spellbinders | mapping party mapping party

I will not shut up until and unless you bribe me to do so, and you have yet to hit upon a bribe worthy of that. [ perfectly happy to have gotten an annoyed look, apparently, dave continues to cheerfully not shut the fuck up. ] For the record, I am acceptin' as bribes apple juice to absurd quantities, slumber parties, and mad science snackage. If you ever hit on like, the eternal Utopian blended snack, I mean. I will sell out for nothin' less than perfection, because I am clearly worth that. The doreoes did not live up to the hype. I mean, they technically did since we both knew it was gonna taste like ass, but still, there was a .001% chance that maybe they would not and yet that chance was not fully realized. Or even partly realized. Any at all realized.

[ then, because john probably would not like to create something that would need to be destroyed: ]

What about two bugs, then? To start with.

I'm going to shove one of these frogs down your shirt, how's that for a bribe? [Or a threat?] Besides you are already getting some of those. [Why are Striders this way? For one, Dave is rambling like he always does but also, Dirk, why would you say that? That is the saddest thing he's ever heard and his eyes drift down to the frogs again.]

I don't want to produce sad mutant frogs, but maybe they would just fuse into one large super-frog? Don't kill my frogs. [Great. He's adopted more amphibians.] I guess bugs would be okayish though. [But okay.] What do you know about mutation anyway?

[He's curious if Roxy's told Dirk anything or if Dirk has his own thoughts mostly.]

A large super-frog would be incredibly cool, I'll grant you. My only concern is for the sad mutant frogs that none of us want to see.

[Or. Well. He assumes? He doesn't want to make frogs into sad mutant frogs. John probably also doesn't want sad mutant frogs? This is why Dirk brought it up.]

I know what Roxy talked about regarding her own projects, and obviously I understand the basic idea of it behind evolutionary development. I also dug up all the research left behind on the Condesce's experiments in mutating humans.

[ frustrated noise. ]

Will you stop adoptin' everythin' you so much as look at?? [ he heard "my frogs" as the possessive. ] What about crabs? You don't like the crabs anymore right we can fuse them into a giant mutant crab. Also not sure ectobiology has a whole hell of a lot to do with how your shit works.

[ ...also. ]

Also, if you try to shove a frog down my shirt, I will be forced to try to kick your ass. Assumin' you catch me first to even manage the first part.

[John may look stupid, but he's fully aware that Dave's mostly answering him and casually bantering with him to leave him to field Dirk. If it's on purpose or not he can't say but he also doesn't let that go unnoticed. It's something to think on later because this is more important. Also judging by the fact he's not putting the frogs down that is also debatable, sorry.]

Both of you lost your speed. [Mildly put.] I'm not creating sad mutant anythings. I still don't know if my power allows for living objects. A lot of people's powers seem limited to items only. I tried concepts once and that did not exactly stick. Crabs would be acceptable though, but with our luck they would just double the amount of legs they have.

[...he shouldn't ask, but:] What kind of research did you find?

She wanted us to have different blood colours, like her trolls. That was also how she wanted us to reproduce. It didn't go well.

[His eyebrows flicker up.] There's an easy way to test this on a living thing, dude. Grab two plants of the same kind and see how they fuse. If the results are decent, you can probably make a mutant frog without a stain on your conscience and deep personal regrets.

[Like there's still Doubt, it could go badly wrong, but at least it tests the fusing-living-things options without potentially damaging actual lives.

He doesn't know how to talk to Dave, so he is doing his best effort of just dealing with John.]

Still faster than you, jackass. [ he doesn't say he's stronger, though, since that's patently false.

dave grimaces. ]

I hate the hemospectrum and I don't think Johnny boy understands it, so let's gloss over that topic entirely. Also not sure that troll reproduction is a thing you're clear on, bro, since you literally threw a message through a portal in a bucket at the trolls. Good job causin' one of the top ten biggest hissyfits on the damn meteor, btw.

[What if he just nudges Dave in the ribs? Shut uppp. But at the same time like. He's right. John's not on the up and up about a lot of this kind of stuff so instead Dirk gets a very curious and also mildly confused look.]

That seems like a lot of effort and also not exactly a thing that is easy to accomplish. [Why would that be a thing, what the fuck.] And I forgot that they have a weird thing about buckets, okay? That was an accident. [Huff.] I didn't think about plants though. You think maybe the reeds would work in that case?

We never got the luxury of misunderstanding the haemospectrum or troll reproduction. Her intention, as far as historians could tell, was to make the Earth more like her home. It's probably also why she flooded the place.

[Fun facts in Earth history.]

There isn't any harm in trying some reeds out.

[ dave knocks his own elbow back into john's side, but very lightly. ]

Make some panpipes and become the pied piper of the frogs?

She sounds like a huge jerk. [A huge jerk they're going to have to fight, but a huge jerk. Still, there's a hint of a grin even when Dave elbows him and he turns to temporarily put down the frogs. Bye frogs.]

Anybody else a little weirded out that this is a floating space island but the animals and plants here seem to be doing just fine?

It's an interesting adaptation of an ecosystem. I'm curious about how it was all preserved in a space rock floatin' around. It could be an element of Qri's magic.

[The accent is slipping back in; it's proximity to Dave, as usual.]

Bro, you need to redefine your definition of "weird" if this is weirdin' you out. Tbh it's basically like a dreambubble except a little more realistic.

[ the dropped g from dirk got a slanted look but dave doesn't comment. he just focuses on responding to the question at hand. ]

But also I was on a rock floatin' through space for three years...but even with that aside, can you name one normal fuckin' thing we did in the past three years and change?

[The accent thing also doesn't go unnoticed, if only because being here is the first time he's ever heard Dave's accent in long periods of time, so hearing Dirk start to slide into it is easy to pick up on. But again, it's stuff he doesn't say.]

I kind of wish I understood her magic better. We got here and there was a huge empty house and a lot of little empty ones on the beach, all of our powers are gone, but we have other ones and the place is crawling with boars, crabs, space worms and now these guys. Maybe it is a normal kind of weird but I still don't get it. And most of the dreambubbles were boring!

[Or just annoying, actually.] Exploring was kind of normal. [He's going to move to try and grab two reeds.] Have either of you found anything else worth noting around here yet? We haven't gone too far, but.

[Dirk's head turned to Dave on 'Bro,' and he only realized that he wasn't the one meant a moment too late. It's why he catches the slanted look.

Instantly, his attention focuses entirely on John.]

I found a hut tucked away into the trees the other day, near a tree. Two doors, window, fireplace and table. It looked nice.

[Yet Dirk hadn't gone to it, despite his anxieties about being around others being clear, and despite that hut seeming nicer than the ones they have. He had stayed put in the hut beside Dave's, where Dave had asked him to be.]

Genette wasn't super forthcomin' about details, but I get the impression she's inclined to follow without knowin' what she's followin'.

[ it's an offhanded opinion, as he shifts his weight to his left foot entirely, leaning towards john to watch him grab some reeds. ]

Do you ever get any kind of weird? I don't think any of us ever really had a handle on the weirdometer, so it's best to kind of accept that. [ then, to dirk as he scans the area: ] Neither of us have found anythin', we agreed not to explore until John was up to it so this is the first real trip. We did help eradicate crabs from the bathhouse.

Another hut? That one sounds way nicer than the ones we're staying in. And I sort of got that impression from Genette's letter to us.

[He assumes Dave's just. Being Dave and thinks nothing of Dave in his vague bubble.]

And it's more like they agreed and I had no choice. [A grin.] But the crabs should hopefully stay away if we keep an eye out and make sure they don't come crawling back. [He does have a question though.] Did the other hut look just as abandoned as everything else around here?

She made it clear she was actin' on pure faith.

[Dirk agrees with Dave's opinion; it's what Dirk read off of her too.]

But yeah, it's pretty decent, and totally abandoned. No furniture other than what I mentioned. It'd be good for getting away from the group.

...Good for you guys, then?

[ since that is apparently important. not that dave doesn't get the impulse, but. ]

I think we caught most of the places they were comin' in from, it...should be solid. Though if they pop up again I guess we just kick them out again. It wasn't the worst way to spend a day, even if it was maybe a kind of ridiculous one. You know, we should have asked Brie what all meats were or weren't safe to eat - she's been here longest, right, she probably knows?

[Well that's not good, but okay. They can talk about that later.]

I guess that's as good a place as any. Maybe other huts like it exist, too. This island is big.

[He's snapping off two of the reeds, holding them up to examine first.] I imagine Brie knows but maybe I will leave it up to you two to ask her questions. I'm not sure I'd ask the right ones anyway.

I ain't going to it.

[That clarification is for Dave, and probably a little too Texan, but the accent has been getting deeper as they talked.]

I wonder if Brie might be totally aware. Maybe my sense of her is off, but it seems unlike her to give us the crab meat to eat if she thought it would cause us harm.

I assume the island was once part of a planet and ripped off. The beach houses, mansions, huts and the like would all be remnants of that settlement. Assuming that we aren't round thirteen in a failed experiment to save Qri's neck.

[ he uncrosses his arms to hold up his hands. ]

Ain't my lookout where any of y'all stay. [ though he does think it'd probably ease some vague concern of john's mentioned once, he doesn't bother to expand on the statement, instead recrossing his arms to say: ] I doubt Brie is that interested in harmin' anyone here. Mostly. She would if she had to, probably, but I don't see anything to be gained from doin' it with the crab.

[ the rest he doesn't have much to comment on, except... ]

You're better at askin' questions than you think sometimes. Once in a blue moon.

[ thanks dave. ]

[Striders...he feels really weirdly in the middle of something he shouldn't be, but he's playing along.]

Have you told Jake? It might be better than a tree. [Idly, he's starting to bop the reeds together.] Brie's been training us so I am under the impression she's less likely to put up with shenanigans but maybe the crab is edible for people who have been here a long time? She was the one cooking, wasn't she?

I'll bring it up to him.

[He ignores the gesture from Dave, focusing on what isn't awkward and stupid and frustrating and painful.]

Right. So she may not be the best person to consult when it comes to edibility. The idea that she's adapted to the meat is definitely possible.

We can't really do much if he doesn't agree, though. [ it has the tone of a reminder, directed at john. they talked about it briefly before, even if he agrees that living in a tree is Kind Of Stupid. ] I didn't keep track of who was cookin' what; I didn't eat any of it.

[ he just saw the after-effects and went "well that was a good decision made mostly out of not bothering". ]

There's gotta be a better way to test out what's edible than just havin' someone get sick when it ain't, though.

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