Jason's hoarde of angry nurses

[bashfulshifter]

Characters: You. Yes, you!
Setting: December 16th through 21st, all the places!
Format: Any!
Summary: Plague doctor panic shenanigans for the Into An Abyss event, day two and onwards until the pesky creatures stop annoying everyone. Or in the case of non-orange-collared people, maiming them.
Warnings: Monsters! Battles! Death! Orange collar badassery! The Tower! Too much to handle!!

[After a day of putting things into the strange portal on floor twenty-three, something finally comes out. Many somethings. And it seems they are not satisfied with only the stray finger to nibble on...]

PLAGUE DOCTOR BEHAVIOR GUIDELINES

- Plague doctors use physical attacks, ripping and tearing their victims to pieces with hands and teeth. They travel very quickly and, when slipping in and out of reality, can seem to teleport from one spot to the next unpredictably.
- Characters whose collars are yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet will be attacked if the plague doctors notice them.
- Characters whose collars are yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet cannot harm the plague doctors. They must hide or run.
- Plague doctors become more powerful the closer to violet the character they are attacking is. A plague doctor attacking a character with a yellow collar will be weaker than the same one attacking a character with an indigo collar.
- Characters whose collars are orange will be completely ignored by the plague doctors unless the character directly attacks one.
- Characters whose collars are orange are capable of injuring and killing plague doctors, provided the means by which they attack are entirely mundane. They cannot receive enchanted items from other characters, for example.
- Plague doctors can only be killed by completely destroying the head. It has to be crushed into pieces.
- Plague doctors will carry any retrieval unit they notice into the rift they came from.

Label the date/time/location in the header, basic mingle stuff. DO NOT forward-date anything to Wednesday the 18th or later until further notice. Edit: Open from the 16th through to the 21st! Go nuts!

Comments

[oathshackledbird]

"N-no one!" Diarmuid's shoulders slump and his head drops. When he speaks again, his voice is soft and apologetic, "I'm sorry. He tricked me into it. We had been talking about a problem he was having with his family. He asked me how you and I were doing and called you by name. I figured my brother had already told him or something, since he is one of the few who knows. Turns out while Reno had his suspicions, he was just trying to get me to confirm. And I stupidly did."

[fionnuisce]

"Tch..." Though he'd scoffed in irritation, Waver seemed to be satisfied by that response. After he'd taken a moment to attach the pin to his dark green jacket, the lecturer folded his arms with a frown.

"How troublesome. Your brother's sure to be the death of me one of these days--actually no, the reverse is far more likely."

He shook his head, though the worst of his irritation had seemingly passed.

"Reno's no better, but at least he's got a functioning brain in his head. For now, I find that probably the least objectionable group to align myself with."

[oathshackledbird]

Diarmuid is quiet for a few moments before looking up at Waver with a shy smile, "I'm proud of you. After spending so much time only trusting yourself, I wasn't sure if you would accept." He reaches out to lightly touch the pin on Waver's jacket, "It looks good on you."

His hand falls away and then Diarmuid laughs softly, "Don't think this is going to be easy, though. I wouldn't expect him to really give people like me and you orders. Considering our levels of experience, he's probably looking more for partners than recruits. Maybe I'm wrong, but...I don't think he's the kind leadership comes to naturally. I have a feeling that even though he will never ask for it or admit to it, help in that field won't be turned away."

More than once, Reno has reminded Diarmuid of his old friend Oscar. Oscar had been a good leader when he needed to be, but deep down, he had never been comfortable with the role. Something had just never fit right, and Diarmuid senses that same ill fit from Reno sometimes.

[fionnuisce]

"Oh, I don't trust him, don't get me wrong." Waver shot back with a dismissive wave of a hand. "What I trust is your judgment. If you don't have a problem following him, neither do I."

Shrugging off the moral confusion of the matter, Waver sounded less than concerned. "I was assuming along the same lines myself. He doesn't strike me as the 'leader' type--if he is, he'd be a bloody unwilling one like me. Odds are he's the kind to feel better working in a group of reliable and sensible people."

[oathshackledbird]

"I..." Diarmuid frowns slightly. While he is honored that Waver is so willing to trust him, Diarmuid is well aware that he doesn't always make the right choices, especially lately. He hopes that this isn't going to be another one of those mistakes.

It doesn't feel that way, though. It really doesn't.

"I understand. And I think you are right. It's hard to explain exactly, but it feels to me like he has taken up the role not because he wants to but because someone has to and there is no one else to do it here. So far he seems to be doing a good job of gathering intelligent and hard working people around him, so if nothing else he seems to be a good judge of character."

[fionnuisce]

"Relax." Waver put a hand on Diarmuid's shoulder and gave the best reassuring smile that he could. "That just means if you're going to screw up, we'll screw up together."

"As for Reno, that seems to be in line with my own estimation. If nothing else I doubt he's going to actively fuck us over, which is about as close to trust as I get half the time."

[oathshackledbird]

"I don't think he will. He would die first. Loyalty is very important to him. I think that is why he was so accepting of my loyalty to you. Everyone has something they won't betray about themselves and for him, it's his loyalty once he gives it," Diarmuid smiles softly. "Is it any surprise I trust someone who puts that much value on loyalty? Who understands me when I say that I have someone who I do everything with and nothing will change that?"

[fionnuisce]

"Not in the slightest." came the amused sounding answer. "In fact I'd have guessed that to be the first thing you look for in just about anyone."

[oathshackledbird]

"I am so predictable..." Diarmuid sighs over-dramatically, before smiling at Waver. "It's not a bad thing to look for considering how important it is to me. Do you have any questions you would like to ask? I might not know the answer, but I can certainly find out. Or I can just tell him to be on the look out for you."

[fionnuisce]

"I think you'll find," Waver replied dryly, "that I myself am just a little skilled in gathering information. In that respect, I don't think I'll need help."

*pats* It's okay. :-D

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid crosses his arms over his chest and...yes, pouts at Waver.]

You never let me have any fun. And I have some good information too...

[Actually, he does, but he had promised Reno not to talk about the really good stuff, and the last thing Diarmuid is going to do is break that promise.]

[fionnuisce]

That earned Diarmuid an intrigued yet annoyed look.

"Fine, if you're so insistent. What is it you have to tell me?

[oathshackledbird]

I don't know. Maybe I don't want to tell you now.

[Diarmuid grins at Waver for a moment before becoming more serious.]

You said you two talked, so I hope I'm not repeating anything you covered. He got married in here in the Tower back in January to a woman named Elena. They are a very good team. Try not to get them both teasing you at once...it's kind of scary.

[He laughs a little nervously before continuing.]

I actually thought about going to their wedding because they were looking for people to act as guards just in case, but I decided not to because you know me and weddings. Besides that, I had just arrived. However, perhaps I should have gone because Zo and Ruana showed up. And then that fool Ganondorf attacked them. It was a mess.

He and Elena...they are from the same world as Sephiroth. Or at least, their worlds had a version of Sephiroth on it. Reno's the one who gave me my information...

[And, by extension, though Diarmuid doesn't say it, it's Reno's world that Sephiroth destroyed.]

[fionnuisce]

"We spoke on that matter shortly before everything went pear-shaped with the silver-haired idiot and his overcompensating sword." Waver confirmed. It hadn't been very difficult to determine Reno had been the one giving Diarmuid his information once the lecturer had spoken to him.

"Good to know this place has always been the fucking mess I stumbled into, at least. Here I was starting to think this might not have been par for the course."

[oathshackledbird]

"It has been, though I would say it started getting worse at the end of February after what happened with Dax."

Diarmuid shakes his head, frowning slightly, "Maybe you don't need me to tell you anything after all. Do you know about his kids? You might have seen Shion working with the blue fluid research team. I told him once to talk to you since he was interested in how the maid worked. I don't remember if he ever did talk to you, though. Reno also is close to a girl by the name of Xion. She doesn't interact with others as much as Shion does, but she was the one who told me about Jason's true appearance. Both of them are members of the group as well."

[fionnuisce]

"Shion...yes, I know him. Nice kid." he answered after a moment's thought to associate a face to the name.

"So what you're telling me is you're not the only one in the Tower compusively adopting kids?"

[oathshackledbird]

Diarmuid laughs softly, shaking his head, "Apparently not. Who knew there was someone out there as foolish as I am. I guess that might explain why we hit it off so well."

Well, one reason of many, but...

[fionnuisce]

"Between the two of you, we might have an army of teenagers."

Sounded familiar, actually.

"I doubt anyone could stand a chance against that."

[oathshackledbird]

"You would know better than me about that, being a teacher and all," Diarmuid gives Waver's shoulder a light tap. "Did you have your own army of teenagers back home?"

[fionnuisce]

"I'm not particularly able to say one way or the other."

Which meant 'yes'.

[oathshackledbird]

That is totally a 'yes,' which makes Diarmuid grin widely.

"So your fan club is good for something after all..."

[fionnuisce]

"Well, one can hardly expect to cause some form of social reform without a few handful of followers."

[oathshackledbird]

"Now, is 'followers' the right word?" A mischievous glint fills Diarmuid's eyes, "Are you sure they aren't more like worshipers? Have I unwittingly joined the Church of Charisma?"

[fionnuisce]

"That's not remotely funny." Waver answered, though his frown didn't look all that serious. "They're not that extreme...usually."

[oathshackledbird]

"Usually?" That draws a curious look from Diarmuid, "Explain 'usually.'"