maskormenacelogs | weep not for the memories

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weep not for the memories

WHO: Everybody!
WHERE: all cities
WHEN: March 4 - March 6
WHAT: it's a catch-all log, sucka! Tag here and thread around for the Dorian Ruins Everything Guilt Extravaganza part of the overall March plot. Please check out this ooc post for details!
WARNINGS: Traumatic memories. Possible talk of murder, death, blood, other nasty things. I'll try to update if the warnings needed but please use content warnings if it gets super nasty!

It starts off on March 4th, the early morning before the sun's even risen. You know those weird mirages that were hanging around the day before? Well now it's getting a little personal.

These mirages come and go seemingly for no reason. They might stay for a minute, they might stay for an hour. The images vary between person but the unifying factor is that the mirages consist of people the player characters have hurt, whether people in-game or from their homes. Whether they murdered them, slandered them, or even had a petty little argument, the unifying factor is the guilt each character feels towards or about this mirage. After all, you know you hurt them somehow. You know their existence somehow makes you feel guilty.

Another unifying factor? The creepy way these mirages just seem to stick to you. They'll follow you if you try to leave, staring you down with their creepy unblinking mirage eyes. And whoops: everybody can see said mirages. Hopefully you're not being stalked by someone you and somebody else both know, wouldn't that be awkward?

Have fun confronting your traumatizing past and/or wondering why your buddy's got some creepy ghost guy following him, imPorts!

( ooc: this is a catch-all log! Make starters of your characters getting haunted by their creepy mirages, have other people react to said creepy mirages, ???, profit. Hit me up on the ooc post if you have any questions! )

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[ Weirdly, it's not Bruce who answers the door. After probably having to ring the doorbell at least one more time, Jaime sees the door open to reveal... Ted? Yep, it's Ted, pushing his goggles up to his forehead, clearly having been in the middle of working on something. ]

Jaime, hey, come on in.

[ This is normal, right? ]

[ Little robot casually going through one room to another, slows down just enough to say -- ]

Oh, hello Mr. Reyes.

[ As he passes. ]

[Finally, Bruce peeks his head from around the corner skittishly (as though he had been avoiding the two of them) and waves Jaime in. How long has it been since he got tired of them? A day? Two?]

Jaime, over here.

--uh?

[ Jaime looks between Ted and Skeets, bewildered. ]

Hi, Skeets, Ted, uh, Mr. Wayne! Is there a meeting or something I'm interrupting? I didn't know you guys had those.

[ He assumes it was a superhero-business meeting for some inane reason, if not only because he's never thought about Batman and Ted in the same room, and, well, they're all here. ]

I'll only be a minute.

Nah, don't worry. Skeets and I live here now!

[ A fact that has Ted all smiles, like it's the funniest joke he's ever come up with. ]

[He tugs at Jaime's arm unannounced and pulls him close, whispering as he eyes the other two suspiciously.]

You're here to get them out of here... right? They just showed up one day. It's been weeks.

I came because I thought you could hang onto some of Dick's things in case he comes back. I took some stuff myself, but we don't have the room for all of it, [ Jaime says, making full eye contact with Bruce, with the air of someone who had a speech prepared in his head and is not letting seeing his mentor and his old friend's robot buddy (his buddy too) living with Bruce Wayne deter him.

He also holds out the box, because he is going to get this undesirable act out of the way come hell or highwater. But once he's finished his spiel, he sneaks a look behind him, then back at Bruce. ]

Also, um, it looks like they live here now? If you want that to change, you should probably talk to them.

[ Then, a little louder, he calls behind him: ] Does that mean I'm coming here for pizza nights now?

You'd better be!

[ Ted calls over his shoulder as he's already headed back to whatever spare room he's half blown up working on some project or another. ]

[Bruce glares at Jaime silently and takes the box from him, betrayed. He takes a moment to turn around with a huff and drop the box unceremoniously on a table nearby, mumbling to himself.]

Beetles...

[ Jaime has to grin, because anything that lumps him in with Ted can't possibly be counted as an insult. Hell yeah, he's a Beetle. He's not feeling that jazzed about it these days, but he can still relish that much. ]

Have you, like, seriously asked him to move out? Because if you did, I think he'd wind up listening.

[ That's not what he wants to happen, though, so he's moved to add on: ]

I think it's good for him to have the company, though, just for the record. Maybe you'll wind up liking it too. It's better than being alone.

(ooc: sorry for being so slow! i should be all good now)

[Frustrated, Bruce shuts his eyes, brow knitting. There's an undertone of guilt to his expression.]

I can't do that. Especially not so soon after Karen leaving. But for the record, I like being alone.

[Although he does take a long glance at the box of Dick's things, expression well hidden. Sure he does.]

Okay. Well... I'm happy for you, I guess?

[ What else does he say to that? Why do you keep on taking on these kids? Are you sure? Jaime sure doesn't like being alone, he knows that for a fact. Instead of pressing Bruce on it, he shrugs and says, ] But, uh, if that's the case, then thanks for letting Ted stick around. And Skeets. And BB.

[ For someone who likes being alone, he's sure got a full house going on. ]

You know, your house is fuller than mine now.

Maybe it's for the best. [He says, almost begrudgingly.] There are a few projects I've been working on that I could use a second opinion on anyway...

[He does lean to take a peek into the kitchen, though, brow gently knit.]

We may have to have a talk about just how comfortable we are around each other, though.

[ Jaime's thinking that he knows how the rest of this is going to go. He's going to talk about how Ted's been, his conversation with Skeets about getting Ted some therapy weighing on his mind, and then maybe he'll talk a little about Dick, as he should. He even starts. ]

Haven't you lived with a bunch of kids before? Compared to that, Ted should be --

[ He doesn't trail off so much as he stops. The logical part of his brain knows that something fishy's going on, because imPorts just don't appear out of nowhere, but the emotional part of his brain sees that the Negotiator is in front of him, unannounced, in Batman's house and every fibre of his being gets turned on to Panic Mode.

He lets out a quick yelp of surprise and follows his first instinct - and what Khaji wants to do most, frankly - and immediately tries to punch the ghost.

This manifests in Jaime punching the air, getting caught off-balance when his hand goes through Negotiator, and then the rest of him falls through the Negotiator as he topples forward, bashing his nose against the ground. ]

Wha -- why -- wha -- ?!

[ You'll have to give him a moment to form a complete sentence, Bruce. ]

Negotia -- what?!

[The instinct is to catch him by the shoulders, shield the boy, and at the same time assess the immediate area for intruders. When he realizes that there is, in fact, no one there, he immediately focuses his concern on Jaime. He shakes by the shoulders.]

Jaime! [His brow is knit.] What just happened?

I don't know, I thought I saw --

[ It's a sweet gesture, Bruce catching him. Too bad it's going to be tempered by what he sees in front of him, because what he sees is something that's both his greatest victory and, in other ways, his greatest shame. ]

There!

[ He points past Bruce's shoulder and stares, wide eyed and pale, at the spectre of the Negotiator standing in the middle of Bruce's kitchen, expression erudite and knowing, posture as tall and proud as it was in life.

(Not as it was in death, hunched over and desperate, and Jaime's glad for that; that would just be one final kick in the teeth.) ]

[Bruce looks over his shoulder, only seeing glimpses of Ted and Skeets from where he's kneeled. Once he's sure that there's nothing there, he turns back to Jaime and grasps him tightly by the shoulders as he attempts to call him out of his bewilderment.]

Jaime, look at me. There's nothing there. It's just us.

How can you not -- he's right there. [ He's unable to take his eyes away from the Negotiator for a long moment, brows furrowed, then takes a step back, rubbing at his forehead. He knows what he's seeing. He's never just hallucinated before. He looks over at Bruce, a little pleadingly. ]

You really don't see him? Maybe it's - maybe I came in contact with some... there has to be some explanation for this. Khaji?

[ He doesn't speak to Khaji out loud often amongst those who aren't accustomed to it, but it seems important at this time. He must have some inkling of what's going on, objectively speaking, because Jaime sure as hell doesn't.

The answer he receives is remarkably unfulfilling, mainly comprised of Khaji noting that the Negotiator isn't there (or else his fist wouldn't have gone through him), but also comprised of Khaji wanting to kill him again. ]

Maybe. [He looks around again.] Ted and I haven't been affected, so if it is something like that it must have happened before you came here.

You should stay here until we know more about what's going on. I want to rule out infection or indoctrination of some kind.

It's not biological. If it was, Khaji'd be able to tell. [ When he can't trust himself, he's learned to at least trust Khaji. After that whole fear gas debacle, when Khaji took control no matter how hard Jaime fought him, and all he did was save people? He has to trust him.

He squeezes his eyes shut, but once he opens them again, the Negotiator is still there. ]

What do you mean indoctrination?

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weep not for the memories

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CASUAL DRIVEBY SKEETS pls forgive

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WILL POP THE NEGOTIATOR IN LIKE TWO TAGS I PROMISE

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IT'S ALL GOOD

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