forum Out in Space (classic lit and sci fi!) (CLOSED, stalkers welcome)

Started August 14, 2020 by @ElderGod-Icefire

tune

(I hope you guys don’t mind me posting something lol-)

Victor woke up to the sound of sizzling and the smell of something breakfast-y. How long had he been asleep, and how had he gotten to his room? Oh, of course. Eden. The foolish monster was always trying to hold him back from his work, keep him from reaching his full scientific potential. It’s not as if an unfeeling murderer like them could care, after all. Victor stepped downstairs, ready to resume his work. Unfortunately, he’d have to pass through the kitchen to do it, and who else was there but Eden, preparing some pancakes, eggs, and bacon for the whole group? They were moving from pan to pan, working obsessively to make sure nothing burned.

((this asshole fell asleep himself))

Lo woke early, as per usual, and fit in the best workout she could under the circumstances. Currently, she was on her way back from a quick jog, heart pumping from the quick pace and legs itching to keep going. She wasn't sure how long she should be out, though. If they received an emergency call, or something happened at the house, it was a good idea to be there.

As she entered the house, she shut the door as quietly as possible, removing her shoes and making her way towards the kitchen. The smell of food had her stomach–empty except for the cookie she snuck before working out–grumbling, and she knocked on the wall before entering the kitchen. She spared Victor a nod, before speaking. "Good morning, dear! Need any help with cooking?"

“If you could handle the bacon, that would be lovely.” Eden nodded to Lo. Victor sat down at the table, taking a small, glowing cube out of his pocket and starting to tinker with it’s holographic screen. Meanwhile, Eden flipped the last in a very tall stack of pancakes, obviously meant to feed the whole group when they came down.

"Of course." Lo pulled her earbuds from her ears, tucking them into the pockets of her athletic shorts. Wasting no time, she took up dealing with the bacon, humming to herself for a few moments. "Did you sleep alright? If at all? It did seem like quite a few of us managed to be up at the same time." She mused, turning over a piece of bacon and listening to it sizzle loudly.

“I don’t ever sleep, not much. I’m not even sure if I need to. I’ve been able to go a few days without before, but maybe I’m just a lot more tolerant to unrest than most.” Eden shrugged, serving up a plate to Victor and looking a little desperate. “Uh, bacon’s on the way.”

“Please eat.” they added.

Victor ignored the plate, and by extent, Eden. He never ate without some coaxing, but this silent treatment was a bit unfamiliar to them. Usually Victor was talking their ear off about their scientific genius or something, so yesterday had most likely hit hard

"Almost done here! Just on the last few pieces. Though, I guess that makes sense." Lo said, adding another piece to the plate of finished bacon. "Are there any other things that you go without? And how long do you usually sleep for when you do?" The last few pieces of bacon followed quickly, and she carried them over to the table, dropping two pieces onto Victor's plate.

"Darling, the polite thing to do when someone makes you food, is eat it. Though," She turned to Eden, smiling. "If he's going to be like that, I don't mind a bit of extra carbs. Go grab yourself some food, I'll dish out the bacon to the other plates."

“Uh… usually only five hours at most,” Eden said in answer to Lo’s question. They fidgeted uncomfortably, scanning the room for the arrival of anyone else to ease the growing tension inside of them.

“Tell the oversized freak I’m busy. They can take care of themself, as I can take care of myself. Understand?” Victor said, paying barely any attention to the two.

“Victor, please don’t be like this…” Eden trailed off.

((gonna wait for someone else to jump in as well after this one lmao))

"No, I don't understand. Now, if you'd care to let those of us with a mentality above that of a fifth grader have a civil conversation, I would be thrilled." Lo said simply, no trace of venom in her voice. Like a statement, rather than an insult. With that, she deigned to ignore him, not really looking to fall into a battle of insults so reminiscent of her gradeschool days. Instead, she smiled at Eden, going about the task she had set for herself. "If you're ever looking for some company, I don't mind doing activities at night. As you could likely tell, by the baking. Oh, we could make a cake together! With fancy frosting. Like the little flowers?"

(Same with me.)

“Oh, don’t fight. Never mind,” Eden sighed, turning away from Victor and dishing up a triple portion for themself on a large platter. “I’d absolutely love to partake in baking with you, if you’d like. I’m not too skilled with decorations, you could say my artistic eye is… lacking.” they shrugged.

Alek had fallen asleep curled on the couch and still lay there when morning came, one hand hanging off of the end of the couch and his blonde hair messy and tangled. He didn't even awaken when the others started to argue.

Sherlock came down midargument, and studied the situation for a long moment. "Ah…what's going on?" They asked slowly, tugging on the collar of their button up shirt to adjust it.

(Stg all Sherlock wears is like. Business casual lmao)

“Darling, did you forget to set an alarm?”
Mina sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. She could tell she’d woken up late, it was an uncomfortable sticky feeling in her body that she hated.
“Oh no…” Jonathan eyes peeled open, and he shifted, stretching out his back. “We were talking…” he groaned.
“Yes, we were,” she replied simply. “It’s fine, it was our first day.”
As she got dressed, she thought about what she wanted to do once she got downstairs. First, she needed to contact Van Helsing at some point. She was certain now that the Clay Man used vampires as his agents, and everyone would need to be educated on them if they weren’t already.
Second, reconcile with Victor. After sleeping on it, she knew that, the matter of Eden aside, she shouldn’t have physically threatened him. And since they were going to spend an indefinite period of time together, it would be better to resolve these things quickly, especially considering they both had a common enemy and benefactor, as Lo had pointed out. Even if he didn’t reciprocate, it would still be wise.
Lastly, she hoped to make progress on where exactly the Clay Man might be, though that was a more uncertain task. She would have to ask someone like Mx. Holmes to help with that, as she wasn’t sure on where to start.
In a simple white shirt, maroon colored wide-cut pants, and her hair in a messy bun, she turned to go downstairs when she heard giggling behind her.
She turned. She could see Jonathan through the bathroom mirror, setting his razor down with a grin. As she stared at him, she realized the blurred quality of her vision.
“Did you forget your glasses?”
She laughed, maybe a little too loud. Taking her glasses from the bedside table, she put them on and went to the bathroom, hugging Jonathan from behind.
“Love you, babe. See you downstairs.”
“Love you too.” He continued shaving.
Mina descended the stairs, her uncomfortable feeling from earlier erased from memory. She grinned as the smell of pancakes came to her.

“Mina! Just the person I wanted to see, come here. So, I’ve put together all the information I have on vampires, they’re apparently parasitic beings who transform their victims to be lower-ranking feeding stock for what is possibly a hive mind. However, I know you know quite a bit on vampires and I was wondering, could there be a cure for their condition without killing them?” Victor stood up, showing her the notes on his cube. “So far the answer is no, from everything I know and everything I’ve guessed, but if you have anything useful, any samples…”

“Hello, Mina. Care for something to eat?” Eden called from the kitchen.

"You have me for the artistic eye, dear. We'll do just fine." Lo said, patting Eden's shoulder and hopping up onto the counter with her own plate. Her hair was braided back, awaiting a quick shower once she had eaten. And eating was something she seemed plenty excited to do. After covering her pancakes with enough syrup to drown a living being, she started in on them, happy as hell. "They're so good. I haven't had pancakes in forever and a half."

Mina’s mouth hung slightly open, surprised at Victor’s animated approach. She stared at the cube, nodding slowly. “Yes… that’s what Van Helsing told us.” She straightened. “But no, he always emphasized that killing them was the only way to save them. Although…” she put a hand to her chin. “I was bitten. Van Helsing put a Sacred Wafer on my forehead, and it seemed to prevent me from turning. Religious items may not be a cure-all solution, but it may help those who are turning, or close to.” Her hand dropped to her side. “Me and Jonathan have extensive knowledge on vampires’ various abilities as well. Aside from that…”
Would going there prove helpful? She didn’t like the idea of going to Lucy’s grave. That place held too many memories, ones that she didn’t want to resurface. She frowned, but she quickly replaced it with a warm smile as she looked up at Eden.
“Good morning. And yes, I’d appreciate it.”

Eden quietly and quickly served up a plate for Mina, setting it down on the table. “I suppose I do,” they said in response to Lo, giving her a small lopsided smile.

“Religious items, hmm? This is… well, it’s positively fascinating! Is it a learned aversion, like a placebo perhaps?” Victor mused.

“Ooh,” Her eyes widened. “I never thought about it that way, but it’s certainly possible.” She went around Victor to sit down. “I think that’s how Van Helsing and the others repelled the vampire that bit me, too. Thank you,” she said to Eden. “I prefer my pancakes with blueberries myself, but these smell so good, why should I complain?” She chuckled before taking a fork and knife to cut them into manageable pieces.
Jonathan came down, his jaw freshly shaved. “Smells good down here,” he remarked before joining Mina at the table. He kissed her cheek.
“Hey darling.” She smiled at him. “Up to discussing vampires with Victor?”
Jonathan glanced at Victor, his eyes wide. Then he cringed, and Mina could tell he was remembering another time.
“Uhh…”

“If you know anything, it would be very useful.” Victor said excitedly. He was on a roll here, he was putting the pieces together, figuring it all out. “Perhaps, if you will, tell me how to kill them? It would be very useful for my research.”

Sherlock, at receiving no response to their question, shrugged and moved further into the kitchen. They looked around to figure out what there was to eat, not interrupting the others conversations that went on around them. They hummed quietly to himself.

“Um…” Jonathan swallowed. Mina put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance.
“I wouldn’t really know if there’s a specific way to kill one, but we usually tried to go after them at least before the sun set. They’re nocturnal creatures, and their powers weaken during the day. We killed two vampires. One was struck in the heart with a wooden stake, the other I struck in the throat, and a friend struck in the heart. We both used knives.”
Mina didn’t like the detached, almost monotonous tone her husband spoke with, but she knew it couldn’t be helped.

“Ah. So you kill them normally. That… makes sense, actually. I heard rumors that vampires had an advanced healing factor of some sort, but those were clearly false.” Victor shrugged, turning to edit his notes.

(Struck through the heart, and you’re to blame…)
“Ahh, no I don’t think so.” Mina’s brow furrowed. “I remember something that Van Helsing said though…” She took a few bites of pancake.
“I think he said that they just use blood to keep themselves fed and looking young. Nothing about healing, necessarily.” Jonathan said, staring at her plate absentmindedly.
“Right, right.” She waved her fork around as she spoke, turning to him. “Are you going to eat anything? You must be starving.”
He was about to say something when his stomach gurgled. He chuckled. “Yeah.”
He got out of his seat halfway, turning his head to the kitchen. “Morning Eden! Would you mind getting me some of that bacon?”