video; un: quibbler | broadcast around 2am 2/11

[creidim]

[ It's in the early hours of the morning of the second that Luna opens the feed. At first nothing looks awry, there's simply the cosy low-light of her bedroom and from what can be seen around Luna's shoulders everything seems calm. Well, slightly eerie, considering the soft glow that comes from under her skin, even slightly visible through her pyjamas. That's a new thing for this month, as if she (and everyone else for that matter) might see the very pulse of her blood within her veins. It's like she's turned into a literal nightlight.

And then Luna's face comes into view as she brings the camera up: bedraggled and wide-eyed and expression strained. There's panic in her eyes, worry. Her breathing's shaky as she stares at the camera for a moment, not sure how to start. Something is clearly wrong. ]

I need— answers. [ Her gaze shifts off-camera, then back. She swallows thickly, relenting. ] We were fine, we went to bed. We had a nice day, and we were fine— he was fine, and now— now he's— I'll just— let me show—

[ With much fumbling, she shifts the camera round. It turns to her bed, where a strange, human-shaped mass of grey lies upon it. She moves closer, and it slowly becomes clearer that the mass is in fact Peter Graham — concealed in the grey mucus, covered in tiny eyes that all stare up at her. The young man doesn't seem to be in any obvious distress: he simply sleeps inside the gross-looking slime that covers him. Luna keeps the camera on him for a long moment before she turns it back to her. ]

What is this—? What does it mean—? [ The questions come quickly. It is rare for Luna Lovegood to get herself all in a fluster, but this is Peter she's talking about. She's worried, and the fact that even she's openly worried and scared for him speaks volumes. ]

I've heard about... something like this. It happens to Sleepers sometimes, but I've never seen it. Is this when they go home—? Is that what it means—? Where do they go? Where did he go? I need answers, someone must be awake—

[ It might be obscenely late, but surely someone will be up to provide her with information. Does it mean going home? Luna's... frightened of that. She doesn't know everything about how things were in Peter's world, but she knows more than most. And she knows that there's nothing good for Peter back home. ]

How long will he be like this? How long does it last? He'll come back, yes? He has to. [ She flops down to sit on the edge of her bed, Peter just behind her in the camera's view. She's fretful, bewildered. Silence falls for a long moment, Luna looks utterly exhausted. But then again, this is hardly the most pleasant way to wake up in the middle of the night. And she's woken up plenty times in the middle of the night due to horrible, terrible and sometimes disgusting things.

Her voice grows very small, barely a whisper. How did this happen? ]

... I don't understand, he just— it was his birthday—

Comments

video | un: K

[obeir]

[ Oh. Oh no. The bizarre cocooning has preceded the permanent disappearances of several people K's known, and while he's also heard evidence of others enduring it and not vanishing afterward, he can't help but worry Peter might not be so lucky. Peter is almost never lucky. ]

Yes, this happens to Sleepers sometimes. From what I understand, it's as "normal" as anything else in this place. He'll be back. It just might... take a while. But he'll wake up. [ Emphasising that point. ]

In my experience, the process can last upwards of a month or more. Dirk's did. [ He knows Luna had known Dirk, and well, if she's ever wondered what ultimately happened to him: ] I don't believe he went home. He eventually woke from it, but... vanished not long after. Without word or warning.

[ As close as K had been with him, the loss was hard. And Dirk wasn't the first person he's lost in such an abrupt and permanent way — it's to the point where he wonders if he's the common denominator and getting close to him dooms people to such a fate. He doesn't want to needlessly panic Luna with this information, but rather help her be prepared for what could very well happen, though he dearly hopes it won't. And to that end, he also offers some hopeful comfort. ]

I've heard others come back from it and continue on like usual, sometimes with new memories of their home universe. I don't know why some seem to be sent home, while for others it's merely a temporary coma. It may be down to the whims of the Pthumerians.

Do you need help with— [ He falters, his own uncertain worry becoming more apparent. ] Can I do anything to help?

[ Damn. Happy birthday to poor Peter Graham. ]

video; public at first, then private

[creidim]

... A month? [ It feels like an age, a month. It's crushing. Peter could be stuck like this in this strange grey cocoon for a month, maybe more? But what'll happen to him in the meantime?

And then K hits with the possibility that Peter might end up waking only to go back to the ocean. That with however long like this, he'll come back to her only to leave again. Like Dirk had. Or that they might simply awaken with new memories. ]

So he might just be... mentally going home right now? [ And that might be it? Maybe? It doesn't fill her with much hope, though. And she quickly shuts the feed down to private. K understands the situation, and she doesn't want it all over the network. ]

private

... He can't go home. If he goes home, there's no more Peter. [ And that's what she's terrified of. Luna was the one who bonded with Paimon to spare Peter's soul. She made her deal so Paimon would stop forcing Peter out, in exchange for being his witch, his summoner. But if she's not there, then—? ] Maybe even if it's just mentally. If he goes home, he goes back to Paimon trying to get rid of him, to those horrible people who're manipulating Paimon.

What if he wakes up and... Peter's not there any more?

[ As for the offer of help: ]

Maybe if... maybe if you come over in the morning, is that alright?

[obeir]

I wish I knew more. I don't even know if a month is the average timeline, or if Dirk was an anomaly. It wouldn't surprise me if he was. [ Considering the fact Dirk hadn't seemed to want to play by the Pthumerians' rules. Who's to say they weren't just punishing him before exiling him back to his home universe? Certainly stranger things have occurred here.

Had Peter or Paimon possibly done anything to displease the Pthumerians? But he isn't sure he wants to float that speculation with Luna just yet. She's clearly already overwhelmed with enough worries. Better to focus on concrete ways to help her, if there even are any...

What she explains in private makes his heart hurt. ]

( private )

I knew he came from a terrible situation, but— [ The poor kid is possessed, K knows roughly how Peter's sister died, and his parents seem to have been neglectful at best, it isn't exactly a leap to assume all was not well in the Graham household. But Paimon actively trying to get rid of him...? ] I didn't know it was that severe. What people do you mean? Manipulating Paimon?

[ What if it isn't Peter who wakes up? That's a whole new dreadful thought that hadn't yet occurred to him, but it makes absolute, terrifying sense. Dismayed, he nods in acceptance to her suggestion. ] Yes. If you'd rather I come now, I can. [ There's a rustle of clothing being retrieved when he briefly leans out of frame. He is, in fact, already getting dressed. He hadn't been sleeping to begin with, and definitely won't now. ]

[creidim]

Someone will know, sure. Maybe... maybe there's people who might here that have undergone this...? [ There has to be, surely. Maybe they don't all go to the ocean afterwards, maybe it's not always so long. She doesn't know.

And she certainly can't think of Paimon or Peter giving the Pthumerians any reason to punish them, either. Certainly not Peter, he barely knows their names. He has little to do with them other than maybe his own Patron, and Luna's by association. But Paimon? Merlin knows. ]

private

The people who brought Paimon to this plane. ... Followers? A cult, maybe? Peter's grandmother was involved. [ And his mother? Peter thinks so, but Luna isn't quite so sure. But Ellen certainly was, given her interaction with Peter when she appeared in Deerington as some undead thing. ] They're the ones responsible for putting Paimon into Peter. But the thing is... Paimon's never supposed to be a violent being, but I think they were pushing him to attack Peter, to hurt him. Like Peter himself was never supposed to be within his own body anymore, that they wanted Paimon around permanently.

[ 'Peter himself'; his soul, she means. And certainly Paimon had initially been at odds with Peter, wanting to get rid of him. He didn't actively stop until Luna made her bond with him. ]

And Paimon came here so... lost, and broken and wild. They... they did that to him.

[ She is... she's so angry with them. For what they've done to Peter, but what they've done to Paimon too. Pushed and pulled an ancient being in whatever way suited them, likely for Paimon to serve them with his knowledge and his riches — something they wouldn't want to give up so easily.

K's already moving. Part of her is grateful for him springing into action because she's asked for his help. But the other part worries, journeying going out in the middle of the night. ]

K, I don't expect you to come out here. It's the middle of the night.

[private] (and also switching to action?)

[obeir]

[ They'll both just have to hope others might have more insight into the phenomenon. K's already been keeping an eye on the other public responses as they appear — and is surprised to see Johnny offering comfort in his own way, considering the history that exists between him, Luna, and Peter. And K still isn't aware of the full story there. But it's good to know Johnny's capable of putting all that aside in order to help Luna right now, it speaks well of his character.

As she explains Paimon's recent past, the pieces are all finally falling into place. Comments Peter and Paimon have made over the years, things he's observed, what he'd learnt from Ben's old books... Paimon had just recently mentioned his reluctance to publicly share his true name, how humans have manipulated him. It's all making a terrible kind of sense now, and he desperately wishes it didn't. ]

They sacrificed Peter. [ It's hushed, almost a question, as well as a horrified realisation. And Peter's own family had been party to it? His grandmother, Luna says, and having witnessed a traumatic memory of Peter's mother, K's also wondering whether she was involved. She definitely had not seemed to have a healthy relationship with her son. ] Was his sister's death—?

[ He can't bring himself to finish the thought. God. These poor kids. The memory of Luna's torture is not far from his thoughts, either. It's moments like this that really drive home what family means to him, because all he wants is to be able to protect Luna, protect Peter from these horrors, somehow carry the trauma for them so that they can just... get to be kids.

And now there's a chance Peter might not get to be anything at all. Even Paimon is a victim of his own followers.

He tries to keep these grim thoughts from playing out in his expression, with only some success. By the time his eyes return to Luna, he looks... sad, more than anything, but his resolve has not wavered. His Omni is being lifted as he stands. ]

I don't think either of us will be sleeping any time soon. I'll keep you company. [ The usual dangers posed by Trench's streets at night are about the furthest thing from his mind right now. But he isn't reckless — he intends to take the shortest lamp route possible. ] And I'd... like to know more, if you want to talk about it. But you don't have to.

[ His Omni, still broadcasting, is transferred from one hand to the other as he pulls on his long coat, and the smoky form of his Omen — a fuzzy biomechanical bee — materialises to perch on the collar of his coat, buzzing with concern as K heads for the lamp in his yard. Able to see perfectly well in the dark, he doesn't bother with any light sources. ]

> private, moving to action, y!

[creidim]

They did, yes. [ She's sorry, she can't mistake the horror in his eyes. Luna's own gaze is apologetic, even in its sombreness. She's sorry to tell him it, this horrible knowledge. Peter was given to Paimon, sacrificed to him. And certainly his grandmother was part of it. She has some doubts over Peter's mother, however. From the things Peter has told her — sometimes it doesn't make sense for her to be a part of it. ]

I don't know. [ Luna can't say how or if Charlie's death is related to all of this. She knows it can't be mere coincidence that Paimon went after Peter after Charlie's death. But it also brings up a lot of difficult to swallow ideas she's had turning around in her stomach for some time now. ]

But I.. do think Charlie is involved in all of this. I think she's here, too.

[ Whether she dwells on it or not, she can't mistake that. Some kind of part of Charlie is here, existing within Peter, within Paimon. Some part that acts and speaks like her, that responds to Charlie — and that she bleeds through into Paimon, his habits and interests and likes.

It... is truly a sad state of affairs, though. All of it.

When K does arrive at their home, he will be met with a singular ethereal-looking black hare sat to attention upon the doorstep — swirls tendrils of black smoke rippling from her fur. She is much like Luna's patronus, if one would be made of blood and smoke. And whereas Luna's own mind is a mess with worry and fear, Inlé is not — the Omen is calm and composed. She'll regard K (and his Omen) with a short nod: ]

Luna did not wish to leave the boy's side. The door is unlocked, but I would appreciate it if you could lock it after you.

[ Very sensible. With that, the black hare will turn and leap through the door — passing through the solid wood like a spectre. She will be waiting on the other side, perched on the bannister at the bottom of the stairs. The house is silent, and still dark: the lights remain turned off since Luna hasn't ventured downstairs. The omen's eyes will be glowing in the dark though — offering enough light so K might find his footing through the hallway towards the stairs.

Helga will be stood at the bottom of the stairs, whining softly. Something is happening, and the giant wolf-dog does not like it. She would appreciate some pets from the surprise visitor, until Inlé speaks again and begins to lead the way upstairs. ]

This way, they are in Luna's room.

[ There's lights on in her room, at least. All the soft-glowing lights both magical and Muggle that she has: fairy-lights, her moon lamp, glowing orbs of magical energy in little jars. It's cosy, if it weren't for the cocooned form of Peter upon her bed. Luna hasn't moved from the bed, still remaining sat at Peter's side. ]