[Maya's been keeping an eye out for signs of the fog. It's a good time for them, sure. It's been even better since Maya got that sacrifice thing out of the way and gave herself over to the Fog God more intimately. But this isn't about gods and it's certainly not about her.
This fog is special. It's going to be Riley's first.
She's settled down beside her friend on the windowsill, clasping one of Riley's hands between both her paws.]
Looks like the fog's rolling in down the block. You scared?
[Riley had known this day would come. She always did, because everyone had made her aware of it, but she had sort of just filed it away for later in favor of worrying about Maya. Maya had been here for so long and didn't have anyone with her, and she had to divebomb Maya with just how much she loved her.
But now it was happening. The fog was right there and she was scared out of her mind because she had no choice but to face it now.]
No. Maybe. Yes. [A pause, as she puts her free hand on top of one of Maya's paws.] I'm really scared.
[But she'll take it, because Maya had to do this without her around already and if Maya can do it she definitely, definitely can. Or she can at least pretend she can.
It doesn't take long for the fog to get to them, and for a second, she does tense up once it passes by them—until the changes start. Everything feels like it's on fire, from her head to her toes, as everything just starts. The first, most obvious thing, is the fact that her skin starts changing.
It's not long before it's bright green, and Riley has to pull a hand back to try to clamp it over her ears—which are quickly becoming pointy and leafy. It hurts, and she tries to bite down on her whimpers but she doesn't quite manage.]
[Riley's right about a lot of things. Maya had gone through it alone. She'd thrown herself into a relationship too quickly, and had been too embarrassed to let Hans see her suffering. She spent her first fog writhing on a Dyster floor while her eyes melted out of her head to make room for their monstrous replacements. It's the kind of agony that she'll never reveal to anyone. And that's why it's important for her to be here when it happens for Riley. Riley shouldn't have to hurt without having company. Riley's too good for that.
Maya clutches her close when her skin pigment fluctuates. She draws Riley into a more complete hug, rubbing her back slowly.]
Ssh... ssh, I know.. It's okay if you need to cry. I'm here.
[She doesn't push Maya away when she gets pulled into a hug, and when her hair starts to fall out? That's when she starts to cry. It's not because of her hair loss, but because of what begins to poke out—vines and flowers of all sorts, all colorful and bright and sunny, and they're all growing really rapidly.
But it hurts, and it's certainly not anything she's felt before, and she cries. It doesn't help that she's terrified out of her mind, and it doesn't help that everything hurts and that there are so many scary changes happening so fast.
It's a relief when everything stops, and while she doesn't stop crying, she's not really about to move anytime soon. She just wants to stay here, with Maya, not letting go. She hasn't even realized what she is, yet, but she knows that it's definitely not human.]
M-Maya—
[Her voice is a little quieter than usual, and there are some remnants of the pain and fear there, but she burrows in closer to Maya's side either way.]
[A lot is hitting her at once. That's rough. Maya was lucky enough that it had been spread out over months for her. When the human hair cascades around them, Maya tends to the damaged area, offering a tender kiss to the abused scalp just before buds blossom out of it.
It's lovely. Even in a place like this, Riley finds a way to be beautiful. Because of course she does.]
I know, Riles. But it's not gonna hurt forever, I promise.
[She rubs Riley's arms, hoping the warm fur will soothe her skin.]
[There's still a lot to go, and, at the very least, it was just all superficial stuff for the time being. Not the hunger, not the roots, not anything quite like that. That's probably the luckiest thing for her.
The contact is pretty soothing, and she just stays there for a little bit, forcing herself to breathe and calm down, even if the tears aren't quite stopping. At least it doesn't seem like there's more to come for now.]
... What am I?
[She manages to say, because she honestly hasn't taken the time to look or consider or think in the midst of everything.]
[Well, after all that talk with Maya it was really no surprise that Riley would suddenly show up. Huh? Okay, it was a surprise anyway and the Riley Committee probably had a very long meeting. Several. Probably when she fell asleep. But that didn't make him less worried and it was probably helpful to.
Focus his mind on things he should be focusing on but instead he approached Riley and knocked on the nearest thing he could.]
[She had actually been thinking about the situation. How much she missed New York, her family, her school, everything. How much she missed with Maya, who didn't deserve anything that happened to her. There was a lot to take in. But that's why she was determined to make the best of the situation, too, and why her current thoughts were on "what kinds of fun things can we do?"]
A lot. I'm trying to think of something to do for Maya.
[Well, there's that. He's certain she'll be better at it than he was. Maya's just as important to him as she is to her, even if it won't be responded to at quite the same level. It's something he accepted, a different kind of love, but the issue with loving two girls equally is wanting the happiness for both of them.]
Be there for her. You're better than that than anyone. So what about you?
[She's the ray of sunshine for their little group of friends. Even when she feels awful, she still tries to make sure everyone around her is happy. It's what she thrives on, and what she intends to keep doing here.]
I was going to be there for her already. And I'll be okay, too.
[Not great or fantastic or anything like usual, but she'll be okay, and she really wants to believe she'll be okay. She's more than aware of the monster changes and what's happened to Maya and the whole Fog God thing, but that's about it.]
I know you were. [ He says it simply. He never had any doubt Riley would be there for Maya. Or Maya for Riley. Or him for either of them. They'd known each other for tool long for anything like that to happen. He believed that. Even if things has changed, and now to even worse degrees.]
[But it pains him to hear the words 'I'll be okay' because that's not usual Riley answer and he doesn't quiteee look at her. Nods, but doesn't address the simple works, before thinking and shaking his head this time.
I'm... Going to figure out as much as I can. We still don't know as much as we should [Because he's concerned about Maya goes unsaid. If she figures it out, good, but if not he won't say anything because he doesn't want to worry her anymore than he has to, either.]
[She shifts over, sitting on the windowsill that's taken the place of her bay window for now, and pats the spot next to her.]
Have you figured out anything about the Fog God? I'm worried about Maya. I know she's said a lot of good stuff about the Fog God, but something about it still feels really weird.
[It's not that unusual for Riley to be hanging out at Topanga's. Everyone does, because the place is so popular.
She's people watching, though. She does it from time to time, because she enjoys seeing how happy people can be—and what better place than here? She's so engrossed in her people watching, though, that she does kind of tunnelvision.]
[It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where any of his friends are. If he's looking for Lucas, he might check out the sports fields. Even Maya he could probably find in the park these days where she could draw. Riley was usually in the same place they would all always meet up--
It's certainly not hard to spot her, either. His lips quirk up in a familiar, small smile that always seems to crop up when she speaks or he sees her. Certainly, it's once more not hard to tell what's got her mind wrapped up in, but that's just a thing he also knows needs breaking through if you ever want to speak to her.]
Hey, Riley. [He pipes up, moving to slide into the nearby couch seat. What are you looking at?
Of course they are. [He really hadn't needed to ask, honestly. It was just as he thought, but still spared the surrounding area a glance.] They're always happy here. It has a good atmosphere.
[Lucas considers himself fairly good at rolling with punches. He's a sunny-side-up sort of guy, a man of good humor and good spirits.
And then there's Ryslig. It's hard to be good-spirited about kidnappings and stories that sound like they came out of the dark space under Twilight's bed. It's hard, when he'd tried to get between an older man harassing a little girl, only to have the man flash fangs and fly away on wings. Real wings and real flight.
It was a relief to be able to follow familiar voices out to the clearing by the lake. It kind of looks a little like the set of Friday the 13th out here, but it can't be bad if his buds are here. They probably just got separated in the shuffle. Everything's gonna be okay.]
Oh man, am I glad to see you guys. Can you believe some of the...
[And then he's close enough to see them. His voice trails off slowly, eyes raking over the shapes of things that only tangentially resemble friends.
[And then here's Riley, clearly still herself despite all of the changes that have happened to her—and there have been quite a lot. She's a nymph, flowers and green skin everywhere, with some vines here and there too. She's like her own mini, personal garden at this point.
And the exact moment she sees Lucas, she freezes and her expression quickly goes from a :D to a D: and straight back to a tiny, unsure, disbelieving smile to try to be reassuring. He shouldn't be here. He was the one that got to escape all of this, and while there's part of her happy to see him, there's another part that just keeps going no. She doesn't want him to undergo everything that she's undergone with Maya and Farkle.]
[This is awkward, there is no way it can't be awkward, why can't Maya be here to call him Huckleberry, why is everything awful, oh god. She'd taken to stepfording a bit since everything continued to get worse, but here's Lucas and that broke down whatever flimsy barriers she had in place pretty easily.]
Welcome to Ryslig. You haven't been here too long, have you?
[She stands, awkwardly, and Lucas can probably see the roots that have taken the place of her toes now, and she awkwardly clasps her hands behind her as she tries to even consider what to say. And she hopes that he hasn't been here for too long.]
[EVERYTHING IS WRONG, it's a good thing no one can hear her internal screaming.]
You see, things sort of—happened, and it was because of these scratches and—[She unclasps her hands, waving them around maybe a bit too dramatically.] Now I'm a nymph! And the same thing happened to Maya, and she's a manticore, and Farkle is whatever he is.
[If there's one thing Farkle Minkus has taken one joy out of in this whole thing it's magic and learning how to use it. Or how it relates to science, to be more precise. Mostly it's just really cool and the one saving grace of the shrinking slightly more, turning a sickly shade of green, and looking like some weird version of Santa's helping elf. Except with tiny wings to boot.
He spends just as much time studying that as he does everything else, but maybe that's not a good thing because he doesn't seem to get any further in his researches as he'd like. It's distressing, but not nearly so much as the sudden voice behind them as they talked.]
Lucas! [Oh. Wait, this is not. A. Good. Thing. Welp, he hesitates making a face and trying to puzzle out what to say, but nah let's go casual.] Oh. Hi.
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This fog is special. It's going to be Riley's first.
She's settled down beside her friend on the windowsill, clasping one of Riley's hands between both her paws.]
Looks like the fog's rolling in down the block. You scared?
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But now it was happening. The fog was right there and she was scared out of her mind because she had no choice but to face it now.]
No. Maybe. Yes. [A pause, as she puts her free hand on top of one of Maya's paws.] I'm really scared.
[But she'll take it, because Maya had to do this without her around already and if Maya can do it she definitely, definitely can. Or she can at least pretend she can.
It doesn't take long for the fog to get to them, and for a second, she does tense up once it passes by them—until the changes start. Everything feels like it's on fire, from her head to her toes, as everything just starts. The first, most obvious thing, is the fact that her skin starts changing.
It's not long before it's bright green, and Riley has to pull a hand back to try to clamp it over her ears—which are quickly becoming pointy and leafy. It hurts, and she tries to bite down on her whimpers but she doesn't quite manage.]
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Maya clutches her close when her skin pigment fluctuates. She draws Riley into a more complete hug, rubbing her back slowly.]
Ssh... ssh, I know.. It's okay if you need to cry. I'm here.
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But it hurts, and it's certainly not anything she's felt before, and she cries. It doesn't help that she's terrified out of her mind, and it doesn't help that everything hurts and that there are so many scary changes happening so fast.
It's a relief when everything stops, and while she doesn't stop crying, she's not really about to move anytime soon. She just wants to stay here, with Maya, not letting go. She hasn't even realized what she is, yet, but she knows that it's definitely not human.]
M-Maya—
[Her voice is a little quieter than usual, and there are some remnants of the pain and fear there, but she burrows in closer to Maya's side either way.]
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It's lovely. Even in a place like this, Riley finds a way to be beautiful. Because of course she does.]
I know, Riles. But it's not gonna hurt forever, I promise.
[She rubs Riley's arms, hoping the warm fur will soothe her skin.]
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The contact is pretty soothing, and she just stays there for a little bit, forcing herself to breathe and calm down, even if the tears aren't quite stopping. At least it doesn't seem like there's more to come for now.]
... What am I?
[She manages to say, because she honestly hasn't taken the time to look or consider or think in the midst of everything.]
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idunno why do we let me do things
Focus his mind on things he should be focusing on but instead he approached Riley and knocked on the nearest thing he could.]
What are you thinking about, Riley?
idk it's fun
A lot. I'm trying to think of something to do for Maya.
idkidk
Be there for her. You're better than that than anyone. So what about you?
idkidkidk!!!!!
I was going to be there for her already. And I'll be okay, too.
[Not great or fantastic or anything like usual, but she'll be okay, and she really wants to believe she'll be okay. She's more than aware of the monster changes and what's happened to Maya and the whole Fog God thing, but that's about it.]
What about you, Farkle?
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[But it pains him to hear the words 'I'll be okay' because that's not usual Riley answer and he doesn't quiteee look at her. Nods, but doesn't address the simple works, before thinking and shaking his head this time.
I'm... Going to figure out as much as I can. We still don't know as much as we should [Because he's concerned about Maya goes unsaid. If she figures it out, good, but if not he won't say anything because he doesn't want to worry her anymore than he has to, either.]
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Have you figured out anything about the Fog God? I'm worried about Maya. I know she's said a lot of good stuff about the Fog God, but something about it still feels really weird.
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She's people watching, though. She does it from time to time, because she enjoys seeing how happy people can be—and what better place than here? She's so engrossed in her people watching, though, that she does kind of tunnelvision.]
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It's certainly not hard to spot her, either. His lips quirk up in a familiar, small smile that always seems to crop up when she speaks or he sees her. Certainly, it's once more not hard to tell what's got her mind wrapped up in, but that's just a thing he also knows needs breaking through if you ever want to speak to her.]
Hey, Riley. [He pipes up, moving to slide into the nearby couch seat. What are you looking at?
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People. A lot of people are smiling today, did you know that? It must be a good day.
[It's a simple thing, but she still takes joy in it.]
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Anyway, what's up?
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[It's said lightly, not an ounce of malice in it-- Just a silly quip given how their parents were.]
Nothing much. I just wanted to come by and say hi.
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And then there's Ryslig. It's hard to be good-spirited about kidnappings and stories that sound like they came out of the dark space under Twilight's bed. It's hard, when he'd tried to get between an older man harassing a little girl, only to have the man flash fangs and fly away on wings. Real wings and real flight.
It was a relief to be able to follow familiar voices out to the clearing by the lake. It kind of looks a little like the set of Friday the 13th out here, but it can't be bad if his buds are here. They probably just got separated in the shuffle. Everything's gonna be okay.]
Oh man, am I glad to see you guys. Can you believe some of the...
[And then he's close enough to see them. His voice trails off slowly, eyes raking over the shapes of things that only tangentially resemble friends.
This sure ain't Texas anymore.]
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And the exact moment she sees Lucas, she freezes and her expression quickly goes from a :D to a D: and straight back to a tiny, unsure, disbelieving smile to try to be reassuring. He shouldn't be here. He was the one that got to escape all of this, and while there's part of her happy to see him, there's another part that just keeps going no. She doesn't want him to undergo everything that she's undergone with Maya and Farkle.]
Lucas! Lucas. Hi. You're here now.
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This is awkward. This is the most awkward thing.
He slowly raises a hand, attempting a subtle wave.]
Hey.
...
Riley.
[It's not Riley it can't be Riley no way is that Riley.]
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[This is awkward, there is no way it can't be awkward, why can't Maya be here to call him Huckleberry, why is everything awful, oh god. She'd taken to stepfording a bit since everything continued to get worse, but here's Lucas and that broke down whatever flimsy barriers she had in place pretty easily.]
Welcome to Ryslig. You haven't been here too long, have you?
[She stands, awkwardly, and Lucas can probably see the roots that have taken the place of her toes now, and she awkwardly clasps her hands behind her as she tries to even consider what to say. And she hopes that he hasn't been here for too long.]
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I've got these scratches, and I think something bit me. So.
[Riley's treating this like there's nothing wrong with this and there is very much something wrong with everything happening right now.]
So you're green. Is. There a school play I don't know about?
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[EVERYTHING IS WRONG, it's a good thing no one can hear her internal screaming.]
You see, things sort of—happened, and it was because of these scratches and—[She unclasps her hands, waving them around maybe a bit too dramatically.] Now I'm a nymph! And the same thing happened to Maya, and she's a manticore, and Farkle is whatever he is.
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He spends just as much time studying that as he does everything else, but maybe that's not a good thing because he doesn't seem to get any further in his researches as he'd like. It's distressing, but not nearly so much as the sudden voice behind them as they talked.]
Lucas! [Oh. Wait, this is not. A. Good. Thing. Welp, he hesitates making a face and trying to puzzle out what to say, but nah let's go casual.] Oh. Hi.