RIDDLE ME THIS [o, joining]

[Owlie]

EDWARD NYGMA

WHAT AM I?

This.... wasn't right. He was in an unfamiliar place. Even more he was outside. Which... that couldn't be right. He'd been in Arkham and- he shook his head. He been caught in the laboratory. Something else. Blackness- or had he been dragged down there? What had happened to him- OH- he stared at furry, oblong hands, black skin under dark brown fur. What- what the hell was he?
Strange must have done this to him.
He felt his face and snout with ugly hands, feeling his teeth as he sat up. Hands ran over and poked large fangs, testing a bite or two on his hand. He felt his arms and chest, disgusted at his nakedness and the grime already in his fur.
Is this some kind of hell, Strange?
"Maybe it is."
Edward jumped at looked over his shoulder, seeing no one there. Maybe it was him again- maybe it hadn't manifested itself yet because Edward didn't know what they looked like. Their hands and general body shape eluded to an ape of some kind. The way the hands curved inwards to grab things, herbivore teeth, no tail. Gibbon? He couldn't be sure until he got a mirror, but he was confident in his answer.
What animal am I?
His own riddle, haha!

"Okay. New Riddle. Where am I?" No, that didn't make any sense. He only did riddles he already knew the answer to- puzzles included. Someone else would have to give the answer. Judging on the scents and the nearby town, someone probably lived here.
Maybe he would feel better if he got some clothes on.
What have you done to me, Strange?

© LEXASPERATED

[rhosmari]

MONROE

MALE — SUNHAVEN — SUNBEARER — HARD

-- retro to capture and injuries

Now this was a sight he didn't think he would ever see in his life. At least not here in Sunhaven and his pearl colored eyes were focused on the strange animal that had appeared on their territory. A part of him wondered if the animal was okay considering how he looked rather confused and so the male decided to make his way forward. Maybe offer a bit of assistance if they needed it. The mutant put on a small smile, closed lipped as what had become customary with him as he waved a finned tail in the air to let the other see that he was coming over. After all he didn't want to spoke the human like creature because he wasn't so sure he could handle him on his own. Regardless the shark feline sat down then and he looked him over and saw no potential wounds so he went ahead and introduced himself. "Oi, I'm Monore and are ya alright? Ya are on Sunhaven territory and I'm just comin' over to make sure that everything is okay with ya." His head tilted to the side a bit, gills shifting almost restlessly against his neck as he attempted to figure out if the other was okay at all. "Ya seem confused. Ya can come tae the village and stay for a bit till ya figure out what's up."

#psychosocial.

[buckingham barnes]

When the maine coon came padding towards the border, he couldn't help it but be surprised by what he saw. Bucky was used to seeing strange, unfamiliar animals at the border. Bucky knew that he was a little out of the ordinary himself- usually cats don't have advanced metal prosthetics. Generally, the maine coon wasn't surprised by whatever creature sat at the border, but there was a weird feeling in his chest towards Edward. Perhaps it was how human like Edward was that almost caused Bucky's thick fur to stand on edge. Without a doubt, Buckingham wasn't used to seeing an ape waiting at their borders, especially one that could talk. The maine coon shortly padded in after Monroe, light on his paws, and not once did his gaze pull away from Edward.

His ears pinned back to his skull, as Monroe spoke up to the creature. Edward certainly seemed lost, even Bucky could assume that from Edward's weird speaking. "I'm Buckingham Barnes," He introduced himself with a bit of caution, his bushy tail slowly swishing behind him.

[Owlie]

EDWARD NYGMA

WHAT AM I?

Green eyes locked onto the animal, looking him up and down, quizzing himself over its form. Teeth bared in an attempted smile, but it looked more like he was forming an 'O' with his lips. Sunhaven? He felt the skin on his fur and, concurrently, felt the warm sun. He dropped the smile as it turned into a more serious stare.
He tried to pull himself up, standing shakily on two legs and using his forearms to balance out. A tentative step forward, followed by a second- a stumble, falling onto all fours. He pressed his lips togther, un satisfied as he took another step, this time on all fours, to Monroe, until he was sitting in front of the hybrid.
"Monroe... a shark cat?" His arm moved forward, attempting to touch the stranger's gills.
Is this another one of Strange's experiments? What use does he get from us?
Were you in Arkham too? "Don't ask that, they'll get curious."
His gaze directed over the mutant's shoulder, as if he was looking at something else. Shut up.

His head turned at the sound of someone else approaching, and notably, one foot- out of four- was heavier than the others. His eyes repeated the same motion, looking up and down, registering facts about the other cat. Metal leg. Maine Coon. Male. Serious.

He stood back up again, on his hind legs, hand reaching for a hat that wasn't there. Realizing it wasn't there, then feeling embarrassed. He took a few shaky steps back then pointed at the pair. First, at Monroe. "One.” He held a finger up. "What belongs to you, but is used by others?"

He knew the answer, but followed this up with a second riddle. Maybe this... transfer of consciousness hadn't ruined his genius. "Two." He made a two with his fingers, and looked at the Maine Coon now. "I can be a man or a thing, a mystery, living or dead, sometimes right in front of you. What am I?"

© LEXASPERATED

[rhosmari]

MONROE

MALE — SUNHAVEN — SUNBEARER — HARD

He wasn't sure about the other reaching forward to touch him and he tensed up before taking a couple of steps backwards. Fingers brushed his nose instead and he sniffled a bit before he shook his head a little bit so that he didn't sneeze on the other guy. Shifting his gaze over to look at Buckingham he wondered what the other thought about this new possible addition. Really, he didn't know what to think himself and he wiggled a little as he fixed pearl colored eyes back on the ape before him. But he didn't have time to speak up again as the other asked him a question. An odd one at that and then he understood. "Ah! A riddle." He sounded pleased with himself as he settled down, haunches wiggling a bit. He could definitely figure out what the answer was and he started to debate, tongue peeking out of his muzzle as he looked down to the ground. Now what was it? Something that was his but everyone used? He huffed a little before his eyes lit up with a thought and he turned to look at the other with a brighter smile upon his muzzle. "My name, righ'? Do ya have a name I can use?"

#psychosocial.

[buckingham barnes]

Buckingham couldn't help it but frown ever so slightly Edward reached out to Monroe, touching their gills. Bucky could see the tension in Monroe's shoulders, as the Goldenblood took a couple steps backwards. While Monroe certainly doesn't look like the ordinary cat, that doesn't mean Edward should try to touch him! It was a violation of privacy, no matter how intrigued Edward was by him, he should have kept his weird hands off of Monroe. When Edward turned his attention onto the former assassin, the male wondered if they were going to attempt to touch his leg. Bucky had quick reflexes, he'd certainly make sure to back out of way before Edward's hands could make contact with his cold metal limb.

After the ape scanned him momentarily, Bucky felt a sense of relief when Edward didn't do anything. Maybe something about Bucky's demeanor told Edward to back off. He watched the ape get onto it's hind legs, reaching one of his forelimbs to their head. Bucky wasn't sure what they were going to do, but it seemed to leave them puzzled, embarrassed. It didn't take long for Edward to focus onto Monroe, and hold one finger up. Edward asked a question, one specifically towards Monroe, which yet again was in the form of a riddle.

While the riddle wasn't directed at him, he still thought about the answer. Bucky has heard that riddle before, so it wasn't unfamiliar or that hard to solve. Like Monroe guessed, Buckingham thought of a name as an answer. Edward had a strange way to speaking, and he wasn't sure what he really thinks of it. Why didn't Edward just introduce himself to them, rather than speaking that way? The two of them already introduced themselves to the ape, it seemed strange that Edward seemingly avoided giving his out without making them think about it first.

When Edward focused on him again, with two fingers raised this time, the riddle Bucky received didn't sound as easy as the first one. "I can be a man or a thing, a mystery, living or dead, sometimes right in front of you. What am I?" The riddle sounded a bit confusing, almost vague- no matter how deeply he went through his skull for an answer, the former assassin couldn't think of anything. It almost made him feel stupid, as clearly there's an answer to this- he just can't find it. "I don't know," Buckingham sighed, hoping Edward would either tell the answer, or at least point him in the right direction.

[Owlie]

EDWARD NYGMA

WHAT AM I?

Edward liked riddles. His ability solve them and his pure genius gave him some sense of superiority. Even now- was he just a little better because he had hands and could walk like a man. He felt awkward in this form. His arms were far too long and he already imagined having to make his own clothes. He liked green. A nice green suit would be nice.

Head perked as he listened to their responses, body shifting towards the shark cat. His hands gave a thumbs up this time. "Correct! A name. It belongs to you, but it's used by others." He smiled lightly, fanged teeth bared. He didn't quite get smiling correct in this form, it was more like showing of teeth. "As for my name, we're getting there."

He looked at the maine coon now with expectant brown eyes, leaning forward. His hand still up, now pointed towards Buckingham, turned into a thumbs down. That stupid, ugly smile dropped into a frown and he deflated a little. "I'm sorry, that is not the correct answer." He made a rotating motion with his arms, as if he was showing himself off. "The answer is, an enigma!" Edward shuffled forward, considering giving them a handshake to introduce himself with... but figured he'd already embarrassed himself enough.

"I'm Edward Nygma, or, E. Nygma. Nygma also works, but that's mostly from my co-workers. " See what I did there? Get it?

© LEXASPERATED

[PIERCE]

[div style="margin-top: 30px; text-align: center; font-family: timesnewroman; font-size: 35px; color: white;"]pierce parker

☀ — just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me

space

//uhh idk if this could necessarily be a trigger but  warning for mention of stillborn children
also im SORRY this is so long u can skip to the last paragraph if u want skjhdgfds

Pierce was commonly seen as the "nice guy" by others, the guy that was always happy to talk to you and to help you if you so needed. His gentle smiles, kind words, and his all-around warmth all aided this image, and he liked to think that it was a pretty accurate one. He loved people, and loved when they were happy. All he really wanted was to live a nice life and make others smile. However, he was still a person, and there would always be times when he dropped the sweetness to handle a tough situation, or when he completely forgot his manners and lost it. The latter was incredibly uncommon, truth be told- he was typically rather well-composed, no matter how angry or upset he may be.

The slender Dawnguard had been nearby when the sounds of voices reached his ears, and he raised his honey gaze to settle on the small group of animals. There was Bucky and Monroe, his clanmates, and then what looked to be a fuzzy human child- the word was monkey, right? That was what they were called? Or maybe the proper term was ape, but he really had no idea. He'd read about both of them a long time ago, but didn't think he'd ever met one in person. A bright smile finding its way to his features, Pierce meandered over, just in time to hear the guy answering his own riddle, which the serval had - fortunately - missed.

"enigma; noun; a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand."

The word "enigma" was one not commonly used. In fact, Pierce was pretty sure he'd only heard anyone say it when he used to study the dictionary with his old mentor, though he tried his best not to think about that- he was trying to move on, to better himself, and dwelling on that asshole wasn't going to help. As the gibbon before him went on, however, Pierce realized that this new assumed Sunhavener wasn't going to, either.

"I'm Edward Nygma,"

That was all Pierce needed to hear for the blood to drain from his face and his mouth to go dry. Edward Nygma- it was a name he hadn't heard uttered in such a long time, for the man it had belonged to had ditched the first name at such a young age, before he and Pierce even met. Rid, was what Pierce had known him as; Riddlersgame Nygma. It was a name that had once brought such joy to his heart, a smile to his kind features, but now, he felt only shocked, confused. It wasn't like it was a common name- Edward, perhaps, but who had ever heard of a man named Nygma? It was too specific to be a coincidence. It could not be a coincidence.

So what was this, some sort of cruel joke? For not only had the name belonged to a man who had broken his heart so many times, who he had once loved so dearly and now felt so much anger toward, but it was also the name of his son. His son, who had never had the chance to feel the warmth of the sun against his golden coat, or to play with his littermate who currently lay sick in Pierce's home. Edward Parker-Gardner. Ed. Little, dead Ed, who Pierce so wished he could hold to this very day, despite all the time that had passed. "The pain will fade with time," he'd been told, but he didn't feel any fucking different. The figurative scars were still there, pink and ugly and a constant reminder of what he could have had. He still ached for his little boy, for the chance to have seen him grow up, and he still could not think of Riddlersgame. God, how he missed him, but he refused to let that resonate for fear that his anger toward the other, the only thing that still kept him from utterly shattering, would fade and be replaced with the sorrow and crushing loneliness that crept into his head at night.

A lump had formed in Pierce's throat as he stood before the newcomer, tears threatening his stinging eyes. Clearly, this man was not Riddler in another body - his body language was completely off, and the handsome tabby never would have gone by his old name again -, but what could explain the exact same name, as well as the apparent fascination for riddles? It was too, too perfect. Something was wrong. "So what the hell do you want?" The words slipped past his lips before he could stop them, aggressive barrier erected in a defensive reaction to his confusion and multitude of emotions. The other's riddle-oriented behavior and eerily familiar name were both red flags for Pierce, and he wasn't about to take another chance at getting hurt by a guy named Nygma. So, he'd just make sure it wasn't possible. He'd keep the ape as far as he could from himself, and it'd be fine.

"speech"

space

[Owlie]

EDWARD NYGMA

WHAT AM I?

"Oh, he doesn’t like you. Was it the riddles? You are a selfish one...” Once again, Edward could be caught looking off into the the distance at something that wasn’t there. He frowned at it, a grumble in his throat. I’m not... selfish. I did all those things for Ms. Kringle. To help her!
"Yeah, before you, you know, choked her and buried her body out in the woods.” He bared histeeth at his own apparition then quickly turned back to the serval. Edward pulled his arms together, restraining himself and putting a hand over the other.

”Well, I hate be in the way of things, I’d like a place to stay until-“ "Until you figure out what’s wrong with you?” "Until I figure out what’s going on and all... I need some clothes, but I’ll figure that out. I feel very naked right now.” Now he’s oversharing.

He doesn’t hate me. He’s just being cautious. We’re all animals and many species are territorial. Maybe he’ll warm up. No. He didn’t know how long he would be staying or if he even planned to stay. Don’t get any wild ideas.

© LEXASPERATED