un: klapbak | video

[klussy]

Surprise, bitch. I lived.

(Have Eddie, flipping the camera off with his right hand aka his prosthetic.

Eddie looks different than the last time most people had seen him. For starters, he has a green undertone to his skin. For another, his tongue is completely black. Behind him is an empty room with gray floorboards and peeling green walls. It at least looks clean. There's a Gucci suitcase on its side, opened up, with clothes spilling over and across the floor. Another Gucci suitcase sits next to it, but it has been partially charred.

A dog is passed out and snoring rather loudly in the opened suitcase.

Despite his on-point meme drop, Eddie's delivery is completely and suspiciously blank. His gray eyes are flat, and his expression remains completely empty.)

Richie's here too. (As if on-demand, a massive fireball blast out from the doorway of a nearby room followed by some crashing and yelling. Eddie doesn't even bother to glance over his shoulder.)

We're settling in okay. We're in Lumenwood. I've got some of my supplies from Deerington but I've got a shitton of stuff I need to restock.

(Which was going to be such a drag.)

But for those on a need-to-know basis, I've already made some important notes on this place. Not that any of you give a shit, but if you do...I guess we were given journals for a reason. I suck at journaling though. Here's a uh --- transcipt? Is that what it's called? Whatever, I typed it up.

(He shrugs. The screen goes blank only to be followed up by some text that Eddie clearly wrote up ahead of time:)



IMPORTANT TRENCH NOTES SHIT STUFF?
i dont know i dont normally do the note takin thing so feel grateful

1.)

our blood's fucking weird now but also no shit it's weird now is anyone surprised

give me your blood so i can figure it out. i studied hematology a LOT

last time i checked out my blood under a scope it was totally different than what it is now on a cellular level.

i actually tried to expose my blood to some bacteria and germs that would usually cause an infection and it was really weird? what look like my new white cells just immediately seemed to swallow up the bacteria and it was like it never existed at all

thats not to say you should run around and stab yourself with a rusty fork anytime soon

but it'd be cool if i could get more samples to see if this is just a Me thing or an Us thing

2.)

i spit on richie and we figured out that my spit can cause a numbing feeling. if you ever need to spit on you, let me know
it's probably gonna be useful if anyone gets injured
normally i would say don't let someone spit in your open wounds
but my spit is totally sanitary
i swear



(shut the hell up)

3.)

only 1/3rd of my closet made it here and no im not ready to talk about it. this place doesn't even have goddamn chanel

4.)

taylor swift still exists so we're gonna be okay

Comments

un: video

[klussy]

Yup. Somehow I'm not really that shocked by it.

(It completely fits what powerset Eddie would picture for Richie if they were ever in this situation. That or shapeshifting maybe.)

You mean in Lumenwood? Yeah, man, that'd be great. There's a few tests I haven't really been able to try out 'cause of the supply shortage. We can make a collective inventory or somethin.

(Eddie is absolutely invested in Varian's equally important notes, just nodding steadily as he speaks.)

Yeah. All of the ones I've tested so far. That's exactly what I was thinking. I was gonna see what happens when the blood interacts with the different types of blood next.

(He smirks.)

On purpose. (Because of course he did.) But I asked first. I drooled on myself when I was brushing my teeth and was like why is my hand numb.

(Then, naturally, he went to go see if his boyfriend would let him spit on him. The obvious progression of a scientific investigation.)

It's not really the period style I have an issue with it's the fact that eighty percent of people I've seen so far don't do anything with it. So much black. So many ill-fitted robes and cloaks. (But there is a glimmer of intrigue in his eyes...)

You think? (Eddie slowly begins to sulk.) But what the hell about shorts? Varian, I haven't seen a single pair of shorts since I've gotten here. I have legs that need to be seen.

(By everyone! Mostly himself!)

Right? I have no idea how I would have ever survived.

[droptheious]

It about tracks for your guys' luck, really.

[It makes Varian feel marginally less like a freak if other people have this too, so bonus!]

Of course. I don't think I have any more supplies of antidote - but I can at least make you up some basic medical supplies. And don't mention it, we've got to look out for each other, that's always been how we survive best, I can't see that changing. A collective inventory would be a good idea.

[That's interesting, though. Not having to be worried about getting sick. It's a big weight given how gross this place is. ]

Let me know what you find. I think it'll matter a lot if you need to do any blood transfusions when someone inevitably gets mauled by something here. [A smirk plays across his lips as he mentions spitting on Richie.] Wow. So romantic, Eddie. Good of you to get spit consent first though.

[Guys, please.]

Yeah, admittedly there is a lot of black going on. You kind of need to work with accents and hope for the best. [He snorts softly. ] Well, there are breeches, those are kind of like shorts, they have these little tassel-y things on the bottom of them? They were kinda falling out of fashion in my time, but you could probably find some here. So the world is not denied your legs.

I know it would have been a tragedy for everyone. No. Genuinely, I'm not kidding.

[He knows how much Taylor Swift means to Eddie- he would NEVER joke about her being gone.]

[klussy]

Exactly.

(Eddie didn't really know why he wasn't freaking out more about his own situation, truthfully. But maybe just clinical detachment going hard.)

That's okay. We can figure something out - and who knows? Stuff that worked in the dream might not work the same here. This place does feel different.

(It was interesting - especially for someone who spent half his life paranoid of how sick he could become if he was exposed to anything. It was giving him a second existential crisis and he just didn't know it yet. He was trying to wrap his mind around a world in which they couldn't get sick the usual means.)

I think so too. I mean, shit, even normal blood it's important to make sure you match the right types up. Maybe this world has a very different version of Type O, Type AB, and stuff like that. Blood's complicated even without magic. (He smirks at Varian.)

I know. It's no wonder we're still together.

(He purses his lips at the description of wearing breeches and all he can imagine are those ridiculous puffy shorts with ridiculous stockings...Although stockings didn't seem that bad. He absolutely zones out, thinking about fashion at great length. Sorry for the space-out, Varian, he'll come back.

And when he does, he grins, realizing what Varian had said belatedly.)

It really woulda been. I'm glad you get it. (Granted, Eddie had been more vulnerable to Varian about the importance of the artist than he has with most people. It's easy to feel more casual about the subject now that he knew she was here. But God. That would have been harder to cope with than most things.)

How are you guys settlibng in?

[droptheious]

It really does. There's not much of a familiar feel to it. We're definitely dealing with a completely different set of parameters to work into now. We just need to figure out what those parameters are.

[It left the question what could happen to them? Varian isn't naive enough to believe they'd get a completely free ride here. That doesn't seem possible. ]

I'll take your word for it. We never got that far in medical knowledge in my time and blood was something I avoided as much as possible. Makes me queasy. [Which is a great weakness to have HERE, with all the blood everywhere. ] Wonders may never cease, Eddie.

[Varian cants his head as Eddie goes...somewhere. Where is a mystery for the ages.]

Sure thing, Buddy. [Varian's genuinely floored and grateful Eddies trusts him enough to be vulnerable around him. He never takes it for granted. ]

We're doing okay. Got a few extra housemates which is nice. It's a big house, they fill it a little more.

[klussy]

And that's always the goddamn hard part.

(It had been the worst part in Deerington for three years straight. Figuring out everyone's different physiology to properly figure out how to treat them was any medic's nightmare. Eddie would come to discover that this place would have an easier learning curve. At least the blood types would be consistent.)

It's gonna take probably over a year to even get a good grasp of how this place works.

(Being realistic. It took several years to grasp Deerington and then they broke the whole damn thing.)

Wow. That really sucks for you then. I'm pretty sure they are religious about blood here. (RIP Varian.) I still freak out if the shit gets on me. So I get it kinda.

(Granted he got a lot better about that.)

Who are the new roomies?

[droptheious]

[The blood types were a blessing in that regard, at least. One small slice of good fortune for them. ]

I think you're being horribly optimistic, Eddie. Maybe if nothing tries to kill us every month we might be able to make a deadline like that, buuuuut I'm not holding my breath on that one.

[He doesn't trust anything even vaguely connected to Deerington won't try to screw them over on the regular. That's just not the life they live.]

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeah, I've been having a great time. Super fun. So glad for all the blood all the time.

[At least Deerington helped him get over the desire to pass the hell out when he saw it. Hooray for exposure therapy! ]

Luz and Luca. Luz has been in Deerington for a while, she wanted to come live with us, pretty much a sister, y'know? Luca's new- like brand new. He's a good kid, though. Really sweet.

[He says 'kid' like he and Eddie aren't kids- but there's a sliding scale of kid-dom and they're on the been traumatised enough that their childhood was violently wrenched from them so hard they bearly count as kids anymore end of things. ]

[klussy]

Yeah....You're right.

(He was being optimistic. It had taken him five to get where he was. He rubs at his forehead, half wanting to groan.)

Man, I am completely out of my depth, dude. It's going to take fucking forever to sort everything and everyone out.

(It was serious Character Growth that Eddie even wanted to. Back in Deerington, he was a lot more prone to just shutting up in his house and letting people come to him. Here? He felt...

What? More mature? He doesn't know what it is, but he didn't want to shut away in his corner anymore, even if he did feel incapable. It felt like it wouldn't help anyone.

Since when did I care about that?

Was this growing up?

Sorry, Varian, he's having a micro internal teenlife crisis or something.)

Could be worse. There's way grosser bodily functions we could have to deal with all the time. Like puke. Or other stuff.

(He could go into detail but he spares Varian the mental imagery.)

I think I remember Luz. Never really got to know the chick. Dunno Luca though I think I'm about to draw his blood. He seems like he's nervous.

(Which Eddie only sounds empathetic to. He had been about Luca's age when he was first thrust into the new world. He might still be a teenager, but he was older by a lot now, and he felt...Not protective. Just...

Something.)

I think I'm having an early midlife crisis. I'm like wow, that kid seems so young. I used to be young, Varian. This sucker used to be a total baby face. (He slaps his own cheeks for emphasis.)

[droptheious]

Yeah, I feel that. But we'll figure it out, okay? Between us we'll just... pool our knowledge or something. It'll probably take us a while, but we'll get somewhere.

[Now who's being optimistic.

He lets Eddie deal with his quarter-life crisis. It's a rough time, buddy, he gets it. ]

Please refrain from going any deeper into 'other stuff'. I've got a good mental image already thanks. And yeah, they've both good. Luca's... well, he doesn't get out a lot. He's still getting used to people.

[Because he's a fucking sea monster, but Varian's keeping that on the down-low while Luca's still trying to be at least marginally stealthy about the entire thing.]

Hah. Yeeep and now look at it. So old, so grizzled. That's a face that's seen things. Awful things.