away with us he's going, the solemn-eyed.

[nightmarist]

Who: Residents of St. Monmouth & OPEN to their various guests
When: Throughout February
Where: St. Monmouth in Kauto R2
What: The Backstreet Boys move into their magical farm of dreams.
Warnings: Look to the subject headers.
Notes: This is a mingle/catch-all log. Start your own threads! Tag around!

[Ronan didn't hesitate. Almost as soon as they arrived, he was making arrangements and picking out a plot of land. No payment necessary as long as he agreed to feed the locals? Fine. Perfect. He'd signed whatever he had to and picked out his favorite place in the lot, then he'd laid down in the grass and dreamt.

When he closed his eyes, he wasn't sure what he would build. The idea of "home" conjured up so many images in his mind. He thought of the Barns, of course, but also of Henrietta as a whole. He thought of Monmouth Manufacturing and dusty old books and the scent of mint. He thought of St. Agnes and its magnificent stained glass and the cramped coziness of Adam's bedroom above the office. He found Cabeswater sprouting up in the strangest places as the landscape shifted around him, spilling out of the walls and claiming rooms all for its own. Corridors and staircases emerged out of his memories, leading him through a maze of rooms both familiar and not-quite. In the end, when Ronan stepped outside to take a look at his work, he found he'd made himself a palace of nostalgia. Then he imagined a set of house keys, turned the lock of the front door, and woke up.

Ronan woke with his head resting on the welcome mat, sprawled across the front steps, gazing up at the spire of what he would dub St. Monmouth. It would be the main building of several he'd end up creating. Their new home.

Like God, he didn't rest for several days. Every time he shut his eyes, he devoted himself to dreaming something new. A farm needed animals and crops and barns and feed and equipment. Home needed streams and fish and bridges and flower gardens and glittering lights. He let his imagination run wild, and this meant that his dream things often emerged strange and senseless, but that reminded him of his father, which made the place more beautiful.

When he was finally satisfied - although not completely finished - he invited the others to join him.]

Comments

[procedures]

"The ocellated icefish, chionodraco rastrospinosus, is the only vertebrate in the known universe with transparent blood." [ There's a bit of an awkward pause after Alva recites that bit of trivia before he clears his throat and pretends he hadn't mentioned it. Not that it's effective. ] Sometimes your fishy trivia sticks, it turns out.

But it is pretty insane. Don't you worry it's gonna cave in?

[ He tells himself he's not being extra about it; it's just good old-fashioned caution. So many things could go wrong, couldn't it? It only takes a single screw coming loose, or a small hairline crack - all of this could collapse and—

Yeah, he needs to find a different hobby that doesn't start and end in a lab. ]

Please tell me this whole place is reinforced. Happy is good, you know? But happy and safe are better. Don't give me a heart attack. I'm old.

[deconstruct]

Nerd. [ andyr teases, as if that wasn't something he knows only because andyr recited it at him so many times. ] At least you finally learned something worthwhile.

[ as if his medical degree isn't, har har har. andyr looks over the ceiling, at the seams, and how they don't really appear to be seams. like it's just one huge piece, made perfectly for this exact purpose, and really, it is. because this is something that came out of ronan's head, and dreams don't require physics to function.

much like the fish in salt/fresh water above. by all means of science, they shouldn't be able to live in that pond. but they do. something truly beautiful about this entire house. literally a living dream. ]

Nah. I don't think it'll break. I don't think it's allowed to. [ it might be glass with the actual strength of steel. that seems like a ronan thing. but andyr's not about to take a hammer to it to test. ] Chill your pace maker, gramps. Even if it does crack, I'll probably be fine.

[ reminder - he's a tank. ]

[procedures]

[ A flesh tank, all the same. Alva picks up Petra off his shoulder - she's started eating his hair now, that's not healthy - and cups the feline neatly in one hand. Small things look smaller in his hands, but ask him if he cares.

He does sit on the unmade bed now, watching the floor as the shadows cast by schools of fish undulate like the waters they're swimming in. Where does the current come from, he wonders? Who's going to clean the glass on the other side of the room? ]

Your body might be fine, but you still need to breathe. [ Alva frowns a bit, thinking over the past few months. Surely nothing's changed that drastically? ] That hasn't changed, has it?

Should I be worried for your lungs?

[deconstruct]

I grew gills. No big deal.

[ hurr hurr huuurrrrr. look at your child, alva. look at this shit eating grin he's giving you. clearly this is a lie, and the eye roll he gives him a moment after makes that obvious. ]

Yeah, I still need to breathe. But, the surface of the water's only a couple yards up from the ceiling, probably.

[ as far as he could tell from the looking down at the pond from outside, at least. maybe he should actually go swimming in it later, see how ronan had actually set this up. ]

Stop worrying, you'll get grey hairs. If you don't have enough already.

[procedures]

Wouldn't I go blue before grey?

[ The way their genes work, after all, is peculiar - red roots growing out into dark brown, green or blue or hazel eyes flecking gold or neon pink or purple. Their mutations are manageable, unlike the ones he'd seen from others - elongated bones, vestigial limbs, polydactyly, extreme cases of vitiligo and albinism and polychromia. Those were just the common ones.

He'd seen girls with eyes growing out of their mouths. Boys with extra rows of teeth. ]

Gills, though — do you want me to check you? See if there aren't any actually growing? [ Petra's resorted to purring against Alva's hand; she looks like a lumpy ball of fur with her face tucked against the meat of Alva's thumb. ]

You know, just in case.

[deconstruct]

Hell if I know, you're the Mouse doctor.

[ but that'd be pretty funny. yeah, andyr thinks he'd like to see alva go blue with stress and old age, and he has a point. with the way this gene works, who even knows what they'll come out looking as by the time they reach higher numbers. if they do. not many manage it.

andyr's taking this gills prospect into serious consideration, frowning thoughtfully, from where he is sprawled on the bed. ]

You know, that'd be badass. I hope there are.

[ resolute, he turns over, back to the mattress, and scoots himself to plop out in front of alva, arms flopped to the side. ] Check me. See if I got lucky.