collectedlogs | ⏪ the other side of life

⏪ the other side of life | OPEN

WHO: Leone Abbacchio & whomstever
WHAT: A Haunting prompt for Akechi; Moody Blues gets to work; Abbacchio takes over the H*t T*pic; you can also wildcard him.
WHEN: Time is an illusion
WHERE: The home decor store & others.
WARNINGS: There is a prompt including Abbacchio's Stand, Moody Blues! The thing about Stands is that normally only other people who have Stands can see them, but I like to play fast and loose with the rules, so I honestly leave it up to you if your character can see his Stand. Prompts are in the comments but if you wanna do your own thing just comment to the post or let me know if you want something more specific!

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Now who's the one asking nosy questions?

[Sometimes you're doing so well and then you trip at the finish line because you just gotta get your snark in.]

We can quid pro quo later. More importantly, the hell are we going to do about getting those lights out of there?

I'm not gonna apologize for being curious about your sudden knowledge of brain possession. It sort of fucking sticks out.

[Anyway: they do have a task ahead of them.]

It does put us in a bad position. We could go in and smash all the mirrors we come across, but that's a lot to deal with.

...There might be something else we can do. [He can bullshit an explanation if it comes up in some way.] What lights should we grab for? That's all I need to know.

They're going on the roof, right? So, freestanding and with a cord we can hook up to the interior of the building. Batteries will burn out eventually, and I don't really want to keep going the hell back out there just to replace them.

[He contemplates a minute.]

High wattage, fluorescent bulb. As long lasting as possible. What are you going to do, make a run for it?

Something like that.

[After Zuko couldn't see Moody Blues, Abbacchio is working off of the assumption that nobody else will be able to see his Stand. It was interesting to try to explain it to the kid. He certainly expects nothing out of Schuldig.

So, Moody Blues appears behind Abbacchio, humming with curious static.]

Just give me a minute.

[Moody Blues only has about 2-3 meters to work with, but they don't need to go in deep to get what they're looking for. The Stand goes in, knocking over mirrors as he goes.]

[Well, well, well. Speaking of psychic bullshit — the one saving grace that Schuldig has going for him when Moody Blues makes his appearance is the fact that he's already been shoring up his mental defenses somewhat in preparation for whatever might be inside the home goods store, so he's walled off his mind just slightly better than he usually keeps himself normally.

Which is a good thing, because the purple phantom...thing appears, and it's like a bomb going off inside his skull.]

Ah, shit!

[He claps his hands over his ears — on reflex alone, it's not like it helps with the brain part of things — and drops into an immediate turtle-like crouch, head low between his knees as he tries to shove back the...whatever it is and escape into a sheltered, silent place in his mind.]

What did you do? The fuck did you do?!

[This is a first, and it's immediately concerning. He debates pulling Moody Blues back, but instead lets him keep going to find the lights they need. Instead, he stares at Schuldig, speechless for a moment.]

You tell me. What's with you?!

[Because nobody has ever reacted to his Stand like this before. What the actual fuck is going on?]

Your fucking familiar, asshole! Call it off!

[He's seething through his teeth, fighting because yeah, it hurts but ha ha, isn't that what they always taught at school, how to be useful even when it hurts, how to matter even when they're trying to render you worthless.]

What the hell!

[Not only did Moody Blues' appearance trigger this reaction, but Schuldig can see him.

Abruptly, Moody Blues fizzles out, like an old television set being turned off. Abbacchio is tense, debating if he just wants to leave now or not. This is bad, he didn't expect Schuldig to have the ability to see his Stand.]

What the fuck are you?

Two of a kind with you, seems like.

[The thing disappears, and the shrieking in his mind stops, leaving his head ringing but his thoughts abruptly a lot clearer. Groaning, he scrubs at his eyes, staying on the ground a minute to get his bearings before pushing himself back up to his feet.]

You could've told me you were going to send in a familiar. Fucking hell, I need an aspirin.

[He dabs at his nose, like he's half-expecting to have a nosebleed.]

Somebody trained you pretty well. Is that what you are, a psychic-killer?

Shut the hell up, I seriously don't know what you're on about. I've never seen anyone react like that before.

[Psychic-killer. So Schuldig definitely doesn't have a Stand. Instead, that makes him--]

You read minds. [That's why he knows so much about possession. What the actual fuck. That shouldn't be any weirder than anything else Abbacchio has experienced, but he immediately hates the idea. He doesn't want anyone roaming around in his head. But then, it seems like Schuldig hasn't tried that yet.

Probably won't try now.]

I didn't know what you were when I tried that. Otherwise I wouldn't have. [No matter how he feels about Schuldig, he has no reason to trigger that kind of pain in him.]

Well, not yours. Shit.

[He pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to get some of the twinging ache to relieve itself. It helps, a little.]

Something funny about you, you know. You said, you read minds, when you were working out a thing I can do. But you keep saying what you are when you talk about how I reacted.

So. You can manifest a familiar, that's a thing you can do. But what are you, pal?

Let's keep it that way.

[There's a pause as Abbacchio sorts this out. Schuldig's attitude can be more or less explained now. The way he described Abbacchio being well trained, calling him a psychic-killer. That means Schuldig's got way more going on than he's let on, which is about what Abbacchio expected, just not quite like this.

But then, Schuldig isn't the one that caused Abbacchio intense pain.

He reluctantly offers a hand up to Schuldig.]

Never called it a familiar. Always called it a Stand, which makes me a Stand user. He comes out when I need the help. I call him Moody Blues.

C'mon. We'll figure out something else, and I have some painkillers back with my other shit.

Hang on.

[Truthfully — and he so rarely is truthful, but hell — it's the offered hand that changes his mind. Not because he trusts anyone here as far as they can throw them, and not because his head hurts any less. But just...

It reminds him, a little. It just reminds him, that's all.]

Didn't we say, no letting pain get in the way of the goal?

[He's got to be crazy, but. Well.]

Look. I'll deal with the headache. But those lights showed up out of nowhere, on a moment's notice. Who says they won't disappear just as fast? We're here now. They're here now.

So just...just give me a second, and then do it. We get the lights. We get the job done. You can make it up to me after.

I'm not a fan of being indebted, but... fine. We'll take what we can and I'll do whatever.

Tell me when you're ready, and I'll bring him out again. I'll try to make it fast.

I'm not gonna be able to talk. When I give you the OK, that'll work?

[He backs up a few meters, hunkering down into a crouch again and putting his hands up by his head like before.

Okay. Okay, it's not like he doesn't know how to put up shields, how to fight back against a mental assault. That's all this is. He wasn't expecting it, the guy got the drop on him. That's all.

He closes his eyes, calling up the memory of one of those absolutely shitty 90s songs that always plays on the radio — the ones that get stuck in your head and never get out, catchy fuckers that they are.

slam it to the left if you're having a good time shake it to the right if you know that you feel fine chicas to the front (ha ha) go rou-u-und

Again and again, he lets the song weave through his mind, shoring himself up, centering in on what's him and what's not until it's like a barricade, a narrow space surrounded by thick walls to keep the world out.

Slowly, he lifts a hand away from his head, and flashes an OK signal.]

[Whatever Schuldig is doing, he hopes it works, because he takes him at face value for once and nods at the OK signal. Just like that, Moody Blues emerges again, flickering into view, static clearing the way for him.

Into the store Moody Blues goes, trying to make it quick and running inside, down the aisle based on Abbacchio's memory.]

Can't carry a ton, but... [Through Moody Blues, he's gathering up the lights in his arms, winding up the cords around them to bundle them. That puts about six total he can carry.

So he starts quickly rewinding Moody Blues, keeping the lights, drawing him back as fast as he can.]

[He snarls and snaps, but this time at least he's ready for the psychic barrage that hammers down on his mind, and when he thinks he can manage it he squeezes one eye open a crack to look and see what the familiar is up to.

It's working, it seems like. It's actually fucking working. This is actually going to work, okay, so the pain is worth it after all. What's a headache next to a victory? You do what the job takes. You survive.

This. This is good.

[Eventually, Moody Blues finally returns, gently depositing the lights into Abbacchio's arms. As soon as that's done, he dismisses his Stand, letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

Turning his head, he looks at Schuldig.]

...Hey. You good?

Slightly less like I just took a kick to the head from an angry donkey, thanks for asking.

[He rubs at his temples, slowly unfolding, like he's gauging out his sense of balance before he's upright again.]

Point is, we got 'em. That's an armful more than we didn't have before.

I'll take "slightly".

[Honestly, he doesn't mind hauling it for awhile. He just needs to be careful with the lamps before they get to the roof.]

You want a break before we hit topside?

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⏪ the other side of life | OPEN

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