Hybrid Kingdom PSL

[no1likeme]

{ the “beach” episode }
for some more light-hearted/chaotic stuff happening at the hotel throughout the plot

Comments

[silvernaphil]

Well, that's what I mean, though.

[David's about to say something unusually frank and unusually complimentary all at once, which means he's keeping his eyes on the ceiling instead of looking at Lucas while he does. Lacing his hands behind his head, he continues:]

This place is crazy, yeah, but right now? This could just be my house, and you could be someone I hung out with before that cult fucked everything up. It's nice.

[There's a definite twinge of melancholy in those last two words. David tries not to think about his friends too much so he can focus on the work itself, but the reasons for it are never far from his mind.]

[candybomb]

(( It must seem stranger to someone who watched all this happen, the way everything subtly went to shit as that cult grew. Lucas has little attachment to anything but candy in the physical world so the cycles, the ebbs and flows of rejuvenation and decay are pretty normal to him. Though, this did happen somewhat suddenly given the short span of time... ))

I'm sorry you and your friends got caught up in this.

"light hearted/chaotic stuff" oops

[silvernaphil]

[Lucas's sincerity startles David at first and he sits up to scan Lucas's face, see if there's any other meaning behind what he said - but no, of course there isn't. He's not an asshole.

... but David's housemates and friends kind of are assholes, which probably doesn't help David when he's trying not to assume the worst.]

Be real with me. How much do you think brainwashing and all that shit can really do? 'Cause sometimes I feel like I must not have known them at all, but I mean... me and Jeremy have been friends since we were eight years old. If I don't know him, I don't know fuckin' anybody.

woops (see also: Manny and Set)

[candybomb]

(( Lucas inhales deeply, looking down before meeting David's eyes again. He's no coward. This is the sort of thing you should look someone in the eye to say. ))

The human part of the brainwashing... That's a lot less of a worry than what prolonged exposure to unmitigated divine power can do to a mortal mind. There's a reason we make ourselves so small when we're among you. It's to protect you.

[silvernaphil]

[David's jaw stiffens with anger, a muscle twitching in his cheek.]

And that asshole's probably got high-octane god waves blasting at them 24/7, right?

[candybomb]

Have you noticed how everything is run down and decaying?

[silvernaphil]

What the f - [That gets David to sit right up, eyes massive in his face.] That's all him?!

[candybomb]

At least 90% of it.