of those blackholes & revelations

[capemods]

WHO: All imPorts.
WHERE: Atropos.
WHEN: January 7th to January 14th.
WARNINGS: Death and destruction.
SUMMARY: Atropos has risen in the night, and the inevitable has come: with her jaws she shears away the City from Earth and swallows it whole.

But the City is not yet dead.
FORMAT: Whatever you please.



The formless mass of metal haunting above, hovering like a lunar tombstone, begins to take shape. Asteroids plummet into the cheeks, the eyes, carving out bone structure. Her features howl with fury, with triumph, as she stares down below, savoring her conquest. A cavity opens. Metal swoops to form jagged, angry shears. Her teeth are born.

She waits as the world rotates, its spin more wobbly than it used to be.

And then she leans down to feast, her bite vampiric. She takes the City and then some, and all that it encompasses, so that every single imPort is captured. She takes the time to drink in any stragglers, any imPorts elusive to the City's thrall.

She holds the City on her tongue as she draws back her fist to punch the world.

And then teeth close to the shuddering, glass shattering vibration of a cosmic laugh. The jaws close, and there is no light for about an hour -- until Atropos begins to siphon solar energy from the sun into her veins. She is dissatisfied with its dying tint, or perhaps she cannot stand the redness of color, so once she injects this energy into her her body (her most intimate domain), she turns it bright yellow again. The universe within her is illuminated.

The City is a floating chunk of broken skyscrapers and puckered asphalt streets. The trauma of consumption has wrecked the usual infrastructure: buildings are half collapses, or skeletal, vehicles are flipped and strewn across the layout. Whatever vegetation that is still clinging onto life has rejoiced under the return of normal sunlight.

You can breathe. It isn't too hot, or too cold -- it's unusually pleasant, in fact. The sunshine veins that light your world are not overwhelming. There is no blue sky to complement the atmosphere, and whatever water still in the City will be constrained to the bottled kind found in shops.

But there are other floating pieces of worlds, and they might have water. Or food.

If you live in the City, your possessions should still be in the City. While about 76% of the natives have fled the City (which had gotten the brunt of focus over the past week), there are still some natives who were too sick, too sentimental or too stubborn to leave.

You'll find that your powers work normally, though you can't teleport within Atropos. You probably wouldn't want to teleport outside of her, anyway.

She swallows, and the City gentle glides down a slick throat. Dust and particles create stunning visuals, like the aurora borealis, except in warmer colors. Light reflects so easily from solar veins and starstrewn flesh.

While you can breathe easily, gravity is fickle. Physics is often defied. Atropos was never one to play by the rules.

Comments

[glassbox]

Hard t'imagine Frank bein' scared of anythin'. [ her tone was dismissive, as if she were trying to brush off how much the subject really meant to her. ] Bet he's glad the apocalypse is givin' him some breathin' space. The man ain't ever said a nice thing t'me. It's always "Don't be stupid" or "No, Crawley."

[ likewise, for lil, it was an easier task to discuss a relationship that wasn't her own -- if whatever she had with frank castle could even be called that. she could always gloss over the flawed details when it was someone else, romanticizing things a little in her mind. a part of her still hoped that, despite the way she seemed to wreck things with the men she cared for, it was only her bad luck and not the way things always had to be.

aloud, she remarked a bit softly: ]

Anyway, I think it's kinda sweet. You an' Felicia, I mean. [ then without really thinking about it: ] D'you love her?

[enigmaestro]

I -- what? [He stopped in his tracks and positioned his stance in opposition, a breath of stardust spiraling between them. The word was highly loaded for Edward; he was a man shunned throughout his early life and called a narcissist throughout the latter. There was no room for love between those letters.

This wasn't the first time the question had haunted him. It was a growing fear of his, that he couldn't properly understand the emotion -- that it was some frustratingly elusive puzzle. He desired Felicia, he enjoyed her company, he thought highly of her capabilities. He was affectionate with her.

But could that define love?]

Neither of us are the types of people swayed by marriage.

[It was a statement designed to dodge.]

No offense intended to those who have, even once. I'm sure it's a fine institution.

[glassbox]

It's not. It's terrible.

[ and wonderful too, but saying that out loud would hurt. bitterness and resentment still permeated all the little cracks in her heart left behind by the man whose ring she still wore on her left hand. marriage had been so full of promises, dreams of a family and a long life together -- lies, in the end, thin as smoke as just as quickly gone.

still, even a subject so raw for lil didn't distract her entirely. she pressed. ]

Y'don't gotta be married t'be in love.

[enigmaestro]

[His eyes drifted down to glimpse at that ring on her hand -- but Eddie too smart a man to make any verbal note.]

It isn't that I'm doubting your experience. [Dark ploy, to bring the dirty spotlight back on Lil, with her filmy memories of heartache. His mouth twitched downward, the shame of this evasion game evident on his face.]

She's important to me. She's peerless in her importance to me -- isn't that enough definition? At a time like this -- when we're looking for her.

[glassbox]

[ lil glanced in eddie's direction, the weight of her stare finding his face as if she thought she might peel away the layers of his words with the sheer force of her gaze. but at length, she looked away again, letting her eyes look forward at the broken ruins filling the path ahead. ]

If y'didn't wanna tell me -- if y'don't know, y'could've just said so.

[ that was her response, plain and a little distant.

at length, however, she added quietly: ]

I hope we find her. For you.

[enigmaestro]

Lil. Come now. I didn't mean to -- [But hadn't he? Wasn't that his very intention, his little manipulation, no matter how limited it was in that moment? However passive he could have rationalized it, wasn't it still a barbed diversion? Hadn't he spoken with purpose, didn't he get exactly what he had wanted?]

Look. I don't say this, actually, I've never said this. But I shouldn't have done that. I should have -- spared that angle, because it was wrong to. Suggest.

[He reached over, grasping her by the shoulder. Warmly, he hoped, his expression shattered to sincere regret.]

[glassbox]

It's fine.

[ she was quick to brush it off, more willing to accept a half-apology than to show that her feelings had been hurt, even a little. her strong face was a fairly convincing one, at any rate. still, either way, she wasn't angry with him, despite something resigned in her expression underneath the toughness. it wasn't as if he'd been exactly wrong.

her hand found the one he placed on her shoulder, squeezing it gently before carefully brushing him off. ]

I've got thick skin, remember?

[enigmaestro]

Nevertheless. [He shrugged, accepting their mutual agreement to not dwell. He didn't want to suffer parting -- but it would prove all the more heartstrung, to suffer parting with poisoned slights. Lil deserved better than that, and Eddie repressed his usual egotistical flair for the sake.]

We can look for Frank, too, along our search for Felicia. [He inclined his head, resuming his walk.] After all, there's a certain strength in numbers. And, from what I gathered, the man's had admirable training. Could be useful.

[His speech offered only rational reasons, nothing tying Lil's emotions into the equation. An unspoken inclination. However thick, skin could still feel something.]

[glassbox]

[ it was true -- frank castle was remarkable in combat and a resourceful man, no doubt a valuable ally to have at a time of crisis. but lil couldn't connect herself to those reasons for finding him, not with the worry that festered in her chest. she knew he was more than capable of looking after himself, but logic rarely won over her heart. part of her just needed to see him, to be sure.

her honest face betrayed her building anxiety as she dwelled. she had memories of frank showing up at her doorstep in the middle of the night, bloodied and beaten. the images rose in her mind unbidden now. she exhaled, trying to quiet her own restless thoughts. ]

Don't know if there's any kinda trainin' that prepares y'for the end of the world. [ she paused as they approached a building that was relatively in tact. the door had already been broken. she leaned inside, glancing around. ] Either way, he probably wouldn't want me lookin' for him.

[ not that it would stop her. ]

[enigmaestro]

Oh, I don't know. I lived through one once before. [A beat, and his thoughts trailed away. It had been years, more than half a decade, since he had encountered the mischief of his doppelganger. What an absurd thing to remember, at this pinpoint in time. He shrugged in response.]

Crisis averted, obviously. Perhaps luck is a finite resource.

[He had never considered himself lucky.]

But my point is, stranger individuals have survived. Frank stands fairly good odds, as it were. And when he does -- when you both make it out of this. [He turned to her, his expression stoney. He kept that degree of expression until she would cease her peeking through that demolished door and face him right back.] And when you do, you ought to engage him on a more honest level. You might as well make the most of what you can have.

[glassbox]

[ his comments got her attention easily enough, causing her to glance over her shoulder at him from where she stood in that ruined doorway. she pursed her lips a little, one hand finding her generous hips as if she were skeptical of the sentiment. ]

The hell is that supposed t'mean, a more "honest level?"

[ if she sounded at all defensive, it was only because she had become particularly used to rejection when it came to frank castle. the man was good at playing hard to get with her. fortunately, most of the time, she found ways to be convincing enough. still, it wasn't as if the man was especially affectionate with her -- or affectionate much at all.

trying to engage him more could very well be like attempting to engage an extraordinarily stubborn brick wall more. ]

[enigmaestro]

You like him, I'm convinced that he likes you. How is it illogical for you to tell each other exactly that?

[He peered over Lil -- or tried to, she was an impressive height -- glimpsing through to see if there was anything edible along the other side.

But craning his neck around never stopped Eddie from talking before.]

Pin him against a wall, grab his jaw and force him to look at you -- or be less predatory and aggressive, I don't care. But you're going to keep winding down the same spiral if you don't buckle him down and tell him the truth.

[glassbox]

[ she gave him one of those looks -- the kind a woman gives a man when what he says makes her feel catty. it's a defensive mechanism more than anything, and it shows in her voice when she responds, pointedly putting her hand on his forehead and pushing to stop him from peering around her. ]

He knows that. That -- y'know. I care about him.

[ she makes this huffing exhale of a noise, finally deciding it's safe enough to actually go inside the crumbling building. either that, or she doesn't care if any rubble should try and fall on her. ]

That's where all the goddamn "Don't be stupid, Crawley" comes from. Bein' aggressive doesn't help. I've been aggressive. With an' without my clothes on. He still only ever tells me t'go away.

[enigmaestro]

So why not play the other side of the spectrum? Feign distressed damsel, men are so often unprepared for that -- emotionally speaking. [He inclined his head, acknowledging this oversight of his gender. Perhaps it was his compromise, his nearly self-insult (in a most generalized sort of way) for inspiring her to shoot out one of those looks.

He thought perhaps it had singed the air.]

Bank on his innate desire to protect you -- Guy like that has a strong sense of justice, doesn't he? He sure gives the impression, in a "my way or the highway" sort of context.

[Eddie followed his bodyguard in gingerly, frowning at the dust and debris. He tried to tiptoe around the more aggravated floor messes.]

[glassbox]

[ lil glanced over her shoulder again, making a bit of a face at eddie for his suggestion. ]

I ain't that kinda gal.

[ a true enough statement. lillian crawley was neither a damsel in distress nor was she clever enough to fake it. brains was something to be left to someone like eddie -- lil's methods were more likely to utilize force, physical or otherwise. after one too many let-downs, she'd given up on being rescued by men years ago.

she exhaled, crouching to lift and push a bit of rubble aside. it didn't seem like there was much left to the place, but maybe something useful had been overlooked by the looters before them. ]

Ain't gonna bank on him wantin' t'do anythin' for me anyway. The bastard hates givin' me "the wrong idea."

[enigmaestro]

[Eddie veered off, creating an acute angle of space between them. His eyes scoured the floor, the corners, the shadows under debris; all the places where essential fluids or nutrients could have been dropped, or hidden.]

He knows your invulnerable, right? A fellow like him, he's probably suffered an insufferable amount of loss. It might be easier for him to push away, rather than lose someone he emotionally connects with even once more. Brute on the outside, delicate flower within.

[He toed over some debris, bending over to grasp at a lone fiber bar. Still wrapped.]

Found something. In case either of us was constipated, I suppose.

[glassbox]

"Delicate flower." Uh-huh. Ain't nothin' delicate about him. 'Cept maybe his nose. I broke that once.

[ the skepticism in her voice came readily, though a little distracted as she made her way through some heavy beams and pieces of collapsed ceiling. she made bit of an audible ugh noise as the smell of rotting food filled her nose. apparently she'd cleared a path to the now nonfunctional freezers -- a former corner grocery store then, with emphasis on the former.

lil sighed. ]

If y'found somethin', y'better eat it. I'm doin' alright.

[enigmaestro]

You broke his nose? [Eddie grasped at the fiber bar, brushing it off. Perhaps it was better than nothing -- but it wasn't like plumbing was easily accessible here. Was the sensation of consumption worth the gastrointestinal risks?]

What is that, some form of foreplay for you?

[He shot a glance over his shoulder, his smile courting a wink.]

Guy's got evident emotional issues, as I'm sure you've noticed. Now, I'm not saying such as a criticism -- if anything, his personality allows for opportunity. Once you get a good handling on the brusque thing he does.