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[jumpthegun]

1201 Sugar Plum Grove

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[jumpthegun]

Fine. Leave it alone, Alfie. [And because that always works well with Alfie, he covers with a semi-lie.] I'm just tired of people complaining about me coddling them. [He waves a hand.] Had a row with Sherlock about it a while ago. I have a rifle and hunting here is easy. I'm not trying to go out of my way.

[devoutish]

I don't think Royce was actually complaining, mate.

[Gotta stick up for the boyfriend.]

[bywolves]

I wasn't. [ Royce hums. ] The milk offer is appreciated. I'm not going to argue that.

Don't try to brush things aside with that careful poker face of yours, John. Don't have the patience for it.

[jumpthegun]

[The look John gives Royce is confused. He knows they're out of Norfinbury and things are different, but the man is talking to him like he... knows him. More than he has to know him.]

Yeah, fine. It's fine. Just other things, not you two. Can we move on?

[devoutish]

Mm. I did have something I wanted discuss, but we'll want to finish with eating first.

[bywolves]

[ Oh. Yeah, that's right. Royce thinks he knows where Alfie's going with that. He finishes eating quietly - and because he has some manners forced upon him by various people, he'll take everybody's plates to the sink when they're done. He'll also stay there because he doesn't really want to think about things too hard. ]

[jumpthegun]

[John breathes an internal sigh of relief. It's rare that he's able to effectively dodge Alfie's probing. It might come up again, but he makes a mental note not to react to the phrase from other Norfibury people.]

All right.

[He finishes his own pasta and sits quietly while Royce gathers up the plates.]

So... what did you want to discuss?

[devoutish]

[He murmurs a thanks, mate to Royce.]

We were out for a walk, recently, to explore a bit of the town - and we came across a tower.

[Do you know which tower he's talking about, Watson?]

[bywolves]

[ Royce rinses the dishes before heading back, taking the same seat he did before. He'll let Alfie do the describing, for now. ]

[jumpthegun]

[There's only one 'tower' in town.]

Apparently something the residents here made themselves. I already checked the body parts under a scope. They're real, but they don't seem to show any signs of decay. I stay away from it. There are people here with some sick ideas.

[He's thinking of the gallows and hanging and beheading Sherlock in effigy.]

[devoutish]

Is there anything else in town like that? Anything that might look normal at first?

[He's thinking about Norfinbury-style hallucinations here.]

[bywolves]

Anything else that's an indicator that this place is a trap. [ Royce says, bitterly. ]

[jumpthegun]

[Well, okay, he was trying to avoid unleashing his paranoia on these two, but if they're going to ask straight out like that, it's hard not to launch into it. John clears his throat.]

The mountains. They go on for days, even though this world is only about six square miles. The stars have changed. Ienzo's been studying them for years. They went from just neon signs in the sky to proper stars overnight. The pipes don't run anywhere and the electricity doesn't either, except the streetlamps. those are all connected to the windmill. We're not getting utilities from anywhere and they can start to go out if the system's being over taxed. Zephyr can let people in here, but they won't let them out because of this Lost versus Unlost thing. But they put people back when a bunch of us were pulled in by accident. Maybe it's just because we were 'Unlost' or whatever, but they can still navigate pretty bloody well, all things considered for someone who says they can't.

[devoutish]

[As he listens, Alfie rests a hand on Royce's knee.]

Then there are illusions, but they're different from Norfinbury illusions. Yeah?

[bywolves]

[ Royce eases just a little at the hand, though he's still looking out to the kitchen and not at John. He's listening. ]

[jumpthegun]

They're different, yeah. More like there's magic properly, instead of there being a technological explanation. I've scanned for radiation and haven't found anything. The nanomachines are still in our blood, but they don't seem to be active. There are other things that could be mucking about with our heads, our emotions. The people here all still have their powers... magical abilities.

At least one of them can do mind control. Another can watch your dreams, know what you're afraid of. Some of them talk to trees and plants. Those can watch us, report on us...

[devoutish]

[Good god John, you're paranoid. He's still glad to get his assessment of things, and he thinks a lot of other people go too far in the other direction and don't question things enough, but still.]

At this point, right now, I just wanna know if we're going to run into anything else that's made of dead bodies.

[bywolves]

[ Ooh, guess who isn't a fan of mind control. Royce tenses right back up again at that, staring at John with a flat expression on his face. Maybe he shouldn't be so relaxed, here. Maybe he needs to just - not interact with other people.

He's had enough of mind control and people watching his dreams and spying on him for a lifetime. ]

Who can? Tell me names.

[jumpthegun]

[John considers Alfie's request first.]

If you visit Izzekiel, the big indigo troll with skull facepaint, he mucks around with bones. You might see those around his place.

Aletheia and Lili can talk to the trees. They're both... good people. But Aletheia's a paranoid kid and Lili doesn't think things through about what she shares from the plants. Jeremy's got some sort of mind control powers he's working to control. He asked for help with it on the Bulletin Board a few months ago. Hears stray thoughts he doesn't want to, apparently. Izzekiel's the one who can sense fear and look into dreams. I wished for a block on him. [John taps his head.] Fair warning, he'll panic if you do the same and don't tell him about it first. When he can't sense people, he tends to assume they're dead. He's not... a bad person, I guess. But I think he likes having that power to help him feel more in control.

[devoutish]

Most powers do, magical or not.

[But that's his only contribution here. He's interested in knowing what the other people here can do, just like he's interested in knowing about their personalities and how they interact with each other - but it isn't as big a concern for him as all the other stuff.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce knows about the trees, and that's - fine. The trees can only see him, they're not in his head, so it doesn't bother him. But the rest? The rest, he wants nothing to do with.

He keeps those names in mind. Jeremy. Izzekiel. ]

I'll keep them in mind.

[jumpthegun]

Hmm... there's another woman here, her name's Renart. I'm not sure what she can do, but she's apparently immune to mind-control and was able to take someone down who has it. She's been evasive every time I've tried to ask her about her powers. And she's... I think her body is some kind of projection. But she won't talk about it, even after I've mentioned another kid here, Pokey, he's a gemstone with a projected body.

I dunno what she's hiding, but I don't trust he.

[devoutish]

Likely she's hiding things that are none of your fucking business.

[He says it mildly, but still. He has no particular loyalty to Renart, but he'll forever be annoyed at Watson's nosiness.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce snorts, at that. ]

Got a point there.

[jumpthegun]

Right because her maybe being able to use mind-control herself is irrelevant to you and him. [He turns his attention to Royce.] You just asked me to name names. You want them or not, Royce?