CALHOUN HOUR - ESCAPE

[vivariummods]

When characters begin to wake up, instead of finding themselves in the usual warehouse, they will instead find themselves in an a very unfamiliar area. Maybe they'll wake up alone, or maybe they'll wake up with someone else. Either way, the biggest point is that they're in God-knows-where and it's the start of a new Calhoun Hour. Within seconds later, a familiar voice booms throughout the loud speakers. "Ahem, testing, testing! Hello, can you all hear me?" It's, without a doubt, your favourite robotic mouse, Calhoun. As usual, he sounds a cheery as ever. "Wow, isn't this familiar? It's almost like the first time we've met, you know. Test subject in a new location, maybe alone or maybe with someone else, my charming voice rings throughout the room, trying to drown you all in an elevator. Good times!" "Well, anyway, welcome to your new Calhoun Hour! You can see that I've taken the liberty to move you all to a more suitable location. You may not know it, with how small your brains are, but you're all stuck in a maze! I've had my fair share of running around in mazes, you know, being a mouse and all, so I want to return to favour to you humans! So, you know the drill: explore, look around, try to escape, blah blah blah, I don't need to explain all this! Just get to it! Who knows, maybe the exit here is an exit out to the real world. I might be generous like that, if you manage to find it. If not, well, I guess you can all starve here!" He snickers, then pauses. Suddenly, a loud gunshot-like sound rings throughout the speakers, and Calhoun screams again. "Let's get started!" BASIC INFO ✖ ESCAPE ✖ POST-EVENT MINGLE ✖ TURN-IN

Comments

[blind_badass]

*Snake had also had a most unusual memory recalled. He was preoccupied with it until he almost bumped in Heiji again.*

[detectiveofthewest]

"Light." The subdued tone of Heiji's voice was decidedly uncharacteristic of his usual sunny manner, as was the way he tugged at Snake's sleeve when he got close enough.

"Can we... go somewhere? I gotta tell ya something."

[blind_badass]

Hmm? Of course. Find us a spot and I'll listen to what you have to say. *Which was a far cry from trying to shove Heiji away a few days ago.*

[detectiveofthewest]

Which Heiji was rather grateful for, especially now. He brought them both to one of the benches in the garden and sat down.

"...You remember when I told you about the memory Calhoun threatened me with, right? The one about that girl? I found out what happened to her. Her name's Kazuha; she's a childhood friend of mine. That's why she was hangin' out with me in a couple of my other memories, too, I guess. She always had to tag along, even for the dangerous stuff."

[blind_badass]

So she's your friend. *The one that by some accident had fallen off a cliff. Oh Heiji...* What happened to her?

[detectiveofthewest]

"When I seen her go over that cliff, I leapt off after her. There was this old, dead tree growin' off the side of it a little ways down, so I managed to grab one of the branches and snag her by the arm before she was too far away. But it wasn't gonna support our weight, and she could hear it start to break.

"That's when she reached in her jacket and took out this ceremonial arrow. I don't really get exactly what she meant, but she said she was gonna 'pass her long life on' to me. Then she said goodbye and stabbed me in the back of the hand with it." He touched Snake's right hand with his own. "That's where I got this mark from."

"Anyway, I let go, but only for a second. I managed to catch her hand before she could take that spill. That's when I yelled at her to quit squirming around and let me help her."

He shook his head. "It wasn't easy, since by then I was bleeding, too. But at least she was willing to try. So somehow we managed to scramble onto a small side ledge and climb our way back up."

[blind_badass]

*How in world did he have the strength? But, perhaps in that moment, Heiji found the strength to make it happen. Snake thought that if his sister was in danger and he had to work fast to save her, he would find a way.*

In the end, you didn't let her die. You saved your friend. Although her stabbing you in the hand probably made things more difficult.

[detectiveofthewest]

This time, Heiji laughed. "Yeah, that's the understatement of the year. She's lucky I ain't lose my grip with that blood all over the place." He took Snake's hand in his, squeezing Snake's fingers unconsciously as he spoke.

"I don't know what she was thinking. She was cryin', too, can you believe that? I could see the tears in her eyes when she jabbed me with that thing. What a dummy."

Though his words were a bit callous, there was real relief in his voice -- as well as fondness for Kazuha. Apparently, they were rather close friends.

[blind_badass]

*Now that he thought about it, Snake and Heiji both had scars on the backs of their hands from being stabbed.*

I'm glad she's safe, Heiji. *As well as it most likely being a huge weight off Heiji's shoulders. Snake gave him a hug, rubbing his cheek next to Heiji's.*

[detectiveofthewest]

Though he'd had a few days to get used to it, Heiji was still surprised by the sudden hug from someone who had always been a bit reserved with his physical affection before. Nevertheless, he returned the embrace wholeheartedly, laughing a little when Snake's hair tickled his cheek. The smile on his face was entirely genuine.

"Thanks... so am I."

You, too, was what he didn't say. I'm going to make sure you get out of this, no matter what.

After a moment, he spoke up again. "A-anyway, I guess that takes care of me. Sorry, I kinda cut you off before you could tell me about your memory, huh?"

[blind_badass]

That's all right. My memory is...well. I'm not sure what it means. *Snake scrunched his closed eyes tighter, a sign of deep concentration.* It's completely audio and because I wasn't sure what was happening then, I really don't know what it means now.

We might have to get Hershel and Clive to help figure it out.

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji looked puzzled. "Hershel and Clive? Were they in it?"

That would certainly be a new bit of information...

[blind_badass]

No, although that would certainly be eye-opening. I mean we might want to get multiple opinions on what I experienced because I really don't know. It happened when I was young.

[detectiveofthewest]

"Then I guess we gotta wait on that one," said Heiji, frowning a little. He was awfully curious, but it didn't seem like the memory had harmed Snake...

"It wasn't like that one where ya woke up in that hospital bed, right? Nothin' awful happened to you?"

[blind_badass]

No, nothing bad happened. I was terribly nervous but it turned out fine. *He sighed.* I think it was the kind of memory where because I couldn't see, I didn't have enough context.

or actually you know what this thread works

[detectiveofthewest]

LATER, ON DAY 54

After things had calmed down a little and things had returned to marginal normalcy, Heiji entered the lounge, looking as though he was weighing a rather complex dilemma. "Light, um... you got a minute? You said I could ask you... stuff, right?"

Good luck figuring out what 'stuff' meant, Snake.

[blind_badass]

*"Stuff"? Oh, this could be anything. If Alfendi had tried to confuse him again, Snake was really going to have words with him.*

Yes, I recall that. Do you have a question about something?

[detectiveofthewest]

"Well, I..." Okay, right. Heiji just had to pull it together and calmly ask Snake a question about something he'd been thinking about for a while. It wasn't like it was unreasonable to ask or something (he thought...?), but maybe he could frame it in a way that would smooth things over and make it a little less embarrassing to ask about.

"...Are you a top or a bottom?" he blurted, apropos of absolutely nothing.

Nailed it.

[blind_badass]

*Snake opened his eyes to blink, apparently startled. Good job, Heiji.*

Before I answer that question, might I inquire as to the context that led to this?

[detectiveofthewest]

Hmm, yeah. How was Heiji supposed to answer that? 'I've been thinking about having sex with you, but I'm not sure how it would work'? 'I've been trying to figure it out based on your personality, but I still can't'?

"It wasn't Alfendi, if that's what you mean. I just... was wondering."

[blind_badass]

So this was just basic curiosity because we're dating now? *Well, he couldn't really fault Heiji for being curious if he had no idea how it would work.*

Well, although I imagine I've had sex with men and women, I couldn't tell you what I preferred. However, I think I'd consider myself to be either depending on my partner. *He canted his head toward Heiji.* Because you might have very little knowledge in that subject, I believe I would need to be a top to just...instruct you on how it works. If we ever get to that point.

[detectiveofthewest]

"Oh." Huh. That was... 'instruct'? 'If'? The rest of it was more or less what he'd figured, so he wasn't too taken aback at least.

"It's not... it's not just curiosity. I mean, I'm not askin' for the sake of asking. I really like you, so... it's something I'd like to do one day." Heiji was turning red again, he used up all his harlot points oh no. "That's why I thought it'd be good to know."

[blind_badass]

*Snake could sense the bit of embarrassment in Heiji's voice. Perhaps he was even turning red.* Duly noted.

*Snake then dropped his voice an octave.* I believe it's an activity I'd enjoy very much with you. One day.

[detectiveofthewest]

So Snake wanted to, too...?

When Snake's voice dropped like that -- when he said those things, Heiji felt a little thrill run down his spine.

One day.

For now, though, he moved to Snake's side, put a hand on his shoulder, and leaned his chin on top. "You... you can ask me anything, too. Okay?"

[blind_badass]

Okay. I'll keep that in mind. *Although, if they're being honest with each other, he should probably explain why having sex was definitely an IF.*

Heiji, the thing is, should we engage in such activities, we would need things that don't exist here. Without those things, we can't have...well...I suppose it'd be considered traditional sex between men. We can certainly do other things to entertain ourselves but not that.