The Best Thing About Not Being Home is Missing You

[preuxchevalier]

There are people back home that your character hates. Or maybe they love them, but they're terrible people/influences. Here's your chance to talk or play out that special someone turning up in the Meadous. Are they so far out of their element that they're now defanged tigers? Do they lead right in with their wicked ways? What is your character's CR even going to think when they meet this person?
 

Post with your own character or the person they most/least want to see again who's a bad thing for them. Feel free to play out encounters in the snow between this character and your regular character's CR, or talk it out with if you're not sure you've got the voice down.
 

Fun for all ages! And by fun, we mean misery!

Comments

whoops, good influence for Dustin, terrible influence for probably everyone else

[maskedtyrant]

Codi supposes there could be worse things than waking up in a comfortable bed in a cozy cabin in the middle of nowhere, with no reception and most of her possessions missing. It's almost charming, what with the childish note sitting next to her bed, the pantry full of snacks and chocolates--she could have woken up with someone else in the bed, perhaps, or in a significantly more compromising location than one simply covered in snow and--

--are those penguins?

The ginger woman spends a full thirty minutes terrorizing the flightless birds before she realizes that there are definitely more pressing matters to attend to. For example: where the hell is she, anyways? That seems important.

As the penguins waddle away in abject terror, Codi stands in the center of the road and calmly clears her throat.

"HEY!!" she bellows at the nearby houses. "Anyone home?!"

I should be sorry

[chalicejoker]

A very large insect pops out from the front door of one of the nearby houses to see what the ruckus is about. He gives Codi a wave and a questioning chirp, because why are you making all of this noise, strange human?

[maskedtyrant]

"Huh?"

What an odd noise! Codi turns on her heel and squints at the large figure waving at her from one of the doorways.

She squints a bit more.

"...Hey, nice costume!" the ginger grins, finally deciding that, yes, this is what she wants to believe about this situation. "Is there some kind of parade or something happening? Is that why there's no one on the roads?"

[chalicejoker]

Costume? Darkroach looks down at himself as though to confirm that no, he is not wearing a costume, then looks back at Codi. He shrugs and steps outside of the house, carefully shutting the door behind him. Hajime had gotten mad the last time he left it open.

He scratched at his head and chirped again, for he didn't think there were any parades about just now.

[maskedtyrant]

That...that is a costume, right? The more Codi looks at it, the more she feels a little unsettled about how lifelike the chitin plates and claws look on this fellow. It must just be really well done! Yes, that's probably right.

"Come on, you don't have to stay in character!" she giggles, suddenly feeling a twinge of hysteria creep into her chest. "I'm--okay, well--I'm kind of lost. You think you could tell me where I am, maybe?"

[chalicejoker]

In character? Darkroach is not sure what that means. Nor is he quite sure how to tell her where she is. That seems to be the far more pressing question now.

He gesticulates wildly, buzzes some, points to Codi, and then points to the ground. This is where Codi is. Right here. This spot. He would make a "You are here" sign with matching arrow if he was capable of that extent of penmanship and sign-making.

[maskedtyrant]

Okay, that gets a laugh--if a bit of a desperate one. "Yeah, you're cute," she chuckles, brow scrunching with growing worry, "but I--okay, I need you to be serious for a moment with me. I don't remember how I got here. Can you just...point me to a shop, or a map, or...something?"

[chalicejoker]

He's cute? Awwwww, Darkroach chirps a thank you at that comment.

But now there was the matter of a map. Or a shop. Or a something. Darkroach wonders if he could find a something. It seems like the easiest of the three to obtain. Maybe Hajime would know where a something was. He starts pointing back at the house he'd come out of.

[maskedtyrant]

Codi completely misinterprets that gesture as a sign that Darkroach has a map in his house. Or something else useful. Either way, she figures he'll go in and return with new information, because the man in a full-body bug suit wouldn't seriously expect her to follow him inside a foreign dwelling, right?

"Alright, alright," the ginger waves her strange companion away and folds her arms, part in expectation and partly to ward off the winter chill. "I'll wait."

[chalicejoker]

Darkroach rushes inside the house. He tries to find a suitable something to bring her, ends up annoying Hajime in the process, and is sent back out with a plate of takoyaki since Hajime assumed he was just looking for food.

He holds up the plate of octopus balls and chirps. He found a something? Yay?

[maskedtyrant]

Well, at least he was quick about it--though Codi's still managed to wander partway down the street in pursuit of unsuspecting penguins by the time Darkroach reemerges. She turns around quickly, confusedly blinking as if she'd forgotten she'd sent her insectoid host away in the first place.

"For me?" Codi looks cautiously between Darkroach and the plate, then bends over slightly to give it a cursory sniff. "...Did you make these? What are they?"

Heedless of any suspicion she might actually have regarding the cephalopod confections, Codi gives up mid-sentence and reaches over to grab one.

[chalicejoker]

Darkroach attempts to explain that Hajime made them, which involves a bit of chirping and pointing towards the doorway of the little house. He doesn't really know exactly what they are, save that they are takoyaki and the only thing Hajime can really cook, so all he can do to answer that question is to shrug.

And then there's a bit of anxious buzzing as she takes one. Does she like it? He hopes she will like it. That will mean he's been helpful!

[maskedtyrant]

The pointing and chirped explanation is lost as Codi pops one of the takoyaki in her mouth and chews it methodically. She looks rather confused; she knew they were something fried, but she can't quite place what the something is. Some kind of meat...fish, possibly? Codi's not very good at this.

Whatever it is, it's good enough! "Hey, not bad!" Codi grins, reaching for another. "Thanks, I guess. Can you tell me where I am now?"

[chalicejoker]

Darkroach gives a pleased chirp when she seems to like the food, though he still isn't sure how to answer that question. Once more, he points down at the ground. Here! She's right here!

As an afterthought, he points back at the door of the house; she can go talk to Hajime if she wants to talk to someone who can actually use words. Maybe he should go get Hajime?

[maskedtyrant]

Oh, this again. Codi is rapidly starting to lose her patience; the good food helps, at least, so she reaches over to snag the rest of the plate while Darkroach gestures.

"Okay, go on," she mutters through a mouthful of takoyaki. "Do whatever. I'll figure it out myself."

[chalicejoker]

Darkroach chirps in exasperation, looks as though he might start pulling at his antennae in a manner that suggests pulling one's hair out, and rushes back inside.

He rushes back outside pretty much pushing Hajime in front of him; Hajime seems more annoyed by this than anything. Darkroach buzzes loudly in an attempt to get Codi's attention again. Look! He brought someone who can speak human!

[maskedtyrant]

Thankfully Darkroach isn't gone for long enough for Codi to distract herself with the penguins again, so she sees him--and his new friend--almost as soon as they leave the house.

She grins, wide and very un-ladylike through the last half-chewed bites of takoyaki. "Hey! You live with that guy?" she barks, pointing at Darkroach. "What's his deal, huh?"

[chalicejoker]

Hajime just looks slightly confused by all of this. "Yeah, I live with him." He looked at Darkroach like he was trying to figure out how to explain Darkroach's "deal." "Not sure what you mean by that. He's just...Darkroach."