[CLOSED] The March of the March

[bowtography]

WHO: March 7th, various.
WHAT: Various shenanigans (feel free to pm me for a starter!)
WHERE: Many places
WHEN: March 2024
WARNINGS: None yet!

Comments

[enkefailin]

There's percentages...?

[he didn't know this. march, your frown ratings.]

I was seeing if it's an Abnormality or not. Looks like it's probably a real tree.

[bowtography]

Sure! At least to me!

[ Thankfully, Netzach probably doesn't need to learn them if March is the only one who uses this system. ]

But an Abnormality... Malkuth told me about them. So they can even take the shapes of plants, huh?

[enkefailin]

We had one that looked like this. Grave of Cherry Blossoms. These are definitely different.

[he straightens up, then.]

They're not as vivid, but that's a good thing.

[bowtography]

Huh? What does them being vivid mean?

[ Go ahead. Weird her out. ]

[enkefailin]

The more blood the tree's been fed, the prettier it is.

[she did ask.]

[bowtography]

[ She fucked around and found out. ]

H-huh?! Wait, so you mean, it being vivid means it was feeding on people??

[enkefailin]

Yeah. They let it keep feeding, 'cause it'd help the employees' mental state when they went to look at it... if they had to sacrifice one every so often, that was acceptable.

[he delivers this tiredly, a touch of bitterness to his tone. if the benefits supposedly outweigh the sacrifice, it's always acceptable down there, isn't it.]

[bowtography]

... That's still... I mean, losing your coworker just for something like that can't exactly be good for a person's mental state, either.

[ ... They really had all gone through so much, hadn't they? The employees and the Sephirot who'd had to keep making it happen. ]

[enkefailin]

You think they told 'em? Nobody'd go back to work with the Abnormality after that if they knew.

Nah, they just 'mysteriously disappeared'.

[he doesn't actually do the air quotes, but you can practically hear them, anyway.]

[bowtography]

Oh...

[ Her shoulders slump, slightly. ]

I'm sorry. The more I hear about it, the worse it sounds...

[enkefailin]

Well, now you know to never go there if you can help it.

[as if it were possible, at the moment, but. still.]

...makes working here look pretty different in comparison.

[bowtography]

Yeah, I bet.

... You said you've never seen trees like this outside before. Were you not outside all that much, or were trees just not like this?

[ She at least asks this slightly tentatively. ]

[enkefailin]

Oh. The facility's underground, so...

[a lazy little shrug.]

I'd never been outside 'til I showed up here.

[bowtography]

And how's that feel?

Being outside now, I mean?

[ Overwhelming? Enjoyable? ]

[enkefailin]

It's a little overwhelming sometimes... I knew about the City outside the facility, but I'd never been anywhere else, so it feels like...

[a little pause, while he searches for the words.]

Like the world suddenly got a lot bigger.

[bowtography]

Ohhh, I get that.

I remember the first time I got to see the stars from the Express... and learned there was so much more beyond that.

But we can take it as slow as you need to, okay? If you feel like you need to take a break, we can head back in.