EVENT ∞ LOG — July 125

[thediadem]

Event ∞ Log

In the Flesh

Jump ⇅ :: Visits — First Contact — Hitchhikers — Notes

∞ Prologue ∞

It's not real, it's not real.

Somewhere in the Blocks, late at night, a young woman repeats the words over and over, fumbling with her room key. She doesn't dare look over her shoulder again, begging her hand to obey. Her fingers are stiff and smooth, and it makes each movement more difficult. Eventually, the door gives way. She stumbles into the apartment, slamming it behind her and locking several bolts.

Leaning back on the door, she lets her key ring fall to the linoleum as she holds her hand up to her face. It isn't just her fingers now. Painted plastic has taken over her entire right hand, spreading up her forearm toward a ball-jointed elbow that creaks painfully. She grabs her neck with her flesh hand, sucking in a sharp breath as she tries to steady her heart.

It's not real, it's not real...

She takes another breath, then turns on the light. The bulb flickers. Hazy light flood the room with an incessant buzz.

She freezes.

A figure stands in the opposite doorway. It doesn't move, stuck in a pose with an outstretched hand—one made of flesh and bone. Her hand.

She screams.

Info & Mechanics — NPC Forum Post — Event Interaction ::: ⇅ Top

Strange Visits

Panorama

For the first week or two of July, life goes on as usual. You have a lot on your plate—jobs, loans, rent, that creep who won't stop staring at you when you're filling up your car—and the last thing you've got time for is other people's problems. Or maybe you find room to listen, anyway? Whatever the case, it's mostly a lot of stories and pointing fingers: a shopkeeper accuses his friend of stealing from him, somebody claims their boss must've skipped town to avoid paying the employees, and a woman is frantic about her missing husband. He never goes anywhere without telling her.

If you decide to look into it, none of the incidents seem connected. After all, people frequently go missing in the Diadem, friends betray each other, and businesses often go bankrupt, leaving their workers to pick up the pieces. Funny thing, though: here and there, you swear you glimpse a figure who isn't entirely flesh. Their features are just...a bit odd. Is it your imagination? When you move in for a closer look, something gets in your way and the figure disappears.

On the other hand, you think to yourself, it's not as though everybody on this planet looks standard. If a man can have horns, why can't his skin also be a bit plasticky?

Use the Event Interaction comment any time you need specifics or some direction for an element you're engaging within the event. This can be an NPC victim your character is questioning, an aspect of the diffusion zone your character is testing, or anything along those veins. While you're encouraged to make things up on your own, too, if you're ever unsure of the results or the answers you might get, approach us there!

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First Contact

The Fringes

Inevitably, you take the risk and head back into the Fringes. It has what you need, and the bizarreness in Panorama isn't making the city feel like much of a refuge, either. Besides, long trips aren't unusual for anyone in the Diadem. As you drive, you might even find yourself reluctant to return to the city. After all, there's so much across the multitude of diffusion zones that regardless of how dangerous it can be, perhaps some part of you is attracted to the thrill of the unknown.

If the promise of loot isn't enough, a note on the Forum might be. Here, you'll scroll across a brief message from who else but the ever-eager Felix Bjurstrom, joined by his daughter, Olive "Ollie" Bjurstrom. (Looks like he's got a new phone again!) If nothing else, the investigative or curious nature in you gets you going. What if this is a piece of the puzzle you need to go home?

If you want your character to scavenge items, check how that works. The Map identifies where each Quadrant is located.

Among the Shadows — Abandoned Mall

©

In Quadrant 1, about a 10-hour drive from Panorama, a standard American shopping mall rises through the cracked and broken highway. A portion of its vast parking lot melts into the road ahead and behind. There are cars in the parking lot, each one perfectly preserved: no rust, no dust, nothing.

The mall's lights are on. The moment you step inside, you'll notice that you're not alone. Inside, shadow corpses are everywhere, frozen in time. Their bodies show no signs of distress. If you try to touch them, a dark, ashy residue coats your fingers. You see a young couple linking arms, a mother bending over to pick up her child, and a man ordering his last meal at the KFC. It's as though they all just...stopped. While eerie, whatever force swept through here is long gone.

The upside is that nobody will bother you while you look around—aside from other fluxdrifts, of course. The shops and their offerings are stuck in the 90's. Big electronics are cosmic touched, rendering them worthless, but smaller electronics like cassette tapes, CDs, and Walkmans are all viable. You can also grab clothes, snacks, and (cheap) jewelry.

And, as you pass by the store windows, you see many mannequins on display. That's normal, so you don't think twice. At least, until you swear one of them keeps moving around the store. Though its pose never changes, it almost appears to...follow you? That can't be right. You must be seeing things.

Zone Effects
Touching any of the frozen shadows will cause the victim to believe that their companion(s) have transformed into monstrous creatures. Attempts to approach you will only register as an attack rather than placating gestures, while words will sound like snarls or spoken threats. An induced panic will make it more difficult to think logically and see through the hallucination. The illusory creatures can take the form of anything that might frighten or threaten you the most.

You can break free of the illusion through a variety of methods, including your own willpower, being knocked out by your friends, or seeing/hearing something that makes you realize it isn't real. The hallucination isn't overly intense, but it can cause a bit of havoc among you and your companions...and increase the likelihood a mannequin might make contact unnoticed.

Wall of Refuge — Strange Temple

©

In Quadrant 1, about a 6-hour drive from Panorama—and on the way to the abandoned mall above—stands a geometric structure made of metal and stone. Sharp angles shoot up from the ground to form a distorted hexagon. The gateway is littered with sigils: some weathered by time, others freshly carved into the rocky surface. They glow when you drive forward, beckoning you closer. Come in, whispers an unknown compulsion in your mind. You are home.

You may succumb to the whispers for any number of reasons: sleep deprivation, desperation for a place to rest overnight, or a need to hide from raiders or dangerous creatures lurking in another nearby zone. Regardless, you give in and enter the triangular entrance. The stone gate lifts to grant you passage, revealing an effigy of a multi-limbed being. A deity? A symbol of power? Though you're unsure, you continue deeper. Your footsteps echo across the cavernous halls.

Behind you, the heavy gate slowly closes with a rumbling finality. Despite the chilly entranceway, the interior of the temple is warm and inviting. Candles line the walls. Fountains flow peacefully. You can enter one of the many rooms to find a soft bed, fresh cakes, succulent meat, and fine wine available for you. Behind a silk curtain is a steaming bath lined with soothing floral herbs and oils.

Meanwhile, throughout your explorations, you might sense a figure or a shadow in the passageway. A glimpse of shiny plastic appears oddly out of place in a temple of this kind.

Zone Effects

• If you are a believer and decide to trust the gifts bestowed upon you, then you may safely indulge. The wine will warm you up, the food will fill your belly, and you can sleep through the night. When you awaken, you can safely leave the temple refreshed. Your vehicle will be outside, untouched, as if some power within was protecting your belongings.
• If you are a heretic and doubt the offerings you've been graciously given, the gifts will begin to rot and all amenities will crumble to dust. The more your cynicism betrays you, the more the temple will take until nothing remains except the oddly textured walls bearing down on you. As you examine the surface, you realize the stone is built from a manifold of dozens—no, hundreds—of twisted bodies. Their arms are raised in reverence, piled upon each other like human bricks. Their gaping mouths are frozen in a silent scream. As for you and your companions...what fate will await the nonbeliever?

The Last Stop — Foggy Town

©

In Quadrant 4, about a 3-hour drive from Panorama, east of the currently unused train tracks, a thick mist rolls through the highway. Here, the sky darkens rapidly into night and the temperature drops. If you've traveled unprepared, presuming the heat in Panorama spreads into the Fringes, you'll find that's not so. A chill spreads into your bones and creeps up the back of your neck.

Then the ground rumbles. The tremors shake your vehicle. Maybe it even makes you lose control briefly or sends you swerving off-road, straight into the fields. And in the middle of the fog, you see it: a figure standing in the middle of the field. Behind it are a few houses, making up a tiny rural town. The houses are dilapidated, many crumbling. Supplies within are minimal, and many items are broken or spoiled.

Do you approach? Do you drive past? Merely staring for a second too long will be enough for the hitchhiker to choose you as its ride, but its appearance may not be all that keeps you in place. In the distance is another bigger shadow. A much bigger shadow. It looms in the distance without true mass or form. Within the void of its body, a searchlight sweeps over the misty town. It does not move. It simply looks while the ground shakes. Each time its light catches a glimpse of something that doesn't belong—an animal, a vehicle that drove too deep into the tall grass, a raider that went too far into town—a sonorous howl reverberates through the zone.

Then the shadow will teleport to its target and crush the intruder without mercy before retreating back to its watchful post. And the intruder is indeed crushed: any living organism caught by the Light Guardian will be flattened with a horrifying crunch of broken bones and squished organs.

Zone Effects
While the Light Guardian can't be defeated or confronted, you can outrun or hide from its sweeping beam. If you stop far enough on the side of the road, it won't notice you...but you can still watch as it mangles an unfortunate raider or traveler. Possibly, you see the spray of blood or hear the screams before you run. Perhaps you realize how easily you could've met your own gory fate.

If you've left your car and gone too deep into the town before you realize the danger, you can do one of two things: you can risk hiding in an abandoned house in the town and hope that the sunrise comes. In zones like this, the day/night cycle is unpredictable, and many places are permanently cast in darkness. Or, you can try to run back to your vehicle and pray you don't get caught.

Alternatively, you've plowed directly into the field when raiders in pursuit force you into the zone. Should fortune favor you, they'll be obliterated by the Light Guardian while you flee. The beam tracks quickly, but can only shine in one direction at a time so the key is to bob and weave.

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Hitchhikers

Anywhere

Not everyone who enters the diffusion zone will pick up a mannequin, but the possibility is there. Once you make first contact, you will gain a hitchhiker. Unlike most aspects of the diffusion zones, this one has gathered into a storm, meaning the effects will breach even normally stable and anchored strongholds like Panorama.

Some fluxdrifts will brush off your problems while a few might believe you. Others will offer solutions in their own way, including a doctor who'll pay to obtain strange plastic limbs. Not everyone will pitch in to help. The city's big, populated, and somebody on the street turning doll-like doesn't affect them (...until it does). They've got a job to get to and mouths to feed.

Unwanted Passenger

When do you first notice your passenger? At any point, really. Perhaps it goes like this:

You glance in the rearview mirror and glimpse a figure in the backseat. When you spin around, there's nobody there. Then it happens again. This time, you realize it's not a person, but a dummy. A mannequin. It's sitting upright. And is it...wearing a seatbelt? Or maybe it's thrown itself across the back bench as though somebody tossed it there, uncaring.

This time, when you look back, it's still there. You pull over and dump it on the side of the road. That's taken care of, you think. You drive some more. For a few hours or even a day or two—depending on how long you've traveled—you don't think much of it. Then suddenly, it's back. And it keeps coming back no matter how much you try to get rid of it.

Or it goes like this:

You return from a standard trip into a diffusion zone. It went pretty well, you think. You found some clothes at a creepy mall and now you're ready to get some sleep. When you open your trunk to retrieve your belongings, you notice a mannequin stuffed inside, limbs bent at odd angles. You're a little weirded out, but you decide to dump it on the street and move on.

You shower. In the bathroom mirror, the mannequin suddenly appears behind you. Over the next few days, this continues. The mannequin appears in a booth across the diner as you're eating your eggs. It's behind a shelf in the corner store. It's in your closet. Each time you check, it vanishes...but then, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it's right there in plain view. It'll even let you throw it away, burn it, anything you can think of. But it always comes back.

However it plays out, you realize that people around you do notice it...sometimes. That doesn't mean anyone will believe you that things are just that weird. Most people have better things to do. They don't know you, after all, and even if they did, well, this place does have a habit of driving people a little crazy. Witnesses casually push the mannequin aside and tell you that's a funny prank. Your regular waitress pats your shoulder and suggests you get some sleep. You're not looking well. The shopkeeper demands you take that thing before you go. He's not responsible for your junk.

But there's a small chance you run into someone who seems to be going through what you are. Unfortunately, they seem to actually have it worse and aren't making much sense. Still, you can try questioning them and see what answers you get. At least, before you lose them for good. For some of you, the victim you run into is in especially bad shape...and you have to wonder how long before you end up the same.

Trading Places

For some of you, the mannequins might not do more than be a nuisance. While that's not ideal, either, it doesn't completely upend your life. Others are less fortunate. If you're one of the latter, you'll begin to notice symptoms.

The first time it happens, you're startled to hear the mannequin speak. To begin with, its voice might be guttural and unnatural, incapable of stringing more than a few words together. Then it seems to learn. It talks in full sentences. Its voice smooths out. It starts to sound more and more like you...right down to your speech patterns and accent. As symptoms progress with varying intensity—over days or weeks—you realize with dawning horror that you're losing parts of yourself. When you wash your hands, you notice a part of your skin is smooth and shiny. The next time the mannequin appears, its previously plasticky appearance is more flesh and blood.

Eventually, the mannequin becomes independent. It shops with your money. It steals while wearing a face that looks nearly identical to yours, especially from a distance. It calls your friend and says the things you would never say out loud to them. They're thoughts you've had, sure, but you know better than to hurt your friend's feelings...except apparently, you have. And now you can't even use your own voice to explain yourself. Your leg has been getting stiff. Your joints don't bend properly.

Meanwhile, the mannequin is now striding around smoothly. Its appearance is still uncanny and odd if anyone pays attention, but at a glance, it easily passes as a part of the crowd. As its final act, it's even absorbed small bits of your abilities if you have any. Not all of them, but enough to cause trouble. Throughout everything, you cannot harm your hitchhiker. Some unknown force stops you any time you think about it. You simply can't.

Related Incidents

The impact isn't contained only to those directly affected. The hitchhikers' influence spreads through the city. For some incidents, it's difficult to trace back to the source. For others, that's a little easier. Regardless, these occurrences could help you determine how to solve your own situation. Alternatively, if you've escaped unscathed, you can still find yourself dragged into a situation involving someone else.

Return to Sender

July 11 — The Forum: An anonymous poster contributes this bit of information that might catch the eye of those affected. You can try the same method, but it's a risk going back into the diffusion zones. No one can guarantee the specific zone you found the mannequin in is still standing. Further, you have to remember where you made contact to begin with.

If you decide to try it, be sure to take a friend. The less independent the hitchhiker, the more likely it will stick to your side even as you return it home. If the assimilation has progressed too far, though, you might have to utilize methods such as duct taping inside your trunk or strapping it down with ropes. It may struggle and say vile things to you or your companion.

Victimless Burn Victims

July 14 @ 03:00 — The Pavilion (East End): A handful of troublemakers grabbed some freaky mannequins wandering the street and, in a drunken stroke of genius, set them all on fire for no reason other than that they wanted to. Not only has this resulted in damage to the corner store nearby, but Enforcers have linked the incident to four hospitalizations at roughly the same time. Doctors from Saint Margery's Hospital (located in the Blocks) report that all four individuals suffered massive shock and claim to have endured unimaginable agony as if they had been "set on fire."

Curiously, none of them bear any physical wounds and, by all accounts, are completely fine (trauma aside). Notably, all four individuals were also suffering from various stages of "joint stiffness" and "hallucinations"...which have since completely vanished. You might wonder, is this the solution? Or perhaps the better question would be, is it worth it?

The Sculptor

July 15 — The Pavilion (Medical Clinic): Around July 14 onward, word begins to spread that a Dr. Maggie Wright (who insists on being called the Sculptor, though nobody seems to heed this request) will not only do an amputation for free, she will pay you for your limb if you are boasting an "unusual trophic change to the skin, resulting in a smooth and shiny texture." All she asks is she gets to keep the sample. Her promise is that she will study it to find a more permanent cure and, if she does, she will return the limb to you for reattachment.

Some end up trusting her. You wonder, maybe she could help? Dr. Wright will happily accept you as her patient if you agree. Her methods are indeed proper and sterile: she'll put you under and provide you with plenty of pain meds. She appears to have all of the equipment required to preserve the limb, too.

If you're suspicious, you can also pay her a visit, but you won't have much luck getting her in trouble or sniffing out any evidence of nefarious deeds. Her office hasn't got anything strange, she is indeed a real surgeon, and there are testimonials from patients who've had success under her care in the past. Plus, nobody's going to her who isn't doing so voluntarily (they've signed waivers)—even if you could argue how much desperation plays into their decision. Still...the thing about her "title" is a bit weird, right?

Dr. Maggie Wright is 5'2, Caucasian with a light Northeastern accent and silver hair often worn in a bun. She's in her 50s and looks fairly good for her age. Her voice is soothing. She has intense, wide blue eyes, which some might find unnerving, but that's not necessarily her fault.

∞ Notes ∞

• Mannequin contact is not required. Not everybody who goes into the diffusion will make first contact, and many won't. Characters can explore the mall, the temple, and the foggy field without ever picking up a hitchhiker.
• The diffusion zones described are only examples. Others will exist where mannequins can be found, including grocery stores, gas stations, abandoned parks, and more. You can make up your own, but check with us if you have any questions about limitations!
• The speed and intensity of all mechanics are entirely up to you. Generally, the earlier a character makes first contact, the more severe their consequences.
• Investigating the zones or helping others are perfectly fine ways to participate! Since the hitchhikers are meant to be more insidious, it won't be strange if your character isn't in the middle of the action right away or notices things a bit late.

Questions? Ask here

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Comments

cw: gore

[primepool]

[It's mere coincidence (and sort of bragging rights) that has Wade texting Logan right up until he was face to face with Frank's roid rage. And wow, what a rager it was!

At some point, he misses out on the fun. Enough bullets in his head and even someone like Wade is in dreamland or, like, the unconscious medium between being alive and being dead, except it's not cinematic or meaningful or metaphorical and it definitely doesn't have A-Ha playing in the background. It's sort of just black, and his brain doesn't remember it, anyway.

He wakes up with a gasp and in a lot of excruciating amounts of pain, and worst of all: there's blood in his eyes and he can only feel one of his arms. At least it's his blood this time. You can't re-give yourself an STD, right?

Wade groans, using his one (attached) arm to lean up a little. Miracle upon miracles, the Punisher really is only about Punishing and not about Thievery of a Corpse, because his phone is laying on the (blood-soaked) ground next to... what seems to be only, maybe, a third of his pretty pink intestines. It's possible he could have been also carrying sausages before this happened; his brain's still knitting itself back together.

He picks up his phone, flicking to the first name in his contacts list. Lucky for Cable! That's a place of honour. (Maybe it won't feel that way once he sees what Wade texts him.)

At least he managed that until his hand started cramping. He falls back and stares into the sky, wondering if Cable just said he's coming but he's really gonna make him wait here until he has baby legs to crawl away on, like a centipede... with only two legs. Maybe Cable would hold him up high enough to see Frank's work, considering he's pretty sure he has... two limbs. One? Does a head count as a limb? He has the feeling it's got real Vogue vibes. (How's a guy supposed to appreciate the Punisher turning his various limbs and organs into a cool skull motif if his head's still on the ground?)

He might've blacked out again. When he opens his eyes again, the bullets have probably exited his brain, and -- oh, that's Logan.

He drops his phone.]

I. [shitshitshit] I can explain.

[He panics. He can't explain, actually. He never -- ohh, shit. He never mentioned the... the healing factor.

His head flops back down and he pretends to be dead, his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Nope, definitely dead this time, so he doesn't have to be in this situation. (Maybe possums had the right idea about this.)]

[sodark]

[The only truly surprising thing about this situation is that it's only just happened. Cable keeps tabs on Wade, enough to know that he is so thoroughly annoying if it were a paying career they wouldn't be sharing a bed.

He also doesn't want Wade to be in the habit of texting him to bail him out of his own holes. Cable doesn't want anything to do with Wade's holes. Truly. But he also doesn't want to ignore a message of true importance.

What he has ascertained from the message is that Wade is cognisant but in physically critical condition. Cable is aware that this means something different for Wade than any other idiot, he's also seen what happens when he regenerates from scratch. He really, really hates it. If he can mitigate that, he'll be doing himself a favour.

He has also ascertained that there is an assailant at large. Wade never gives an answer when it might be useful or personally embarrassing, so there's suspicion in Cable's approach. He moves quietly, approaching from another level of the mall so he can scope before wandering into what could be a trap.

At his vantage point, he can see the scattered remains of Wade and.. Logan. With his claws out. And Wade is pleading, potentially. It's hard to parse, but he's done dawdling.

Cable drops behind Logan with a soft thud, swiftly kicking Logan's legs out from under him. Once he's grounded, Cable grapples him into lying on his front. He rests a heavy knee on his back, pinning Logan's wrists with his hands and staring at the back of his head. Then his claws. They're awfully clean. Fuck.]

If you had nothing to do with this, I'm gonna apologise and get off. [A beat.]

Get off you.

[carcajous]

[ Even counting the time he woke up buck ass naked in the middle of nowhere with nothing in his head except his name and blades sticking out of his hands, Logan hasn't been this fucking baffled. The gears are desperately grinding. Absolutely zero pieces are fitting together.

One, why the hell did Wade pretend to be dying when they first met. Was it because he didn't want anyone to know he was a mutant?

Possible. But then two, why the hell didn't Wilson just tell him after? At the diner? Any one of the handful of times they've talked?

Three, why is he still pretending to be dead when he obviously isn't? Is he just that much of an idiot? (Apparently.)

Four—

He thumps onto the concrete with a grunt, broken glass grinding into the palm of his hands. (At this rate, beats him why anyone in the city bothers with windows when they keep getting shot out.) Fuck. There's a flash where he damn near swipes at the closest limb. Then he pauses. That voice. Right. He forces his reflexes back down. Should've known Cable wouldn't be far. Really are joined at the hip, aren't they? ]

Yeah, well. [ The claws retract. ] Apologize.

[ He's giving Cable a half-second to make good on his word and get off before Logan throws him off. This is him showing restraint in his old age. ]

[primepool]

[In his defense, normally Wade doesn't let people get the drop on him (unless they're really hot, which is also defensible), and he thought Frank's whole thing was he Punishes, and in a sort of crazy kind of coincidence, he hasn't really done anything here to earn Punishing outside of unconsciously trying to cuddle Cable in his sleep and that time he ate unspecified meat on the android grill without ever specifying where it came from. (Use your imagination.)

Okay, maybe he killed some NPCs off-screen, but no one knows that. Things happen when you're looking for money and free snacks.

Things are also happening now. Wade peeks out of one eye with a squint, then lifts his head when there's the unmistakable thud of metal man/metal man action, which he would have to be absolutely fucking atomized to ever miss.

Except he has the worst angle ever until he manages to scramble an elbow under what is left of his torso. The distinct words are you guys gonna fuck or fight? rings in his ears.] Whoooa Cable, backshots already? You were never that friendly with me!

[Okay, so. He's alive. Yeah. And he couldn't stop himself. He would give a little wave as if to indicate, yes, he's alive, and also his body is in about eleven different places, more or less.] This is awkward. For you guys, specifically, not for me.

[Yeah, this is coming from the guy whose body consists of a single arm, most of his head, and a chest. He's enjoying this, actually. Even though this was actually not his fault, for once, but they're probably gonna blame him anyway. Like a real man, he can take it.

You just can't cry outside a bowling alley. It's not becoming of a man. Even if you're feeling like the Black Dahlia and looking like a spilled can of Spaghettios.] Please tell me the murder scene at least looks cool.

[sodark]

[Occasionally and when it suits him, Cable is a man of his word. He shifts off Logan and rolls up to his feet, extending his metal hand toward him if he wants to take it.]

I was sent misleading information by an informant who can remain nameless. And in pieces, if he doesn't shut his trap.

[Cable casts Wade a dirty look before looking Logan in the eye.]

I apologise. [Frankly, with a curt nod.

He steps away, toeing a body part curiously as he inspects the scene.]

I'm assuming the skull pattern has something to do with your new friend?

[Cable aims the question at Wade, but he's surveying the area and not looking at his face. Or his hands. Or his legs.]

Did you piss him off or is he likely to attack without discretion?

[carcajous]

[ Logan takes the hand. And the apology. He wasn't expecting either, actually, but it's a nice gesture. Which is more than he can say for the state that Wade's in.

Cable looks in no hurry, though. Logan figures that means Wade'll be perfectly fine.

His eyes narrow at Wade in sync with Cable. ] You're not the only one he misled.

[ Has Wade got any idea that he made Logan worry? This seemingly immortal motherfucker? Why'd he waste his time rescuing him that night then, huh? The fact that he can't even demonstrate how specifically, incredibly unhappy he is over this new revelation—since the man's already in a half dozen pieces—only annoys him that much more.

You know what? He's gonna make sure Wade recovers in one piece. Just so he can tear him a new asshole later.

Although. That's a good question. ]

So, [ Logan steps over a foot ] do we glue him back together or what?

[primepool]

[Oh, this is one of those scenes where he's gonna be in the background being hilarious and everyone's gonna ignore him. These lines are gold! This is wasted potential!

God, Cable really is tiny. Look at him. Looking up at The Wolverine. If only he could lift his arm to take a pic. This is wallpaper potential. Sure, it'd be three pixels wide, but the heart would know what he was looking at.

Oh, nevermind. He waves back at Cable. With his one remaining hand.] It's a skull? That cheeky bitch! All that work and I can't even appreciate it. Wait, can you lift my torso up? I wanna see it!

[If he's gonna be made into an art piece, he wants to take it all in. Hold on, is Logan ignoring him?? What's he so pissy about?] I -- hello, I can still hear you, bitch! [He gets up on his one hand with a grunt, sitting on the cavity that used to house most of his intestines. Oh, that's squishy. Okay, some are still here. A nice, comfy seat. Of organs.] Glue? Do you have brain damage? Just squish 'em back together. Like a... admittedly, it's a very complicated jigsaw right now. And you better put them back in the right place. [He does not want a dick on his arm. And yes, that's the first thing he thought of.] Anyway, it was the Punisher except it kind of wasn't. Like. Stepford Wives, except instead of baking a nice pie he indiscriminately murdered me. [Wade squints at them both.] Why are you being so dodgy? Did he steal my pants, too?

[sodark]

He can see more than your balls.

[Cable graces Wade with a direct response, now that he's done with the formalities. He stares boredly down at him, then back up at the mess. He's witnessed various scenarios in which Wade by all accounts should have been obliterated and still came back. And he's talking, so that's a good sign. He's in tremendous pain, Cable can feel that, but there's very little to be done about it.

And he's not convinced Wade didn't get himself into this out of idiocy.

He doesn't immediately respond to Logan, since Wade has that covered. He knows he doesn't want to lumber around picking up organs though. Without motion from Cable, the body parts slip forward and closer to Wade. Now it's a nice, neat, bloody circle. Telekinesis is easy when the things you want to move are small and not going anywhere.]

Looks like he took your brain. Stay still. [Dryly.

He picks up a body part, examining it in his hand. Does Wade need a gallbladder? Seems like a waste, but he'll set it in his abdominal cavity anyway.

Is he forgetting something? Oh, right. He glances up at Logan.]

You got anywhere to be?

[carcajous]

[ Why does Wade keep saying the Punisher like either of them are supposed to know who the fuck that is? (What the hell kinda name is that? Who calls themselves that?) Does Cable know? Logan glances at Cable as if he's gonna somehow get an answer by reading the same flat expression the man's been wearing the entire time.

Never mind.

He frowns at the shuffling bits of Wade Wilson meat. Telekinesis, huh? Didn't expect that from a guy like Cable. Thought he just had the metal arm going for him. ]

Didn't know he had one to take. [ A brain, he means.

Logan's already crouching down on the opposite side. He lifts a spleen. This also seems like a waste, but he supposes the more he fits back into Wade, the quicker the man will recover. As somebody who's also healed from organs falling out, let's just say he's too aware of how much it sucks.

Yeah, he can stay to help. He did come out here looking for Wade, after all. Might as well see it through. ]

Don't tell me we gotta know exactly where these go.

[ Probably not. His just kinda right themselves inside him again. Wade's likely the same.

The spleen gets tucked in next to the gallbladder. Good enough. Look, he doesn't usually make it his business to put people's insides back inside. He's usually the reason people's insides are on the outside to start with. Also? He's realizing Wade's organs are...they're not normal, that's for fucking sure. The texture, the shape, the colour. He's no doctor, but he doesn't gotta to be one to see that. ]

[primepool]

[... oh.] Jesus, don't talk about my balls in front of Wolverine! That's for later.

[He has a reputation to uphold, sort of. Actually, wait, Cable could keep doing that, it's giving him a little tingle he's pretty sure he's into. It's hard to tell underneath all the incredible amounts of indescribable pain he's in, though, but it won't be the first time a humiliation kink has come to bite him in the ass. If he had one right now.

Wade throws his one arm up, then flops it back down.] I'm literally right here! And very conscious! And in, as I just described up there, incredible amounts of indescribable pain!

[The least they could do is be sort of nice to him. Wouldn't it have been so much sadder if he was dead and another murder statistic?] I swear, if you get some kind of weird psychic residue on my insides, I'm gonna be so mad. [That's probably not how telekinesis works, but the movies didn't establish it anyway, so he can believe whatever he wants.]

And Logan... come on, I get it. If you want to take a little nibble when I'm not looking, how am I gonna know?

[If he's gonna give them such a weird look-over, what else is he supposed to think?] Okay, seriously, can you just throw me my other arm before you keep going on all the internal stuff?

[He would like to not be wobbling, thank you.]

[sodark]

Don't worry about shit you make up, worry about sepsis. [Cable chides Wade like he's a mother telling him to put his jacket on.

He glances up at Logan with a discreet expression that suggests he has absolutely no idea, then toward Wade. He doesn't think he has any idea either.]

His body'll figure it out eventually. Lucky for him, since the search engines here are dogshit.

[Do you know how long it takes to look up pictures of naked ladies? It's outrageous.

It seems like he plans on ignoring Wade's request, but he doesn't. The arm hovers over, thwapping gently over Wade's face, fingers dragging over his mouth before it flops against the socket it was ripped from.]

Good of you to help. [Cable remarks. He knows why he feels obligated, he's not sure why Logan does.]

Are you gonna say thank you properly? [Directed at Wade and, once again, he sounds like his mother.]

[carcajous]

[ Logan's eyes go between Cable and Wilson as the arm wiggles around. When he first met the other man, he'd wondered how the hell these two ended up friends, but now that he's regrettably witnessing them interact, he's starting to see how.

They're both fuckin' idiots.

Apparently so's he, considering he hasn't ditched this macabre circus when everything in him says he should. Hell if he knows why, either. He doesn't owe Wade a damn thing. He's annoyed he was lied to. And he won't say it isn't tempting to chuck one of his legs across the highway and let Wade go chase after it, but he doesn't, and Logan's not interested in digging too deep for his reason why. Cable's Good of you to help is met with a grimace.

Maybe Wade's just looking too pathetic to abandon. Be like leaving a one-legged dog in the dumpster. Even if it won't stop yapping, he'd still feel...bad about it. Kinda.

He sticks the left leg to the left stump. The flesh squelches. A nibble. Uh-huh. His nose wrinkles and he grips the ankle of Wade's newly attached limb hard enough to bruise, possibly borderline threatening the integrity of his tibia. Y'know. Now that he knows it won't do any permanent damage. ]

Say something useful or stop talking.

[primepool]

[Wait, Cable's been looking up porn here? Without him? Isn't that like the number one thing you do with your unstraight roommate? C'mon, there's no way all those movies lied to him. You know the ones. The ones usually behind a curtain, smelling vaguely of ricotta cheese.]

Oh, your Majesty, than-- [He sputters as Cable assaults him with his own fucking arm. Gross! Well. Is it gross? It feels gross somehow.] Do it yourself, coward! [He catches it with his actual, attached hand, smooshing it back onto the stump that's left of where it was before. The squelch it makes is not unlike the sound of rigorously mixing up a particularly wet pot of Kraft Dinner. You're welcome for that image.

And now Logan's actually giving him a leg! Hey, things are looking up! He's just about to test the nerve reconnection with a wiggle of his toes. Wow. Okay. Everyone he knows is an asshole.] Ow, ow, ow! Okay, who pissed in your Wheaties today? Gentle! [You would think Wade was not above sticking his tongue out at Cable over Logan's shoulder, but he's not. So he does it. Once that arm starts working, it's gonna be followed up by two middle fingers, too.] Before I was rudely interrupted, I was going to say... thank you. [A pointed look to both of them. Take a picture of this moment, it'll last longer.] I do, in fact, know how to feel gratitude. And regrowing all of this would've really, really sucked.

[See, he even stops talking here. At the end of this paragraph. Even though he's trying really, really, really hard to not ruin the moment with a and now I can say you've both been inside me. At the same time.

That's growth.]