estoria | ( mini-plot post: open to all )

Entry tags:

( mini-plot post: open to all )

Who:

jawdacity & all of cerealia!
When: towards the end of the event (so this won't conflict with any event threads you may already have going). 2-3pm.
Where: Abandoned village + surrounding jungle
What: THERE ARE EXPLOSIONS. And mushrooms.
Rating/Warning: Possible NSFW for gore?

Details about this mini-plot HERE

"World of Loudening Screams" (Watch on YouTube)

(theme song of this post, courtesy of

moribound.)

[ it's another muggy, meandering day in the jungle; nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. ]

IN THE VILLAGE

[ if your character is near the center of the village, they'll bear witness to the curious sight of a herd of shuffling mushroom beasts. in terms of threat level, to the experienced hunter they may have ranked low on the scale: slow, lacking an external fang or claw, they seem to be interested only in their endless march forward.

but, if your character is close enough, they may catch sight of a red-haired young man, a manifesto of anger written across his face. one breathless moment, the calm before the storm, and then he hurls a metallic pair of gloves at the closest beast, the gloves trailing arcs of flame.

what may strike your character first is the searing heat, the thrum of the earth below their feet. the whole village is demolished in a moment, the dying cries of the beasts rising above the din. the explosion lasts much longer than it should, the line of mushrooms going up one after another.

if you're too close, you might be torn in two. you might lose a limb, or two, or three. you might go deaf, you might lose your sight. you might lose all your eyelashes, your clothes. maybe the bag of mushrooms you'd collected for dinner is now little more than ash.

keep running. the smoke trails into the air. someone is screaming. the smell of charred meat follows you even after you disappear into the jungle. ]

IN THE SURROUNDING JUNGLE

[ if your character is close enough to the village, they'll feel the blasts, one after the other. the jungle is on fire, quickly spreading. maybe you'll hear the screaming, too; maybe your lungs will fill with smoke. maybe you'll run into one of the last mushroom beasts, fleeing from the explosion only to trigger a lesser one in the depths of the jungle.

it came from the village, didn't it? maybe someone you love was swept up in the explosion.

if you manage to escape the stampede of terrified jungle beasts (some of which may stop to crunch you up as a quick meal as they dash away from the blast), maybe you can venture closer to see what's happened.

or maybe you should get as far away as possible. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He's the type. [ simply. ] But we met by accident--chance.

[ on a blind date where they talked about being dead and his troublemaker little brother.... good date.

there's no sense of surprise or offence that hiro doesn't know her. it isn't as if she's close to tadashi, in particular. there's just... similarities. that might be why she cares so much, why she doesn't feel as awkward about approaching this entire thing as she should be. not that she isn't sure how to voice all things. some things. ... most things.

she shifts her body to face him a bit too, head tilted lightly. one knee is drawn up, arms wrapped around it, and her expression is careful, neutral.

then: ]

I'm Milla.

[Is there such a thing as chance? It's a very, very good question right now and it's not one he wants to dwell on too long. It would mean that it was fated for Tadashi to burn twice and that's a stupid thing to think about.

Said-troublemaker little brother doesn't look too particularly troublesome at the moment at least considering the way his chest is concaving a bit to make himself a little smaller. Despite the absolute anguish still flickering across his features he's regarding her curiously. He'll have to ask Tadashi about her when he comes back.]

I'm Hiro. [He attempts to crack a grin.] I'd say "nice to meet you" but...[Considering the circumstances.] Most people in this place meet by accident, don't they?

[It's not the issue here. But it's better to make idle conversation than dive right into why this is a huge issue, at least until he can gauge her.]

[ ... if this was another time she'd comment on the fact that he's the second ~~hiro~~ hero she knows, and she hopes he won't try to pull her into singing pocahontas duets or make her throw chairs at his tiger demon as he pretends to get eaten.

but this isn't the time. and like he doesn't say nice to meet you, she doesn't mention any weird teenagers; her only response to that introduction a small pause. which... serves as a moment for her to consider the fact that they're not really getting to the central problem.

she doesn't mind that much, if that's where hiro'd like to take it first. ]

Don't bother with being polite. You don't even need to keep talking to me if you don't want to. [ she'd shoved away her fair share of conversations, and she won't judge a single person who decides to do the same thing. ] Anyway, you aren't wrong. They were... more special circumstances than the usual, though.

[ and usually she'd be much more flustered about admitting this kind of thing, it's the slightly solemn mood that anchors her away from completely tripping over her words when she clarifies these "special circumstances".

secret mission? ceres infiltration? destined vivid run? ]

It was a blind date.

[ and she won't mention that was about 3 steps away from standing him up to his little brother. she also won't mention that she actually finds it a little fortunate that she didn't. ]

[He's met the other Hiro here. Weird circumstances, isn't it? More than anything though he's still gauging Milla to see if he wants to engage, or tell her to bug off and leave him alone.

The request to stop being polite is a relief and his expression drops further even though he raises an eyebrow. She...would actually be okay with that? If he just sat here and said nothing? Part of him thinks he might just do that because where do you even begin with the plethora of issues that've been unearthed?

But it's not that that really holds his attention. It's the second piece. He's openly surprised, brain flipping into overdrive as he tries to wrap his head around that concept. It's a fantastic distraction and he doesn't even think about the fact that perhaps that was her motive. There are more pressing matters at hand, such as:]

You went on a blind date with my brother? [The incredulity is strong in this one.] Why?

[Hiro you don't get to pick blind dates, that's not how that works.]

[ pft. the tone hiro takes is actually a source of a small bit of amusement--wry, somewhat flat. it's how she is usually, but that combined with the current situation makes offering something lighthearted pretty impossible.

why, he asks. ]

Someone signed me up. And it wouldn't be very blind if we picked who our dates were.

[ she'll continue with the little distraction. not on purpose, but... she's just aiming to deal with what hiro's comfortable dealing with, and everything could come afterward. as long as she was here, the important thing was basically out of the way. that is, him not getting harassed by some jungle monsters. ]

Did you think it went badly?

[ on normal person terms, it kind of did.... ]

[Considering the fact that Hiro hardly knows how to talk about his feelings with people he knows (let alone with total strangers) this is the best route. This is actually the best route because now he's a little more distracted from the complete sense of being lost and more interested in obtaining blackmail for whenever Tadashi comes back. You know. The typical reaction of a loving younger brother.]

I didn't think it would happen at all. Tadashi never dated back home. [And there's a part of him that suddenly reminds him that he never will. Like that, the grin drops out of sight and he's back to a solemn look.] Let me guess. He was a total gentleman and brought you flowers and stuff.

[While this is all happening though, he's scooting a tiny bit closer. So there's that, at least.]

[ she won't move or seem to acknowledge that movement. the way the corners of her mouth quirk just the slightest bit upwards is, of course, because of hiro's pretty good guess. yes, tadashi had aimed and hit the gentleman angle pretty well, which was embarrassing. and she knew he didn't date--he'd told her part of the reason he didn't was because he needed to be there for hiro.

it's... sad and emptying, pretty much. the only way she can describe the feeling of being left behind. ]

Yellow roses. [ that's a yes. ] He stood up and took his hat off when I came over. I didn't know that was something people did.

[ it tipped her off pretty quickly to what kind of person he was, though. Giant Nerd Do-gooder. ]

[You live pretty much glued to someone's side for fourteen years (and share a room for eleven of those), you pretty much know them like the back of your hand. Tadashi being a Giant Nerd Do-gooder isn't news to him, and it's sort of funny that he really went out of his way to try and make this blind date into something nice.

(Granted…it's more than Hiro would have done, but Hiro's still at the age that robots are usually more interesting than dating.) He knows that Tadashi never dated back home, but he hasn't quite made the connection that it has to do a lot with him and needing to monitor him.]

Weirdly thoughtful and not overly romantic. [Somehow that doesn't surprise him, but what the hell does he know about flowers. The description at least renders a tiny laugh out of him because he can picture it pretty clearly in his head.] Tadashi sometimes does a lot of things people wouldn't expect. Like, not in a bad way but…he's the kind of guy that would stop for somebody to help them get their kitten out of a tree, help old ladies cross the street and generally help the whole world. [That's the problem.]

He's still a pretty big nerd though.

Mm. Big nerd, big do-gooder. That's the kind of impression I got from him.

[ the kind of people you shake your head in exasperation at, the ones that give you the biggest headaches, the ones too good for their own... well, good. she knew a couple of people like that, and tadashi was one of them. the kind of people that really didn't deserve to die, she supposes.

she shifts slightly, placing her hands on the ground at her sides. ]

I wouldn't be surprised if you've got some of that yourself.

[ siblings and all. ]

[Hiro often shakes his head at Tadashi in exasperation, it's true. Then again Tadashi probably does the same thing for varying reasons (and then some.) At her comment though, he can't help but smirk again, though it's more sheepish this time.]

I'm not really like my brother. [Which is his first lie. He's more like Tadashi than he thinks, but he also knows his motivations are very different even though the goals are the same.] …but maybe. It's sort of my job to help people back home. [Or was.] That's what our team does. Is that a bad thing?

It could be, if you go too far with it.

[ personal experience. that's her cynical response, and she says it almost immediately. a team full of people who're just supposed to help others? definitely sounds like some magnet for trouble. is that why tadashi was on look-out duty? because his brother was off punching evil in the face?

milla seems to consider what she says for a small bit, however, and adds in something that sounds a little less rational, a little more sincere. leaning back a tad on her hands, then, she offers: ]

... Still. I wouldn't say it is entirely.

We've never gone too far. [The second lie.] ...we're sort of new to the whole hero thing, so there were a couple of problems but we fixed everything and it's fine now.

[It's exactly why Tadashi was on look-out duty. Even prior to being a superhero Hiro had a tendency to run off and get himself in trouble...not necessarily by punching evil in the face, but more like taunting evil and pushing his luck. What a good little brother.

It's the mild assurance that helps.] I kinda told Tadashi about it when I got here and he sort of understood but...[A shrug. Tadashi doesn't know the full story. Tadashi doesn't know that he's the reason Hiro did this.] Somebody has to help San Fransokyo and it may as well be us. And if I can do that here, too, then even better right?

Somebody has to help. [ a slightly amused exhale, as she repeats that. brothers, yeah. certainly. ] Definitely a do-gooder too, then.

[ it's the easiest thing to mention, in a sea of uncertain phrases. so he had to tell tadashi about that, did he? either tadashi didn't know in the first place, or perhaps it happened after he... ah. well, at least hiro's... talking to her, which is probably a lot more than she would've done, had done, so--there's that.

though it'd probably be easier for her if he just shoved her away. they could both just stew in silence as she prepared to stab any monsters that approached with her sword, but that wouldn't be socially acceptable. ]

He told me a bit about you, on our... [ she can't even call it a date anymore, honestly. it was more like a dead person weird heart to heart. our thing? our... she shakes her head. ] I'm starting to see what he meant. [ ... ] You two seem close--I'm almost jealous.

[ ah, yes, that's more socially acceptable. talking about how close they seem when the other is technically dead... is dead, and there wasn't any erasing that fact. ]

It's not-- [He stops then. Okay, so maybe that's true. Once upon a time Hiro had assumed he wasn't like Tadashi but the longer he thinks about it and remembers that oh yeah, he jumped into an unstable portal to try and save somebody, the more he realizes it's true. Do-gooder. Hero. They both fit.] Okay, maybe. It's still true.

[He's sulking a bit because he does believe it's true. Somebody has to help or the world will fall apart. It's his logic and though it's not nearly as black and white as that it gives him some perspective. Before...everything back home he probably would have just shoved her away and bit back everything in his head. It's Baymax's fault that he's come out of his shell since Tadashi's death and though he's by no means willing to give up information up-front, he's a little more open to discussion.

It would have been easier just to shut up and let Milla stab monsters though. His eyes widen a bit though at that. Like it's baffling that Tadashi would even bother mentioning him on a date, blind or not. He's not sure how to feel about that but he can at least offer some insight even if there's a distinct lack of tact. (It's fine. Really.)] Guess that depends on everything he said. [There's a slight grin, though it's more melancholy than anything.] Tadashi's the only family I had left besides our Aunt Cass. Our parents died when I was three and I don't really remember a lot about them, but it's always been me and Tadashi. When we moved into Aunt Cass's place above the cafe we had to share a room in the attic because that was the only space left. And then we started building stuff together and created a lab in our room before we got to move it down to the garage. [A beat.] He's always looked out for me and taken care of me. That's just how things are. Were. [Whichever. And it's for that reason it hurt so much the first time, not to mention the second. He doesn't know what to make of the jealousy comment though, so he doesn't say anything yet.]

Guess things haven't changed too much since we both showed up here. [Other than the awkward elephant in the room about "my brother's a zombie and has zero clue about what happened after he died."]

[ and here she was worried that she wouldn't be able to get him to talk. she listens attentively, the story more familiar, eliciting more of a pang in her chest than her neutral expression lets on--familiar, but not completely. no parents to speak of, raised by an elder sister who told her everything, protected her completely, but she couldn't do so in turn. the nice things turned to past things, and thinking about them left her more empty than fulfilled. maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to try and comfort hiro when she really didn't have her issues about Dead Siblings filed nice into a folder, ordered and finished rather than shoved into a messy pile in the corner. she doesn't really have many words to say.

or maybe the fact that she didn't have all those feelings neatly tucked away is what led her to even bother in the first place. the fact he's tadashi's brother, too? she doesn't know, but she speaks through the lump in her throat anyway. ]

From the sounds of it, I don't think they ever will.

[ she'd be more clumsy about being so direct, but that's a pretty certain statement. it could be an odd thing to say when he doesn't know her and she doesn't really know him, but from what she's heard, seen, they really were... no, are, close.

almost jealous? change that to probably actually jealous, in a way. she doesn't comment at all on the past tense, because she knows what hiro means by that--that's her subtle way of saying so.

there's a little lull, before she adds in another certainty. ]

He'll be fine.

[It's a little odd, yes, but he looks at her with another questioning expression. It's not that her face is giving anything away. It's that she's accepting everything he's just said without even blinking. No questions, no "aren't you a little old to be babysat by your brother", no comments on being a little too attached. Nothing. It's interesting and it makes him wonder just what's going on inside her head.

But it's not really his place to poke and prod, is it? (No, but he will anyway. That's what Hiros are prone to doing.)]

I kinda hope they don't. It's been a while. [It's the only thing he says to hint just how long it's been since Tadashi died back home.] It was weird when I found him here and I know he'll be fine, but...[For every bit of certainty she has, there's a bit of uncertainty from Hiro.] What makes you so sure anyway?

[ because if they force us to have to deal with the awkward mess of "i was dead but then i wasn't", they better damn well bring us back like the rest of you, but she doesn't say that. milla's only sure because she's been here long enough to accept that death was some kind of far, far away thing and this was just how things were; doubting that fact now when it'd hurt most would be a bad choice.

(even if the circumstances have changed, maybe.)

that's how she took most things nowadays, anyway. they are what they are, deal with what you can, that's it--before, it would've been that she just didn't care. ]

There's no reason to question it. [ so. no physical proof, no stories--only shonen hero thinking, which she's only really going with because it's convenient, rational, and the way of life, from what she's seen. ] It's how things are around here. The only thing doubting that now will give you is a headache and extra stress. Don't bother with things you can't change.

[ is that supposed to be reassuring? who knows, but she figures it's pratical enough and that's all that matters. ]

[Milla your life is complicated and if Hiro even knew half of that he'd immediately shift his focus. Jack (to his knowledge) is the only other person he knew who was already dead and that hardly counted since he was a winter spirit. Milla looks and seems human enough.]

There are reasons to question everything in this place. [It's blurted out before he can think about censoring himself. Facts are facts, yes, but in a place like Cerealia it grows more complicated. He can respect that line of thought, but he's still too curious and too logical in the wrong places.] ...maybe I just don't like the idea of not being able to change things, even if they aren't things I want to change anyway. I like having the option. That's why things happened they way they did at home. I could have done a lot of things but I decided to change the way things were. If I didn't have that...["I don't know what would have happened."]

[ everyone in cerealia has a complicated life... there's a even if you don't like it, some things you won't be able to change at the tip of her tongue, but even she's not cold enough to dump that kind of cynicism in his face at this stage. not only that... well, knowing what she does about tadashi--hiro managed to pull through that and do something from the sounds of it, despite his age and despite who he just lost. whatever that something was.

that's something. a lot of the times she'd just gone with the flow, but now and then she's seen that taking something that seemed different was. better, maybe. ]

I'm here awkwardly trying to offer some kind of help, and you give me all that... [ half-serious; if she admits it outright and says it like it's no big deal, it's obviously not true. obviously. not that she actually thinks anything she had to say could make the situation more okay, and how wryly she says that implies as much. ] You're a little young to be talking that big, aren't you?

[ though she doesn't really mean it--it's more of a jab than anything else, a hint that she... somewhat approves of that take on things in her tone. it's not quite so surprising that he'd say something like that, considering the other heroic types she knows.

all of them are just asking to give themselves migraines... but with that, milla figures hiro'll probably be fine too. ]

[That's for the best. He'd argue to the moon and back about it until they were both blue in the face and...frankly, he doesn't have enough energy for that right now. Superheroes don't just quit. There's always a new angle to approach.

Someday he can tell Milla all about why he's a stubborn asshole. Today's not that day though. He snorts under his breath, flashing her a mildly mischievous look.]

You're doing better than I would if I were you. [That is to say he's hella awkward and he knows it. At the common about his age he shrugs though.] And probably, but so what? I know what I'm talking about and that's what counts.

[He'll be fine eventually. It probably helps that he knows Tadashi will be back even if he's still a little shaken.] ...but I mean...thanks. [For drawing him back out, he means.]

[ oh.

she actually hadn't expected that, it seems, from the way she lets the thanks hang in the air for the duration of one blink, two--then she's turning her expression away from hiro's gaze. ]

Don't bother. You didn't leave me sitting here wondering what to say, since you actually talked--you didn't need to. That's better than I can say I did in the past, so we're even.

[ milla's also trying to keep the embarrassment out of her voice, which makes her poor attempt at aloof indifference something between a pathetic mumble and the vocal equivalent of a distant shrug. a distant, pathetic mumble?

yeah, she's about as awkward as he is. there seems to be a moment where she realizes how stupid she's acting in response to something as simple as a thank you, which prompts her to mentally facepalm. oh, no--not mentally, she actually raises a hand to her forehead, cursing herself for getting in these kinds of situations when she knows she's no good at them. it's like she signs herself up to act like a fool, and yet she can't just... leave.

that's pathetic.

but, less pathetically: ]

... Besides, it isn't like I did much. Whether I was here or not, you would've been fine.

[ or maybe eaten by monsters, but she's trying to be casual about this. ]

[There's a curve of his lips, knowing she wasn't anticipating it and finding it a little amusing. It helps to make him feel better at least.]

Are we? Because this is more helpful than last time. Baymax kept bugging me to talk to people and I didn't want to. [It's matter-of-fact. Now that he's outside of the situation it's easy to see that Baymax was looking out for his best interests but at the time...well. His robot was more of a hoverbot.

He's still watching her closely, assessing the way she seems to be going through some kind of cycle. Whatever's going on in her head isn't something he's privy to and he's not sure he wants to be.]

I would have been fine, probably. [Or he would have thrown himself into a fight he couldn't win.] Doesn't make it any less appreciated since...[An awkward shrug of his own. It's still too difficult to say "since I was sticking close to Tadashi and he got himself killed", but he's hoping all of that is conveyed via shrug.] This jungle's kinda intense. We don't have jungles in San Fransokyo and Tadashi and I don't really camp back home so the last couple of days have been weird. That's all.

Is that so. [ a small mumble, as her fluster dies down. she can actually look at hiro now--her face isn't burning up and she doesn't have thanks on the mind.

... not that her eyebrows don't furrow slightly at the mention of appreciation. of this being helpful. is this actually helpful, or is he just being nice... ah, well. ] It's different without the cushy things all of you usually depend on, but you'll get used to it.

[ and if not he's dead but. considering These Things Might Kill Us isn't really new, "oh no we are in danger" isn't really either, so there's just... the lack of convenience, maybe? wonderful, wonderful tellus. where the lack of cellphone bars is harder than the presence of murderous ______. ]

And at least there's some of us with some kind of magic to make things less difficult. Warmth, water. [ there's, in general, lots of them that'll help him during tadashi's absence, though that's far too mushy for her to say directly. ] No wi-fi spells that I know of, though it's not like you need that.

[ all rather flippantly. Jungle Adventures was more of the life she was used to, rather than-- super high tech life, so the whole thing isn't an incredibly difficult step. with her terrible survival pep-talk all done, there's a curious tilt of her head. ]

... Who's Baymax?

[ she'll refrain from commenting on their odd, odd name or their probably hilariously terrible displays of empathy if they're even worse at cheering people up than she is. that's just sad. ]

[A shrug. There's really nothing there except for pure honesty. Maybe a hint of amusement at his own shortcomings.] Yup. I was fine, Baymax didn't agree. So he called my friends to check on me and…okay, so maybe that saved our lives and that's how we became the team we are now, but y'know…just at first. But it definitely changed things.

I wouldn't call tech cushy. It's just a way of life where we're from. It's not our fault.

[But he's not dead, so there's that. He picks up on the implications well enough and it's his turn to look away, slightly embarrassed. He's not a little kid and he can take care of himself…but maybe it's not a bad thing to know there're people who'll help him out until he figures out something new.] I'm just glad you know what wi-fi even is.

[And that seems to be that. Because she's asked something Important and he blinks in surprise, giving another half-grin.] Tadashi never told you about Baymax? He was his first. He's a nursebot…superhero…my best friend…take your pick. He was with us out here but his battery drained a couple of days ago, so now he's back at our campsite.

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( mini-plot post: open to all )

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