[open] apples and quinces, lemons and oranges

[nedofpies]

Who: Ned, open to all
What: Here be species-swap logs involving Ned the unlikely fertility god.
Where: Anywhere (preferably outdoors).
When: Duration of the event (58 - 61); put date in header, please.
Warnings: Blood, kidnapping, creepiness and general Ned-terrorizing? [will add more as necessary]

Ned wanders the town barefoot, leaving a path of fruit and flowers and vegetation behind him. There are daffodils and bluebells, hyacinths and crocuses, irises of all colors, primroses and poppies and periwinkle in profusion. When he stops to sit quietly under a tree, by the edge of the woods, the vines spread out from his body like paint creeping through water. They slowly wind their way up the trees, or else sprawl across the ground, swelling with strawberries and blackberries, grapes and kiwis, passionfuit and cherries.

He doesn't understand why it is happening, but from the sound of the messages over the communicator, everyone has been going through some strange changes. As far as Ned's concerned, being some kind of plant conjurer is better than some options.

Since he can't think of much else to do with his time, Ned lounges in the dappled shade and makes bouquets. All he needs to do is rake his hands through the soil and a few minutes later, up come the snapdragons, up come the cala lilies. He finds that, if he focuses on a particular kind of flower as he does it, sometimes it is mixed amongst the others. As he sits the hydrangeas are bubbling up around him, shielding him from view.

Ned isn't worried about resting in the woods, despite all the dire warnings he's heard in his short time here. He is at the very edge, just in the shade of the first few trees; the lions and tigers and bears can't possibly have any objections. So he lounges in his cozy bower, hazy, half-awake (he hadn't exactly slept well, the previous night), weaving crowns of camellias and garlands of gladiolus.

Comments

[gleans]

One arm pulled in against his stomach, Galen drops his chin in his palm and starts biting at his nails when Ned starts to cry. He did this, even if it wasn't his fault. He did this, because however the hell these scientists managed to do this to them, they obviously did this to him because they knew what he'd done, back home. Salt in the fucking wound. Now it's his turn to try not to get upset.

"Ned -- Ned, I'm sorry. There's more, but I'm trying not to think about it because I don't want to remember." But he wants honesty. Galen sighs and brushes at his mouth. "Something about -- about your dad, and an operating table. And -- a cemetery, or something. Like someone died. I swear, I don't remember anything specific." And that's the truth. He's almost glad the hungry monster part of him was so focused on feeding itself that it hadn't paid complete attention to what was going on - just that it was going on - because Ned is so upset.

"I mean, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that it had to do with what happened to Laura, and I promise, Ned -- I won't tell anyone. Not about what I remember, or about what you can do. I promise. I know exactly what it's like to want to keep shit to yourself."

And it's only fair, he supposes, that Ned is welcome to that information.

[thezerothlaw]

This is simply baffling; Daneel was always of the impression that dizziness was a bad thing, a medical symptom of something amiss. Still, Ned's laughter is genuine, and strangely infectious. Ned hasn't misled him yet.

With a slightly wary glance in Ned's direction, Daneel throws out his arms in imitation and starts spinning -- slowly at first, and then faster as he builds up momentum. The movement is exhilarating in itself, speed and adrenaline, and dizziness is the last thing on his mind.

He stumbles, then, and falls back onto the flowers and grass, and though he's still, the world still seems to be moving around him; were he more fanciful, he might think of the planet revolving beneath him. Daneel lifts a hand into the air, his fingers against the rotating sky, while he gives a weak, breathless laugh. It's disconcerting, but he made this happen, he's safe, and Ned wouldn't mislead him.

"Why does," Daneel tries, faltering, "why does it move?" It's possibly the most poorly-phrased question of his entire existence, but it's the best he can manage just then.

[nedofpies]

"But it's nice out here," Ned protests. "It's not just the thing with Galen. I mean... some of it is. But I think part of it's all this." He gestures at the den of flowers all around him. "I don't much like being inside." Shrugging, Ned offers Jesse a small smile. "And if it helps, you can tell him that." He doesn't want Galen to feel awful, but he isn't ready to come back, yet.

[greenisnteasy]

The Hulk watches with fascination, and his breath quickens as the magic happens in his hands. Usually magic's fucking awful, but this is.... wonderful. Literally, actually wonderful, as in the Hulk's eyes are full of wonder when he picks up his his head again.

Flower Man is potentially dangerous; just because he's nice now doesn't mean he won't be mean later, and he could use his flowers against him like that Green Lady did. For the moment, though, he's giving the Hulk something delicate and beautiful, and the Hulk is overcome with gratitude.

Tony is hands down the Hulk's favorite person, but Flower Man is moving up in the ranks.

The Hulk breaks out into a slow smile and looks down at his flowers, brushing his thumb gently over the petals, being careful not to disturb them.

"You're good at this, Flower Man."

[enchangement]

There's nothing like thinking you're prepared for something and...finding you are, in River's case, which is to say that she gives a blink of consideration to the hot pain when Charlie makes contact before she grabs his arm in return, yanks him close and headbutts him as hard as she can before swinging him with all of her might backwards away from her into the wall furthest from the window.

Of course his hand leaves an impressive hand-shaped burn in her skin but she can deal with that ...later. Now she has a split second to jam her elbow into Charlie's jaw and hope it dazes him enough.

[dowhatisays]

If dazing him is what she was going for, she certainly achieves it. It all happens so fast - the sharp pain of his forehead, then hitting the wall and winding him, then the elbow under his jaw. It takes him a few seconds to recover, make the room stop spinning. He tries to take a step forward and sways.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you, you fucking whore!"

[nedofpies]

For Ned it is a small triumph to hear Daneel laugh, especially so soon after he was so sad.

"I don't know, something about your inner ear not knowing what's going on," Ned explains, trying to stand up too soon, thinking better of it, and laying flat on his back. "But it's weirdly enjoyable, right? That's why people love carnival rides and playground equipment and getting very drunk, well, sometimes they do that for other reasons. But you don't want to do it too much or you'll get sick, and that is something that definitely should not be on your list."

It's nice to just lay on the grass for a little while, with the sun on his face, letting the feeling that the world is pitching and spinning beneath him gradually recede. Without opening his eyes Ned says, "You really should make a list. And ask for other peoples' suggestions. I'm pretty boring you don't want to just ask me."

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Meyer, whose entire attention was focused on untying Ned, has now achieved his goal. With a nod at Ned, a nod that's obviously tinged with some kind of apology, although he doesn't quite seem to have the words to match the look of regret on his face, he pulls the ropes away. Normally, he might pat someone on the shoulder reassuringly, but he doesn't dare risk touching Ned again. That done, he turns to the fight, and immediately realizes things are going very poorly.

Charlie is obviously dazed, and River -- he assumes it's the girl he spoke to earlier that day, the girl who'd been turned into some kind of tree spirit -- seems to be winning the fight, or at least knocking him around pretty well. And if there's one thing he doesn't want to see happen, it's Charlie getting severely hurt, no matter how much he may deserve a punch or two for his ill-planned kidnapping.

Meyer's used to breaking up fights. It's something he learned from a young age, ever since he realized he didn't have as quick of a temper as many of his friends, ever since he realized he could hold his own in a fight, but could often avoid one altogether with logic. There's only one choice here, only one way to make sure he gets both of their attention, and quickly, so they don't kill each other. He knows murderous intent when he sees it, and he's pretty sure it's written all over Charlie's face.

So he stands swiftly, then physically places himself between the two combatants, one hand out to each side in the universal gesture for 'stop,' the look on his face determined, calm, not at all angry. "Everyone stop," he says, and his hand instinctively goes to Charlie's shoulder to stop him from taking any more steps forward. He doesn't touch River, doesn't know her well enough to assume that his touch will have a calming effect. "Everyone stop, take a deep breath, and calm down. We don't want to do this."

Then he turns to Charlie, eyes intent on him, hand still on his shoulder, and switches to speaking Italian for a moment. "Charlie, don't do this. We can all walk away from this if you calm down. This isn't what you really want, just like I didn't really want to bite Ned. Calm down and none of us will get any more hurt than we already are."

A deep breath, then he addresses the room as a whole, including Ned, who he hopes has somewhat recovered from his uncomfortable tied-up position. "This is all a horrible mistake -- but behaving this way and fighting each other is what our captors want, can't you see? They turn us into something terrible, they give us power we don't know how to handle, so of course we're going to take it out on each other. Let's not give anyone the satisfaction of seeing us unable to control ourselves."

In this case, he means Charlie and himself not being able to control their attacks, their apparent desire for kidnapping, but it's better to leave the statement vague, not wanting to anger Charlie further by calling him out publicly. He sighs and continues. "River, you were only doing what a friend would do at seeing someone they cared about in danger, but I'm officially declaring this fight over. Ned, you got dragged into something you shouldn't have, and you're free to go now. Charlie, I understand that you didn't intend for this to go the way it did, but I need you to take a step back and calm down. Nobody's killing anybody. This isn't getting any worse than it already has."

And he'll stand right in between the two of them until they give up the fight and Ned escapes the house. If they want to keep fighting, they can tear him apart, but he's had it up to here with this whole day, and he's done.

Day 61

[shesamarshmallow]

Day one, she'd been okay. Day two, she'd managed. Day three, hard as hell. And she'd lost track of days. It didn't help that she tended to sleep through them. She hadn't wandered around at night so much in months. But here she was, following a trail of plants that she suspected would lead to food. Or somewhere.

She couldn't break into a house, though. Not if she was a vampire. She couldn't do it that someone else. But she had to do something, go somewhere. She was starving, but she wasn't hungry for food. She had to get out of there, away from the heartbeats and the scent of people.

She's followed the trail into the woods before she realizes what a mistake this might be. She can hear a heartbeat. And before she can stop herself, she's at the man's side, watching him sleep, and the sound of his blood coursing through his veins would make her mouth water if she weren't so parched.

"Um. Hi." She sets a hand on his chest. How is she supposed to do this? She's never bitten someone before.

But hey, she just felt her incisors growing, so however she does it, she'll be doing it with a lisp. That's good to know.

"I'm Veronica. I'll be vamping on you today."

That sounded as good as anything. And holy Count Chocula, did a jugular ever look so good?

[thezerothlaw]

Daneel shut his eyes for a moment, experimenting. The sense of motion still continued, disorienting and strangely wonderful. "I will ask many individuals, then. I should have a wide scope of what it is to be human."

He doesn't know how long this will last -- in this place it's hard to anticipate -- or if it will ever end. Knowledge comes from experience, though, and whether this is temporary or permanent, he has a lot to learn.

"I don't believe your suggestions have been boring at all."

[nedofpies]

Ned lets out a tiny, shaky laugh of pure relief. Galen doesn't know. Not the worst of it, at least: not about him killing his mother. He covers his eyes with his hand, smiling now. He can't help feeling how much worse it could have been. Ned honestly isn't sure if he could be near someone who knew about that. If Galen had retained that secret, it would come between them like a wall. Ned would think of it every time he saw Galen's face, would be reminded over and over and over again of something that he spent each day trying not to think about.

"Oh, thank God," Ned sighs heavily, and there is a friendliness in his tone that has been lacking up until this point. He's more than happy to let Galen keep thinking it's something to do with Laura. Him thinking that draws his attention and concern from the truth, from the areas where Ned is actually most vulnerable. "It's fine, Galen. None of that is anything private. Everyone here knows about my power now, anyway, so it's fine. We're fine."

And he means it. His relief at the knowledge that his worst secret is still secret sweeps away everything else. Perhaps it's his own feeling of guiltiness, of escaping the blame and recrimination and disgust of others, that makes him swing so suddenly and so drastically back to Galen's side of things.

"I forgive you. It wasn't even your fault in the first place, so there isn't anything to forgive, but for what it's worth, I forgive you. Hell, I had a nightmare the night before that and you had nothing to do with it." He wipes away a last stray tear. "Plus, I've done worse." He says it frankly; Galen knows it is true, even if he thinks Ned only means the man he killed the other day.

[nedofpies]

The delicacy with which the Hulk touches the flowers is not lost on Ned. Clearly, he'd made a bad first impression on Ned - one that didn't represent him very well at all.

Ned had thought of the incident with the park bench entirely in terms of Bruce, before now - that Bruce couldn't control what he became, that Bruce deserved to be forgiven for causing harm without meaning to. But now, Ned begins to extend that thinking the Hulk, this strange version of Bruce that he had thought was completely unrecognizable. But the care he takes not to crush the flowers, despite the size of his hands, reminds Ned of the care that Bruce had taken, not to frighten or hurt him when he'd come in for his exam. Perhaps the two aren't so different, after all.

"Thank you," Ned smiles, too. The nickname makes him realize that they haven't been properly introduced, and so he says, "Your name is Hulk, isn't it? I'm Ned. But Flower Man works, too." It's a pretty apt description, and it isn't Ned's first unusual nickname by any means.

[dowhatisays]

Fuck you, Meyer. Fuck you and your logic and always thinking this shit can get solved up with fucking words when every bone in his body is vibrating with the need to tear somebody limb from limb. He pushes hard into Meyer's hands, still stumbling and disorientated from his repeated blows to the head.

"Get the fuck off me, Meyer! I needs this! This is fucking MINE!" he's blowing smoke and hissing as he screams, doing everything to force his way out of Meyer's grasp. But he's not burning the house down. Yet.

[nedofpies]

Ned has not been sleeping very soundly, these past few days. He wakes up instantly at Veronica's touch. It's probably a sign of just how much Ned has been through in the past few days that, when he opens his eyes to see a young girl with fangs looming over him, saying she is going to feed on him, his reaction is surprise rather than complete terror.

Before Veronica can move in any closer he holds a hand up between them, talking very rapidly, "Hi Veronica I'm Ned it's nice to meet you do you mind holding on a minute before you do that?" Hey, it's worth a shot, at least this one introduced herself and give him some warning before chomping down. He doesn't pause for a response, though, wanting to get all this out now in case she's not really in a patient mood, "Just- just two things. I'm okay with you vamping on me because I've got weird healing powers right now anyway but don't take too much okay? And also you should probably know there's a significant likelihood my blood is going to make you wasted because it kind of already did exactly that to the last vampire that came by."

Yeah, she heard him right, the last vampire. Because apparently this is a thing he does, now.

[nedofpies]

Ned merely smiles at that remark, runs his hands over the grass and thinks of lilacs, since Daneel had liked those so much. They begin to bloom around him, slowly but surely. It's so pleasant to just lay here, with his eyes closed, feeling happy, and as if he's had a part in making someone else happy. Before he knows it Ned begins to drift towards sleep, the tiredness from his interrupted night of sleep sneaking up on him. Then he realizes what is happening and jerks back awake, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. He can't let himself sleep.

"We should do the ocean next," he says, a reversal of his earlier thoughts. Just what he needs right now. Something bracing; cold water, activity. He'll be careful not to let anything bad happen to Daneel, "Is the water safe? I mean, if we stay in the shallows and we aren't in it for too long?" He'd heard some rumor about toxins, one about a giant squid, but there are ways to avoid those things. Daneel will know; he's been here much longer than Ned.

[rigging]

Well, alright. Jesse thinks he can understand that hint. Jesse sniffs, rubs at his nose - and sneezes. God, it sucks to really like flowers and then have allergies from hell. Jesse groans exaggeratedly and flops out.

"Yeah. S'nice out," Jesse agrees. Don't mind him, he's ignoring the urge to roll around in the dirt. "Man. You know, I think you got something real cool that you can do right now. Like, you grow flowers and y'don't gotta worry about - accidentally eating a rabbit or something." Here, he'll change the subject, but he's not quite ready to leave Ned out here alone yet.

[nedofpies]

Ned is more than happy to talk about something a little less fraught. "Sorry about the pollen," he says with a smile, thinking that Jesse sneezes similarly as a human and as a wolf. He lays down, too, hands behind his head, looking up into the trees and the overhanging canopy of flowers.

When Jesse voices his concern over eating a rabbit, Ned wrinkles his nose in disgust and sympathy. Even though he knows he could, if he wanted, eat rabbit now without any power-related complications, the idea is still repulsive. Eating meat's pretty much always going to seem unbearably gross to him.

"I guess that'd only be natural for a wolf," Ned speculates, with a sigh. "Can you change intentionally? Or does it just kinda happen?"

[thezerothlaw]

"The shallows should be safe." He's not positive about that, but if anything serious had gone wrong because surely he would have heard about it. "If we are careful. I cannot swim."

Oh, he knows the mechanics, but robots -- even humaniform ones -- don't tend to float too well, but as they can't drown either, it's not usually a major issue. Daneel sits up, still wobbling uncertainly, but improving, and inhaling the scent of lilacs everywhere. "I would like to see the ocean. I... would not want anything to happen to you, so we will be careful." And that's true even without the First Law, so that's... promising.

[rigging]

Jesse waves his hand at the apology for the pollen. It doesn't usually bother him badly enough, there's just a lot of it. With another sniff, he peers over at Ned.

"Both. I mean, mostly it's just happened so far, when I - get mad. But when I was with Galen earlier I turned back human after thinking about it real hard." He shrugs. "I'm getting control over it slowly. I only got like, real vague memories of being a wolf, though, like - pretty sure I actually did eat a rabbit."

Eurgh. He makes a face. "You run into anybody else out here that's changed?"

[gleans]

He feels a rush of relief, at that. Ned forgives him -- and Galen tells himself not to think about the nightmare any further, in case something triggers a memory. He owes Ned that. There is something - something digging at him, something they have in common - but he shoves it to the back of his mind.

His attention is drawn away from that, anyway, when his relief ebbs a little and he's reminded that there's something else he needs to tell Ned. He does offer his housemate a thankful smile, though, before dropping his head to rub at his face with both hands, for a moment. He can do this.

Galen lifts his head, pressing his hands together, and briefly rests his chin on the ends of his fingers. "Yeah... so've I, actually." Hesitantly, he meets Ned's eyes again. "There's something that -- honestly, I should've told you about back when that rumour came out, but I never thought it'd be an issue again. Until now."

[nedofpies]

In that case, Ned is glad that Jesse's brief flash of anger at him earlier had only been that. "That sounds hard. I mean, with mine, I'm sort of used to it, you know? It's easy to not touch things." At least, if you are Ned it is. That's what twenty years of practice will do. "But it's not easy to not feel things. Plus, if I slip up the worst that could happen is some unwanted snapdragons."

And that? That is glorious. Ned's used to much, much worse consequences.

When Jesse asks if he's run into anyone else out here, Ned can't help it: he bursts out laughing. Jesse may notice a tiny sliver of hysteria, in that laugh.

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this sentence, but last night I was kidnapped by what I'm fairly certain was some kind of a dragon." Again, he laughs that just-this-side-of-unhinged laugh. It's either think about how funny it sounds now and laugh or remember how traumatic it felt then and cry. "So... that's a first. Never been tied up next to a pile of shiny things before."

"What about you? You know what Kenzi's turned into?" Because Galen and Jesse and Kenzi are all friends, so he assumes Jesse will know, and he's kind of curious.

[nedofpies]

"I'm listening," Ned says simply, leaning forward, attentive. He thinks he has some idea what might be coming, but he isn't sure. Jesse mentioned that there had been problems before, with Galen and nightmares. Is it that - or something else entirely?

And it is only then he remembers the rumors, that there had been one about Galen being more dangerous than he seemed. He had laughed it off at the time: Galen? Dangerous? He couldn't believe it. Was that only a few days ago? So much has happened since then.

[nedofpies]

"Careful is my middle name," Ned assures him, getting to his feet and once again offering Daneel a hand up. "And I wouldn't want anything to happen to you, either." It's not a Law, either, for Ned. Just good old-fashioned friendship. "I won't let you drown, and I won't let me drown, either. We don't have to go in the water at all if you'd rather not."

See, all these little choices, little questions of preference, making up the average part of a human's day. Ned isn't going to make them for Daneel, though he's more than happy to provide a few ideas along the way, and keep him company and be a sounding board for him.

[gleans]

Galen drops his hands back down in his lap, then nods, thinking of how to start. At least now, after explaining this a few times, it's a little easier than it was - and it doesn't seem that long ago, at all - that first time, explaining to Brad what exactly had happened to him.

"A couple weeks ago, I got sent home," he begins, picking lightly at the grass in front of him. "I have no idea how, but I didn't remember being here. And -- I know it was real, because this had already happened, for Jesse, before he showed up." He pauses, then waves his hand. "But -- that's not important. While I was home, I started... um, being in other people's dreams. Like, seeing them, participating, even being able to like -- change shit, after a while. But it took me a while to even realize that they were other people's dreams."

He bites his lip, and doesn't wait for Ned to say anything before he continues. "But one of my bandmates, Daphne, she didn't believe me. So -- like a fucking idiot, I guess, I tried to find her and prove it to her. And the whole time, I was thinking, 'why can I do this? Why me? Am I supposed to help people?' And I figured -- yeah, of course, there must be a reason. So I kept working at it. I went looking for Daphne, but I had no idea what the fuck I was doing, y'know -- abilities like this don't come with a fucking instruction manual. So I ended up... I dunno. Between dreams? Just this dark -- nowhere." He swallows. "With this... dog. But it wasn't a dog, it was like, this being, made out of... just, awful things, y'know, and it bit me. And... things got bad."

Galen pauses for a breath, just to center himself, one hand idly rubbing at his left forearm. He can still feel the ghost of the bite, even though it was never there in waking life, and it makes him shiver a little.

"It... influenced me. In the worst way."

[nevermindtherunning]

He looks at Ned with the most perplexed expression, then one of euphoria. "Oh! THAT sounds like fun!" He takes another large bite from his apple before getting to his feet.

"Got a basket?" And he sort of wanders off in the wrong direction of the trees. Pauses, then turns and goes in the right direction. "If nothing else, we'll get plenty of fiber!" Which was probably exactly what Ned wanted to hear.

"And I'm plenty useful! Always useful!" And he stands looking confused at the trees, scratching his head.