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[curiously]

DROP IN PROMPTS, PICTURES, OLD THREADS, A POST OR EVEN TFLN BRING IT.
( cw: body horror, gore, violence & etc. in some threads + please label threads for such. )

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[curiously]

[ zarina makes a face at just imagining how long that would take as well as the stress of perhaps a time limit. what does bring back zarina's smile however is learning more about the singer herself. ]

It's been a while, but I remember hearing some of your songs on the radio while I was working a couple of years back. They've been nice to listen to while I was taking a break between reading and editing film.

[hopesong]

Touched you enjoyed my stuff back then. Especially while doing work like yours. Truthfully though, I'd only heard your name in passing from colleagues. I'd love to see your work, though. Maybe we'll have a bit of time to ourselves once we get back.

[Kate hopes. She's sure there'll be a lot of fanfare when she mysteriously shows up again with how mysteriously she'd vanished in the first place. There's calls she'll have to make. Digging she'll have to do.]

Actually, I should give you my private number for when we get out, shouldn't I? It'll be a right pain in the ass to get a hold of me otherwise.

[curiously]

[ "I'd only heard your name in passing from colleagues." is a phrase that has zarina's smile revealing teeth. moving to hold her camera with one hand, she raises her free one as though to say hold on a moment.

letting out a soft hum as she digs through one of the pockets of her leather jacket, zarina brings out a simple business card that has her name on it. ]

Here. No need to write down mine when you have this, though I'll have to put yours in my notebook once we're done finding supplies.

[hopesong]

Perfect. [She takes the card, tucking it into the pocket of her jorts and giving it a quick pat.]

It'll be easier for me to contact you than the other way around. You would not believe how many times people have guessed or gotten my phone number through illicit means. I tend to change numbers pretty often, y'see.

[curiously]

I can only imagine with all the news I hear about celebrities and their fans. Never needed to change my number for the last few years, but unfortunately my phone's out of battery until I get home.

[ this is the part where zarina pulls out something else from herself, this time from her leather messenger bag. she reveals an android phone, clicking the center button and revealing how there's nothing lighting up after.

the fog begins to clear as the burned down village slowly appears with its rubble and ash, the asylum on one end and the chapel on the other. the moon visible in the sky as it always has been, the scent of burnt wood everywhere — and fortunately none of the clowns toxins. ]

We're here. Asylum's this way.

[hopesong]

Nothing like the phones the Entity's given us, huh. [Seeing the phone, there's a frown on her face. She misses reasonable technology, honestly. An outside connection.

And yet, it doesn't take too long before there's a right smile back on her face as they hit the chapel. A smile despite the fact that the Clown resides here, despite the fact that she clutches her own arms out of a nervous habit just knowing he's around.]

Think we could convince the Doc to charge your phone?

[curiously]

[ already there's a shake of her head as she pockets the unusable cellphone. ]

Pretty sure he would rather shock me until I'm dead twice over. I showed plenty that I wasn't his biggest fan.

[ a proud smile on her face that stays just until she notices the way kate holds herself. she's no psychologist, but she learns to understand people in order to blend in with the crowd or to infiltrate. a pause of her words before — ]

But I'm pretty sure I can catch his attention during trials from now on.

[ well, no. no need to bring it up for now unless it persists. ]

[hopesong]

Have you tried asking politely?

[ Kate teases with a quiet laugh, detracts from her own feelings and insecurities from just being in these parts.

The earlier survivors, they don't ask her to do runs to Crotus Prenn. It's an open secret that she's discomforted by the chapel and the wagon, even for all her bluster. ]

What sort of supplies we lookin' for, sugar? Claudette need more tonics?

[curiously]

[ another laugh as she imagines asking the doc politely, and zarina shakes her head because of it. ]

Asking politely might make it less painful, but still dead. As for the supplies, it's more of me running out of everything in my medkits. I normally get a refuel of it from the asylum. Figured before that she must have a couple of things there, and I was right in the end.

[ how unfortunate that no one tells zarina about kate's aversion to the area. had she known, then she would be venturing off alone with quiet steps matched with sharp precision.

it's a lesson to learn tonight. ]

I'd definitely bring more tonics for her just in case. [ as friends do to surprise with a gift. ] What about you, anything you need?

[ a pause of her steps; there's something in the air that has zarina raise a brow. sickly sweet, yet disgusting at the same time. ]

[hopesong]

Well, she is a nurse.

[Kate concedes with a short chuckle. It'll be good to refill all their supplies. Even if it comes at the risk of themselves, the good it could do in the long run is definitely worth it.]

Nah, nothing I really need. I'm just here to get out for a bit, and to be a pair of extra hands to carry things, and if need be, an extra distraction. It's easier with two than one, after all.

[curiously]

[ had zarina not been distracted by that strange scent — one that has her freeze in place for a moment as she remembers molten plastic, peeled flesh, and warm liquid gold — she would have thanked kate for coming along tonight. instead, however, she proceeds to walk towards the source of the smell.

it leads zarina towards the middle of the area instead of the asylum. ]

Do you smell that?

[hopesong]

[Kate doesn't notice the smell until Zarina brings it up, and all at once. it's cloying and familiar. A scent she can't quite put a name too, but knows of its dangers. Kate follows, brows furrowed as she tries to figure it out. It's not one of the Clown's tonics, those have an unmistakable scent, but it's clear when they come across the slowly pulsating, leaking, glowing flower sitting inconspicuously in the middle of the realm.

She's quick to throw an arm out, preventing Zarina from getting too close to the source of the scent.]

Careful, sugar. It ain't a smell you want to get too close to. [Her words are sharp. Protective.]

[curiously]

[ despite kate telling her to stop, zarina raises her hand and tries to lower her friend's arm. already she wonders if it will lead to some answers for the many questions she gains after an encounter that she barely remembers. ]

What do you mean? What do you know of it?

[hopesong]

[Kate's arm stays firmly raised, firmly stopping Zarina from encroaching closer than Kate thinks she should get.]

The flower ain't something you wanna stick around. They're not... [Well, safe is obvious, but sometimes the other survivors pick the petals, taking caution to do so.] Just don't get close. Things happen this time of year. The killers... They're not reasonable. More like wild animals than anything else.

[curiously]

[ killers that are affected are not reasonable. it happens every year. the flower itself is dangerous and affects the killers — why is it only killers? — to the point of losing their humanity.

a pause as she thinks of jed for a moment. ]

How were they affected by the flowers? Through smell? Or just... seeing it? Eat it? Why would they touch it in the first place?

[hopesong]

Couldn't tell you, hun. [There's just. Something about them, maybe.]

We seem to be able to more or less handle the flower with impunity, at least when we see it in trials, but... I wouldn't go pokin' around outside of one. They wither real quick after we pluck 'em.

[curiously]

[ they've been in trials? is the first question that comes to mind but she doesn't speak out. her last trial — no such flowers exists then, the killer didn't look stranger than usual (this time) — goes well enough. on the other hand, it's been rare to end up in one of them in the first place.

or at least that's what it feels like. it's as though the trials aren't consistently dragging her in. ]

Why do you pick them up when you're not even allowing me to get close to it?

[hopesong]

We ain't in a trial. [Is the obvious answer. To trust the unknown plants in a place like this is just asking for trouble, as far as she's aware. And the smell is... Strangely enticing. Maybe Zarina feels it too, a strange tug towards the plant.]

An' we pick them because the Entity I guess usually rewards us if we do. It's strange. Look, I know it don't make sense, but I don't think we should be pickin' em outside of a trial.

[curiously]

[ getting rewarded in a trial for handling such a dangerous flower? the entity must have so much power to deal with it — maybe. or is it distracted by them? even the what ifs she thinks about gives her no guessable answer. ]

I need to look at it. [ zarina raises her camera before kate can put in a word of protest against it. ] From a distance, don't worry. I just need an answer to something.

[hopesong]

Just- Just don't touch it. Try not to get too close either, alright?

[Her worry shows through, and Kate grips her own arm tightly. She doesn't know what will happen. Doesn't know if it's safe, despite the fact that she truly doesn't think it is.]

[curiously]

[ a nod of her head with a smile following, as though it helps calm someone down. zarina hopes it does. ]

I've never encountered these flowers before, but don't worry. I've been in sticky situations before. [ hand on her friend's shoulder to give her a comforting squeeze, and then zarina proceeds to walk past kate and follows the scent.

now, an important question for kate: ] Have you ever seen them up close? Did they seem — hmm — confused and lost?

[hopesong]

Seen- who? The flowers? [That doesn't make much sense, the flowers being lost and confused, since they clearly don't have a will of their own. It takes a moment, but eventually Kate follows Zarina's line of thought, and she looks at her carefully.]

Y'mean the killers? The ones who are infected by it?

[curiously]

[ a nod of her head as they continue to walk towards a clear area where it looks as though the greenery — as little as there is — had been spared by whatever fire burned down the town. the longer she takes in the scent, it doesn't... smell as bad as the first time? how intriguing. ]

Yeah. You mentioned they were like wild animals — on the hunt whenever they see a person? Or did they have some humanity left in them when they're alone?

[hopesong]

Never got close enough to them to tell. 'Ve got a sixth sense for danger, y'see, and I when I saw 'em acting like wild animals, I knew it was best if I didn't stick around to see what they were capable of. Though maybe callin' 'em like wild animals is too much. Even that Demogorgon is more politely behaved.

[curiously]

[ a soft hum leaves zarina's throat as she lets out another nod. to compare it to the demogorgon like that must mean plenty. of course zarina witnesses it first hand, but nothing after that — a memory she isn't sure she wants back, truth be told. ]

Which killers have been affected by it? [ she says, passing by rubble and brick as they keep moving forward until the smell becomes too much to the point of seeing a yellowish glow from behind a broken down wall. already her steps quicken enough until they finally arrive.

the flower, just a few more steps away for her to attempt to touch it, oozes out the very same liquid that leaves jed's body; zarina remembers the warmth it gives off against skin.

brows raise up as she asks: ] You had to pick those up in that state?