Start at the Bottom [Open]

[creatability]

WHO: Mary Yaoyorozu and You.
WHERE: Recolle High
WHEN: 10/2
WHAT: Mary's Quirk has just begun manifesting, and she cannot control it yet.
WARNINGS: Possible language and the potential for body horror as Mary's body starts sprouting small objects.



I. Hunger Pains (10/2)

It begins just like any other ordinary day for Mary, getting up, driving to school and going to class. Nothing really strange, until she gets to the cafeteria, and a stab of hunger hits her in the belly like a knife. At first it doesn't seem all that weird, she hadn't eaten much for breakfast, but when she starts loading up her plate from the line she takes one look at the food and realizes it's not enough. So, grabbing a second helping. And a third, and only a question from the lunch lady ("How many are you feeding?") stops her from ordering a fourth. Perhaps you catch this, perhaps not. What's even stranger is in her hurry she seems to have forgotten her silverware.

When she finally makes her way to a lunch table, her tray is absolutely covered with food. And she's avoiding looking at anyone as she heads to a back table and starts eating. And eating. This is definitely not normal behavior, given that Mary eats like a bird most of the time, and she always tries to socialize. Particularly observant types may note that she definitely has a knife and fork now, too.

And, she's not exactly paying attention, hunched over her tray, if you feel like taking that empty spot beside her.


II. Matryoshkas (10/2)


The day continues just as strangely, with odd flashes of hunger hitting throughout the day. It's enough that Mary decides to skip swim practice and head straight out home, making her way carefully through the hall. Clutching her stomach as she does so, she stops every few steps as a hollow -thock- sound echoes behind her. And every time, she stoops to pick up a matroshka doll with a puzzled expression. Shoving it in her backpack she frowns, the bag bursting with the little toys.

"Where are these coming from?"

And then walking on...-thock-...

When she finally reaches the doors, she's run out of space in the backpack and she's just walking out carrying an armful of the dolls, frowning as she makes her way towards a trash can. Dropping them in, she turns and looks for more.

"Who's throwing these at me? It's getting a little weird!"


III. Schoolyard Trouble


Heading across the school yard towards the parking lot, Mary begins to get a sense that there's something very, very wrong. Not only does she feel hungry again, famished in fact, she's beginning to feel very faint. Her head swims, her legs feel weak and wobbly, and she's noticing that the sound that'd followed her is growing more frequent. Turning, she goggles at a trail of little objects in the grass behind her. More of those dolls, spoons, forks, a couple of wooden hair clips, and even a plate. All things she'd been thinking about in the walk over this way, despite the seemingly random nature of the objects. Backing away, awkwardly, she stumbles over as the heel of her rather tall boot catches a rock and she falls flat on her backside.

Stupid boots! If only I was wearing my tennis shoes!

And with that errant thought, a pair of sneakers simply pops out of her calf with a little flash of rainbow light.

Which, of course, makes her scream.


IV. At Home (Closed to Matt Murdock)

Mary isn't sure how she got home, not really, but she's certainly not bothered to hide that she's there, or clean up after herself. All the lights are on, and there's a trail of small odds and ends on the floor, little piles of dolls and pencils and glass bottles and other assorted doodads that all lead towards the kitchen. The smell of fried chicken is also fairly strong, an enormous bucket of the Colonel's finest filling the air with the aroma of 11 herbs and spices.

Mary herself is seated there, staring down at a pile of chicken, strongly scented collard greens, and steaming mashed potatoes. Soft, almost imperceptible sniffles are the only indication she's been crying, but when she hears someone come in, she looks up with a wild, panicked expression...

"I...I can explain everything!"


[OOC: I will match Brackets or Prose, based on your preference. If you want to plot something not listed, hit me up on plurk at intercession

Comments

I

[glaciers]

[Shouto, like the oblivious and overly blunt boy he is, takes the seat next to her and surveys the sheer feast of food laid out before Mary.]

Are you trying to build muscle?

[creatability]

[Mary, devouring away, turns to look at Shouto and it honestly takes a few seconds for her to realize he's even there. When she does, she jumps, and nearly drops the fork.]

I...! Ah! No. I'm just really...really hungry.

[glaciers]

[Shouto watches her carefully. Did she really not notice him until now?]

... You might want to see a doctor about that. Especially if it happened out of nowhere.

[creatability]

It...isn't that serious.

[Taking a bite, she goes for a juice bottle]

I'm just famished. I skipped breakfast is all.

iii

[buncho]

[ Mafuyu wasn't there to see what had happened, but the scream catches her attention and she veers away from the football field towards where she heard the sound, nearly sprinting in some misplaced eagerness to witness or participate in a fight, because of course that's what it is. That, or wayward baseball. Or a really large bug. Or...

Oh. Mafuyu slows to a trot when she sees Mary sitting there freaking out over a pair of shoes, and all this other junk lying around her. ]

Did you trip? Shoes not match your outfit??

[ She has no idea what would make somebody scream like that, but, well. ]

[creatability]

[Mary's staring down at the shoes like they're a viper waiting to strike, barely looking up at Mafuyu at first. Reaching out hesitantly, she pokes the white sneakers and pulls back quickly...]

No...no! That...is not it. I just...they came out of me.

[Poking them again, she finally seems to realize that they are, in fact, just shoes. Picking them up, she stares]

How is that even...?

[buncho]

[ "They came out of me" What does that even mean?? Like she vomited them up or something, or dropped them out of her backpack, but even then, Mafuyu doesnt get why she would be looking at them as if they would spring alive and bite off her hands at any moment now. ]

They're shoes, right? Here- [ Mafuyu toes off one of her shoes, and grabs one of the pair from Mary's hands to slide her foot in. It's a little too big, but it's most definitely a shoe, light and comfy. ] Do you not want them, or what? 'cause if that's the problem, I'll take them.

[creatability]

[Mary shakes her head back and forth several times, looking from Mafuyu to the shoes and back, panic still plain on her face.]

No I don't want them?! They're...they came out of my leg! Like it was a bag or something!

[She gestures frantically at her calf, and as if on cue, there's a second flash of rainbow light and a comical popping sound. The air seems to shimmer, and a nylon gym bag appears, fully formed, atop her leg.]

See?! [Her voice only becomes more shrill and reedy...]

ii

[chuusai]

Mao's making the most of one of his few short days at school and trying to duck out half early. He had to make one extra stop in the yearbook office before leaving but that just means the halls are basically empty by the time he's ready to go. Basically except for one other person, a girl he catches up with near the doors.

A girl who is carrying a heavy load and seems to be trying to dump it in the trash can when one of the items gets away from her. At least, it seems like it gets away from her because there's no way it actually grew out of the skin near her elbow. She just had it in her arms and dropped it, right?

Right?

Either way, Mao picks the doll up and brings it over toward the trash.

"There's nobody else in the hall. These aren't yours?"

[creatability]

Mary looks at the doll in his hand, frowning at it. Surely he hadn't found another. She'd counted, and every last one of them ended up in the trash. Thirty seven of them, all in all, each one exactly the same. Red and white, with black hair and faces painted on and shellacked to gleaming.

"No? Why would I have that many matryoshka dolls? Who needs this many, anyway?"

That doesn't even make sense. The school doesn't exactly have a Russian Culture class,

[chuusai]

Mao shrugs. "I'm not here to judge. Some people collect stamps and nobody sends physical mail anymore." Sure, they would be different stamps and not identical ones, but they're still just about as useless as matroyshkas. Speaking of which, when Mao hears that he looks at the doll in his hand and twists it a little, revealing the other smaller doll inside.

"You didn't bring these with you, though? It looked like you dropped this one."

[creatability]

Mary shakes her head, looking at the little toy with a confused glower. Where did the other thirty seven even come from?

"I didn't, no. I...honestly have no idea where they appeared from. I just picked them up off the ground, because they were making a mess. You know though, every single one of them is exactly the same. Isn't that weird?"

It's almost like there's a doll factory inside the school somewhere...

IV

[blessmefather]

As Matt unlocks the front door to the apartment and first cracks the door open he's distracted for a second by the smell of food and the thought that maybe he doesn't need to ask Mary what she'd like him to order for delivery from the Chinese place down the street. As he steps inside and shuts the door, cane and briefcase in hand, his thoughts of food are replaced instantly with concern at the unmistakable sound of a sniffle.

Then the panicked words burst out of her and he's plopping his briefcase on the floor right there and letting go of his cane, ignoring the sound of it unsuccessfully balancing against the wall and sliding back into the corner instead. "Mary, what's the matter?" he asks, rushing forward, worry on his face and in his voice now.

All of two seconds later, before he can ask his next question or reach her and the dining table he steps on a couple of dolls and and pencils, which roll under his feet like wheels on skates, and he feels himself toppling backwards. His feet get thrown upwards like in a cartoon, and he lands on his back on the floor with thud.

[creatability]

Mary leaps to her feet with a panicked yelp when she sees her uncle start to put his foot down on one of the dolls. Mentally she curses herself for being so thoughtless, and the chair flies back to the floor with a crash as she rushes to his side. Chicken bones rattle and splat when they hit the floor but she doesn't care. He took priority.

"Oh my Lord, I'm so sorry, uncle! I didn't...I...are you okay?!"

Reaching out to grab his hand, she starts shoving junk out of the way with her foot.

"Please tell me you're okay!"

[blessmefather]

Matt groans and lifts his head so he can touch the back of his head with his palm. No bumps, no injury. He didn't think there was but he checks his head first thing out of reflex. He always had after that fateful fall down the stairs in his childhood. No real pain either, thankfully. More than anything he felt dizzy from getting the wind knocked out of him.

"Y-Yeah, sorry. Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm fine," he assures her, squeezing her hand back with his and smiling toward her. With a few grunts he starts pulling himself up in a seated position. "Too bad you didn't get that on video. I bet it looked funny. It felt like I was going to do a somersault or maybe a full gymnastics routine... Uh. What did I trip on exactly?"

[creatability]

"You tripped on a matryoska doll. And a pencil," Mary says ruefully, pulling him back upright and helping him to his feet.  "No blood, nothing.  Just a bruised backside at most."

With that at least taken care of, she walks him over towards the table and pulls a chair out for him, taking pains to scrape it along the linoleum enough so he can hear the positioning.

"I didn't mean to leave that mess, I just...well...life got complicated after school today," she mumbles.  "You've heard about people gaining strange abilities after Retrospec, right?"

III

[explodosafe]

"Retrospec broke you now too, huh? I wouldn't take it too serious if I were you."

A jacket lands on her as Cutter shuffles next to her, not sure whether to crouch down and get them on an even eye level or not. He hasn't been back to school for long yet, but his unexpected dental troubles have pretty much eaten up all of the skipped hours he can afford, so he had packed up and returned to classes in the end. It's because of that that his mood hasn't been the greatest recently. People noticed.

They remembered his sudden exit. They wondered about his sudden decision to wear 'creepy contact lenses' and questioned his new teeth everywhere he went. As if he'd signed up for any of that!

All the attention had set his senses on the highest level of alert which is why he noticed it when Mary rushed past him without even noticing. At first he hadn't thought anything of it, but something about the way she'd moved had drawn his attention, labeling her in his subconsciousness as 'weakened' and 'easy prey'. He had preferred not to think too much about the latter when he had picked up one of the dolls and chased after her, assuming that she must have lost it somehow.

In other words, he has seen the whole mess.

[creatability]

When the jacket drops from off to one side, it takes Mary a long moment to truly register who's speaking. She's too busy pulling it around her, cowering beneath it and looking away from the shoes that have suddenly popped out of her. When Cutter's voice does finally register, she looks up at him with a sick expression, her cheeks turning a little green.

"What are you talking about?" she asks wearily, her belly roiling as a bottle of glue appears out of one shoulder. It falls with a soft sound, and she shifts away from it, looking at it like it's a scorpion or something.

"What is going on?! This shouldn't be..." possible? Plausible?

[explodosafe]

"Retrospec."

Cutter pulls as face as he finally decides to crouch down as well and reaches over to examine the glue bottle.

"Huh. Looks all normal and like the real deal." He tests the contents and then shrugs, putting the bottle down and directing all of his attention back onto Mary. "It's probably some sort of 'ability' Retrospec gave you. Do you remember touching or seeing anything unusual? Those things usually don't last any longer than a month."

He doesn't blame her for being freaked, he himself has a nice big track record of his own volatile reactions to all the weird stuff that has forced it's way into his life, but right now... Mary needs him. If him staying calm and rational can help her like she helped him then he can pull himself together and pull it off.

ii;

[heroforall]

And when she turns, she'll find that there's only one other occupant in the hall. Izuku had been busy organizing his books in his locker, until he had noticed her passing by and had turned to greet her, only to witness the sight of a small matryoshka doll falling from her lower back. Needless to say, he's a little in shock. But her words bring him back to his senses and he has to resist the urge to duck behind his locker door.

"I didn't throw them! And we're the only ones here...." Now, does he tell her that he just saw one of the dolls sprout out from her body? Or should he just help her pick them up and go about his day? One of the dolls she'd missed had ended up rolling towards Izuku's foot, so he dutifully bends down and picks it up, offering it to her.

What if he tells her and it ends up that it was just the trick of an eye? He doesn't want to freak her out needlessly. He needs to get more information first.

[creatability]

Mary looks back at Izuku with a raised eyebrow. She doesn't actually believe that he'd thrown them, of course, that wouldn't even make sense. What she does believe is that there's a bunch of dolls appearing around her and she has no idea where they've come from.

"I don't understand. Where are they coming from?" she asks, dumping the lot of them into the trash. She stops when her foot nudges another one, one that definitely wasn't there before. She hadn't seen it, but it'd rolled out of her calf.

"Now where did you come from...? and why are they all exactly the same?" she mumbles, stooping to grab it.

[heroforall]

It's just as well that she stooped down to grab it, because if she had looked at Izuku, she would have found his eyes glued to her calf where he'd seen another one of the dolls come out of. It's not a trick then. It's absolutely not a trick.

Now how should he explain this without sounding crazy? And how can these things be coming out of her without her noticing?

"Uhhh...M-mary? I think I k-know where they're coming from..."

iii

[commandertoolbelt]

“You know, most people leave a trail of breadcrumbs, not… that.”

For better or worse, the sight of shoes popping out of her legs escapes his notice. It’s the scream that got Leo’s attention, but everything else makes him stay. Where is she getting all this stuff? And why is she dropping it behind her like that?

He squints down at her, eyebrows raised questioningly. She… doesn’t look so good. Usually people just look kind of embarrassed at falling in public like that.

“And that would be why. All that stuff’s a lot easier to trip over than breadcrumbs.” He offers a hand to help Mary back to her feet. “You okay?”

[creatability]

Mary takes it, surprised at just how...calm...Leo seems. Pulling herself up, she blinks down at the shoes, and then gives them a good, solid kick.

"Fine but, did you see that?"

Where the shoes had come from, she means, not her kicking it.

[commandertoolbelt]

“See what, you falling on your butt?”

He watches her kick the offending pair of sneakers in amused silence. That must’ve been what tripped her up, then. Funny, though - they look brand new. Who leaves brand new sneakers just lying around in the school yard?

“Nope. Your dignity can remain intact. Mostly,” he adds as an afterthought, the corner of his mouth curling upward. “I did see you sitting in the dirt.”