asgardchrysalis | ( open ) you cut me deep

Entry tags:

( open ) you cut me deep

Who: James T. Kirk & you!
What: Finding out about his blood magic spell (blood telepathy) + Odin's compulsive honesty curse
When: Early/mid April
Where: Around
Rating: PG? Just a bit of blood but not expecting anything more.

I ▹ BLOOD MAGIC

Jim should have figured they wouldn't come back from that cave entirely unaffected. The last time he died he ended up with a soreness in his shoulder and down his side that has never quite vanished, sometimes even prickling and feeling a little numb, so when he actually can't sense anything different in him for days after they come back, it starts to feel like something is just strange or off.

It starts with vague dreams, at first; he can hear droplets fall, something dripping, dripping... it's not until the third night that he notices that the droplets are dark red, thick, pooling on the ground, spattering around. Then he begins to hear voices. Unintelligible words, and it's his voice reaching out, calling, the whispers and the sound of the falling blood drops growing louder and louder, almost deafening, until everything goes still and quiet and all he can hear is his own voice:

Listen to me.

He doesn't know what compels him to try this in the morning, but he does: he goes out to the field at the farm, and he takes out a sharp knife and nicks himself on the finger with it. There's a prickle of pain and he hisses, but instead of focusing on that, he closes his eyes and thinks of a specific person, someone he knows, and reaches out with his mind.

The message is short. A test, just to see if it really does what he thinks it should or not. Somewhere in the city, someone should be getting Jim's voice ringing in their head...

This is Jim Kirk. I'm at the farmland in Sigyn's district. If you can hear this message, please come meet me here.

II ▹ COMPELLED TRUTHS

Like many others, Jim doesn't escape Odin's curse. He's not a secretive person by nature, however, nor does he tend to lie, so he doesn't worry much that he might say something he doesn't want to. However, depending on what hour of the day someone runs into him, he may be feeling less or more frustrated with the curse that compels him to speak the truth, even when unasked or unprompted.

On the other hand, he might instead run into someone else who's affected. He won't use that to his own personal gain, though he might tease just a bit if he's comfortable with the person... But he won't be mean, really.

((ooc: for this prompt, basically feel free to write up your own starter as you think might best suit the compelled truth curse! I'm open to anything at all.))

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"My girlfriend. She's in the city right now, so I thought I'd try reaching out to someone who's not too near me."

Chances are Jet was around where Mary was, either that or Jim's just not that good at reaching out to who he wanted to yet. Doesn't matter for now, anyway. It did work, even if it wasn't flawless, and that's good enough for him.

"How long have you been here? In Asgard, I mean. I don't remember seeing you before the cave."

Fair enough. No idea who that is, but he doesn't know a lot of the people here all that intensively. He's...not the social guy of the crew, typically. At least, not in the conventional sense.

Jet shrugs.

"Couple months." Long enough to have died once already. "You?"

Two months was about as long as it took for Jim to die the first time too, that time being even less avoidable than this one. Dangers are abound, especially to the Wanderers who dare go beyond the (relative) safety of the city.

"I've been counting the days since my arrival. Following the Gregorian calendar, I'm coming up on nine months now."

Nine. So not the longest stay, compared to some of the other people he's talked to, but longer than Jet himself. Not saying much, that.

"Long time," he says. "Rough adjustment?"

Not the longest stay, it's true, but not by much either. He's definitely among the few Wanderers who have been here the longest, which explains why he looks so settled, and why so little even seems to surprise him anymore.

"At first, yes," he admits. "But it was different then. We didn't have electricity then, we didn't have animals either. Things are easier now."

There's a pause, then he adds, "Well, maybe not easier necessarily, just... different problems for us to focus on."

"Still don't have rayguns." No rayguns, no loud music, no cars screaming down the highway blasting loud tunes - it's like this place took all the things that Jet liked about the Zones and stripped them away. It's sobering.

As much as he's adjusting to the dated weaponry, he'd be lying if he said he didn't miss the chirp of laser fire.

Jim smiles a hint. Rayguns sounds a little different from what Jim's used to, but not that different that he can't draw a bridge there. "Yeah. I'm not used to the weaponry here. They have nothing like the phasers I had in my world."

He shrugs. "I've learned to make do, though. I know how to wield a sword and use knives, which is-- an improvement. Better than nothing, I guess. And I've managed to get my bike working."

"Gotta bike?" That's a glint of interest in Jet's eye for sure. That could mean anything from a bicycle to an honest to god motorbike, and on top of everything else, Jet misses the speed and thrill of cruising on open highways. He misses the Trans Am, the closest thing he ever had to a home, barreling down the Getaway Mile.

So far, nothing in Asgard comes close. Anybody who's managed a working bike is going to get his attention.

"I do," he beams, looking actually pretty pleased with himself, though at least he manages not to brag about it. He gestures to the cottage, tipping his head.

"It's behind the cottage, if you want to have a look?"

That vague interest is the closest that Jet's going to get to enthusiastic agreement, given the circumstances.

"Yeah," he says, 'cause - yeah, actually, he'd really like a look. For all that this was a weird-ass meeting to have, it might not end up being a trip done for nothing after all. Anyone who's got a means of transport that's not just eight-legged horses and carts is worth knowing around here.

Hey, good enough for Jim. He likes showing off his bike anyway, and getting to know anyone who's into that kind of thing is always a delight.

"Come on, then," he smiles wide, leading the way to the cottage and then around it. Soon enough Jet will be able to spot the bike parked there, with a couple of wires hooked up to it. It's looking pristine, like Jim has spent a little too long cleaning and polishing it.

"She hasn't moved much since I moved to the farm," he admits. "I've only just managed to figure out a way to charge her. Before here I lived on that big ship crashed in Skadi's district, the Benatar, and it was much easier to charge her there."

Oh hell yeah. That is a bike right there. It's all gleaming parts and fine mechanisms - a hell of a lot higher quality than anything Jet would've run into in the Zones. Jet immediately hunkers down to get a better look at it with a more than faintly admiring look to his single eye, though he keeps his distance. People can get pretty protective of their gear. He's not about to make that faux pas.

"That wasn't always there?" That maybe should've been obvious, considering the ship clashed wildly with the aesthetic of everything else, but hey, this was already a weird-ass situation. He has no idea what kinds of changes the city has been through.

Jim's pretty proud of the bike, and pretty fond of it too. It also holds a special meaning to him, seen as it was actually his dad's old bike, down to the little inscription of his parents' initials engraved in the metal just behind the leather seat. He wouldn't mind Jet touching it, honestly, but he does appreciate the care.

"No. It crashed there, from what I understand. The Benatar was Peter's ship-- still is, I guess," he pauses, smiling a little sadly. "But he's no longer in the city."

"Peter, huh?" Can't say he knows a Peter. Given that he's not in the city anymore, that's not surprising. "It come with him?"

Clearly it didn't leave with him. The question of how a ship managed to crash into a city like this one, which is dated in virtually every form of technology possible, has successfully drawn Jet's attention away from the bike. Briefly.

He hasn't been gone too long, but if Jet's only been here a couple months, then it's entirely possible that he and Peter simply never crossed paths in that time. Hell, Jim hadn't been keeping touch much for the past few weeks before he disappeared, which admittedly made him feel pretty guilty.

"No. From what he told me, it just showed up one day, though I don't think anyone actually saw it crashing? People just found it there, and it hasn't been moved since," he says. "Not that it's easy to move something that big. Anyway, it's broken now, and missing several parts, so it can't fly. Peter definitely tried."

"Huh." Ship. Not a car, but a ship. And he's pretty sure it's not referring to the nautical variety. "Like, from space?"

That's another glimmer of interest in Jet's eye there, evident in the tilt of his head and the subtle lift of his eyebrows. If his name wasn't an indication enough of it, the idea of there being a whole universe out there to explore is one that he finds extremely appealing.

"Yes, a starship. The Benatar isn't nearly as big as the kinds of ships I'm used to, but it's still pretty impressive."

He looks up, leaning against the bike. "There's no one living there now, but I can take you there and you can look around, if you want. Alice and I have been keeping an eye on it-- she's Peter's adoptive daughter, she lives here with us now."

Adoptive daughter. He gets that. He had -

Not thinking about that. Not thinking about her. He doesn't know, has got no goddamn clue if she made it out after everything they gave to get her out, so he's not thinking about that. He schools his face into neutrality. If any of it makes its way out, a flicker of something dark and painful, it's gone in half a second.

"Sure. Never seen a starship up close."

"You're in for a treat, then," he smiles. If Jet's reaction to the bike is anything to go by, Jim's sure he'll have a blast checking out the ship. Jim will just have to make sure he doesn't get too excited poking around. It's stupid to want to preserve the Benatar as is when Peter and Gamora are both gone, he knows, but it's a sentimental thing. Like he's keeping it safe for his friend.

"I can show you around. Some other day, maybe? Unless you wanna go now." Jim's not picky either way.

"You busy?" Since he sent out that message and all. "Dunno how many people that mind thing hit." It could've just been Jet, but he's not positive on that one, and he's not about to assume that's the case either.

If the ship hasn't gone anywhere since Peter's disappearance, it's probably not going to disappear anytime soon. It's not going anywhere.

"Oh," he ponders for a moment, nodding. "You're right. I mean, I'd say I just wanted to send it to one person, but... at this point, I really don't know."

It might have reached others, somehow. While he's not yet entirely sure how this power works, it's possible that other people will show up at the farm looking for him too, just like Jet.

"Another time, then? I'll message you later, if that works?"

"Sure." Hey, Jet doesn't think he's going anywhere anytime soon. He's died once already and he hasn't woken up anywhere else, and he has some new blood magic to sort out anyway. "Do scouting. Sentinel work. Other than that, I'm free."

Which is not very free at all, but you know, details. He'll make time if he has to.

"Same. Sentinel," he gestures to himself, smiling. "So who knows, maybe we'll run into each other in the meantime."

Should make it even easier for them to find a day when they both might be free. For now, he gestures at the bike. "Anyway, feel free to poke around. Just don't take anything apart," he jokes. Well, mostly-- one can never be too sure.

Oh, c'mon. Who is he - Ghoul? Kobra? He's not about to mess with anyone's gear without knowing full well what he's doing. He's got a fair grasp of auto-mechanics in a pinch, but that's no excuse to go about taking people's equipment apart.

"Hell no," he says. There's something almost like a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, muted as it is. "Look forward to working with you."

Well, he doesn't know either of them, and he barely knows Jet too, so-- no harm in making sure, is there? Especially since this bike is pretty special to him, and even if it weren't, finding parts around here is pretty tough.

"Likewise," he smiles, giving the guy a gentle pat on the shoulder. Jet's free to stick around for as long as he likes, but for now Jim's heading inside to clean his cut and bandage it properly, rather than just bleed all over the place.

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