Buggin' Out

Almund is a thriving township with a dark side. With houses made from the wooden bodies of decommissioned ships, there are many opportunities here, coupled with many dangers.

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Max
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Buggin' Out

111 of Vhalar, Arc 171


"You ever done this before?" Rich asked while he nervously glanced around the dark. The way he was constantly looking over his shoulder was beginning to put Max on edge. "No," she answered honestly, eyes curiously trying to peer into the bag her companion had begun rustling his hands in. "What's it like?"
"It's a good time," Rich said with a shrug. "It'll make you feel real good. Trust me." In a moment his home-made, fingerless gloves emerged from the bag, cupping a small sack. He slung his bag back around his shoulder and gestured for Max to follow him deeper into one of Almund's curious alleyways. The skeletal ribs of a long retired ship served as an archway that embraced the pair in deep shadows. For some time Rich stood in place as steady as a stone. Nothing but their vapor breath passed between the two. Max was about to break the silence when Rich finally broke from his paralysis, working the small sack in his hands open with his fingers. His palm flattened and the opened sack was promptly tipped, spilling the curious bead-like contents into it for Maxine to witness.

"What are those?" Max mused, daring to reach and pluck one of the mysterious green beads from his palm. She let it roll around on her palm before lifting it toward her nose. "It smells like dirt." Rich grinned devilishly and adjusted his beat-up beanie with his free hand. "These," he whispered. "Are Bug Berries."
"Bug Berries?" Max repeated, holding the small green bead up at eye level. Rich quickly shoved her hand down and looked around again. "What? You being this skittish is freaking me out. I thought you said these were legal."
"Legal? Yeah, they're legal," Rich confirmed with an odd tone. "They're just not...legal for our purposes." Max shook her head and stole a couple more berries from her companion's palm.
"Whatever. So, what do I do?"
"You just...eat them," Rich explained before popping a couple green berries in his mouth. Max watched him carefully, and with enough intent that Rich rolled his eyes, swallowed, and then opened his mouth to prove to her he indeed ingested the substance. Only then did Max begin to bring her cupped hand to her mouth.

"No!" Rich hissed. Max paused before depositing the lot and arched a brow. "Start with one. Wait a half break and see how you feel, then think about another."
"One? You just had two."
"This isn't my first time. You have to build up tolerance to this stuff, otherwise you'll be higher than Syper, Yfan, and Raegar. You feel me?" Rich patted her on the shoulder, much to Max's irritation, before the Mixed Blood settled for one berry. The two remaining she slipped into her pocket. Not a fan of the earthy flavor, she was quick to simply swallow the berries rather than chew. She waited a few moments before looking expectantly toward her companion. "Well, gods, Max. They're not instant. Just wait and trust me."
word count: 525
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Max
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Buggin' Out

Time always seemed to pass at such a slow, agonizing rate. Every minor sensation in her body made her immediately jump to the conclusion it was the berry kicking in, only for her to quickly decide she was over-analyzing and the effects still absent. Impatience was driving Max mad already. Rich seemed unbothered by the necessity of patience. He safely dropped the small sack into his bigger pack, which he then slung onto his back for safe-keeping again. His eyes drifted toward the sound of voices moving closer in the dark.

"Shit," the delinquent man cursed quietly with a tone of mild distress.
"What?" Max whispered with furrowed brow.
"I nearly forgot," Rich explained cryptically with eyes locked to a small group of silhouettes piling into one of the nearby taverns. "There's someone I have to meet. It'll only take a bit. I'll be back."
"Rich!"
"A half break, Max!I promise!"
Maxine watched her hooded acquaintance jog toward the lantern light after the mysterious group. She crossed her arms in an attempt to ward off the cold with a huff. Her breath tricked from up lips in one sharp plume.

Now what?

For a while she did her best to heed Rich's plea to remain in place until his return. She kicked rocks, paced, and tried to think of anything other than her troubles now that she was alone in the night. She looked down and opened her palm. The remaining bug berries rocked gently in her hand. She still felt nothing but boredom. Rich had instructed her to start with on and wait a whole half break before indulging in another, but he'd also left her out in the cold to her own devices. It wasn't like this was her first time doing drugs. What did Rich know what she could and couldn't handle anyways? Come to think of it...

Fuck Rich.

She brought the rest of the Bug Berries up to her mouth and tossed the lot back. She chewed the earthy-tasting berries just enough so that she could swallow them and did just that. Her head didn't explode, no blood poured from her orifices. She had taken Rich for the dramatic sort anyways. Fifteen bits had passed since he'd vanished into the tavern to talk with some no-goods. That left fifteen more bits of waiting for his return. Maxine had no intentions of standing around for him. At the very least, she figured she could walk the block. She set off into the dark with a confident pace that was audible even in the way her boots clicked along the cobblestones. With a hand on her sword, she wasn't the least bit afraid of the nefarious wraiths that hunted from alleyways. For that she was prepared. What she wasn't prepared for was the sudden, intense onset of the bug berry high that came on like a massive, crushing tidal wave.
word count: 499
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Max
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One moment she was nothing but good. Bored and impatient, but good. The next? Not so much. Her focus vanished. Her eyes felt weirdly strained. Vibrations raced through every vein in her body, and she felt uncomfortable sunken into herself like her very bones were a constricting prison. Her heart raced with involuntary panic in her rib cage as did the thoughts uncontrollably in her head. She'd been high before more times than she could count. But this? This was something else. Something bad.

"Holy. Shit," Maxine murmured to herself, her walk slowing with the onset of her condition. She blinked and shook her head as though that was a simple cure. Her dilated eyes tried to steady themselves on the path ahead she traversed. Yet the more she tried to not think about how unpleasant her current high experience was turning out to be, the worse the symptoms became. A hot, heavy, invisible weight settled on her chest. Panic, disbelief, and mild humiliation co-existed all at once in her crowded head.

For fuck's sake..."here lies Maxine. The first Bug Berry fatality." What a headstone that would make.

In all seriousness she had half a mind to show up and bang on a healer's door. A twisted ego dictated she'd first find a dark, tucked-away alleyway to curl up and die in rather than endure such idiocy. For now her only choice was to round the next corner and try to get back to the place she was supposed to have waited for Rich. With each step images and self-depreciating thoughts rocked the inside of her skull.

Fire exploding out of a ship's hull. Screams of fellow shipmates. The look on her childhood friend Ned's face when she buried his own sword in his middle. Chrien, rising like something of a nightmare from the depths of the sea. The smell of charred flesh. Merces' laugh as flames erupted along the skin of allies and enemies alike. Her complicity. Her complicity. Her complicity.

"Max?" Rich's voice echoed softly out from the dark. She ripped her sword from the sheath at her side to point it in the direction of the sound with wide eyes. Slowly, with hands raised, her acquaintance walked forth from the shadows. Maxine let out a sigh of relief and shoved her sword back in its sheath again. "Gods...let me look at you."
"What do you mean?"
"Just...shhh. Don't move." Rich peered a bit too close into her eyes for several moments with his own bloodshot sights. Then, he chuckled and shook his head. "You didn't listen to me, did you?"
"About what?"
"Max..."
"Fine," she groaned before opened her hands to confirm his suspicions. "I didn't listen."
"And how's that working out?"
"How does it look?"

Rich slung his bag off her shoulders and gestured Max to follow him back to their original alleyway. She reluctantly trudged behind his heels trying to keep it together. He dropped his bag noisily onto the ground and rummaged inside. Instead of presenting her with more of the damned bug berries, he offered her smaller beads of a far darker color.
"Relax," he assured her with an amused grin. "It's just peppercorn. Smell them, then swallow them." He dropped them into Max's hand. Initially she stared at the small beads, unimpressed. It was peppercorn. A household commodity to season soup, not an herbal remedy. If she wasn't so desperate to cure herself, she might've thrown them back at him. In her current state, however, she'd consider the power of dog piss if a shaman tried to sell it to her. So she relented.

Maxine smelled the peppercorn, finding a weird break in the high the moment she did, and then dropped them into her mouth to chew. It wasn't the best taste, but damn was Rich onto something. The intensity of the high subsided and steadied into one she recognized. Rich sat back to lean against the trunk of a tree with a smug stoner grin. Max dropped down to sit beside him, a relieved smile spreading across her own face.
"Better, amateur?" he teased with raise brow.
"Yes, better," she said with a voice turned smooth with comfort. "Thanks."
word count: 722
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Muse
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Buggin' Out

Your review is ready!
A well-written little solo PSA about two things: 1) listening to your more experienced friends and 2) the dangers of doing (too many) drugs. Har. I loved a little glimpse inside of Max's mind, even high or damaged. Thanks.

Max

Points

XP:
10 | These points cannot be used for magic.

Fame:
-2 Public Intoxication (Drugs)

Loot

N/A

Injuries + Overstepping

N/A

Knowledge

Skill Knowledge:
Discipline: Continuing Despite Troublesome Thoughts
Endurance: Ignoring Skewed Vitals
Intimidation: Holding Sword Hilt to Deter Criminals
Navigation: Traveling Streets While High
Resistance: Building Tolerance to Bug Berries
Resistance: Combating a Bad High with Peppercorn

Other Knowledge:
Bug Berries: Illegal for Recreation
Bug Berries: Gets You High
If you've got a question or concern or if I've missed anything, don't hesitate to PM me!

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