[DROP] The! Best! Thing! To! Drop!

Alys

Unlike the Ancient who came before her, Alys was less than amused with Vox ‘s reaction to her item. If she’d been an animal, her hackles would have been raised, her teeth bared with silent warning to the eldritch being. As it was, she took the card back from the creature and started the ascent, Sascha trailing behind.

Tal would never be a disappointment. Not to her.

When the seer had reached the top, she held the tarot card out, took a deep breath, and let it fly - though she was sure it wouldn’t be the most dramatic drop of the day. Given that it was essentially thick paper, it would probably be caught by the wind long before it reached the bottom of the Step.

—-

Alys drops The Lovers.

funny how it all works out in the end
you dance with the devil and you lose your head

Callum

I've started my own armageddon

Vox is disappointed by Cal’s offering, but the mercenary doesn’t care. He merely grins at the eldritch being - a sharp thing that doesn’t reach his eyes - and begins the climb. Others around him seem to recognize one another, splitting off into pairs or small groups. He doesn’t let his solitude bother him. Fewer people to care about meant fewer weaknesses to contend with.

Cal reaches the top of the Step and pauses, waiting for those before him to complete their own drops before tossing his wallet into the air. He watches as it falls, perhaps just as unimpressed with the item as Vox himself, and then steps out of the way for the next contender.

—-

Cal drops his wallet.

No one else to blame for this World War Three

Who was it that led you on
And makes you want to hurt me so?

Vox ‘s approval was enough to earn a grin from Liam, who nodded agreement with the creature’s assessment. It did feel good to let it all go, this grief and pain that had weighed him down for so long. Why had he held onto it for so long in the first place?

Liam ascended the staircase after the next person, his long legs carrying him quickly up to the top. When it was his turn, the soldier tossed the bookmark into the air, an unreadable expression on his face as it twisted and turned, the embossed monogram catching the light on its way down.

—-

Liam throws the bookmark.

Who do you want to forget?
Who forgot you long ago?

Liam

Noe

It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me
At teatime, everybody agrees

Vox could hear everything. Could he read her mind? Did he feel the way her own heart fractured in her chest as she watched the eldritch horror - all tentacles and eyes in her tainted vision - and thought back to the friendship they’d shared? Did he know how frequently she’d wondered, over the past days, how much of it had been real?

Could he sense that she missed him?

And that she hated that she missed him?

She swallowed hard as she started the climb, the gear clenched in her fist, its edges cutting into her palm. She focused on that rather than her mental anguish, tightening her grip until she felt blood well up around the gear. And when she reached the top of the Step, she hesitated for the briefest moment, her gaze flickering almost apologetically towards Vox, before yeeting the gear into oblivion.

—-

Noe drops the gear.

I'll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero

Sohalia

Don't try to wake me up
Even if the sun really does come out tomorrow

Sohalia swallowed down her fear, and her anger, and everything else to regard Vox with a quiet calm that - for those who knew her - would be quite unlike the woman who usually wore her heart on her sleeve. She watched as the eldritch horror snatched the crown from her hand; she forced herself not to react as he placed it on his head. It was just metal. It didn’t mean anything.

Except that it meant everything.

Vox threw it towards the Step, and Sohalia followed in silence, stooping to scoop it up as she went. When she reached the top, she ran her thumb once over the intricately wrought metal - and then she dropped it, watching it go with an unreadable expression, feeling a myriad of things that even she couldn’t name.

—-

Soh drops the crown.

Don't believe anything you say anymore
In the morn, in the morning

Soren

The eyes are on fire

Soren glanced sideways as Aithne bumped his hip, the corner of his mouth finally curling into something half-formed but real. Not quite a smile, but close enough. Ignored by the blonde, the young Ancient moved on—which was perhaps for the best.

“Wild is one word for it,” he murmured, his voice low, meant only for her.

The voice of the Family came then, biting his keys, and Soren’s head tilted in an avian fashion. He caught the tossed ring with a lazy flick of his hand, the metal clinking against his palm. His smile for Aithne shifted, becoming something sharper. There was amusement in the narrowing of his eyes—something feral behind the restraint. For Vox, “If I’m a cupboard,” he said dryly, “then you’re the creaky hinge.”

He watched as Vox spun nonsense into gold, then followed Aithne as she climbed the steps.

“You’re enjoying this too much,” he said beside her, though there was no heat in it. If anything, there was admiration. At the top, he let the keys fall from his hand, metal ringing faintly as they struck the last step.

---

Soren climbs up with Aithne and drops his keys!

You are the unforcasted storm

Koa

There's going to come a day when you feel better
You'll rise up free and easy on that day

There's a sick satisfaction to be found in the way Vox's tone shifts, that grating endless jovialty scraped in favor of bitterness. "They don't," Koa agrees softly, forcing himself to meet the eyes(?) of the horror. If there's actual remorse there is impossible to read, but Koa can't even blame him. Noe is a treasure.

But she isn't a prize.

Taking the shackles back, Koa makes his way up the steps. He has no qualms about dropping the things. Feels lighter for it, even, like he's closed the door on a chapter of uncertainty. Like he's won. On the way down he glances over his shoulder at Vox, and suggests: "Maybe next time try making friends without them."

Then he goes to stand with Noe and Sohalia, waiting for the metaphorical other shoe to drop.

---

Koa drops the broken shackles

And float from branch to branch, lighter than the air
Just when that day is coming, who can say?

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"Bold of you to assume I haven't already," Jack mutters to Vesper with a smirk - make a game out of it, he means. Glancing sidelong back at Colt when she arrives - and pointedly catching Vesper's eye for a second or two - he watches as the rest of the strange little crowd starts to gather, Nova included, and waits for their static host to judge their wares.

Raising an eyebrow at Vox's question, the captain turns the bouncy ball over in his hand as if to check it for magic. "Yes," he replies casually, though, of being a wizard, before giving a curt nod and heading for the stairs. The majority of the other contenders have already thrown their wares by the time he reaches the top, and Jack gazes at the ball in his palm for only a second longer before tossing it over the edge.

He's turned away to go back down before even bothering to watch it hit the ground.

---

Jack drops his bouncy ball.

// sun comin' up on a dream come around //

Danta, alas, is oblivious to the reaction and amusement his demonstration may or may not have provided to those gathering at The Last Step, because as Vox speaks, he's entirely focused on what he has to say. "Wh-- what do you mean, only one?" he blurts, glancing around towards the bushes as if there really might be a second penis hiding there that he's possessed all this time.

Spoiler alert: There isn't.

It's a relief in some ways to be instructed towards the stairs, such that while the Maverick would usually balk against following such an abrupt command, his shock carries him to the top of the steps without complaint. "Alright, here goes," he announces, dropping his pants again - and this time stepping out of them, before promptly yeeting them over the side. They parachute a bit as they drop, he notes, which is suitably dramatic.

---

Danta drops his pants (again), then actually drops his pants from The Last Step.

Dantalion

// one hundred years from the empire now //

// and it's alright, that's the way i like it —

Vox’s inspection has Thorn frowning a touch, the muscle in his jaw set tight though he hopes it could be attributed to the squash he’s brought to drop and not the fact that Vox is here in all of his staticky nature and strange metaphors. Ones that he thinks he can understand on rare occasions, but as he’s ushered up the steps to drop the item he’s brought, he finds it doesn’t matter much whether he gets it or doesn’t.

So, he marches up the stairs after those before him, reaching the very top and works his jaw a little at the height, taking a deep breath as he lifts the squash over the edge of the step and drops it, watching as it sinks with a surprising amount of velocity — or maybe he’s helped give it a little shove of speed with his air magic. He’ll never tell.

---

Thorn drops the squash correctly this time ;D LMAO

He also gives it a little boost when he drops it with his basic air magic.

Air manipulation (Abandoned/Hybrid): Can manipulate the air. Must be within a 5ft radius, control is weak and unstable and requires concentration.
Type: Grey | Rank: Basic

thorn

— getting crucified,
every time you cross my mind //

Let the dropping begin! And then the dropping began.

Vesper ’s seed goes first, spinning like a drunk moth caught in a lazy wind. Vox watches, head slowly tilting, expression unreadable except for the faint sound of teeth grinding behind his grin. "Mm. Yes. It... spins." He nods as if trying very hard to be supportive of a child’s finger painting. "Would’ve been better if it screamed, but sure. Seven for elegance, three for drama."

Then comes Elizabeth  's book, its pages flapping wildly as it tumbles—thick, heavy, crammed with meaning. Vox recoils. ""Ugh. Knowledge?" he sputters, clutching at his own chest like it burns him. "I asked for the best thing to drop, not a bedtime story with homework."

Nova ’s glitterbomb, though—oh. Oh. As it erupts midair, casting sparks and shimmer across the sky, Vox lets out a strangled, static-laced shriek of joy. "YES. YESSS. THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT. A GLITTER EXPLOSION OF SELF! Ten! TEN! Glitter is the blood of the soul and this one is positively haemorrhaging!"

Thalassa ’s skull whistles down next, slicing the silence with each ghostly spin. Vox leans forward, almost reverent. "Ah. Sharp. Unapologetic. Full of implications." He doesn’t blink as it drops out of view. "Like a threat that never finishes the sentence. Yes, very good."

Then Zavien ’s shoe. Just a shoe. It tumbles in that boring way shoes always do—blunt, graceless, rubber-heavy. Vox groans like he’s being forced to digest celery. "Wow. The foot coffin. How original. Did you forget the assignment or do you just hate gravity?"

Colt ’s hat joins it, floating slightly as it catches the breeze. Vox’s many eyes narrow. "Hmm. Acceptable...but only because hats imply mystery. Like a riddle with thread. Still: not bouncy. Not on fire. You can do better, sheriff."

Iskra ’s hammer crashes through the air like it knows what it’s doing—no flair, just threat. Vox watches it land and nods, slow and solemn. "Ah yes. Violence-shaped. Respectable. Not flashy, but if it hits someone on the way down, I’ll double your score."

Aithne ’s handkerchief, stained and fluttering, takes its sweet time. Too much time. Vox stares at it as it drifts. And drifts. And drifts. "Is it....still falling?" he mutters, baffled. "Is this some kind of punishment? This is why I don’t invite fabric to parties."

Alys ’s tarot card makes no more impact. A rectangle, light as regret, gliding gently toward insignificance. Vox frowns like he’s just been offered stale bread. "Oh look, fortune’s on the wind. And she’s boring. Next!"

Callum’s wallet follows, flopping down like it’s giving up halfway through. Vox doesn’t even flinch. "Wow. A financial decision. You’re the person who shows up to a brawl with an accountant. NEXT."

But then: Liam. The bookmark flutters prettily, insignificantly—and Vox claps. Claps. His hands sound like woodblocks smashing glass. "You get it! The fall is meaningless, the gesture is grief! Delicious, infected grief! Encore!"

Noe ’s gear is next, and as it drops, it catches the static around it. The edges curl, spark, warp—until midair, it shudders and blooms into a pulsing, glitching heart. It beats once. Twice. Loud enough to echo. Vox doesn’t laugh. He just stares. Quiet. A little too long.

Then looks away.

Sohalia ’s crown falls with a metallic clunk, bouncing once, and then rolling sideways. Lifeless. Dethroned. Vox sighs. "Ah yes. The physical manifestation of disappointment. Truly, a royal dud."

Soren 's keys are dropped without flourish, chiming on their way down but nothing more. Vox shrugs. "Ah, keys. Door teeth. Would’ve been better if they exploded or screamed about lost potential."

Koa ’s shackles follow—a clattering plunge with all the symbolism in the world and none of the spectacle. Vox’s mouths twitch. "Chains? Chains? What is this, a metaphor? This is a game show, darling, not a sad poem!"

But Jack. Jack knows what he’s doing. The bouncy ball arcs cleanly and then rebounds, skyward, springing back like a child’s curse. Vox’s tentacles twitch with delight. "YES! YESSS! BOING! He brought the rebound! The comeback! That’s a kinetic narrative arc, baby!"

Dantalion drops his pants. There’s a hush. The pants themselves drift slowly, pathetically, caught by the wind. But no one watches them. They’re all staring at the dick. Vox tilts his head sideways. "Huh. So turns out it wasn’t the trousers with the charisma." He grimaces. "Two outta ten. Put it away."

And finally: Hawthorn ’s squash. A simple vegetable. Vox barely glances at it—until it rockets downward, punctuated with a violent wet explosion as it hits. Goo and seeds go everywhere. "YES! YES! DESTRUCTION! A VEGETABLE CATASTROPHE!" Vox is ecstatic. "You turned soup into theatre! Now that’s how you drop dinner!"

Once the final item tumbles out into the still air, Vox claps. Once. Then again, slower. Louder. Until it sounds like someone slapping raw meat against a rusted pipe.

"WELL" His static fuzzes outward in all directions like a sea urchin in a bad mood. "I have SEEN...so many rectangles fall. So many SYMBOLS and THOUGHTS and wooo look at my trauma!" He makes air quotes with tentacles. "Some of you treated this like a poetry reading. And to you, I say—"
A long pause.
"Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!?!?!"

His voice cracks sideways. "WHY would I want to watch your feelings gently waft down like a sleepy feather on a Tuesday?! I WANTED CARNAGE. I wanted kinetic despair! And what I got was—" he mimics Alys ’ tarot drop with exaggerated slowness, miming the card getting stuck mid-air. "Oooooh! Look at the paper sadness!"

He rotates 270 degrees without moving his feet, arms flung wide like a carousel caught mid-repentance, and points. Not with fingers, but with a horrifying, many-jointed limb that should not bend like that. Elizabeth. Colt. Zavien. Aithne. Alys. Callum. Sohalia. Soren. Koa. Dantalion. "OUT."
No explanation. No mercy. No appeal. Their crimes? Boredom. Symbolism. Poor aerodynamics. Dicks that didn’t deliver (honestly, why was there only one???)

He waits for the stragglers to descend and shuffle off, then claps once, the sound like static catching fire. "Right! The rest of you, congrats — you're officially not the worst!" He spins again, this time only 43 degrees, his many-eyed gaze landing squarely on Noe. "Now! Each of you will tell her — " and he points dramatically at his former bestie, as if she’s a deity in a thrifted hoodie, "—why your thing was the best to drop. Not the saddest, not the heaviest, not the most cursed—the best. The most beautiful, the most violent, the most ridiculous. Convince her."

He bounces slightly in place, like the world's worst hype man. "And yes," he adds, suddenly quiet, dangerously tender, "she can pick herself. Of course she can. Because she’s perfect. And I love her. And I miss her."
Then he settles, expectant. Silent. Grinning with all the mouths he shouldn’t have.

---

The following are OUT for bringing boring metaphors: ElizabethColt. Zavien. Aithne. Alys. Callum. Sohalia. Soren. Koa. Dantalion. (for only having one penis). You may use this drop for levelling.

The rest of you must justify your things to Noe, who will post last and pick the winner! You have 24 hours to reply.

vox

if you try and chase the sun you're never gonna catch it

Vesper grins at Colt, a glint of heat behind the humour as he watches her ascend. "Just so happens I got business in King’s End," he says innocently, like the shadows hadn’t followed her up the stairs and he hadn’t timed his arrival with eerie perfection. "Funny how that keeps happenin’, huh?"

He trails behind, not rushing, not lingering, just a casual presence as her hat makes its graceful descent and his own offering flutters like some delicate question mark in its wake. And then, when the moment’s passed and Vox begins his theatrical spiral into existential disappointment, Vesper descends alongside Colt once more, expression unreadable except for the faint twitch at the corner of his mouth.

When the call comes—OUT—he raises a pale brow at her retreating back, flicking his gaze sidelong as if to say well, it was nice while it lasted. A smirk curls lazily across his lips before he turns toward Noe, stepping into the static-tinged silence like he’s been waiting for this stage all along.

"Wasn’t tryin’ for drama," he drawls, voice unhurried, smooth as aged bourbon. He lifts another of the maple seeds between his fingers, offering it out to her palm-first like a gift. "But it’s one of those things that’s just...good. No curses, no gods, no strings attached. You drop one, and it never falls the same way twice. You could do it all day and never get bored." A little shrug follows, faint and graceful.

---

Vesp hands Noe a maple seed and tells her to drop it for herself.

And now it's turning out to be the worst of my bad habits

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

Stronger with every loss,

There may be a lot of things she finds uncomfortable about Vox, but she can't fault him for his impeccable eye for beauty. His response sends her beaming and twirling like a miniature explosion of the cosmos. 

Now that her turn is done, Nova finally notices a particular oh-so-serious captain with a bouncy ball that makes her giggle. As she bounds down the stairs at a dangerous pace, she sends a dramatic wave his way. "Hi Jack! Did you see all the GLITTER?!" Of course he saw the glitter, everyone saw the glitter. In fact, much to her delight, she's fairly certain a few people have flecks shimmering in their hair. 

She watches as a number of those people are cast out, noting happily that Vesper isn't one of them. Before anyone else can give their reasoning, Nova's jumping up and down, pushin past her brother with a dramatic and dizzying wave of her arm. "Ooh ooh ooh! Pick mine! Who doesn't love sparkles?! They go with everything and they're so bright! Like the stars! They can be subtle or loud, pretty or dangerous, but they always make me smile!" The face-splitting grin on her face that begs Noe to argue with her. 

---

Nova tells Noe that glitter is always the answer.

brighter with every win

Nova

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

Honestly, it's a lot. This whole thing is a lot, and Jack busies himself with collecting his bouncy ball while Vox conducts his dramatics and ousts many of them from the proceedings. To Jack's not-quite-chagrin, he isn't one of those designated to fail, and he finds himself expected to explain himself to Noe, someone he's never met and has no interest in lurking around to get to know.

Like Vesper, he offers her out the bouncy ball to try. "If you're smart, you'll never run out of drops. Why drop somethin' once when you can catch this an' drop it over an' over again. Plus, you can always ask someone to catch it if you get bored." And he means literally chase it to catch it. Ever seen someone try to run after a bouncy ball? Dumb as fuck.

---

Jack gives his reasoning to Noe and offers her the bouncy ball, because he doesn't really want it.