One incredible feat of sleep-deprived bakery architecture. [23/??? artefacts collected]

[sadfreezingbrit_archive]

[ It's the event's second night, around four o'clock in the morning.

The narration trusts that at this point everyone has found somebody to room with and is tucked into bed.

Fast asleep as opposed to completely deprived of the same ever since the event started.

And definitely not building a donut replica of Westminster Abbey in one of the conference rooms.

Nope.

Not happening anywhere at all. ]

[ ...For everyone who does not enjoy a little action at night, Philip will emerge from his building project in the morning and can subsequently be found
a.) making coffee in the coffee area
b.) drinking coffee in one of the cubicles and
c.) throwing coffee at the backstairs spiders

If you hear him humming a strange tune, well, that's just the melody his hot beverage gives off, because who needs a sense of smell when you can have a constant soundtrack instead? ]

Comments

action; because somehow none of my current characters know Philip 8(

[eatsyourscience.livejournal.com]

[Souji's used to keeping weird hours, and since he's been playing with a fax machine for the last, oh, eight hours, he's still awake. He just has to know where the faxes are going to and coming from.

It's a mystery.

But he happens by the conference room and notices the light on, so he cracks the door open.

And you know what, those donuts look delicious. They look slow moving and billow like frosted clouds in his mind as he stares at them for a minute.

Oh and there's a guy in here too.]

You're up late.

For shame! /dramatic pose

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

You too.

[ Much as he's starting to take pride in his magnificent donut building, Philip isn't here by choice. Veridian company supplies don't include a healthy dose of sleeping pills and without them he doesn't stand a chance, even if he had an actual bed.

He looks at Souji from behind one of the donut towers, noticing what he thinks is a craving for his building materials. He points to a chair on one end of the table. ]

...The box is over there, if you want some.

I will rectify this right now!

[eatsyourscience.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[It's a minute before he moves though. The taste-visual Philip presents is a little like coffee, but weak coffee, with the feel of worn down sandpaper to it. But he finally looks away and goes over to the chair with the donuts.

Rather than pick one, he picks up the whole box and sits down in the chair with it in his lap, examining them for one that looks right.]

I haven't seen you before.

/all the :D

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

[ Having heard that Philip suddenly becomes aware of what he's doing right now. And what sort of first impression that might give off. He eyes his masterpiece sheepishly. ]

...I don't usually make a habit of bakery architecture.

[ Then again, he's been through introductions that were worse. So, so much worse. Ah, but speaking of which... ]

Erm, Philip. My name's Philip, I... haven't been out of my room much lately.

[ He shrugs and steps away from Doughminster Abbey. ]

But apparently my room's gone now, so...

|D

[eatsyourscience.livejournal.com]

[Souji doesn't judge. He has hobbies just as strange as bakery architecture. He finally selects a donut out of the box that looks just right--creamy and smooth, with just a little of that feeling you get when the inside of your mouth is coated after eating something too sweet.]

Mine too. [He's been sleeping in a cubicle.]

I'm Souji. I haven't been here long.

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

One year for me in just a bit over a month.

[ Philip's look trails from the box in Souji's lap to his dough structure and back to the box.

...Might as well take a break. He sits down. ]

Are you-- Do you still have all your senses then?

[ He certainly didn't notice anything odd about Souji, but maybe not everyone is as obvious about the change as his money-licking friend. ]

[eatsyourscience.livejournal.com]

[It'll become a little more obvious as Souji just eyes the donut rather than eating it.]

I can't taste anything. [He puts the box up on the table so Philip can get into it.] Except looking at things is kind of like tasting them.

[He wrenches his eyes away from the most entrancing of donuts and looks at Philip.] What about you?

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

Sounds instead of smells. The labs are really noisy and...

[ He trails off. The phrase "a feast for the eyes" is circling very persistently through his mind and Philip feels increasingly uneasy about having Souji actually look at him.

He swipes a few donuts and hides behind the safety of Westminster Sugary. ]

...Do you taste everything you look at?

One of these days you will have to tell me to stop tagging you. But even if you do, I won't.

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

[Walking around barefoot is still odd, but she's getting used to it (even if she did accidentally step in something stinging and rancid-smelling on the first day and burned her heel). Being blind and having a pathetic sense of direction in general, Evelyn is finding it difficult to differentiate day from night, and even more difficult finding her way around a new environment.

Especially since she'd finally gotten used to the old one.

At the very least, her tactile and olfactory senses are better. She follows the early-morning scent of vanilla, Turkish Delight and ground coffee beans into a large room filled with a multitude of smaller rooms, all of them square and very plain. They smell sterile.

The source of the enchanting, caffeinated scent is one of the tiny rooms. It's a good thing that somebody is humming creepily.]

...is someone in here?

[Unfortunately, the whole "feeling vibrations" thing makes it hard to tell the difference between people.]

Then I'll simply never tell you. :3

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

[ He recognises Evelyn's voice over the wooden creaking of fresh coffee. ]

It's me, I'm here.

[ The cubicles are actually fairly good hiding places, at least from certain angles. He stands up, curious how Evelyn is doing in such a blatantly futuristic and anything-but-Egyptian setting. ]

Hey, how are you holding up?

[ And that would be the moment he realises that her eyes aren't fixing on him (or anything else) the way they normally would. ]

Oh, well then. c:

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

Philip? Oh, thank God. It's getting a bit-

[Feeling aroooound the corner of a tiny, cube-shaped room to- Oh. Yes, there are definitely feet nearby. She can feel the quiet hum of energy, smell the earthy scent of another human being with the underlying tinge of something sickly sweet. It's not strong, but it's there.]

-difficult to navigate this place. And I'm just blind as a bat, apparently.

[A nervous little laugh laced with slight distress. It hasn't been fun so far.]

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

[ He instinctively moves closer, but stops himself just before he can reach for her hand. ]

Do you, erm, need any help?

[ Granted, she did make it this far on her own, so--

Philip frowns. ]

...This really isn't a good time to walk around without your shoes, it's-- Did you notice the black liquid? I don't think you'd want to step into that.

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

[Evelyn rubs a hand over her face and sighs.]

I know it isn't safe, I burned my foot earlier. I just can't find my way around without my shoes off. It's a...a vibration thing.

[She fumbles for a chair - each little desk seems to have one - and sits in it.]

...I don't even know what floor I'm on.

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

This is the...

[ Luckily vibrations don't show how much worse for wear Philip currently looks. At least he hopes so. Nothing major, mind. Just bags under his eyes. Pale skin. And hands that are occasionally shakier than he'd like them to be. Sleep? What sleep?

He's been wandering at night. It's a little difficult to recall the exact location. ]

The third. It's the third floor.

[ A quick grab for the chair, making sure to turn it in the right direction for Evelyn. ]

...Does it work? How much can you actually "see"? Or... feel, I suppose.

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

Not very well, I'm afraid.

[She turns with the chair, startled by the swiveling and clinging to the armrests.]

I-I can smell things a little better, even though the scents are rather unusual, and the floor is...it rumbles.

[Evelyn gestures to the ground and her feet, one of which is red from acid. It's exceedingly hard to avoid the acrid-smelling goo dripping from parts of the ceiling in the building when you're blind.]

I can't really see anything, just feel when people are there, and smell them. You're sort of...lemony. And something earthy, like mowed grass.

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

Lemony? [ Philip laughs. He knows somebody who'd get a kick out of hearing that. ]

...I actually can't smell anything at all, though I can hear the scents instead. The black acid is [ He frowns. ] like standing in the middle of a construction site, it's awful.

[blimeyjamwalls.livejournal.com]

[ Daniel is most certainly in possession of a room.

Laudanum-less, Daniel is most certainly not asleep.

In fact, he's wandering around the dark passageway with a torch he found and the sun-dazed look of someone whose only sleep has been full of half-waking nightmares. He hates traipsing through dark corridors, followed by hissing and skritching and the bangs and crashes and groans that have replaced all physical feeling. But it'll be worth it if he finds some other human life.

There's light coming from the window of a conference room. Peering through, and ignoring for a moment the strangeness of the scene, he dares to praise his luck. He pushes the door open hurriedly, steps inside, closes it against the dark. ]

Philip? Oh! - thank God in Heaven.

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

Dan, what are you still doing up? Did s-[ YAWN]-thing happen to your room?

[ Philip circles around to the other side of the table, admittedly a little curious about Daniel's winnings in the sensory trade lottery. ]

[blimeyjamwalls.livejournal.com]

I, ah... [ And he's sharp as a button, too, thanks to the aforementioned sleeplessness. ]

Only what has happened to everywhere else. But, ah... this interference with my senses is disturbing my rest.

[ Because that's all that's disturbing his rest. Yup. ]

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

[ Is this where Philip offers an explanation for his restlessness in return? Like: "That doesn't bother me so much, but I can't sleep without my pills. You know, the ones I've got to take because Clarence won't shut up at night."

...Yeahno, didn't think so either. SO. Those senses, huh? ]

I can smell sounds. What did you get?

[ Philip is trying to make it sound a little more like an annoying version of Secret Santa. His own sensory remodelling did surprisingly little to faze him, but he can see how that might not apply to everyone. At all.

Meanwhile, as he steps closer to Daniel, he thinks he can hear the faint sound of chains rattling in the background... ]

[blimeyjamwalls.livejournal.com]

Ah... anything I touch makes a sound instead of my feeling it.

[ Then again... ] At least neither of us has lost his sight. It seems a lot of people have.

[ Though he's in the light at last, he's still tense and his voice is still strained. Though he refuses to look at them, there are roaches swarming at the edges of his vision. Some of the things he hears are not natural or even caused by his shift in senses. ]

1/2

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

Yep. Not much left to lose, but it's still there.

[ A mirthless laugh.

...Followed by the realisation that he neither wants nor should be talking about anything related to that eyepatch.

A realisation that could have stood to come a few crucial moments earlier. Curse you, brain. ]

2/2

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

Sorry, that... just sort of slipped out.

[ Quick smile aaaaand even quicker retreat towards the box of donuts. ]

Would you like one? I was, um, going to make coffee too, so...

[blimeyjamwalls.livejournal.com]

[ djngfdvld oh shit brb Daniel's stomach just dropped out. ]

I didn't mean - I meant nothing by - I'm sorry, I...

[ With great tiredness comes great ability to put one's foot in one's mouth. Daniel stands, enthroned in awkwardness before the offer of donuts. ]

...What are they?

[sadfreezingbrit.livejournal.com]

I know, don't- don't apologise, I just... I'm just tired.

[ Philip takes the first donut within reach and offers it to Daniel. ]

It's a small... it's fried dough, basically. Very sweet.

[ Sideeye at his beloved architectural structure. ]

Solid building material as well.