that attacked Dorian the first time again as it staggers back to its feet.]

Excuse me. [In spite of the politeness of the statement, there's an animal savagery when he goes into motion. He's been drilling obsessively with the kedan and any other fighter who will have him over the past half year, and it shows. Brawler's instincts have sharpened into a fighter's economical elegance of motion. He steps neatly around Dorian and strikes out with the broad side of the shield, impact throwing the corpse against a building across the street as a second creature loses its head entirely to one of Steve's combat boots. That doesn't stop it from clawing at his ankle, but he seizes it by one wrist and then the other, breaking its arms in three places and leaving the thing, if not harmless, at least hard-pressed to attack.

He continues the conversation as though nothing else has happened.] And I don't know how much of the book is true. All I really know is your name and how you've been with me, which is kind.

[Exhale. He's talking to Dorian Gray.] But I'll get you to the fires.

[depicted]

[Dorian steps back and watches Steve fight, impressed. Dorian has never been one for gore, but in combat there is a certain kind of beauty, and Steve has it.]

[When he is done, Dorian is quiet for a moment. That was the one complaint he has ever had about Oscar's book: when people realize that it really is him, they think they know everything about him. But Steve won't.]

Thank you, Captain. [He doesn't clarify. Instead, he starts moving.]

[usavatar]

This is what I do.

[He grins, then, his own smile unpracticed and all the more guileless for it.] Well, the zombies are new. But I've had aliens before.

[He's trying to get used to talking about these things the way Nita and Rikki and Steph all do, casual and comfortable, the disaster of the week.

Steve checks their perimeter and heads for the bonfires proper. There aren't many jiangshi in the immediate area - probably because there aren't many people left either.]

[depicted]

[Dorian has seen guileless smiles before, and yet in Steve there is something particular about his goodness. Dorian isn't able to name it.]

[But one of the jiangshi is within their line of sight. Dorian speaks very, very quietly.] Captain, I'd like to try something. Guard yourself, but don't help me.

[With that, Dorian walks out to meet the jiangshi. He pushes back its sleeve, and when it comes for him, he offers it a bite before it can start to tear him apart.]

[It hurts, but Dorian ignores that. The jiangshi has the same disgusted reaction. And now Dorian watches for what he really needs to know: whether or not it will leave him alone once it knows what he tastes like. The jiangshi is still.]

[Then it moves around Dorian, far too fast for Dorian to grab it, though he tries. It wants Steve now.]

Shit. Sorry!

[A+ planning from Dorian Gray.]

[usavatar]

[Steve plants himself, waits, and lashes out as soon as the jiangshi is in range of the shield. The corpse barrels on, headless, and crashes into a wall.

He picks his way around the head to Dorian's side.] Are you all right?

[depicted]

Yeah, I'm fine. [The wound is healing and the pain will go with it. Dorian is already moving back towards the bonfires.] I needed to confirm that while I had someone around to help, if it came to dismemberment. [Dorian, don't smile that cheerfully talking about dismemberment.]

[usavatar]

Confirm that you'll heal? [DORIAN Y U DO. Steve comes close enough to inspect the injury, though not so close that he'll draw any jiangshi to Dorian.] Or that it wouldn't bite twice?

[depicted]

[Dorian is already all healed up, as he knew he'd be.] That it won't bite twice. Living through anything doesn't feel like half as much as a gift when it means dying without relief. [dorian your sense of humour is no]