FIRST SPARK | SETTLING INTO A RHYTHM

[interlucere]

WHO: Lucille, and you!
WHERE: Various places around town, focusing mostly around Recollé University and Catmosphere Café
WHEN: Early October, before the start of the infection
WHAT: Lucille is a busybody + a general catch-all. Closed prompts found in the comments!
WARNINGS: None currently!

[ Throughout the first week of October, Lucille does her best to keep herself busy. With all of the mystery revolving around Retrospec, different lives, murders, and any number of other oddities, sitting idle is only going to force her to let the mounting anxiety she’s been feeling get even worse.

She can be found doing the following during this time: ]

A:
[ During the day, Lucille can be found wandering around the Recollé University campus in an effort to locate weird and interesting things. Her current obsession? Locating bizarre statues and trying to interpret what they are. Is she an artist? Gosh no. But does she have opinions about art? You bet! Get ready to hear them if you walk by.

Or maybe you can help her figure out what these are, because she sure has no clue! ]

B:
[ During odd hours of the day (and sometimes, gasp, at night!), Lucille can be found curled up somewhere around the college campus, either dozing off or sound asleep. The common room in the first-year dorms, the library, various places around the student union building; really anywhere she can find a comfortable spot and has a moment to rest her eyes. More often than not, she can be found surrounded in books and notes, pouring over any variety of study materials. On the rare occasion, the small blond may be caught (again, gasp!) not studying, but instead with some massive book in her lap. The guilty pleasure she’s currently reading? Some kind of campy-looking fantasy, or a classic mystery/thriller novel.

She probably shouldn’t be sleeping here, but it’s okay. Probably. ]

C:
[ And on Friday night, Lucille can be found at the Catmosphere Café. It’s been a long Monday to Friday for her, and she needs some time to recharge. What better way to do that than with a bunch of cats! She can be seen trying to get the attention of various furry patrons around the cafe, but some of them seem to be playing hard to get.

Help her make a new friend and she’ll think you’re the cat’s meow! ]

( If you have an idea for a prompt that is not here, hmu at impearls! )

Comments

[interlucere]

[ She falls in step behind him, listening to everything he has to say. It lines up with what she's heard from the others on Retrospec already, but he manages to address a few gaps that she has yet to fill as well. But it also creates even more questions that she hadn't realized she needed to ask.

Lucille nods through his explanation, her expression becoming more serious as he recounts what he knows. She shakes her head simply. ]

That's fine, you don't need to talk about anything that you're uncomfortable with it.

[ Although there's something there that's being implied, and it's what draws her lips together and makes Lucille hesitate. ]

So let me see if I'm understanding this correctly. My soul belonged to someone else—or, rather, we have the same soul, but for whatever reason it found its way here. And because we're one and the same in that way, I might—will—share their memories, eventually.

Do I have it right so far? Is there anything I'm missing?

[twostringsonebow]

You're correct, Miss Lucille. There's, mm, more to the soul bit itself, but I hesitate to give you too much to think about. I'll gladly speak more on it at a later point of time, since I don't believe enough people talk about it in the first place.

[Goro doesn't like thinking about it in the first place. For the sake of everyone else from the same world as he he'd like to help, but for the person that this soul belongs to... mm.]

Anyway, the memories themselves can be triggered by any number of things, and I've even had them appear as dreams... those are my least favorite, really, they've rarely been anything good.

[interlucere]

[ So nightmares. Wonderful. She's been told she doesn't get enough sleep as it is, so having that extra bit to worry about is... unideal? It's another thing she has to worry about. ]

So I could be going about my everyday business, and suddenly I'll remember something? [ She offers him a somewhat sardonic smile. ] As if we don't have enough on our minds with this Retrospec business. But that's good to know.

[ So keeping a journal will be a necessity. She wants to figure out these triggers as soon as possible. With a hummed sigh, her countenance shifts, her smile returning to something more pleasant and conversational. ]

But it can't all be doom and gloom, right? There must be something good about all of this.

[twostringsonebow]

You'll meet and connect with people you never thought possible. You'll see all kinds of sights, learn all kinds of things, and... for all I may complain, I truly am thankful to have had the chance to experience what Retrospec offers.

[He still doesn't know if he'd be half as close with the people he is now if not for that, and everything he's seen... really has been one of a kind, really has been fun to a point.]

I think every person finds something worthwhile themselves, but those are what I'm particular about. I wouldn't be able to recognize myself if I didn't have this app now.

[interlucere]

[ She wears it discretely enough, but the way the tension seems to roll off her shoulders speaks volumes. It's a relief to say the least, even if she assumes there is a lot he isn't saying. ]

Even the weird things? From what I've heard, things get pretty bizarre around here.

[ She gives him an amused smirk. Lucille thinks she already knows the answer, but she wants to hear it from him. Maybe she'll even get another story out of him.

Mentioning changes does pique her interest, however, and she tilts her head to look at him. ]

How do you think it's changed you? Just from remembering your past, or from the things that have happened around the city?

[twostringsonebow]

Oh, they certainly do, though I'm ever fond of the undersea adventure filled with sea witches and octopus that spoke like something out of the Godfather. I gained gills and webbing to help with travel.

[Fun Times. Preceded by a haunted cruise ship, followed by a pirate cove... Goro can't help but feel fond about it, as terrifying as it was, and he picks off quietly in his mind who's still around from back then. Mmm. More people from his later trip to Respartum, for certain...]

You could say a mix of both, I suppose. [Idly, glancing away.] The things I've remembered aren't... no, they matter in a way even now, but thus far I've yet to catch true hell for it. But they have inspired me to be more open, more genuine with what I put out over appearances alone. Especially to those that care for me.

[Not just brushing off their concerns and hiding away, or making up excuses. There's been a lot of that, and... it isn't easy, he still hides things even now, things he'll have to confess to at some point, but-- he can pretend to be happy and more normal than he is until then.]

The things that've happened around the city have been catalyst for that as well, allowing me to connect to people in ways I didn't think possible -- mostly because I meet so many people during them, really, but also because sometimes things become more psychological and that's always a fun time.

[interlucere]

Gills and webbing? Wouldn't having something like that be uncomfortable?

[ I don't know, Lucille, but you're going to find out for yourself about that firsthand later. Have fun with that.

A quiet smile spreads across her lips as she lets his words sink in. He wouldn't be the first person to tell her these things, but somehow it's much more reassuring hearing them from someone she personally knows. But there is one thing that makes her pause, and while her smile doesn't slip, here's a hint of hesitance in her voice. ]

Psychological? What do you mean?