orioncayge
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 770
Trainer Class: 
Arena Points: 20
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Post by orioncayge on Jul 29, 2024 17:05:43 GMT 9
"Man, it fucking sucks when the thing you're good at is the thing that people get real dicey about..."
Orion let out a deep sigh and shook his head. "In another time I would be like...a fuckin warrior. A duke, or some sort of warlord, maybe a Mongolian khan or summin, ya know?" The stellar migrations above were a sight to see, such a tiny little detail that added an ocean of whimsy to an already gorgeous sea of stars. "Someone of status and import, who can wave a hand and make sure everyone he cares about is snug like a bug in a rug not giving a fug. But then you get into the stickyness of like, status through violence or the threat therof is gross, but if that's the case how the fuck is what I do any different, ya know?" The more he spoke, the more it felt like his face was a faucet just letting loose all of the built up pressure from his previous silence. It was liberating and raw, to speak his truth to someone who resonated so succinctly with him.
"And like, shit dude the bruising fades quick, and the E fights just leave you with...well...simulated death has a pretty nasty hangover but the tame shit aint shit. But you? Burnout is a motherfucker dude, and I imagine you guys are chasing deadlines like I'm chasing thrills these days. Shit, we're both hooked on that same drug if you think about it. Its all about the show, but damn does it feel fuckin great to take that bow."
Off in the distance, someone's speaker was starting to play some gentle tunes, something soft and catchy that both brightened the night without ruining the gentle peace the darkness brought. Distance and ambient noise robbed it of it's finer form, the notes bending and warping together into something akin to a gentle hum that carried perhaps the most rudimentary of tunes. Yet it was in that simplicity, that succinctness of sound that brought such serenity to the starlit scene. Two sentimental souls sharing a sympathetic moment in the steamy starry sanctuary.
"Shit man, all that's to say that every one has their own monkeys on their back, and I'm not about to turn it into a pissing contest on who's draggin more demons on their heels. What matters is at the end of the day we're both goin through it, but no matter how much of it we go through we're not letting it go through us? Like, each day we wake up and tackle that shit, grab it by the dick and twist, ya know? And when we're all beat and blue from kicking the days ass, we can meet up here and things can be perfect for just a few precious moments. Just long enough to catch our breath and go into the next day till one day we don't get back up. We show up to the post game lobby and check our K/D/A and god assigns us our rank points and sends us back for another lap. I'm on my promos, a few more good lives outta me and I'll be platinum."
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Big Bee
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 686
Trainer Class: 
Player Name: Bryan Nautilus
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 49
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Post by Big Bee on Aug 4, 2024 22:28:41 GMT 9
Anxiety built in Bee's chest as they talked about worried. Nothing chronic, but just the simple background warm and push of there being things looming on the horizon. Deadlines, debts, promotions, people waiting to test you some way or another.
Under the water Bee slapped the side of the tub, pulled between music, talk, and the growing stress. This was no way to live. He needed action. Something to get the heart-rate running. "You're right man, the world turns and suddenly the stuff you're evolved to do doesn't exist anymore. Our specialized gatherer eyes are only good for finding parking spots, and unless you're a marathon runner all that endurance goes to waste! Am I supposed to try and outlast a spreadsheet?"
"If we're going to vent then let's vent. Right?" he said. He held down a red button on the side of the tub. Hot water poured in, and the temperature of the tub increased steadily. He let go of the button and the temp stopped climbing.
"Here's the game. We take turns pressing the button while we say something that annoys us." He smiled. "The burning jets will incinerate our worries, and the first one to respawn has to go and get another round of blue smoothies. Deal?"
"I'll start. I wish I spent more time outside, but every time I go surfing these days all I can think about is emails. I even bought a waterproof watch to try and increase productivity."
Temperature: 100
HP: 952
6dnEqVSI1-100
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orioncayge
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 770
Trainer Class:
Arena Points: 20
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Post by orioncayge on Aug 5, 2024 15:33:12 GMT 9
"Fuckin bet."
Orion held his hand up for his buddy to give him some skin, and the resulting high five echoed through the night air, heralding the start of a good ole fashioned brodown. Orion would be damned if he let himself be outlasted by Bee, it would offend every fight he'd ever endured, every time he'd pushed past his limits with the boon of waking. If he let a hot tub knock him out, it would be like surviving Hiroshima only to end up choking on a grain of rice. Considering how hot this was about to get, this seemed like a perfect time to pull out his Moltres Egg and let it float gingerly in the hot water.
After all, these two had a track record for hot tubs and legendary eggs.
"I fuckin feel it man. When I was a lil dude me and the cousins were always doin that kids on bicycle bullshit you see in the movies. I remember riding on the back pegs of Eddie's bike catchin a lift back home from school. In highschool I used to go camp in the desert and get stupid fuckin high and stargaze with my girlfriend at the time. I miss that shit man. I aint ever got time anymore..." Bee's lament resonated with him, and as his bandannadito released the button, his finger would instantly replace his, keeping the heat flowing with no break.
"But me? I fucking HATE tableside service sometimes man. I don't go out to fancy schmancy places much cept with my gramps cause he's kinda a big deal in my home town. But when I do? I want my drink to remain filled, and my food brought to me in a timely manner and that's it. So fucking help me god if you come by and try to top my potato in front of me, or come by with a tray of steak tomatoes and green onions? Just put the shit on the plate as a garnish and I'll decide if I wanna eat it, I want to sit and enjoy my meal with the people I came to eat with, not play fifty five FUCKING questions about if I want to get an extended warranty for my fillet mignon. And do not even GET me started on TABLESIDE GUACAMOLE."
Temperature: 100
HP: 913
6t26WNRd1-100 1-100 |
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Big Bee
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 686
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Bryan Nautilus
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 49
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Post by Big Bee on Aug 8, 2024 11:00:22 GMT 9
"I miss that too, man. Being able to swim out over the break and just float all day. When I was a kid the beach was my second home, you know? And nowadays I'm lucky if I can get out there a few weekends a month." Bee's brain stepped in, happily offering him solutions to his venting. "I could set a Hydance event at the beach!" he said happily. Then frowned. "But then I'm just bringing work to my playground. What I really need is to slow down." He sat for a while, boiling in the tub. "I should check how much PTO I have. Maybe take a week off between events."
Bee's planning face cracked at Orion's rant. Orion could always be counted on to pull Bee out of his introspection, and this moment was no different. That was the goal here, wasn't it? Vent and let all that stress just boil away. It was like clenching a big muscle and then releasing to stretch it out even further. So were they doing a real one and then a silly one? He could bite.
"I feel like LaCroix has too much flavor," he griped. "They should really dial that back in! Like what is it, 3% juice these days? I'm just wanting a nice refreshing something to sip and the watermelon taste is just overpowering! I wish they'd just come out with like a Lite version, or something that didn't leave me tasting fruit all day! Maybe an unflavored one?" He looked over at Orion and struggled to keep a straight face. "You know what I mean? How did all this flavor get in my sparkling water?"
Temperature: 100
HP: 941
QaE8u1WG1-100
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orioncayge
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 770
Trainer Class:
Arena Points: 20
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Post by orioncayge on Aug 8, 2024 17:53:39 GMT 9
"Shit man, you should take a week and come on down to Vegas. Southside aint very glamorous but I'll bake you a Za that won't knock your socks off, it'll knock you out of your fuckin socks. Shit'll slap your tastebuds silly and have em going 'uh daddy harder'" A snicker escaped his lips as he settled into the water. He was already feeling the heat, not enough to make him dizzy yet, but woosah was this shit getting rather toasty.
"But foreal, like I get you're the CEO of big Hypedance and all of that, like grandmaster of getting people riled up and don't get me wrong this game deserves you and all of the love you put into it. But you deserve to take care of yourself, to have a life outside of work and outside of this game even! Shit, I don't think you've ever really talked to me about any of your other homies outside of the game or work!"
Orion frowned, that last statement stung ever so slightly. It felt like in a way Bee had held him at arms length, probably not out of any malice, he was certain that Bee wasn't even capable of such a thing. But yet...it still hurt ever so slightly. He listened to Bee's admission, and then with a smirk he would give his bro a light slug on the shoulder.
"Dude I hate when my lacroix is too fruity dude. I'm really just looking for like, a much tamer flavor. I want the flavor of like, they transported watermelon in the truck before these cans were loaded, or like...the tastes of sipping the bubbly while someone yells grape through the wall. I want my drinks to taste like a skype call with oranges, but it like has a really shitty connection."
A soft snicker threatened to turn to a guffaw, and for a moment he let that hang in the air while he contemplated his next gripe. Something bubbled up from his chest, and he would just set his hand on the button and press it down dude.
"Dude, I have no fucking clue how I'm going to tell Abby that my job sometimes makes me experience simulated death...like..." he paused, gritting his teeth. "I fucking KNOW there is a bunch of shit in my life that I gotta tell her before we get like...too far into our relationship but..." his finger pressed into the button, like the extra pressure would make it extra hot. "Dude the only woman I've ever loved in my life left me because I wouldn't stop fighting...and I'm so fucking scared that it'll happen again man. Like, I don't know what I'd do if she asked me to stop..."
Temprature: 110 baby
HP:897
AMtp8oLV1-110
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Big Bee
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 686
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Bryan Nautilus
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 49
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Post by Big Bee on Aug 10, 2024 3:29:16 GMT 9
"I really should. Like it's been a while since I took time off to just relax, let alone actually traveled anywhere!" Big Bee thought back to the previous years. The long hours spent at a desk with his laptop, at home with his laptop, at a local cafe with his laptop. The last time he was at a family gathering he had to steal away to the den to shoot off some quick emails. "You know what? Lock it in! I haven't had a proper goddamn holiday since we launched in 2021! It's about time I took some me time, Orion. You send me dates that work for you and I'll see if I can get the boss to approve my PTO. Warning right now though, he's a real hard ass sometimes."
With the prospect of a distant holiday now set in stone, or at least in soft chalk, he could focus on his friend's real troubles.
"Abby..." Big Bee only knew one Abby. "You mean Abigaelle? Like my coworker? Since when were you two...? Actually you know what it doesn't matter. Even more, don't tell me. God damn I hate HR bullshit. Okay so an unnamed, mystery woman is now in your life. That's wonderful!" And it was. Big Bee felt joy pull at the corners of his mouth. "I'm really happy for you man."
Orion laid out the issue, plain and simple. Bee thought for a moment. "Okay now listen. Just my advice, you don't have to take it but I can see this going only 3 ways. Number one, and the worst way, you never tell her and that secret is now a capital-I ISSUE that exists in your mind at all times. You haunt yourself with that threat."
"Number two, you tell her and she freaks out. It's possible, but the logical next step here is that there's some sort of ultimatum and a chance to explain or reach a compromise. No harm done."
"And number three is that it's cool. I would think the advantage of dating someone working at Hyd- I mean someone with a background of VR games, is that they GET that there is violence and sometimes traumatic experiences in the system. If I were a betting man I'd think that anyone you ended up with would have a big enough heart and brain to understand why you do what you do and to support you in it if it's what you really want."
Temperature: 100
HP: 933
gMXAxhwb1-110
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orioncayge
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 770
Trainer Class:
Arena Points: 20
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Post by orioncayge on Aug 10, 2024 12:02:56 GMT 9
"Hell yeah dude!" Orion raised a hand for a highfive which was met with thunderous force. The pact was sealed, Bee now bound by the broliest of affirmations. "I'm gonna start cooking all sorts of plans n shit for us dude! There's this sick ass art exhibit called Omega Mart in the actual city itself and that shit's fucking Wiiiiild man. There's a bar in there with the coolest looking cocktails there too! I went there when I turned twenty three!" He shot his bro a grin, "And if you hardass boss gives you shit you just lemme know, I'll drive down there and give him the good ole Southside diplomacy. You'll get those days off, it just a matter of how many of his tires I have to slash..."
A waggle of his brow signaled his was kidding, though a certain glint in his eyes betrayed the fact that he wasn't opposed to a little bit of mischief to get what he wanted. "Plus I gotta bring like, eighty Za's to the art and programming homies to reward them for all the badass game they've been devin, yaknow?" The water continued to heat up, and the fighter listened to his homie as he offered his advice, nodding along as if it was oh so clear what the obvious answer was.
Spoiler alert, it wasn't.
"I know I need to tell her, and I know if I wait too long it becomes a definite capital I issue, a real swing state vote carrying issue at that. I just...how soon is too soon into a relationship to drop baggage like that? Ab- I mean, Mystery woman has been a friend of mine for a real long time, and we've been kinda flirting and shit for a long time so I don't know when we really like, started seeing eachother? I mean I guess we did say our first date was the first night of UNOV- I mean...VRcon." Orion nodded, unsure what exactly the big deal about Bee knowing about his coworkers love life was. Was this some sort of backward ass office job bullshit? Like wearing a tie and not calling your boss a brainlet?
Shit like this is why Orion would never be caught dead at a deskjob.
"Anyways, yeah, I guess we became official when she and I went and found this weird parade of Ultrabeasts across the desert. Shit was sick, we danced the night away drugged up on whatever weird pheromonal molly they were making..." he paused, brow furrowing. "Did I get slipped date rape gas by ultra beasts?" He shook his head to banish that rather weird thought, a chuckle escaping his throat.
"Have I seriously not told you about A-" he paused, catching himself. "An amazing woman who stole my heart? I figured I would have told you the first thing it happened..." he opened his PM's with Bee, which admittedly were a vast ocean of DEEZ NUTS jokes, witty banter about genitals, and profound expressions of brodom. With a flick of his wrist he sent the text scrawling at blinding speed as he rolled back through the ancient texts until he found the night in question.
"Oh shit, looks like lag made the messages not go through..." Orion scowled, pressing his hand on the button. "Man fuck lag and shitty internet dude, how the fuck have we not figured this shit out by now. Just make the shit fast god damnit."
uElxzZzg1-110
HP:896
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Big Bee
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 686
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Bryan Nautilus
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 49
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Post by Big Bee on Aug 10, 2024 12:25:22 GMT 9
Bee's request for anonymity seemed in catch Orion off guard. Perhaps it was time to explain further. "Okay. So look. I'm extremely happy for you. Of course I am! Just by rule I keep work and private stuff pretty separate. That's not a slam on you or anything, it's just the way I am." Bee sighed. On the backdraw the boiling hot steam roared into his lungs, making his tongue sizzle.
"Back when I was an intern at some tech company, I was on great terms with the boss. He was a cool guy, very relaxed, and a wonderful mentor. Ten months into the job and we start going out for drinks after work some nights, and he's talking about starting up a new team for environmental dialogue systems and he wants me to lead the team. I'm on top of the world!"
"About a month later I hit it off with this woman in my apartment building. We go on a few dates, things are going well, and we're even talking about moving in together!"
"There's a company Christmas party, and of course I invite her as my plus one. We're seated next to my boss and as soon as he sees her the atmosphere is ICY. I'm talking STAB Blizzard and I do NOT resist. The meal sucks. Barely a polite word between them, and I end up drinking just to deal with the atmosphere. We go home and she explains that she knew my boss. Very well actually. They used to be engaged."
Bee took a long drink of his blue smoothie, as if the brain-freeze could ice over the painful memories.
"Long story short I didn't get promoted to that position, and I've always blamed myself for not keeping a clearer line between the two sides of my life. I told you before that I can't stop the work encroaching on my free time? Well it's one hell of a lopsided wall I guess. Nobody at work knows ANYTHING about my life. And vice versa. I don't ask about anyone. I don't know how I'd feel if I found out that one of the junior devs was dating one of my cousins or something."
Temperature: 120
HP: 817
Pay|HzSQ1-120 1-120 |
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orioncayge
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 770
Trainer Class:
Arena Points: 20
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Post by orioncayge on Aug 10, 2024 14:28:24 GMT 9
Orion listened to Bee's story, nodding along with each story beat, he would have relaxed into the water if it wasn't just so absolutely scalding hot at this point. Steam bubbled from the roiling water as his skin slowly turned lobster red. His jaw set, both to endure the pain of the heat, and also due to the sheer well, horror of what Bee had endured.
"Holy fuck."
Orion hissed between clenched teeth. "Damn dude, that's fucking..." he trailed off, his mind slightly foggy from the heat. "That's fucking awful." His gaze flit to his bro, one arm would limply rise from the water and rest on his buddies shoulder. "But at the same time dude that's like...a fucking fluke dude. Sure you didn't know that you were dating your bosses ex, it's not like he fuckin told you, its not like she fuckin told you. But also like...that's between them ya know?" He shrugged, his eyes flitting over to the empty glass of blue drink.
Damn.
"But like, once bitten doesn't mean lock your shit away and swallow the key." Orion chided, returning his gaze to his buddy. "Like if you're gonna let work consume your life, you might as well Ouroborus that shit, let your life eat into work too! That or you set yourself some actual boundaries with your work life balance. You can't let work just Genghis Khan all over your life. But you can't lock your life away behind a great firewall of china."
He squinted.
"So yeah, Abbs and I are dating." He stated plainly, as if hurling a stone at said wall with a trebuchet. "And like, if your cousin is dating a coworker you should be hype! Your family and your coworker have found love! I think you're way too fucking a cool dude to lock your heart up."
He eyed the button, they'd opened some real crazy shit, he was wondering what he would say.
"I use bootleg VR gear." He placed his finger on the button. "It's...for the most part pretty safe. It's kinda like rawdogging UNOVR, but sometimes..." he paused. "Sometimes after a world event or whatnot I...my injuries in the game follow me into the real world. It's something called Phantom Nerve Injury Syndrome...for example...after the halloween party with the briarbeast? I really fucked up my hands in game and I couldn't move my left ring and pinky fingers for two days."
Temp:130
HP: 859
Hn9e9_e11-130
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Big Bee
•
Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 686
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Bryan Nautilus
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 49
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Post by Big Bee on Aug 10, 2024 15:00:39 GMT 9
"I know shit like that happens, and I know it wasn't my fault. But that doesn't mean I couldn't have stopped it! Like it only happened because I let those worlds collide. If I'd kept a barrier up it would never have happened."
He let out a deep and tired sigh. His Blue Smoothie was already finished. He really needed another one. Or better yet, a drink. "You almost done man?" he asked Orion. Bee opened his UI and sent a message to Kayleigh downstairs. A shockingly short time later a bro climbed up the outside of the treehouse and vaulted the rail, emergency smoothies in hand.
"Delivery order for," he squinted at something written on his hand in smeared marker, "a 'Diq Boo'?"
"Yep, that's me," Bee said, taking the smoothies. "Thanks bro."
"Yooo, this thing is up real high, how you feeling?" asked the delivery guy.
"Bad. Can you crank it up another 20?" Bee asked.
"Listen, maybe you're right. Maybe it's not a good idea to set myself as the sole fixer of all of the problems around me. Maybe shit just happens sometimes, but god damn is it hard to accept that. Because if I couldn't have changed anything, then it just means that shit things happen to people randomly! And I would rather work myself to the bone than believe that the universe can be cruel like that."
"I love life, and just like a parent who can't accept that their kid is sometimes a little bastard I just CANNOT believe that one one chance to have something beautiful can just become shit in a coinflip. It MUST come down to me. There MUST be a rule I can put in place or a message I can send, or I way that I can change the world that makes things come out good."
He drank half the smoothie. It was FUCKING cold and Kayleigh had spiked it with something that made his ears go numb.
"Also you're a fucking idiot. I have like 50 test units at the office. I'll send you one. That's one thing I CAN change."
Temperature: 150
HP: 787
YvnOB3Zg1-140 1-140 |
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orioncayge
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 770
Trainer Class:
Arena Points: 20
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Post by orioncayge on Aug 10, 2024 15:49:23 GMT 9
Orion took the drink and then eyed the temperature as the bro cranked it up. Part of him was starting to think this was very quickly turning into a trauma vent sesh, and between the two of them he didn't mind. He felt like whatever walls had been left up between the two of them were beginning to melt to nothing. It was rather bromantic, and it was the first time in a long time Orion had resonated so hard with someone who wasn't blood or blood adjacent. He took a sip of his drink and furrowed his brow. Just as good as before but Kay had definitely slipped...he paused and took another sip, Bacardi.
"I know the fuck outta that." Orion growled. "Wanting to fix everyone's problems for everyone, to be the one who protects the people you love and keeping them safe but..." He would sigh. "For example, I'll pass on the test screen dog, I...I've tried using one and logging in on this game and..." He squints for a moment and furrows his brow. "It's like...wearing a condom around your brain. Everything feels more...muted, the colors are less vibrant, the sounds are distorted in comparison dude. For you it's all you've ever known but for me? This world is so much more fucking real when I use my gear...and I'm totally willing to risk some mild inconvenience from this. Unless you guys get real nutty and put me in the zipcode of Simdeath I can't like, hit a stage three injury, those are the...bad ones. I've had fights where I have to crawl into my shower and let hot water run over me in order to even feel my toes."
His gaze rose to the sky, taking another sip of his drink, ashamed to even admit these things.
"Dude, the universe is fucked up and cruel. But it's also amazing and beautiful, two sides of the same coin. But if you open your heart to it, you will never find reasons to stop fighting." He raised a hand up to the sky and clenched it into the fist. "The same world that brings people like you and abs, lucky and Two..." His fist clenched tighter. "Is the same world that took Blue's legs, that leaves little Rosie with parents that don't pay attention to her..." a single tear slid down his cheek as he slammed his fist down on the button again.
"The same world that killed my cousin right in front of my eyes." His jaw set. "We can't control everything man, and if we could do that like...nothing would be a surprise, nothing would ever be good because there's no such thing as bad."
Temperature: 170
HP: 817
Mbk_hhqP1-170
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Big Bee
•
Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 686
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Bryan Nautilus
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 49
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Post by Big Bee on Aug 10, 2024 21:07:58 GMT 9
Big Bee wrapped Orion in a powerful hug. "I lost my cousin too," he said, voice low. it was the first time he'd talked about it in over ten years. "He was pulled right into the ocean right in front of me. Just taken by the sea without a word. Without a second for me to do anything."
Bee reached out and pressed the heat button, cranking it up until his skin felt like it was blistering.
"I know what it's like to lose someone, and to feel powerless in that moment and every moment looking back on it. And I would do anything to never feel like that again."
"And I thought I could escape it. I thought I could just pretend it never happened when I came in here, but something about the game keeps pulling that truth out of me and...it feels like taunting me. Holding it over my head sometimes."
He pulled away, but stayed close to his bro.
"When we went into Mistra, that beast in the water treatment plant. It had Nick's eyes. And it knew. It knew what it was. And when we were beneath the bay through those doortals. I went into some...dream maybe, and relived a different version of the night he—"
Bee swallowed. He reached for his blue drink and took a long, shuddering sip. Maybe it was the Bicardi, or maybe it was the unreal heat, but something was drawing this story out of him.
Or maybe it was the fact that his best bro in the world was right next to him, pouring his heart out at the same time.
It felt like healing, like yanking out a splinter or lancing a boil. Something hurtful was leaving the body at the cost of much pain in the here and now.
The delivery bro backed silently away and scurried back down the treehouse exterior.
"We went surfing," Bee said, the words getting mashed as the story came out in pieces. "Under the bay. We went night surfing. And everything was fine."
"It was really good. It's...it's been a long time since I've surfed with Nick."
Temperature: 200
HP: 644
aB|j1vLQ1-200 1-200 |
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orioncayge
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 770
Trainer Class:
Arena Points: 20
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Post by orioncayge on Aug 10, 2024 23:57:46 GMT 9
Hrrrm, party foul, deep soulful declaration done in the presence of a stranger.
Shit.
Orion would have to make a mental not to go talk to that guy later, he was pretty sure he knew him from a game of flag football. He'd likely find him out in the rec clearing later and apologize for making things awkward. That being said, he would worry about that when it was time to worry about that. Right now? He had a bro to console.
"This game likes to pull on the things that scare us," Orion murmured. "Show us our worst moments, I don't think it's supposed to be like...malicious. I think the game pulls on fear, and when you have the shit that's in our hearts...it reaches for it because it doesn't know any better. It sucks things out from the deepest parts of our heads in order to put us where the devs "want" us to be in terms of fear." He'd give Bee one last squeeze before the hug broke, sipping his shake and scowling.
"Feels like a cheap shot, but..." he paused, the sound of roiling water and distant music hanging in the air. Holy shit this hottub was getting hot at this point, any other person would be borderline boiling at this point, and the fact of the matter was he refused to leave despite the pain, for it would mean an end to this magical moment between two brothers bound in bandannas.
"By having to stare it down we're forced to remember that it happened, but we're given the chance to fight. To confront these horrible things that happened to us and claw some sense of agency back from it." He would pause and take another sip of his drink, the only respite from this searing heat.
"Doesn't stop it from pissing me off though. How fucked up it all is. You and Blue deserve better, you deserve to smile, to be happy and free from the fucked up shit that the world loves to levy at us. Me? I deserve to suffer, I'm an asshole...I've..." he paused. "I've been the source of a lot of suffering to people around me I think...but I want the people I love to be able to smile...it's all I've ever wanted, and the world has seemed obsessed with punishing me for that."
Temp: 220
HP:640
KbcVjvFm1-220
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Big Bee
•
Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 686
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Bryan Nautilus
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 49
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Post by Big Bee on Aug 11, 2024 11:20:28 GMT 9
"Hey, that's not true. The people in your life that love you are there because you make their lives better, not worse."
"Terrible things may happen, but that's what I'm talking about with planning! You didn't do those terrible things, so you either need to accept that you can't change some things, or put rules for yourself in place so they never happen again."
Bee laid it out nice and simple. "You love these people. And you make them happy and treat them right. If you're doing all you can to protect them too then in my eyes you're the perfect person."
Temperature: 220
HP: 472
aV_7Elrn1-220 1-220 |
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orioncayge
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Bandana Guy
Round 2
Posts: 770
Trainer Class:
Arena Points: 20
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Post by orioncayge on Aug 11, 2024 13:06:18 GMT 9
Orion stifled the urge to argue by shoving alcohol in his mouth, gulping greedily at the blue nectar of the gods that offered such sweet relief from the roiling heat. That thermometer had to be wrong...there was no way either of them were sitting in a hot tub that hot. Hells, that was beyond a hot tub, that was a hotter tub, manufactured by John Hottub himself. Next thing either of them knew two short, hairy motherfuckers were going to try and toss the one ring into here.
Holy shit.
Sweat dripped down his forehead as steam billowed upwards, and Orion grit his teeth. He had no idea what Bee was feeling running the bunny slopes of a "government approved VR headset with top of the line safety features" but Orion felt like he'd just decided to cook his brain like a boiled egg. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he would affix his gaze on the his bro and chuckle.
"Maybe you have a point bud, but you're looking awfully like a glass house motherfucker throwin stones at my pots with no curtain dude." He countered with a waggle of a brow. "Maybe we're both so just...caught up in our shit that we don't realize what we're doing to ourselves. Me living like a martyr because it eases my guilt...like I deserve to hurt for sins nobody is accusing me of. You burying yourself in your work because your desire to keep your two lives separate has led to one choking the other out behind a denny's." He'd laugh, but the heat made such exertions of breath prohibitively difficult.
"Tell ya what, I'll make a trade deal with you. I think that I need to stop beating myself up, and you need to slow the fuck down. Why don't we both resolve to live lives our cousins would be proud of? I don't think Alexander or Nick would want to see either of us like this, eh?" With one hand he scooped the Moltres egg out of the water, saving it from certain doom becoming Hotspring Tamago. The other hand held a steaming fist aloft for his buddy to bump.
"Deal?"
Temp: 220 HP: 481 GFaD8Zgl1-2201-220 |
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