It's a Beautiful Day in the Nexus, and You are a Horrible Coyote: Part 1

[becarefulwhatyouwish]

Perhaps you're browsing the open market, easing through a crowd of strangers of all shapes and sizes and colors, looking for a shiny new trinket or vital supplies to bring home. Perhaps you're taking a stroll through the park near the Plaza, following the walking path around the pond, enjoying the quiet sounds of nature or carrying a pocketful of bread crumbs for the turtleducks. Perhaps you're just after a cup of coffee and you don't plan to stay, or you're looking for work to keep busy, avoiding some task you really don't want to do. Whatever the case, everyone in the Nexus is here for a reason. For a purpose. Everyone is looking for something, whether it's a physical object, a friend, or maybe simple peace of mind.

Wherever you are, you're not alone.

You won't have seen him before he speaks, nor heard his approach. But there he is, as if he has come from nowhere. Perhaps he has. Coyote's suit is immaculately pressed, a pleasant smile pulling his lips back from his teeth. Wherever you are, so is he, looking to you in greeting.

"Hello, friend!" he says, ears perked forward attentively, his furred hands clasped in front of himself. "A question, if I may. What's the one thing you desire most right at this exact moment?"



[OOC: Please READ BEFORE REPLYING! This is part one of a mod-sanctioned event in which your character will have a wish temporarily granted. However, rather than granting the spirit of the wish as intended, Coyote will twist the wording into something your character finds genuinely distressing a la The Monkey's Paw. Please message me to arrange consequences for your character and (if needed) to set boundaries! While your character will not have fun, participating players absolutely should. For those who want to participate but don't want their character in distress, stay tuned for part two. You're also welcome to tag into threads after Coyote has worked his magic and left, though please ask the target player first.]

Comments

[jarheadclan]

Most people tend to avoid the Wilds, as a rule. There are things lurking in the depths of the forests that human eyes can't describe, eldritch beings who laugh at the anti-violence field and eat it for brunch, and all manner of ways to meet an unfortunate end.

Just like home, in other words.

Not quite as pretty, of course. But the hunting is good, judging by the three furry creatures slung across Jake's back. One might suspect them of being rabbits, if not for the copper-green fur and eyes in the wrong places. Jake takes a break near a pond, rinsing his hands in the water and refilling his waterskin. There are a few lines around his eyes that weren't there the last time he was here, a slightly darker blue shadow under the sockets, and his movements are tired and slow. Being a father is great, but is it ever exhausting.

He startles and nearly falls in when he hears that sudden voice, whipping around to see... a coyote in a suit? What? Where did he come from?

He blinks down at the smaller figure, that earnest grin looking up at him. "Um... some peace and quiet," he says, and it's not entirely a dig at how rude some people are. If he'd thought babies crying inconsolably was bad when he was human, it's way worse when you've got a Na'vi's ears.

[auspex_caelo]

Between crypt dives, recruitment troubles and the growing demands of a civil war, it's been a long few months for Stratos Caelus. Which is why even he had to take his demonic assistant's advice and take a break already, boss. He gave himself a couple days... not on leave, exactly, but away from the camp and the garrison and his endless round of duties and concerns. He couldn't admit it to his brother (nor brother-in-law), but he really had forgotten what that was like...

But all things must end, and here he is, in his casual tunic and sighing at the morning light, a little worse for wear and staring down the jaws of responsibility come to snatch him back up. Still, he only managed this because Nekomata is back at the camp, wearing his guise and covering for him. The Imperial is rubbing the bridge of his nose when Coyote pops up before him - less hungover than regretting that he has to go back so soon.

The timing couldn't be better.

"Ah-" he looks up in surprise, to be addressed- he should be more wary that he didn't notice the beast-man's approach, but it's noisy in the street outside the hostel and he's not at his best.

"At this moment?" the tribune replies wryly, not thinking. "To slip off unnoticed and let someone else shoulder my duties in my place."

[ablacksun]

Dean Winchester is no fool. When he took Zack in, this individual was one of the first things he warned about; and while Zack doesn't know coyote, it's pretty obvious from Dean's description that this is who he's speaking to.

He should just walk away.

And would but for the fact that Zack is... Well. Zack. Despite what the Nexus seems to be doing to his abilities, he still has some preconceived notion that rules which apply to mortals don't apply to him. Which in most cases is true. So despite himself, there is something he wants. Something that's constantly been on his mind, ever since Dean took him to the park some days ago. Something which, for once, isn't just a simple cheeseburger.

“To help a friend.” His response is gruff and Zack eyes the creature warily. But where's the harm if the desire is selfless? It's not like he's asking for a mountain of ice cream. It's not like he's being greedy. “Just wish I could be more what he needs.”

And I'm not your bloody friend, is what his eyes are saying. Though it's best not to antagonise the natives, he figures. So keeps that to himself.

[hybriddino]

That's a new face.

The Indoraptor cocks his head and grunts. Coyote looks like the fox-person he encountered a long time ago, but the scent's different than that now. He sits down, red eyes focused on Coyote. He's a sleek creature with his golden stripe and vivid black coloration. He snorts a little, then grabs his marker to talk to the stranger on his whiteboard.

It's just a question, and he's sure no great harm could come from that.

I wish...The marker pauses mid-squeak. I wish I didn't look as scary as I do. People are afraid of me. I want to show them that they don't have to be.

[sharktoothtotem]

Taylor's sitting on the sand near Megatron's place, watching the waves toying with her necklace. She's actually leaning against a board in the sand. Her hair's wet, clear she had just come out of the water. The waves hadn't been great, but it had felt good paddling out a bit just to feel the ocean rock under her.

Currently her journal is in her lap, and she's scribbling away at a picture near the beginning of it, an old photo, around twenty years old, is clipped to the page, a man in a wild Hawaiian shirt and board shorts with a woman who was leaning against him smiling at the camera. The sketch was of the photo.

When he spoke up she was startled out of her thoughts. "Wha? Oh Coyote, hi." She gave him a smile, then remembered he had asked her something. The question...

"I wish I could see my mother, and not in a photo." She hadn't meant to say it, but there was so much she wanted to ask her mother. After all Lin Da-Bi had been the reason that her daughter had fallen in love with the ocean. It had been the one thing that they both had, that couldn't be stolen from them.

[vliste_staba]

Deet is the kind of person that assumes everyone is a friend in potentia until they show her otherwise very definitively. The idea that Coyote might be playing a trick doesn't even cross her mind. The only thing about him popping up and questioning her that does surprise her is the fact that he noticed her in the first place, because she's only about two and a half feet tall, and her skin is about the same color as the long grass she's been walking through. Bigger people don't always notice a little gelfling in their path!

"Oh! Hello!" She beams up at him, and the Darkening power she holds within her is silent, all but asleep after so long in the Nexus learning to control it. "Right at this moment?"

That requires some consideration, honestly, because all she's been doing is enjoying the warm weather and gathering flowers and that kind of activity tends to breed contentment. But as she twirls a bachelor's button in her fingers, something does occur to her. "Well, my lover is a lot bigger than me, and he's afraid of hurting me accidentally." That...sounds way more salacious than she means it to. Thnisko is sometimes afraid just hugging could damage her.

"But I do sometimes wish I were closer to his size so it wouldn't be so much of a problem."

[losthunter]

Hunter was excited for today. After a lot of PINpoint messages and video calls, he and Jim had plans to meet up for a date in the Nexus. It has been a long time since Hunter last had quality time with his boyfriend, and he has missed spending time with Jim.

He was leaving a book store with a new purchase, when he almost bumped into Coyote after the other had appeared so suddenly.

Hunter himself is a tall man, so would tower over Coyote a little. And sometimes his tattoos and tall statue can be intimating to some.

"Right now? To spend more time with my boyfriend." He answered honestly.

Consequences or Collateral Damage? (open to all)

[rumormonger_nya]

There's a poor auxilary that's definitely going to be deserving of a raise or at least an apology gift basket all but forced aside when his supposed Tribune storms his way out of the carefully guarded Imperial portal in full uniform. Polished armor gleams off the catching light as he strides with purpose through the plaza. People tend to get out of a man's way when he's this angry and wearing a weapon so close to hand, a sword in this case sheathed at his side.

His jaw is clenched so tight his teeth grind against each other. Every passer by in his way is a nuisance. It takes all the willpower he has not to bare his teeth and snarl at them.

It's not hard to find Trouble in the Nexus, though. Just go to where the people tend to gather. The man stops the first person he sees and stares them down as if they alone were to blame for the chaos upending the Nexus.

"You. Start talking. What is going on here?" Beldr damn it all, where is the man he's looking for? How hard could it possibly be to find the twin of the frown he's wearing with so much vitriol? "Did some weird mirror get put on display? Is there a fae? Pissy godling, bottom line who or what do we have to break to get this fixed?"

[rekindledtitan]

The Nexus is a mildly chaotic place on the calmest of days; slowly but surely, though, the confusion is starting to ramp up. The woman who came shopping for a 'slinky, clingy dress' is now being chased down the street by the floating garment. The lizard girl who wanted to bask in the sun all day is trying to cover her eyes from the miniature sun floating over her head wherever she goes. A small knot of alleyways in the Nexus outskirts has been filled to the rooftops with shiny trash items, spilling onto the streets and blocking the view of whatever's flapping around shrieking inside. For some reason there's a flock of confused Mareep roaming one of the parks.

No sooner have Blaze and her Ghost arrived to see what's going on, than the Exo gets caught up in the commotion in one corner of the plaze. A mob of over-enthusiastic people have swarmed a taco stall whose owner carelessly wished for 'more customers', and soon the Titan is doing her best to gently wade in and rescue the poor guy. Ghost is staying well back, watching with alarm and confusion as the crowd all try to yell their orders at once.

He jumps when Coyote appears and backs up a few paces, really not expecting to be addressed. Especially by a stranger... "Oh! Uh, I'm really just here to help my Guardian with... whatever this is." He looks back at his Titan, her armored head and shoulders poking out just a bit above the people still trying to press closer, half wishing she'd come back and take over the talking. His points spin around his iris as it narrows in a frown. "Though I wish I knew what all these humans find so exciting about tacos..."

[itmeanscourage]

The sudden appearance of the coyote would have been startling, had Isamu not had his nose buried in one of his many books. But he certainly looked up when he was asked a question. It was all too fitting of a lure for a genius who took pride in his ability to answer them in painstakingly accurate detail.

He closed his book for a moment. The latest techniques for analyzing amino acids using multi-electrode array detection could wait.

“I suppose my greatest desire, at this moment or at any moment really, is that which many a scientist and scholar would share.” He replied. “Knowledge. Answers to the infinite questions of the vast workings of the universe and the beings that inhabit it. Absolute scientific truths. Factual understanding of the ever-elusive theory of Everything…”

Nothing could go wrong with a wish like that…

[lzybns]

Sans was doing his usual trick of bumming around in semi-apparent places, people watching through half a cracked eyelid and just people watching. Then there's a voice to his side which triggers the reflexes that have kept him alive with his low hp for this long. He moves with an unnatural quickness, panting at the surprise with a mitted hand above his ribcage as he tries to get his surprise under control. The smile is clearly frozen in place, but eye sockets are dark and widened in surprise in the way no normal, solid human bone should. And then he starts to laugh. "hehehe, that's normally my trick. now I know how the kid feels."

His soul settles, and two little pinpricks of light reappear like pupil's after he blinks and he straightens himself up, then tucks his hands in his hood pocket and affecting his usual slouch. "hmm..." not how he's usually greeted, but hypotheticals are a good way to get to know people. It's a good thing he's not suspecting actual magic from this, otherwise he'd have been at least more cautious with his wording. "i'd have to say ignorance. life sucks hard when you know too much, if you know what i mean?" Life without knowledge of the resets? Maybe he could catch a break, maybe his life wouldn't be constant apathy and sadness. Enjoy the things he enjoys again.

[alittlehinky]

Cricket should really know better when it comes to Trickster gods. In a sense, he does know better, because he's seen bits and pieces of what both Lokis can do. It's just never been directed at him. One is very kindly disposed toward him, and the other usually prefers to talk and posture his way around things he wants, rather than use his actual powers, and wishes granted aren't really his M.O. anyway.

Still, it's not like this kind of talk from a stranger shouldn't raise red flags in the moonshiner's mind. He's had kind of a long morning, though. One of his drivers called out, so he's been picking up the slack, and while the driving isn't too tough, hauling crates around is getting harder these days. Between childhood rickets and malnutrition from the Winter Storm, he's slowing down some. And it's driving him bonkers.

His knees ache like a bitch, and he's refused to acknowledge it for most of the day, so at this point his gait is stuttering across the Plaza and he's aimed toward a bar where he can get a drink that's not his own make but almost as good. A stranger getting in his way is enough to make the usually sweet-tempered young man cranky.

"Mister, right now all I want is to sit the fuck down. My legs are killing me. Ain't trying to be rude but we're gonna have to talk later, unless you're goin' my way."

[thesundrop]

After having a few people answer her question at the Fountain, Rapunzel had turned to explore other paths. She still had not found the door back to her dimension, but was enjoying her time in the Nexus itself.

She turns a corner and there is Coyote. She stops to adjust herself, the long lengths of her hair trail behind her.

She thinks on his question for a moment. The adventure and journey of the past few months has been different for her. Scary and exciting all at the same time. She never knows what the next path will take her, or what next adventure will wait, and that makes her happy. To know there is a bigger world besides the Tower.

"Perhaps..." Rapunzel smiles, and brushes a finger through the hair at the side of her face for a moment. "Could we be friends? It would be nice to know more people in the Nexus right now."

[eumenis]

That kind of smile strikes Furiosa as untrustworthy right off the bat, but then she's used to finding things untrustworthy. The suit would be even more feather-ruffling, as it were, if she were from a world where such clothing was commonplace. In the Nexus, most styles of clothing look equally odd and impractical to her. Regardless, she's not sure what to make of this fur-suited gentleman all up in her grill.

But he's polite about it, and that gets him more points with her than maybe it should.

She's been enjoying the park today, wading in the creek, watching waterbugs skate across the surface of the pond, listening to the wind blow soft in the trees (at least until the giant fairy took flight or whatever the hell that was), and she's feeling wistful, or nostalgic, or something.

"Hah," she says with a sigh. "Nothing anyone can give, I'll tell you that much. Sometimes I don't think the people here appreciate how lush it all is."

"What I wouldn't give for a world full of water."

[mayfairmonster]

Well, this encounter certainly trips this particular cynical and world-weary immortal's suspicions. He's met too many beings curious about his desires (and all too eager to fulfill them, for better and more often worse) for his guard not to be roused. Dorian shifts the paper shopping bags in his arms and squares his shoulders as he listens, sizing Coyote up.

"That's quite a question, especially being offered without any preface. What if someone doesn't have just one?" Or if they're far off the beaten path?

[tieflingtarot]

Molly was, for once in his life? Minding his own business. Enjoying the day, pondering finding a bakery or even seeing if he could track down a skate shop. As if he needed to be on wheels, but it sounded fun-

At the appearance of the stranger, the tiefling draws up short, multicolored coat swinging around his ankles, tail twitching behind him at the question as he offered his own grin.

"A fine day to you too, friend?" Was he? Molly didn't know, but nothing wrong with being friendly, right? "The thing I want? Well..."

He tilted his head, tapping a clawed finger against his chin. "I've got a friend I really wish I could spend some more time with. Maybe even help him relax some. You know how it is sometimes, right?"

[readvondaniken]

Palmer looks up when he hears the strange voice. Coyote had approached him when he was fumbling with his lighter, which wasn't working at the time being. He's probably a little snappier than he intended to be, since his temper's never great when he doesn't have access to his weed. He doesn't recognize this guy. Some sort of dog-man, though what kind of dog he can't exactly place. When he gives his answer, he wasn't exactly thinking.

"Honestly?" He faces the stranger, putting away the object in a little embarrassment. Not when he's happiest to be seen. "If you want an answer, I'd like a light."

[big_bad_sheriff]

Bigby is in a foul mood, though not much of it shows on his face. The tip of his cigarette flares orange as he inhales the smoke, standing near the mouth of an alley not far off the main Plaza. It's hard enough to do his damn job when he's not being hobbled by paperwork and procedures and all sorts of red tape. How's he supposed to get to the bottom of a recent rash of burglaries if no one will fucking talk to him?

It's frustrating, and he has little patience for the stranger bothering him. "I want things to be as simple as they were in the Old Days," he grumbles, shooting a glare at Coyote. "Piss off."

[tielle_mortevus]

She ponders the thought, eyeing the figure in front of her curiously. She was a bit surprised, he had somehow managed to catch her completely off guard, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Despite all of her hardships and past regrets, the answer was clear to her. She let out a sigh, shedding her normally defensive and somewhat haughty demeanor. What's the harm in humoring them, it wasn't like anything would change.

"I lost someone a very long time ago. What I wouldn't give to have him back..."

She pulled out a small flask and took a sip, more in a vain attempt to suppress the stabbing pain and grief welling back up again than anything else.

"I wish my love was alive, back to the way things were before..."

She lets out a dejected sigh, looking down at her hands.

"But that's just wishful thinking. Lord knows, I've tried and failed to bring him back more times than I'd care to admit. I suppose just having that kind of connection with someone, just some kind of spark, anything."

[torsion]

She's still not used to the non-human types not being a threat. Her hand falls to her knife first then his eyes second. It's unsubtle when she crouches for it, less so when she drags her hand up her side and to her hip; it's just part of who she is. After a moment she lifts her head and offers him a clipped, awkward laugh.

"Sorry, never can be too careful where I come from." After a moment she offers him a hand, clad in fingerless gloves. "Don't worry, I'll only stab if you give me a reason to."

It's obviously meant to be a joke, but boy howdy, does it seem a little too close to home when you can feel how she grips a hand. No intention to overpower or anything like that, but it still exudes strength in the touch despite the size of her.

"Generally, I don't go around telling strangers my desires, don't know about you." It'll take some prying to get it out of her, if even. For now it seems to be a chance encounter.