entrancelogs | maybe we can die here

Entry tags:

maybe we can die here

Who: Liv Moore + You
Where: Throughout the mansion
When: Early days of the event
Rating: PGish, will update if needed.
Summary: Liv is a fresh baby zombie and doesn't even know it.
The Story:

[ The last thing Liv can remember is being pushed, right off the side of a boat. She thinks maybe she hit her head, and she sits up from where she's landed. Not coughing up water but suddenly wide awake, eyes wide. Her arm feels weird, and when she looks at it, there are three long scratches, open but not bleeding. Now she remembers, that guy, he offered her drugs. Then later scratched the hell out of her. Everything went insane and now...

Now what?

Slowly standing, she looks around this place with no clue where the hell she is. She feels...off. Not bad, but almost like she's full of energy. Her clothes are stiff from drying, but the very tips of her hair are still wet. Walking, she wanders into a hallway and looks around, calling out. ]

Hello? Anyone actually home?

[ Whose house is she in and why? She feels hungry, which seems weird, all things considered. Did she die? Is this heaven? Or...purgatory? She never knew it'd seem so...well. House-like. It's only as she passes in front of one of the many mirrors that she sees herself. ]

Holy...shit.

[ Her hair is white, like, could-glow-in-the-dark white, and her skin is mottled, pale. ]

What happened to me?

[ She asks it more to herself than anyone who might be passing by.

A day or so later, that hunger won't go away, and she doesn't know what to do about it. She's tried eating everything she can think to but nothing makes it stop. She tries to distract herself by walking around, hoping someone, anyone, will recognize her and tell her what the hell is happening. ]

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Liv?

[Since he outed himself to... well, just about everybody, R has been venturing out into the mansion during the day a lot more often than he was. It's just as well that he is, because it's the middle of the day when he sees the woman he's come to think of as his friend and sister walking around like she isn't sure where she is.

The niggling thought does occur to him that something might have happened to make her forget. He just hopes it's not permanent. Not after all they've managed to achieve so far.]

A... are you... okay?

[ Well, this guy looks rough. About as bad as she does and she wraps her arms loosely around her stomach, frowning at him. ]

You know who I am?

Y... yeah.

[How does he deal with this? He watches her, uncertain, unwilling to get too close in case he scares her but wanting to in case she's hurt and he can do something about it.

There's nothing too different about her, safe for a faint whiff of Life around her, but that could have come from anywhere.]

What's wrong..?

I woke up in a place that looks like Queen Elizabeth threw up in it, and something is very, very wrong with me. I don't...know what's going on.

[ But she thinks she's dead and that's alarming as hell. ]

How do you know me?

[Okay. There's one part of all of that he's definitely going to agree with - something is very, very wrong with her. But not in the way she thinks.]

We... we're friends.

[Right? Good friends. They're friends even if she doesn't remember right now.]

M... maybe I can h-help.

[ Liv holds out her arm to reveal the three long scratches across it that already look less gruesome than when she'd first arrived. ]

Unless you can tell me what the hell this is, I don't know if you can.

[ For a second, a hunger pang rips through her and she closes her eyes, swallowing hard. ]

Why am I so hungry? I've eaten everything I can find around here.

[He doesn't move his feet from where they are but cranes forwards oddly to peer at the marks on her arm. They're more vivid than he's noticed before... or maybe it's just his eyes playing tricks on him.

R glances up at her and wonders just how one delicately tells a person that they need to eat brains to survive in a coherent state. She doesn't work like he does. She isn't some infant undead that he can take by the hand and guide.

She's going to be scared.]

Y... you died. Food won't... make you l-less hungry.

[ Well. That explains some things, and she frowns deeply, swallowing after wetting her lips. ]

What do you mean I died? How can I be dead if I'm standing right here, talking to you?

Same... way I can be.

[How to explain to someone that they're dead, when you're also dead, and they have no reason to believe you about either of those things?]

Can help you. O... okay?

[ There's actual fear in her eyes and Liv looks upset - really upset - but she doesn't have any other choice. She has to trust him and it's not like anyone else is offering. ]

Why am I like this if I'm--

[ She looks down at the word on the tip of her tongue. She's getting married in three months. She's going to be a doctor. She can't be... ]

--dead?

[If he could make this any easier for her, he would. If he could someone magically make her understand, he'd do that. If he could... make it so this hadn't happened...

R offers her his hand, trying to organise his expression into something encouraging.]

I can help. Come. I'll t... try to explain.

[ She doesn't know what else to do, so she nods and takes his hand. ]

Are you dead too? Is this place just...dead people?

I am... and you are.

[He doesn't know how he can put it any more delicately, but she doesn't seem to be taking it too badly. With her hand gently clasped in his, he starts leading her to the kitchens.]

No one else. I... think.

[ This is about when her anxiety should start to spike, and she puts her free hand over her chest, realizing now what's missing. ]

I don't have a heartbeat. But I'm alive. I'm dead, but I'm...

[ And that's when all her pop culture savvy hits her at once. ]

Oh, my, God. Am I...are you...are we zombies?

[ She hisses that word out like a whisper, so many things running through her mind, hoping he says no because that's stupid and there's no such thing. ]

[R winces.]

Yeah.

[That's one way to say it. He gives her hand the gentlest, most reassuring squeeze that he can muster and internally wills her not to panic.

Not that he's going to be the least bit surprised if she does.]

[ All of the physical reactions she should be happening aren't happening - she doesn't feel herself start to sweat, she doesn't lose her breath, her heart doesn't start to pound. None of that happens but she does have to lean against the wall for a second, bracing herself and closing her eyes.

She's dead.

She died.

And now she's a horror show. ]

Oh, my, God. What...do I do? What do I do, what do I tell my mom and brother? My...fiance.

[ Major can't marry her now. She can't marry Major, now. She's dead. What kind of future is that? ]

[He knows how that is. He remembers watching Julie, fascinated, as she just breathed while she slept, the flutter of her heart beating against her neck, and all the simple little things that didn't happen for him.

R half-stumbles to a stop, but doesn't lose his gentle grip on her hand. He stays with her, expression worried and uncertain, and he hovers with the air of someone who has utterly no idea of how to deal with any of this.

He had never had the memories of a family to miss.]

F... first you s... should try to... calm down. One th... ing at a... time.

Usually, I take deep breaths to calm down and I don't really think that'll work in this situation.

[ It'd be funny if she wasn't panicking right now.

Well, it's still funny, but she's not feeling it. But she is clinging to his hand like it's a lifeline. ]

Okay. Okay. So. I'm dead. I knew I fell out of a boat into water.

[A weak smile finds its way onto R's face. He was sure, by now, that she would have let go of his hand but he's strangely happy that she hasn't. If this is going to last for a while, she's going to need to have someone that she can trust around here.]

Okay. [He gives a small, encouraging nod.]

What next?

[Even if the elf might not recognize Liv while she's reliving her younger years, she still easily detects a woman in need while she passes by her in the hallway. The stranger looks distressed and lost, Lup's attention trailing after the other woman before she's finally turning to catch up to her.

Lup's never had much in the way of women friends. (Her twin would teasingly say she didn't have much in the way of friends at all, but that's a comment that she could shove right back on him too, so fuck right off, Taako.) It's hard to get close to people in her position, knowing she has such limited time with them before they leave her life completely. But who does it really hurt if she steps in just this once and helps a local out?

So she approaches Liv with a wide grin, her hair cut short and her slender frame draped in a bright red cloak, a strange patch over her heart.]

Hey, you look a little loss, sis. Can a gal help out?

[ Liv stops and looks over, taking in the person who spoke to her and trying not to look as pathetic as she feels. ]

I uh...I don't know. I think something happened to me? Other than, you know. Being here.

[ She does look at the patch though, curious. ]

What's IPRE?

[Liv sure tries to go for not pathetic, but with her hair still wet and so clearly lost, she just plays the part so well. The elf clucks her tongue before she’s unlatching her long cloak and throwing it over the other woman’s shoulders.

You’re new to this place too, huh? [She doesn’t quite believe her. Looking at the state of her, Liv’s just suffered a little trauma and is completely confused. It’s not as if she has a spaceship to get around on like her crew does, right?]

Institute of Planar Research and Exploration. [Lup recites it in monotone, rolling her eyes with a grin.] Pretty stuffy name, but we usually just call it the Institute.

Yeah, I just...showed up in a room.

[ She's trying to follow along here and her forehead creases as she tries to place whether or not she's ever heard of that. ]

'Planar' research? Like, astral planes?

[ Please forgive her and also make fun of her for this when the event is over. ]

[Oh babe, Lup would teasingly make fun of Liv no matter what.]

Yeah, you're on the right track, but we never exactly visit the astral plane. That's for, uh, all of the ghosts and spookies an' shit. Out of the twelve different planes in each universe, we always pop over to the prime material plane. We hop universes, see the sights, meet the folks, etc.

[It's a very simplified version of what the last remaining members of the IPRE do, but the woman's already confused. No need to go down that route.]

You look like you could use some hot food or maybe just a big, ol' glass of wine. Wanna wander with me? We'll figure out this place together.

[ Drinking sounds really good right now, and she takes in that explanation, deciding she'll have more questions later. But for now, she swallows and finally reveals the deep scratches along her arm. ]

I think I need someone to look at this first. I don't know what happened.

[ Even though Lup wouldn't know it now, this is so far from the normally happy, eager to go hang out and have fun Liv. She doesn't know what the hell is going on, and she feels like she has to figure that out first. ]

Shit, girl! [Whatever Lup had been expecting to see? So not that.]

C'mon, there's gotta be someone around here who can get you fixed up. What the heck happened to you?!

I was at a party and...I don't know, it's like some people went insane. A fire broke out on a boat I was trying to get off of and someone scratched me, hard. Then I fell backward and hit my head falling off of the boat. That's all I remember, then I was here.

[ She's trying to understand it all, but what she tells Lup is everything she knows, frowning deeply. ]

It doesn't even really hurt. It looks like it should hurt.

[What the heck--

Lup throws an arm around Liv's shoulders and quickly guides her forward, looking for a cleric or a medic or just whoever might have a little first aid skill. Knowing this all of this? The elf has a big fear that the woman might be suffering from shock on top of her injuries.]

Maybe it just went numb. C'mon, blondie, let's find you some help. ASAP.

I don't think I have a pulse.

[ She says that after just letting herself be led for a while, her hand wrapped around the opposite wrist. And it only occurs to her now, forehead creasing. Liv stops right there in the hallway and presses her hand over her chest. ]

I don't think my heart is beating.

[ She's remarkably calm on the outside, but inside she's freaking the hell out. ]

[The mansion feels like a maze, full of twisting hallways of endless doors, with nothing leading in any particular direction. Where would they even find any help? If only Merle was around...]

What? [Lup's thoughts are quickly interrupted, attention diverting back to the woman. She's not right. She can't be. She's just scared and confused, uncertain of everything.] C'mon, you're fine. We both know you're gonna be just--

[But then Liv stops, pressing a hand over her chest, and both of Lup's long ears droop. She pushes the other woman's hand out of the way and presses her own palm there against her chest, just over her heart.

And there's nothing. She waits, longer than necessary, and still nothing comes.] Are you fuckin' dead?

[ There's that full-on panic attack, and Liv doesn't know what to do, just standing there, frozen. ]

I'm...how. How am I standing here, talking, what...am I?

[ If she doesn't have a heartbeat; if there's no pulse, how can she even function? ]

Are there other people here like this?

[Lup is usually very truthful, leaving most of the lying for her brother to handle while she takes the brutally honest approach to every conversation.

But even without knowing this woman, even without having a damn clue about what's going on with her to stop her fucking heart, there's something that tugs at Lup's heartstrings. She wants to give the stranger at least a little comfort, before she falls to pieces.]

There must be. You aren't alone, alright? I'll stay with you while we figure this shit out.

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maybe we can die here

yaaaas fresh bb zombie

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