godsfire

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

It is dark.

((Warning: Contains traumatized characters and other content that should be warned for. We will attempt to start keeping up-to-date specific warning list soon))

Comments

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

...

'your ears cover', she taps out.

[dotted_lines]

He waves his elbows a bit, leaving his hands firmly clamped over his ears.

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

Oh, okay then.

Hugs.

(She is not covering her ears any more. She is also not responding to auditory stimuli (like, for example, that particularly piercing note there) at all.)

[dotted_lines]

Hugs. Slightly awkward elbow-hugs of her head, but hugs. He shifts his balance to stay upright while tapping her foot from a hugging angle: 'yours?'

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

They are hugs.

She responds with: 'hearing off'

[dotted_lines]

Yes, hugs. He glances at the lights on the floor again, and notices something.

More foot nudges: 'tell me if Im too fast.'

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

This one takes her slightly longer to work out, but she responds with: 'go on', which probably means she understands fine.

[dotted_lines]

He nods. 'lights are annoying bright and colorful'

He unhugs enough to widen his eyes at Thorn. 'very rainbowlike' goes his foot.

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

This gets a confused look for a few moments (wherein she glances briefly at the lightshow and quickly looks away again), then a thoughtful expression and a tighter hug (wherein she taps a finger once against his side where it bends away from the wall)

Then she taps out a response: '?'. Long pause. 'be careful', accompanied by a concerned expression.

[dotted_lines]

He nods, then unhugs and looks at the lights on the floor. The lights on the tiles are making the presence of a pattern in them clearer, but he still can't quite make it out. He inches around the edge of the room to see it from a different angle.

As he moves, the highest and most piercing of the noises stops playing, and the yellow and red tiles start to flash more slowly. When he gets to the next wall and stops to look at the tiles, they start up again. He freezes when the sound and flashing lights increase come back, but calms down when the noise doesn't get worse than before.

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

Thorn follows him, still looking concerned.

When he freezes, she looks very alarmed, and rapidly covers the remaining distance to him. The added tension fades when he moves again, and, moving just slowly enough to make sure he can see what she is doing and does not object, hugs him.

[dotted_lines]

He gives her a confused look, but returns the hug as best he can with his elbows, and finds her foot again.

'you cant hear it,'

'is it just the lights?

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

Confused expression. 'not lights'

She shivers a little, and hugs him tighter.

'dont scare me like that'

[dotted_lines]

He gives her a very confused look.

'what scared you?'

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

Thorn spends a few moments thinking about this, then:

'paralysis is symptom of basilisk hack'

Emphatically: 'infection'

She thinks for a moment longer, and then adds, 'can be stopped by stopping input'

[dotted_lines]

Oh. He taps back 'normal freezing. sorry. stop input how?'

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

She mimes covering her eyes, and then ears, and then doing... something... to her ears with the claws that briefly appear on her fingers.

She taps out, 'depends on sense and detail needed'

[dotted_lines]

Steve flinches a little when she mimes doing whatever that was to her ears.

He taps back 'No. I was not parylized just surprised. Not needed.'

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

Thorn... does not rehug him immediately, then, waiting to make sure he is okay with being hugged again first.

'I know' she taps.

[dotted_lines]

He relaxes a little at that, and returns the hug.

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

Hugs.

Thorn winces as the lights get even more glaring and psychedelic. 'need to find way out' she taps.

[dotted_lines]

He nods, and turns to look at the lights. They are flashing very quickly and chaotically.

There has to be a meaning to them. What patterns are there? It looks like there are exactly two of each color flashing at a time. The lights are highlighting the triangular tiles in hexagonal shapes. The hexagonal shapes' borders match up with the sets of patterns from the walls.

He catches Thorn's attention, and points with a foot at the closest hexagonal group of tiles, and another which is lighting up in the same color.

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

Thorn squints at this with her dramatically reduced vision. After a moment, she nods, and then shrugs.

Yes, that is apparently a thing. No, she doesn't know what it means.

[dotted_lines]

Steve takes a hesitant step onto the nearest lit hexagon of tiles.

When his foot touches the floor, the lights shift and flash more slowly, and the piercing trill quiets itself. He looks back and tries to wave Thorn after him.

[onwhatwingswedareaspire]

Thorn has been watching this nervously. At his gesture, she gives him a dubious/concerned look, but takes a deep breath and follows.

When she has taken the few steps to reach him, she holds out her hand toward him tentatively.