hollow plots and zombens

[made_up_names]

WHO: Peter Parker, Zomben, and all sorts of unlucky people
WHAT: Hollow!Uncle Ben (aka Zomben) has started to show up on campus. There will be an open comment (for generally being chased) as well as specific prompts for pre-plotted encounters.
WHEN: Very late on January 27th, forward dated to later in the week as well.
WHERE: Campus in general, also the gazebo in Soleil.

( Prompts are below so I can set up a general timeline-ish-thing! katoptron or Rho#9327 if you want me to set up something specific. Or just zoom yourself to the open comment and we'll just have some fun there.

I will match format, so if you prefer prose, prose away! )

Comments

[unpocoloco]

Ripping out from the source sounds nice in theory but aside being undead and a few other small perks associated with that, he hasn't got much in the way of any "ripping" power. They barely got away from Peter's Tío.

Ekkehardt waves him off and he shakes his head. Keep dismissing him, but he can be stubborn too-- just another time maybe. For now he draws his arm back, running his fingers over the bone. He gives his skeletal fingers a little test and is pleased to find they move as easily as they did before the break, and painlessly.

It's not a bad list that Ekkehardt gives either. No immediate solution but something that will give them time and keep others from falling into danger during that time. He's glad that Peter's rethinking his initial statement because that immediately earns a look. He's sure Bee would considered a rampaging family remember a higher priority than a grounding.

And then he laughs. "Peter," He says. "He's a healer and a school médico. I would think he works on the living." As smart as this boy could be, sometimes... "Ekkehardt, would you happen to have anything for his headache?"

[spelleton]

"I'd be very worried if I couldn't work on living people, considering what I was loaned for," he says, deadpan. Loaned, not hired, an important distinction.

"A headache? I can certainly take a look. Sometimes all you need is rest, which...is probably something you should be getting, right now, considering the hour."

He reaches out, despite his words, to give Peter a looking-over with his magic. It's a headache caused by something magical, so he should be able to ease it easily enough.

Keyword should.

[made_up_names]

Uh. Yeah. That whole loaned thing sounds super weird, sorry, Ekkehardt. He doesn't know you that well, so that gets a bit of a sideeye.

"Just asking!" he says. "I knew you did some stuff." Hence him running to fetch Ekke when Kano fell off the roof and broke his arm. But if he's really good at bones and just that, then it that would make sense, right? ... Look, sometimes he really can't defend himself here. He's just kind of a derp.

The headache does, indeed, have a magical cause. And Ekkehardt can ease it with no difficulty; Peter instantly relaxes, grateful for the relief. Whether Ekkehardt realizes that the cause was a anti-undead magic and not anti-blight magic is up to him and his senses, really. "That's way better," he says after a moment, brightening. "Thank you."

[unpocoloco]

That, admittedly, also sounds super weird to him and gets a raised brow, killing his laughter rather abruptly. He opens his mouth like he's going to ask, only to close it again. If this has to do with Ekkehardt being dead, then this isn't the time.

He watches the man work, glad to see it having an effect on Peter. It was his idea that brought this about after all.

Gently, he says to Peter, "Maybe Señor Ekkehardt could help with anything else like this in the future?" Like the nightmares keeping him from sleep in the first place. He gives a pointed look.

And to Ekkehardt, "I'll get him to his room. It's been a bit of a rough a night." Peter's shoulder gets a light pat. "But I imagine with so many of us here, it should be safe." He really hopes.

[spelleton]

He notices, and volunteers the information accordingly. "I'm here as part of an agreement between the family I serve and the Academy itself," he explains, noting that Peter is affected by an anti-undead warding despite seemingly not being dead, but choosing to keep any commentary on it to himself. "The exact circumstances of my employment are a little different from other people's. Once the terms of the agreement have been fulfilled, I'm free to return home or to stay on, if I wish to."

He leans back a bit, perching on the corner of a table. "I doubt your spectre will try again, at least not where there's so many people. I believe you can rest easily for now.

Though, if you do have any problems, I'll hope you come to see me. No reason for you to suffer in silence, if it can be fixed. That is, after all, my job."

[made_up_names]

"Huh. Still kinda sounds like you didn't have a choice." To begin with, anyway. But maybe that's just what mage families do?? Weird.

Anyway, Héctor gets a bit of a blank look at his comment. What does he mean, helping with stuff like this in the future? Didn't he just say that he's not the best person for dealing with Ben? Unless - oh. The lightbulb goes off finally. It's not nearly as large of a concern right now, though, what with his uncle apparently out to kill him.

"I'm okay for now," he says, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I don't sleep well at night anyway. That's why we were outside anyway." Or at least why he was; Héctor is a night owl for obvious reasons. (Though Peter finds himself drifting more and more towards being nocturnal as they go on here.)

But - if Ben's done for tonight, he's going to try to sleep. God knows he's tired enough for it now.

[unpocoloco]

He winces at how bluntly Peter puts that-- it could be contract work or maybe it's just a family Ekkehardt was close to. But Mage families could be... intense. He remembers Imelda's family, and they'd been far from the worst in his understanding.

On the other hand if Ekkehardt is happy where he is that could be just the slightest insulting.

"Okay, well, I guess that's most of our bases covered. Thank you again, Ekkehardt. I obviously would be in a fair bit of a bind without your help. We both would." And Ben. "Peter, if you want to look away for a second, so I can set my arm back..."

[spelleton]

"I'm sure it does seem like that." If Ekkehardt takes even the tiniest bit of offense to how bluntly Peter put that, he's sure not showing it at all. "But you'll be pleased to know that I volunteered for this position, so there was no forcing necessary. Not that my masters would ever force me to do something I truly didn't want to do."

It's an odd kind of trust, and...archaic, in a way. He seemingly doesn't feel the need to explain it any further than that, though.

"The best thanks you can give me is not to need my services any time soon." He inspects the cane and pulls out a length of what looks like paper from a pocket, wrapping it around the damage it's sustained to make it functional again. The script on it glows and falls to ash, revealing a smooth, undented surface.

"Not that I don't appreciate your company otherwise," he continues, as if he hadn't done that, and hands the cane back. "But the best gift you can give a doctor is not to see him regularly as a patient, you understand."

[made_up_names]

Thanks for not getting offended, Ekke. Peter shrugs a little and turns away again. At least Héctor reassembling himself is easier to watch, but not by a whole lot...

“I keep an eye out for him,” he says helpfully. “Uh, when I’m not causing the trouble in the first place.”

He’s usually a net negative there, sorry Héctor.

[unpocoloco]

He feels better, hearing that, tension easing. He might not be at all prepared to take on a mage family on behalf of Ekkehardt but that doesn't mean he'd like to see the man suffer one. It still sounds strange but...

Well, his familia was strange too. Fo whatever trouble he caused there wasn't a lot he wouldn't do for them. He gives a quick look of understanding.

One which quickly turns sheepish--interupted only by a quick bit of wonder over the cane before it returns again. "S-sí. I understand."

Next time. Next time he'll talk with Ekkehardt far from the infirmary. Or at least down the hall. He lets his power work then, a reverse of that golden, dusty light, setting his arm back in place. It looks vastly better and he's pleased to give it a shake out and find the motion painless.

He snorts and shoots a wry grin Peter's way. "Oh you're looking out for me now? When you're not meddling or finding danger or slipping out past curfew?" He reaches out musses Peter's hair, grinning. "I guess I do owe you a thing or two," He say fondly.