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extensiveform) wrote2026-03-16 08:51 pm
extensiveform) wrote2026-03-16 08:51 pm
streamy: memshare: jem is beaten by furniture (4)
[cw: violence]
The memory begins when Valiant's (and Jem's) adventuring party have already disembarked their rental airship, The MIGHTY Skywagon, for another vessel. After entering a fog bank, they nearly collided with a pirate ship, the two ships left hanging parallel in the same section of sky. When no pirates boarded the Skywagon, our heroes chose to investigate whether it was a ghost pirate ship or--more likely--walk directly into a trap.
What they found was a dozen or so pirates, facedown on their own deck. After approaching one prone shape, it became clear they weren't dead, but paralyzed. conscious, even. How curious! And, more interesting, were the highly conspicuous furniture items interspersed between the ship's crew:
A potted plant with blistering pustules full to bursting along its stalk; a large chest, undeniably full of treasure; a wood-backed chair with a thick cushion with a suspicious stain; a wardrobe large enough to hold a few someones inside; and a chaise lounge with silver metal feet in the shape of talons.
Jem has had access to his hardlight module which allows him to maintain man-shape for less than a day. He wears a holiday sweater, a pair of overalls made for a much smaller person, and a hat with two tufted points that resemble cat ears.
Anselm, the party healer, a pretty young man with long silver hair and a tragic backstory, kneels by one of the pirates and casts a spell to relieve his suffering. The man returns to full consciousness just in time to issue a harsh grunt of warning.
A fight commences as the aforementioned furniture all comes to awful, creepy crawly life. Each piece has murky, sticky shadow insides that slither out from beneath cushions and hinges. They corner the group of heroes, all the mimics presenting their own unique challenge. The wardrobe starts to gobble the party tinkerer into its grotesque innards. The chest jumps so harsh it can bounce a person right off the side of the ship.
Valiant asks, "Want to try out that new module?"
"Yes. I want wheels," Jem says.
As the chaise lounge approaches Valiant, Jem quickly discards his clothing (yeah, all of it) and turns into a ribbon of shimmering light that reconstitutes as a full crystalcycle. Perhaps surprisingly, his chassis is red, a rich tone that matches his rider's eyes. It's Jem's center console and his wheels (made of light, hovering above the deck by several inches) that glow the expected bright teal.
The new-new module, not the human-body module, allows Jem to fly. He lifts high above the ensuing chaos but it fails to make a difference when the chaise lounge rears back. While on its hind feet, the chaise's front burst forward, attached to thin chains like retractable flails. The talons slice over Valiant, every time, each attack dextrous enough to avoid Jem's defensive plating. Half of these strikes leave a whisper of shadowy substance behind as the mimic feeds off of Valiant's lifeforce, healing itself (for half the damage done, what a mechanic).
I can access retreat protocol any time. Jem drops the words directly into Valiant's head.
"That's one thing we don't do. We're not leaving." Valiant speaks lines like this but makes an awful face when Jem suggests he has a heroic streak, too.
But Jem's programming won't allow him to resist a direct order like that. They aren't leaving. He watches Valiant's heartrate spike and spiral; he has no choice but to continue the fight, even when Valiant is so hurt a single additional hit would quite possibly kill him. In this form, Jem has no teeth to grit, but something else inside of him grinds down thinner and thinner.
The party wins in the end. Their paladin hits his limit break and uses sword-driven slashes of pure darkness to burst apart the living furniture, one piece at a time. The chaise lounge falls and Jem should be relieved, because Valiant remains seated atop him. Alive. Breathing.
His blood alcohol level is the same as that morning.
Jem is so, so angry, he does not say anything at all for a while. He does not return to human form. He stews in his code, seeking out defects, a future path for defying command and flying Valiant somewhere far, far away when he's on the brink of death.
--
Later, Jem is a man and he stands with Valiant once again on the deck of The MIGHTY Skywagon.
They're talking, debriefing, something that will have been seen by the cast of The Vine on most evenings (usually in the theater).
Jem speaks out of frustration. "What am I supposed to do when the only thing I can care about is you?"
The look Valiant offers him before he responds with words is one of surprise and empathy and the pain of having once felt that exact way for someone else. And Jem wishes he could turn into a ring and roll off the airship, off the edge of Dessamori, into whatever horrific deadlands rest below.
Because he will do anything for Valiant Deadwyler and Valiant Deadwyler will do anything for--
The memory ends.
The memory begins when Valiant's (and Jem's) adventuring party have already disembarked their rental airship, The MIGHTY Skywagon, for another vessel. After entering a fog bank, they nearly collided with a pirate ship, the two ships left hanging parallel in the same section of sky. When no pirates boarded the Skywagon, our heroes chose to investigate whether it was a ghost pirate ship or--more likely--walk directly into a trap.
What they found was a dozen or so pirates, facedown on their own deck. After approaching one prone shape, it became clear they weren't dead, but paralyzed. conscious, even. How curious! And, more interesting, were the highly conspicuous furniture items interspersed between the ship's crew:
A potted plant with blistering pustules full to bursting along its stalk; a large chest, undeniably full of treasure; a wood-backed chair with a thick cushion with a suspicious stain; a wardrobe large enough to hold a few someones inside; and a chaise lounge with silver metal feet in the shape of talons.
Jem has had access to his hardlight module which allows him to maintain man-shape for less than a day. He wears a holiday sweater, a pair of overalls made for a much smaller person, and a hat with two tufted points that resemble cat ears.
Anselm, the party healer, a pretty young man with long silver hair and a tragic backstory, kneels by one of the pirates and casts a spell to relieve his suffering. The man returns to full consciousness just in time to issue a harsh grunt of warning.
A fight commences as the aforementioned furniture all comes to awful, creepy crawly life. Each piece has murky, sticky shadow insides that slither out from beneath cushions and hinges. They corner the group of heroes, all the mimics presenting their own unique challenge. The wardrobe starts to gobble the party tinkerer into its grotesque innards. The chest jumps so harsh it can bounce a person right off the side of the ship.
Valiant asks, "Want to try out that new module?"
"Yes. I want wheels," Jem says.
As the chaise lounge approaches Valiant, Jem quickly discards his clothing (yeah, all of it) and turns into a ribbon of shimmering light that reconstitutes as a full crystalcycle. Perhaps surprisingly, his chassis is red, a rich tone that matches his rider's eyes. It's Jem's center console and his wheels (made of light, hovering above the deck by several inches) that glow the expected bright teal.
The new-new module, not the human-body module, allows Jem to fly. He lifts high above the ensuing chaos but it fails to make a difference when the chaise lounge rears back. While on its hind feet, the chaise's front burst forward, attached to thin chains like retractable flails. The talons slice over Valiant, every time, each attack dextrous enough to avoid Jem's defensive plating. Half of these strikes leave a whisper of shadowy substance behind as the mimic feeds off of Valiant's lifeforce, healing itself (for half the damage done, what a mechanic).
I can access retreat protocol any time. Jem drops the words directly into Valiant's head.
"That's one thing we don't do. We're not leaving." Valiant speaks lines like this but makes an awful face when Jem suggests he has a heroic streak, too.
But Jem's programming won't allow him to resist a direct order like that. They aren't leaving. He watches Valiant's heartrate spike and spiral; he has no choice but to continue the fight, even when Valiant is so hurt a single additional hit would quite possibly kill him. In this form, Jem has no teeth to grit, but something else inside of him grinds down thinner and thinner.
The party wins in the end. Their paladin hits his limit break and uses sword-driven slashes of pure darkness to burst apart the living furniture, one piece at a time. The chaise lounge falls and Jem should be relieved, because Valiant remains seated atop him. Alive. Breathing.
His blood alcohol level is the same as that morning.
Jem is so, so angry, he does not say anything at all for a while. He does not return to human form. He stews in his code, seeking out defects, a future path for defying command and flying Valiant somewhere far, far away when he's on the brink of death.
--
Later, Jem is a man and he stands with Valiant once again on the deck of The MIGHTY Skywagon.
They're talking, debriefing, something that will have been seen by the cast of The Vine on most evenings (usually in the theater).
Jem speaks out of frustration. "What am I supposed to do when the only thing I can care about is you?"
The look Valiant offers him before he responds with words is one of surprise and empathy and the pain of having once felt that exact way for someone else. And Jem wishes he could turn into a ring and roll off the airship, off the edge of Dessamori, into whatever horrific deadlands rest below.
Because he will do anything for Valiant Deadwyler and Valiant Deadwyler will do anything for--
The memory ends.