video;

[herbmixing]

[ The camera turns on to reveal a young face, currently in transit. It's Rebecca, walking down one of the broad, bright streets of upper Lunatia. She's a little unused to mobile videos, so occasionally she bobs out of frame. You can see her short hair, the pink choker she perpetually keeps wrapped around her neck, and the top of a green baseball tee. It is the nineties, after all.

More of relevance is probably the flushed cheek, the slightly heavier breathing. Iris is in full effect, and it's not giving her a second of mercy. She gathers herself before starting, eyes flicking over the display to make sure everything is set up and working correctly. ]

...you guys really weren't kidding about the effects of these moons. The physical and physiological changes already didn't make any sense, but this is just-- [ She puffs out a breath, shaking her head. ] Maybe there really is some merit to the lunar effect. We have all sorts of old wives' tales back home about how the full moon makes people go crazy, and we've only got one of them.

[ She pauses, glancing up to cross a street. Once across, she flashes an embarrassed smile at the camera. ]

Anyway. That's not what I wanted to talk about. Now that I'm settled in and things seem...peaceful... [ Her expression creases briefly, a nonverbal "for now". ] I was wondering, how do you all fill up your day?

I'll start! I'm Rebecca. [ She gives the camera a little wave. ] I haven't settled on a job yet, so mostly I'm going to the gym or at the cafe if I'm not in my apartment. I love sweet drinks, so it's nice to just relax in the sunshine with a book. I like playing basketball, and piano too, but those sort of fell by the wayside. All that keeps me busy, but when the moon's full, I'm still kinda lacking strategies to...distract myself.

[ It's about the most polite way she can conjure of saying, "Jesus Christ, nobody told me the moon effects were this bad, I'm going out of my mind here." ]

I figure we should all be trying to help each other out, even if it's just with sharing coping mechanisms. I'm always here to help if you need a medic, or even just a sympathetic ear. So...let me know!

weiss;

[ And then, as if by divine providence, a familiar, stylish ponytail of white hair exits a building. Rebecca lowers her phone and squints after her. She's much more put together now, but...yes, it is the girl she'd had that talk with!

Rebecca's wandering route has taken her near to the theatre. Was that where she was going? She's briefly caught in internal debate, not wanting to bother the girl, before managing to push. She breaks into a light half-job and quickly catches up. ]

Weiss?

Comments

text | j.valentine

[torsion]

Training, day-in and day-out. ;)

Unfortunately haven't found a place to fire off heavy weapons yet, but I might not be looking hard enough. I like to skulk the city and explore it like I did back in Raccoon.

Sometimes I'll play piano and practice my locksport just to relax and let my mind wander.

You been up to anything out of the ordinary lately?

text | ofcchambers

[herbmixing]

You can't solve every problem with workouts and heavy ordnance, Jill.

I've just been hitting the gym and exploring too, honestly. Trying to get a proper layout of the city. Then when I'm home, I've been cooking or catching up on reading.

It sounds really boring when I put it like that.

[torsion]

I'm Sanguis, so at least during the moon it helps me get out some frustration. I'm not sure if it works the same for others, I know there are different traits that seem to be common for each moon.

Either way, you don't gain and keep muscle by slacking or running for an hour a day. It's all precise -- and I enjoy it.

Big enough city that it's a bit rough, right? I've been mapping out the sewers, though, if you want me to make you a copy. I tend to explore them with a friend of mine.

Mine doesn't sound particularly exciting, either.

video

[topgun_textiles]

I realized a while back I wasn't drawing or painting all that much, so I got back into it pretty hardcore! Made some portraits and places in the cities we've been from memory. It's good to let the juices flow, y'know...?

Other than that, s'been doin' knit n' stitch commission work... and tryin' new things, like handling this little guy.

[He smiled broadly and hiked up one of his arms into the frame, cradling a rather large, shaggy black puppy that's having a big stretch and a yawn before resuming his nap.]

Never had pets before, so... hey, why not keep busy?

[herbmixing]

...oh my gosh, he's so cute.

[ Excuse her while she immediately gets distracted. She even stops on the sidewalk and leans in closer, wanting to get a better look at the feed. ]

It's not a bad idea. So you're an artist? An, um... [ What's the male word for "seamstress"? It escapes her. ] You sew?

[topgun_textiles]

Heheh, right? I was told he's a familiar and would appear as somethin' like my blessing. Guess it'd make sense it's kinduva dog with the whole Sanguis thing.

['An'...? Oh.]

I'unno about artist... I do it for fun mostly, keep my hands busy, but y'got people turnin' into stuff and they wanna be able to wear pants n' all. So if a tail busts a seam or you wanna wear a jacket while rockin' a pair of wings or whatever, I can hook you up.

video

[bubbleblaster]

I spend most of my free time here training. With everything going on here and things back home, I don't want to find myself getting lax.

[She does notice what's going on with Rebecca though, and her own face is rather flushed as well.]

But that doesn't really work all that well during the Iris Moon. I find it really hard to focus during this time. Or during the Triple Moon, which can sometimes be worse.

[herbmixing]

Mm, I'm trying to get on the treadmill at least, every day. What are you training in?

[ It's a hard knock life for the Iris fam. Flushes keep going through her body, ruining any proper thought process. She doesn't like it. ]

The triple moon? Oh, right...they all come up together next, don't they?

[bubbleblaster]

I think the closest thing to describe it would be swordplay. That, and magic. Which is part of my fighting style with a sword, and where the lack of focus becomes an issue.

[ Fireballs exploding prematurely were bad. Same with ones aimed at the wrong target. ]

And yes, they do. And it seems like each of the moons amplify the effects of each other. Though it's a little difficult to measure that.

[audio | @hot.damn]

[circumitus]

Spend a lot of time trying to burn off energy whenever.

[Meaning, while others seem to enjoy training, Rey wanders the unsavory neighborhoods of Level 3 looking for rapscallions she can flip from time to time. Not that she doesn't workout either, but sometimes a little firsthand flexing is what she craves.]

Found some good trails to go on runs when gyms get boring. Do a lot of people watching. Sometimes drink at the bars or clubs.

Don't have a job like some people here, but guess it's not necessary in this economy...

Just kill time when there's no death and mayhem going on, really. [Eh.]

[herbmixing]

As much as I like the gym, a trail run sounds so good. I'd appreciate it if you could send me the details sometime.

[ You can take the girl out of the Midwest, but... ]

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. Having too much time to kill and nothing to do. Is there anything you'd want to do?

[circumitus]

Trails outside of the city can be risky, otherwise there's some in the groves if you're looking to play it safe.

[Not everyone walks on the edge, Rey finds.

[She pauses at that question, not sure how to respond to it]

Don't know, to be honest. Have a lot of military experience... but if anyone were to ask about how to run a business or handling clientele, would have no idea how to that shit works.

On the other hand, there's been some incidents that called for those with combat experience, so... [Maybe she's exactly where she needs to be? Just a wandering hobo lady who can sometimes fight stuff?]

video;

[uncredentialed]

Hi Rebecca, I'm Virginia.

[ No last names? Fine with her. Not that it matters either way. She has a friendly smile, though. ]

I haven't found a job, yet, either. I'm doing research. There's a lot of interesting stuff here!

[herbmixing]

Nice to meet you!

[ It seemed a touch too official, going with "Officer Chambers" for an open chat. Research piques her interest either way. ]

What sort of research? On the Prismals and the lunar effects?

[uncredentialed]

That's part of it. I was doing medical research back home, and I would like to eventually try and document some of the physiological effects of the lunar cycles.

[video]

[axemeaquestion]

Hey there, Rebecca. I'm Rochelle.

Work keeps me busy, which is actually pretty nice. I used to be a TV news producer before... a lot of things happened back home. So I'm doing associate production work for a local station here.

Other than work, though, I like to listen to music, watch TV, or explore around. It's actually kinda fun, weird as this place gets. I'll go to a shooting range sometimes, too, just so I don't get rusty.

If it helps? I hear you on the moon thing. I'm Cordis. Not the same as Iris, but... you know. General vicinity of "weird" and "annoying".

[herbmixing]

I don't think I've heard of any producers being brought here. Any station I would have heard of?

[ She breathes out a little laugh, then nods. ]

Yeah, this place was a nice vacation for a bit, but I'm...not really used to taking time off. [ She grimaces briefly. ] If you could call it "time off" in between everything that's happened, anyway. With these lunar effects on top of it...

[ It could be worse, she's learning. She hasn't sprouted wings or fangs or flown into a rage. But being mind-foggingly horny for a week straight is also...not so good. ]

What have you experienced so far with Cordis?

[axemeaquestion]

Uh - depends on how much news you watch, I guess. It's a little local channel for Level 2. And hell, I went back to work and it kind of helped. What'd you do before?

As for Cordis, uh... well. Apparently I'm an owl? Which isn't the strangest sentence I've said in a while?

[she snorts]

I got wings under my arms this month. Not sure if I should find out if they're functioning or not. The first time, though, before the wings? Turned my neck 180 degrees on accident and screamed my head off in the middle of Prisma Place. Scared the shit out of just about everyone around. Thought I was... turning. Or something.

[like "into a zombie" kind of turning]

[schmisse]

[ It is Weiss, indeed! She definitely looks like she didn't spend the past week in a hospital bed, too. She's up and about and looking as fine as ever.

Her attention is shifted from the theatre to the person calling out her name. Ah— It's the doctor. Or something— close enough, right? ]

Oh, hi, Rebecca. Fancy meeting you here.

[ Not that she expects Rebecca to not like theatre, but... ]

[herbmixing]

Yeah, I was just out on a walk. I thought that was you!

[ Damn girl, yeah you are. Compared to Rebecca's perennial jeans-and-sneakers look, she feels positively sloppy.

Still, it's pleasing to see a patient recovered. Even if it wasn't her patient. And even if she's just being nosy. ]

How are you feeling? Better?

[schmisse]

[ SHHHHHH to each their own, et cetera. ]

And I'm definitely better, yes. It's as if I wasn't in the hospital at all. [ She gives Rebecca a small smile. ] What about you? Did you figure out what you want to do?

[resenting]

I can't speak for everyone, but I opened a business. Pretty much takes up most of my time between running it and crafting up my stock.

[herbmixing]

I bet. A business is a big responsibility.

What kind did you open?

text, un: piercedyourheart92

[piercedyourheart]

well if its a normal day i usually do archery training or running with my dog
ive been watching a lot of prismal tv too. its pretty good even if most of it gets kind of...you know
and if its an iris day i bake
gotta keep my hands busy

[herbmixing]

I haven't turned on the TV much, but I already get what you mean. It's just finding enough things to keep my hands busy.

Archery must be fun! I haven't met anyone who does that.