welcome to the party, pal

[branchifer]

Who: Branch, Miguel, Tim, Boba, Dan, and Stacia
What: The supply and prisoner exchange
Where: The emptied out workroom floor
When: After all of Branch's chaos.
Warnings/Notes: Some blood, eventual cw mentions of cannibalism probably when Branch is hashing it out with Dan and Stacia, I'll put warnings in the subject.

[It's going to plan. And the heightened chaos is making it exactly as distracting and chaotic a situation as he was hoping for. The floor is cleared and there are people leading Elves and yetis to areas they've cleared, but traps can still be heard going off, sometimes randomly. Occasionally there's the angry argleblorgleblorg of a yeti getting chili powder exploding out of an air cannon to their face.]

[In some areas where traps were already set off and cleared, somehow (read: thanks to his 14-year-old secret accomplice) they've been reset, only to go off again.]

[It leaves things nice and unsettled and distracting.]

Comments

[mostdangerousbird]

[ Tim would’ve saved his most vociferous arguments for the roller skate contraption.

He’s seen enough things towed behind other things -

- he’s ridden a skateboard while hooked onto the back of an armored truck with a grappling gun -

to know how these sort of plans end. The words “redneck engineering” and “dollar store physics” definitely came up. There was a hot minute where Tim wanted to affix himself to the base of the house with duct tape to keep himself from bopping around like a ball bearing, but he wasn’t sure what removing duct tape would do to him. His skin has to be thinner.

So Tim did his best to hang on to the mesh for the ride. He looks a little green and thoroughly static electrified when he crawls out of the candy cane slipper sock that he’s used as padding in lieu of a seatbelt. His hair is sticking straight out to meet the enormous mounds of fur collar. The coat, too, looks exceedingly floofy and round.

Tim sways and sits, swinging his head to follow Branch and hisses at him. ]

For the third time, I can do a bandage than that with the lining of this coat! I’m going to do it anyway when you pass out from blood loss. I refuse to let people die from stubbornness.

[orivodika]

[Boba's been busy. Ever since he and Branch talked he's been resetting old traps and putting up new ones, all while trying to avoid any of the rooms Loki has "cleared". This is the most fun he's had in--

He doesn't finish that thought.

Frost taught him that "charm" and he's holding a bag of supplies. Now all he needs to do is go in and wait for one of those snow globe things. Then he's getting out of here.

He knocks on the door to the work room.]

I have the supplies!

[He doesn't wait for a response before entering.

Branch looks bad and Boba's not looking great either. He has deep, dark circles under his eyes. His face is slightly sallow. He's barely eaten or slept since the got here. He's tense. He's half expecting someone to jump out of a shadow and drag him away.]

[ninjavampire]

[ By meeting time, Miguel has left his secluded pile of machine bits and paper copies to observe the whole interaction out of sight, somewhere high up and well beyond Branch's 50-feet requirement. He'll have to apologize to Jack later for perforating some of the wood walls to hold on to his lurking corner.

The mask conceals the blanching of his eyes as he focuses in on Boba first, then on Branch and Tim. There was something very off about the pattern of the traps, but the ridiculous chaos took precedent and so the thought was still percolating around without an end conclusion. ]

If it all looks good on your end, give him the bandages and the charm.

[ his voice is... a lot gentler talking to Boba than to Branch through the comm. Sure, the agreement was mutual and the danger was mostly at "mischief" level, but it felt weird having a kid do this part.

From what he could gleam from his limited line-of-sight, Branch wasn't doing too hot either. If the idiot had simply stayed put! ]

[branchifer]

[Branch just gives Tim a glare over the bandage thing. He hisses:]

I'll bandage it on my own when I actually have some.

[He knows how to do bandages. You have to know how to do self first aid when you live alone for 10 years and regularly run around the woods hiding from predators when gathering firewood, food, and supplies.]

[And there's the kid. He unwisely turns his back on Tim.]

[After being given the supplies and checking to make sure it's all there, he meets Boba's eyes with a little nod.]

Okay, do the charm, so they send the whatever.

[He can do whatever magic they gave him that gives a fake light show or something and then they're out of here.]

[mostdangerousbird]

[ No one could fault Branch for turning his back. He doesn’t know. How could he? Sure, Tim can fight, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to spend dedicated time worrying plastic mesh so he can slide himself through the slit like a snake.

Which he does, in the coat no less.

(The broken plastic rakes through the fur instead of catching on his clothes and skin.)

Once free, Tim drops the coat and runs as quickly as he can silently. The goal is out of hair’s reach until he can see an opportunity to help achieve the best outcome. ]

[orivodika]

[After handing off the supplies, Boba gives a small nod back.

He does the spell just like Jack showed him. He isn't sure if he believes it actually does anything, but he doesn't want to tip his hand too early and it's a good excuse to get closer to Branch.]

Charm's done. Send in the portal.

[The door behind him cracks open and a glider with a snow globe attached flies into the room. He watches the flight path carefully.

Boba holds himself very still. His hands clench and unclench. He's anxious but knows he shouldn't show it, no matter how much he wants to just grab the globe and go. They're so close to getting out of here. He's so close to getting out of here. He makes himself take deep and purposeful breaths.]

[ninjavampire]

[ all according to plan. There is admittedly a little relief at spotting Tim running off to safety, which means this doesn’t need to escalate into something serious.

But something still didn’t sit right in his gut. As the glider floats closer and closer, it suddenly occurs to him how bizarre it was that the traps were still being reset when Branch had waited for Lucky to arrive. Between that, and the visibly nervous signs, it occurs to him who was Branch’s accomplice.

He shuts off the comm as the realization hits. He didn’t have time to explain to Jack.

It is time to go for the dramatic dive as he swings in for an intercept, finding himself in yet another second-before-disaster save.

A red web shoots out and grips the globe as it lands in Boba’s hand, yanking it away as Miguel makes his landing a few paces behind them.

The air stirs a bit from his the wing membranes of his suit, softening his fall. ]

Sorry, kid.

[ he sounds… genuinely apologetic. But he can’t let the kid leave on his own. The deal was off. ]

[branchifer]

[No no no, they were so close!]

[There's no point in pretending they're not working together right now.]

We need that globe!

[His hair reaches out and grips a chair so he can swing in Miguel's direction.]

Just let us go! The kid doesn't want to stay either. He said you're making him fight people against his will, so he's coming with me.

[He's breaking his end of the deal, what with promising to not grab anyone else, but even this is out of misunderstanding - Boba's, and therefore Branch's. The desperation in his voice makes it clear that he really does think he's saving a child from the same people he's terrified of.]

[The arc of his next swing puts him right in a path that Tim can intercept.]

[mostdangerousbird]

[ Given an infinite amount of time - heck even 20 minutes - Tim would like to think he’d come up with worthy of the moment, but he’s going for functionality in a time crunch.

So Branch is met with a butterfly net that Tim can barely slam down to the ground. He pulls a dangling string, and a bag of sandbox sand stacked neatly in the corner dumps its content onto the handle of the net.

(Tim, it should be noted, is standing between Branch and the sand. He’s not putting Branch at greater risk. ) ]

Hold on - this is about the kid? Did anyone make him fight after we were here - the fight with the Jersey devil and the theater wasn’t on anyone’s orders.

[ Tim takes Branch’s accusation absolutely seriously, giving it more legitimacy than anything else so far, but he wants to make sure they’re on the same page. ]

They gave us all three options: stay here at the Pole, no strings attached, take the track proof charm and leave, or help them fight. Meaning staying and fighting are independent choices.

[ The look he shoots Miguel, well, probably only Branch can see the how sharp it is, like he’s daring him to confirm otherwise.

(He wishes he could doubt the accusation of lies and hypocrisy, but. Yeah, no, he doesn’t. Pooh poohing first impressions gets people hurt. ]

So the kid doesn’t have to fight, right?

[ninjavampire]

[ Miguel bites back the urge to say something more scathing for such a ridiculous accusation being hurtled at him, but he settles for a shrug and: ]

That’d be news to me, Tim.

[ he will be nice because the guy saved them the trouble of tracking down the troll. ]

Jack doesn’t seem like the type, to be honest.

[orivodika]

[Boba takes a few steps back so he can have both Tim and Miguel in his line of sight.

Sure he doesn't have to fight, because Boba's going to believe the adults that are keeping him trapped here in the first place. He knows how it goes, he saw it in Jabba's Palace. He either fights or stays imprisoned. Or worse.]

Then we should be able to leave, right?

[He needs to get to the globe. If only Miguel would come closer. He would have to leave Branch behind but-- he shouldn't feel bad about that. He doesn't feel bad about that.

No friends, no enemies. Only allies and adversaries.]

[ninjavampire]

Letting a kid get lost who knows where isn’t helping anyone involved, including you.

[ He can’t be the only sane one here, right??

The kid running off after the entire mess in the theater seemed like a terrible idea to him. Boba needed a bag lunch, not an adventure. ]

I’m saving us all a world of trouble, because who’re gonna be the ones who have to scramble when you get caught or hurt out there?

It isn’t gonna be Tiny sitting in the net, I’ll say that much.

[branchifer]

[Branch is...not reacting well to being trapped. He pleads to Tim.]

Please let me go, they're going to kill me!

[He fights first, trying fruitlessly to lift the frame of the net with his hair but he can't. The handle is buried under several pounds of sand. Even with his hair being stronger, he can't lift it.]

Let me go!

[Then he goes to the very end of the net, to tray to brace his hair against both sides to rip the mesh, but it's one of those butterfly nets that's more rounded than tapered at the end. His hair, even extended to full length, isn't really long enough to brace against both sides. Its not strong enough to rip it with what little leverage he has.]

Just let me go - just let me -

Just let me -

[He's so tired.]

[And there's no way out. It's over.]

[He's been trapped before but that was at a time where he'd lived most of his life emotionally shut down and closed off. He's come out of his shell since then. Let himself care about others. Let himself be happy. Let himself feel.]

[That means feeling the fear more strongly. That means he has something to lose. Friends. A community that cares about him. An actual life instead of a tepid existence of routine daily survival.]

[Her.]

[And most importantly of all, the last time he'd been captured he hadn't been alone. Poppy had been there. Even when the whole village was trapped and about to be killed, she'd been there. And after he'd broken his 20+ years of silence and sung to bring her hope, she'd managed to bring back hope to the rest of them.]

[And that hope hadn't been misplaced. Bridget had come through for them, and shown them that at least some Bergens could have a heart.]

[He's alone now. And unlike when Miguel grabbed him, when he thought he'd possibly die, he has time to marinate in the hopelessness and the loss. He leaves the tapered end of the net and trudges back to the center ring. The white netting is dotted with little blood stains where he stepped.]

[He drops to his knees, expression hollow, and takes something out of his hair - a little square of glossy paper, with hints of blue and pink, the vague shapes of two figures.]

[His voice is raw when he speaks again, and barely above a whisper.]

It's not fair. I was finally happy.

[But life isn't fair, is it. He's known that for as long as he can remember. He looks at the picture one last time, tears in his eyes, and then tucks it back in his hair, because he wants it to just be his. Nobody doing this to him is allowed the privilege of seeing her face.]

[Then he bows over against the floor, hands threaded into his hair so tight he's almost pulling it out. And then that is all the feeling he allows. When he pulls himself back up, kneeling there, his expression is now blank. He looks like he's completely emotionally shut down - and something peculiar happens.]

[The color drains out of him. Not the way it does to someone about to pass out, because it doesn't leave his skin paler. The color drains from him like he's turning grayscale, starting from his head and working downwards. The blue highlights in his hair fade so his hair is pure black, blue skin turns to gray. The color even drains from his clothes, the green of his shredded leaf vest, and the patches in his shorts turning sad and dull.]

[Then he falls back to sit instead of kneel, wraps his arms around his knees, and buries his face in them.]

[mostdangerousbird]

[ He’s not heartless. Maybe he’s a little numbed to people having meltdowns after they’ve been caught, but there’s a difference. This isn’t raving as one’s being tied onto a stretcher about how they’re going to get you and your dog.

Tim crouches down when Branch drops to his knees. This is - this is devastation, not anger. Tim would know.

Because it reminds him of Victor Fries. (Liar.) ]

They’re not going to kill you. You’ve barely done anything wrong, and I’m only holding you here until you can make the decision with a cool head. And without major blood loss.

[ And without… whatever this color change is. This must be where the idea that trolls turn to rocks comes from. ]

You can -

[ Be happy. But he doesn’t want to make promises that he can’t keep, and Branch will see through it. Hell, Tim sees through it. If you can’t even lie to yourself… ]

You can still decide to leave once you’re in decent shape. And I’m not leaving until you tell me too. Actually, I probably won’t leave then either.

[branchifer]

[He doesn't believe him. And there is a part of him that wants to turn his back. It'd be considered deeply insulting to his own people to just turn his back on someone talking to him. The visible rejection.]

[The same way it's insulting to stomp on a party invite.]

[But he doesn't have the energy to even do that.]

[He just briefly glances up at him with a dull expression and then lowers his face again. He doesn't have the energy to react and he's given up.]

[Later on, though, he will remember this. Alongside all the trying to coax him into understanding he's safe, even as he held Tim captive. Alongside insisting that there are people that won't let anyone hurt him. He'll remember that Tim offered that protection and then refused to leave him.]