escordvi | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Kaveh and YOU
Status: Open
Where: Surasthana Cafe on Eltrut!
What: The grand opening of a book cafe.
Warnings: God I hope not.

[Kaveh hasn't talked much about what he's been working on for a few months now, because he wanted this moment to be a surprise (and because he didn't want to be scolded for overwork). It has finally paid off, now, with the grand opening of the Surasthana Cafe, just in time for the deep end of the fall season. The cafe is cozily furnished and warm, the smell of lovingly brewed coffee floats through the air, and soft music plays from Mehrak.

Kaveh isn't expecting a huge rush on any given day--this was done for his own sake more than anything, but now on weekday afternoons, the little book cafe can be found and people can stay a spell, enjoying expertly made coffee drinks and some light reading in a ridiculous plant paradise.

If you have any requests for new kinds of books, or wish to purchase various accessories, stop by the front counter! The owner is happy to accommodate you, after all.

ooc: you may also treat this post as a mingle and toplevel accordingly, just mark if you are doing so! Otherwise, Kaveh will be coming for you!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(What the fuck?!

What. The. Fuck?!

Look. It's really hard to describe the actual combination of completely bewildered by this seemingly intelligent man's total lack of anything resembling logic in his reasoning and the building furious rage.

It's much easier to describe Sidestep launching themself across the table. It's a stupid decision, one that will draw attention to them or get them put in jail, but what is anyone going to do? Send them back to the farm? Can't fucking do that here, assholes.

Hey Alhaitham, Sidestep's fist is now coming toward your face.)

[Compared to the Eremites that Alhaitham's dealt with a scrawny young person-thing that is Sidestep is barely even a blip on his radar, especially given the fact that they're also attacking him in blind rage.

Thus it is an easy enough task to catch the fist that comes his way, and Alhaitham grips it tight, using that momentum to sharply twist Sidestep's arm and then use the distraction caused by that to expertly pin them down right onto the table without even batting an eyelash, even as the force of it causes the chess pieces to fall off the table and clatter noisily onto the floor.]

If a physical bout is how you want to settle things, then I'm perfectly happy to do so. [He says easily while continuing to put his full weight onto the other.] We'll just have to do it outdoors so as not to disturb the patrons here.

[Or make his husband mad, but that detail doesn't need to be said.]

[The first warning something is wrong (besides the fist fight ensuing) is that the chess pieces bounce and then don't hit the floor again.

The second warning is that Mehrak is here and making a >:< face at both of them, a green bracket closing around the back of Sidestep's shoulders and Alhaitham's wrist equally. He hasn't started to yank them apart yet, but there is a very clear warning in those brackets.]

Oh, I think it's a little late for that.

[Kaveh's fuckin' pissed.]

(Yeah, the rage is a problem, because the rage puts them out of touch with their senses, with their ability to sense intentions, with their ability to read his mind.

They'd made fun of villains who succumbed to their rage in the past, and yet here they are, doing exactly that.

How far have the mighty fallen?

And yet, still there's further to go because before they can even fully react the man is grabbing them, pinning them against the table. Beaten.

Shit fuck shit-)

(They struggle. It's not very effective because Alhaitham is right: they're small. Weak. Frail. Not made for combat, no matter how much they bend their body to fighting and physically they're actually pretty muscular for their size, a small and wiry thing and yet that sense of smallness and weakness builds and builds and builds because now that it's getting more intense it's clearly something not originating in the mind of the people forced to feel it but coming from Sidestep itself, a building telepathicly broadcasted pressure of weakuselesscaughtagainnonononodon'tdon'tpleasenoscsredscaredscaredscared...

They don't notice that they've been grabbed by Mehrak. The building terror isn't even directed at Ahaitham. It's not even a feeling really, more a physiological response triggered by a domino effect of events. Words. Actions. The position of their body.

They struggle harder.)

Edited 2024-12-02 19:10 (UTC)

[Bring subjected to Mehrak's abilities is nothing new to Alhaitham, but it is uncommon enough that it has him pause and glance over to the toolbox in question—alongside its owner who has come around quickly enough, making it abundantly clear his dislike of what is going on.

In any other situation Alhaitham might perhaps be a little apologetic about causing a scene in his husband's beloved coffee shop, but right now its hard to feel sorry when he wasn't the one who suddenly tried to go and punch his face.

He opens his mouth, ready to tell Kaveh exactly that, only to be cut off at the sudden feeling of fear that permeates his senses. Despite it being easy enough to recognize that the feeling does not come from him, its still sudden and intense enough that it has him let out of the other struggling underneath his grip, a deep frown coming onto his face at this inexplicable sense of discomfort. Just what is going on here?]

[Kaveh had a whole speech prepared, about expecting a higher standard of behavior from Alhaitham because he knows him best, and also needing to determine what the hell happened here before he can decide what to do about it. That speech vanishes to the wind as that wash of fear hits him.

It's not as though Kaveh's unfamiliar with fear--he's intimately acquainted with it, actually--and for an ugly moment the image of silver hair vanishing under dark water flickers through his mind. But this isn't his--there's no reason it should be his, and he knows that.

Knowing that doesn't help much.

So he pulls Sidestep further away from the table and Alhaitham with Mehrak, depositing them back in their chair (perhaps not as gently as he'd have liked, but he's a little panicked) and turns, grabbing for Alhaitham's hands, trying to ground himself. Remind himself that Alhaitham is here and dry, and not sinking beneath the waters (it would have been Kaveh's fault). Mehrak's grip loosens a little as Kaveh's concentration wavers, but he's hardly paying attention to that right now.]

What--what is--Haitham?

[He's still here, right? Kaveh isn't alone?]

(Alhaitham lets go and Chris thrashes violently as Mehrak lifts them away, body twisting around in their clothes the way a Honey Badger twists in their skin.

It's violent enough to knock over the chair and, once the grip is loosened, they break free and collapse to the floor then lay there, hyperventilating.

The intensity of the fear begins to die down, but now you've got a fucked up telepathic ticking time bomb of a person just laying on the floor leaking fluids out of their face, because it really can't be called crying when it's just a stream of tears and drool and snot and they've ruptured a vessel in the eye so there's some blood leaking out with the tears too and... yeah. Yeah this is pretty gross.

Already unsettled by the realization provoked by Alhaitham's thoughts, it wasn't hard to rile them into a blind rage, then a blind panic when they were pinned like that and were suddenly back in their worst memories.)

Edited 2024-12-04 08:33 (UTC)

[Alhaitham can only let himself be tugged around by Mehrak, still too distracted by this foreign sense of fear that is not his. It'd taken a second, but it finally occurs to him where he'd felt something similar to this before—back on the island with all the moogles. Was this person there, too? The person back then did have a coat over him and all if his memory serves him right...

Regardless, it doesn't matter. Those questions don't matter because what does matter is Kaveh, who now holds his hands, clearly having felt the same thing that he did, as shown by the shaken expression on his face and the tremble of his hands that grips around his own almost desperately.]

I'm here. [He says, simple but no less firm, twisting his own hands around so that he can grasp back onto Kaveh in turn, squeezing once to help keep his senior grounded.] We're fine.

[For Alhaitham, at least, he doesn't have as much difficultly segregating his feelings in this, which allows him to glance over to the one currently hyperventilating on the ground. Funny how all their bluster earlier had been so quick to fall apart; a better man might have felt sorry about it, but Alhaitham has never once considered himself as such a person.

Seeing that they're too wrapped up in whatever is affecting them to be able to do anything else, he returns his attention back to Kaveh. He gives their linked hands another squeeze and then tugs him in closer, other hand cupping the side of his husband's face, seeing if the added touch will help ground the architect better.]

I'm here. [He repeats himself, voice coming out steady despite the sudden chaos of what had happened.] I'm here, Kaveh. We're alright.

Edited 2024-12-06 10:45 (UTC)

You're alright...[Air is still tight in his lungs but--Alhaitham's here. Alhaitham's here. Kaveh's not thinking clearly enough to hope that wash of relief and sense of safety helps the...current situation, he simply leans into his husband's touch and hopes his racing pulse will stop.

Not that he's forgotten Sidestep, but...that's a difficult problem. Kaveh turns his head slightly to look and--ohhh. Oh dear.]

Haitham, we...[He trails off. They do have to do something, but what? Simply levitating Sidestep out the front door and onto the street would be crueler than Kaveh's capable of, even if attacking the owner's husband is pretty solid grounds for removal from the premises. Touching them seems ill-advised. They don't seem to hear much of what's being said right now, either...

An idea flickers through his mind, and he puffs out a breath of air.]

Lily!

[The cat is not less affected by all this, but she is a Warrior Cat, and she is brave...and kindhearted. She twines around her parents legs and cautiously mmrews at Kaveh, peering at the person at the floor, but takes the nod as encouragement to approach, coming just within reach and chirping at the fallen psychic. Mehrak hovers nearby, prepared to rescue the cat if Sidestep reacts...poorly....to Shadowlily's approach.

...Archons, Kaveh hopes this works.]

(Look, no one is gonna blame Alhaitham for not feeling particularly sorry for the fucker who just tried to punch him in the face. Even if they hadn't done this to themself, it's not like he could have known what would happen.

Sidestep obviously didn't.

Shadowlily's approach, thankfully, doesn't get much reaction from Sidestep. This is also unfortunate, as she doesn't get much reaction from Sidestep. They twitch at the chirping, and one of their very bloodshot eyes flicks to focus on the cat, even as they struggle to get their breathing under control. If this were a human approaching, they'd probably pull away or maybe even swat at them, but ...they aren't gonna hurt an animal, man.

It's just... they're fucked up enough right now that they're not super inclined to reach out and pet the cat without prompting, either.)

[Unlike Kaveh Alhaitham can't say that he has any level of concern for Sidestep now, especially after what just happened—and the fact that they've affected Kaveh so only encourages him to hold on even less of his sympathy, if he even had any in the first place.

Still, between the two of them Kaveh has always been the far more kind-hearted one, and while Alhaitham certainly isn't that all keen to help out the mess of a mind reader now twitching on the floor he'll let Kaveh do his thing if that means they don't remain here. There's enough annoyances as it is for him to want to entertain any more than he already has.

Shadowlily heeds Kaveh's command and encouragement, making her way over to where Sidestep is, and while its clear that they are reacting to her approach they also don't do much more than that. It suggests a number of things, none of which are particularly useful to the current situation.

He glances back to Kaveh, giving him a look that basically asks the question for him: Now what? Alhaitham, of course, has a few suggestions in mind, but he knows that none of them will be taken particularly well, and so he refrains. Not that it'll stop Kaveh from figuring them out anyway, considering how well his husband knows him.]

[Now what is a pretty good question, as Kaveh isn't entirely sure who to call. Has he even ever seen Sidestep interact with other people? They seem more like some telepathic cryptid who turns up now and then at the Conservatory--

Aha.]

...Let me call someone. They might--be able to help.

[If the Professor can't...maybe Valiant or Bundle can help, does the mind-reading work on Pokemon?

It's worth a shot. Time to go make a call.]

[A call that hadn't been expected in any capacity, to say the last of it; did mean that Turo left in a bit of a hurry, possibly easy to spot the creature that Turo rode in on waiting outside at the door. Mariposa and Iron Valiant walked in just behind the man as he made his way inside—]

Apologies if I took longer than expected to get here.

[Mariposa already making her way over to Chris, calm as could be and apparently focused on whatever task she felt was at hand.]

-- Hello as well.

(And well, maybe Chris picked up from Kaveh's mind that he was calling Turo and not, say, some random medical doctor, which would typically have them at least trying to run. Or maybe they're too out of it to even notice anyone was being called. Or maybe they've just given up.

Or they can't move. That's also a possibility.

They seem to be at least vaguely aware of what's going on, because their eyes do focus on Mariposa, though after a moment of looking at her they squeeze them shut again. That post telepathic exertion headache be hitting hard now.

...It's entirely deserved.

What isn't deserved is Kaveh and Alhaitham having blood and spit and tears leaking out onto their nice floor... though at least at this point they've closed their mouth and stopped drooling.)

[Kaveh seems to know what to do here, so Alhaitham is more than fine with letting his husband handle the situation. As Kaveh calls for... whoever it is he stays exactly where he is, arms crossed over his chest as he continues to stare down at the mess lying on the floor. As terrible as it all looks, Alhaitham still can't say that he's willing to extend any level of sympathy; as far as he's concerned they wanted trouble and they got it.

For better or worse it doesn't take long for Kaveh's call of help to arrive, which does in the form of somebody who Alhaitham can't say he's familiar with. They seem polite enough, at least, so Alhaitham regards the newcomer with a nod and steps back, Shadowlily hot on his heels as she is perhaps a little spooked by the abrupt appearance of all the strange... creatures she wasn't quite prepared for, to say the least.

Though it's obvious enough that this new person is who Kaveh called, he glances again at his senior anyway, more or less asking for confirmation on the matter.]

Ah, that's Professor Turo. Professor, Alhaitham. [Kaveh inclines his head in greeting to Turo during the rather hurried introductions, before stepping back to make sure Valiant and Mariposa have enough room.]

No, thank you for coming on such short notice.

[He doesn't know what else to do, and he feels awful about it, but...] I didn't think...touching them was going to help any, but we can't really leave them like this.

[Or here at all, but it is impolite to say so.]

A pleasure, Alhaitham. [A nod towards him simply to be polite, a faint frown there as his eyes rested on Chris.

Overwhelmed would likely be putting the description very lightly by the looks of it, keeping just a slight distance himself while getting a look over them. Mariposa sat down just near Chris's head with a soft sort of huff, ears perked as those feathers moved from them.

Valiant did look over Alhaitham as well, glowing pink LED eyes focused for a moment before there was a greeting-like tilt of it's head; Kaveh received a Vi of greeting before the pokémon moved towards Chris's ide, staring down at them.]

I do have another member of my team that I have recently regained that may be able to help move them- if neither of you mind?

[There was a strange ball taken from the pocket of his lab coat to partially show what he meant.]

Iron Hands can be called outside, as I would not wish to further disrupt things with their appearance in here, but one of their hands can fit through your door with Iron Valiant here helping to guide it. With the hope it will not worsen this, of course.

(So close to them, the animals and pokemon might pick up the faint sense of Chris' general feelings of being stupid and also everything hurting. Do they even realize they're projecting this? Probably not.

They'll attempt to reach out and greet Valiant when they sense its mind... but ahahahaha no, trying even that sends a bolt of pain straight through their skull.

Trying to move, they'll find, is also out of the question. Even just shifting on the ground makes the world feel like it's spinning, and they're not... really sure... where up is, and where down is. So discombobulated that for all they know they could have floated into the air and this is all taking place on the ceiling.)

...Fuck.

[The menagerie of creatures appearing one after another isn't something Alhaitham is explicitly prepared for, but he can put up with a bit of that if it means it'll finally get rid of this whole problem that decided to show itself here in the first place. The newcomer—Turo—being as polite as he is at least gives him a reason to keep his own temper in check.

He glances at the strange ball that Turo has pulled out, not fully getting what the question is about even with his best attempt at extrapolation, but at the end of the day this is Kaveh's place more than his, so all he does is to shrug.]

As long as Kaveh is fine with it, then I see no reason to say no.

[Whatever it is that needs to be done to settle this. To say that Alhaitham is quite done after this whole debacle would not be inaccurate.]

[Kaveh grimaces faintly. Yeah, alright, that's as civil as he can expect from Alhaitham right now. At least Sidestep is showing some signs of conscious thought. Kind of. A little.]

Whatever you need to do is fine, Professor. And thank you--all of you. [He gives Valiant a smile and a nod, too. After all, they're helping just as much as Turo is.]

[There was a surprisingly soft woof from Mariposa, and Valiant bowed their head in turn.]

Of course, and I am familiar with Chris. My team can be careful with them. [That Masterball was given a toss, and what appeared from the produced bolt of light and energy outside of the door was, well.

Iron Hands, and made it clear as to why Turo was calling it outside; ball returning to his hand as he pocketed it.]

Iron Hands, Iron Valiant, please do help gather Chris up if you would.

[Which meant one of those large floating hands? Was floating in through the door, Valiant guiding it over as the glowing yellow palm was turned upwards. Valiant was careful as they gathered Chris up, resting them on that palm in as comfortable as a way as possible. They could both deal with the projection without trouble, Mariposa moving to stand close as the hand was being carefully maneuvered back towards where Hands stood.

At least the hand could raise up, no need to move any furniture out of the way; little disturbance as possible.]

(This is not how they wanted their day to go, but they don't fight it.

Nothing ever goes how they want it to anyway.

By the time Iron Hands is lifting them out, Chris has started mumbling a continuing stream of pained, angry, and only marginally comprehensible swears. They move, trying to get their arms under them to prop themself up despite their brain not wanting to process any part of their physical existence properly.

They are clearly failing, but they should be able to interact soon enough.

...Maybe get them away from the cafe before they regain enough of themself to do anything else obnoxious.)

[Well that is certainly... a hand. And while Alhaitham would be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued, he's also far from the right mindset to pursue his own curiosities right now. As it is he's just doing his best to maintain his current disposition until he has the privacy and space to let it drop.

He watches the other being taken away for a bit (and their struggle to get back up which is failing terrible), and once its clear things are going on their way he turns around, making it clear enough that he's leaving the rest to Kaveh. He makes his way back to the table with its mostly empty chessboard, most of the pieces having fallen off during the scuffle earlier.

Shadowlily weaves around his legs as he starts picking said pieces up, meowing softly and rubbing her body over any part of Alhaitham that she can reach. Whether its her requiring comfort, or her wanting to give comfort is anyone's guess.]

[Kaveh watches Alhaitham go but doesn't move to stop him, letting Shadowlily continue to do her best to cheer her father up before he turns back to Turo.]

Thank you, again. We both appreciate you coming so quickly.

[DON'T WE. ALHAITHAM.]

...I do think it's probably for the best if they don't come back anytime soon. At least not while he's here...

[Which Alhaitham...usually is.]

[-There was a silent nod when the retreat was taken, not dwelling too much on it; likely had been nearing some line for the other man as well. All the better reason to help clear Chris of the place quickly enough.]

I am glad I was able to assist, and I know that things can go far more volatile if they are touched in a condition like this.

[Which was a big reason Turo knew to keep his distance, even if circumstances were different. Knew what could happen to his own systems—

Hands was staring at Chris, once the hand got back to its owner, Valiant simply there to ensure they didn't fall off the hand; Miraidon's head lifted on stretched neck to eye Chris as well.

... Mariposa returned to Turo's side with that done.]

I will be sure to inform Chris once they are awake, and aware enough to retain information.

(no subject)

telepathicignorance - 2024-12-24 05:23 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

indispensable - 2024-12-24 09:32 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(no subject)

no subject

no subject

jaws theme intensifies

CW idiot is having an extreme panic attack

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)