raiamods: (Default)
raiamods ([personal profile] raiamods) wrote in [community profile] ethyraia2021-05-21 04:56 pm
Entry tags:

◣ OPEN ◢ HATCHING LOG 001

WHO: All PCs
WHAT: New characters arrive on Ethyraia, get interrogated, and settle in at the basecamp.
WHEN: May 21 onward
WHERE: Basecamp Leviathan
NOTES/WARNINGS: Potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.


HATCHING LOG 001 ❀
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.

Players who participated in our TDM are welcome to keep their CR and the content of those threads. Please make sure to chat this out on the OOC intro & CR meme before making assumptions. Please take your time reading the hatching and basecamp bullets, as some items have been altered or expanded.

❀ HATCHING


Congrats, you've woken up in an egg. I'm sure this is exactly how you wanted to spend your Saturday, right? There's no time to get curious and check out the other egg sacs. By the time you've fought your way out of the membranous sac, spilled electric blue goop everywhere, wiped it out of your eyes and sundry other orifices to get your bearings, you have a spear (or a gun) leveled at your face, throat, or other vital organs. Even if you might be inclined to fight, you can barely lift your arms to protest being grabbed and dragged off. Before you can even get a word in edgewise, you've been thrown into a holding cell.

Characters will not have a chance to retrieve their items at the time of the first hatching, and may not even know there is anything left in the remaining eggs.

The holding cell stinks of something sour and acidic, like rotted citrus, but you are not alone. Several other detainees sit in similar squalid confusion, dressed strangely and equally gooey. Time to make nice, ask questions... figure out what the hell is going on, and maybe do something about all that slime?

Over the next few days, a few things become clear. Despite the alien greeting, your captors speak a language that you understand, and the unpleasant circumstances are revealed to be a matter of necessity, not choice. Supplies are low, but they ensure that the new arrivals' time imprisoned is as painless as can be — they offer hot communal showers of less than three minutes, some strange starchy meal-replacement, and medical treatment to those in need. You might strike up a conversation with your new best friend in the shower over a low soap dispenser or when you realize you might need to share towels.

The cost of these luxuries comes in the form of touch-and-go interrogation by the security officers keeping tabs on the cells and supervising the shower time.

A few notes:
Your character may get pulled away for interrogation at some point. No torture, no drugs; just questioning. If you would like to thread this out, please reply to CAPT CHILDE'S top level comment! A caveat: threads will not go beyond (TEN) NPC replies, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

☆ Locals will be stopping by outside the freestanding holding cells to ogle or ask questions. Are you really going to be mean to that little kid staring at you with wide eyes?

☆ Characters will be let out for bio breaks. No one has to pee in a bucket, that's just inhumane!

Attempts to escape will probably get you tasered. If your character composes a genius jailbreak, you are welcome to submit it in the MOD QUESTION comment to work out how that might go with the NPCs!

❀ EXPLORE THE BASECAMP

On the heels of a little benign interrogation, a medical inspection, and a stern talking to by Captain Childe, the survivors at Basecamp Leviathan determine one thing: you don't appear to be an active threat.

Released from the detention center after three days, you are given the run-down by the locals — you're on a planet called Ethyraia, and the people around you are survivors of the catastrophic crash of the UCSS Adamant several years prior. You, in fact, showed up on the third anniversary of the crash. Weird coincidence, huh?

The first order of the day is having a proper meal at the mess hall — some of the Adamant's survivors will be friendlier than others. They've been stranded here for years, remember? Some of them will be so desperate to talk to someone who has news of other places, and some will be giving you the cold shoulder.

You'll be fed the same as the rest of them. A plastic plate of crumbled protein of unidentifiable origin and gravy over rice with a single wilted stalk of broccoli and a cup of the worst coffee you've ever had. Maybe somebody bumps into you and spills said coffee, maybe you make it all the way to one of the long tables set out for communal eating.

Time to strike up a chat with your neighbor — maybe ask them to pass the salt?

(What do you mean, there's no salt!?)

During this time, characters will be able to return to the Central Chrysalis where they hatched. While there are no clues as to how they got there, they might find items — their own, or someone else's. Everyone is strapped for supplies, but try not to snatch up anything that isn't yours. The security officers don't look kindly on people chasing one other down the hall, trying to get back their dirty magazines.

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to help out anywhere. Every little bit of assistance you offer to the locals will raise their estimation of you. You could easily help clean dishes after the meal, help fix leaky piping or repair hammocks. You could stop by the aid station and assist with the wounded. You'll be watched closely and some of the survivors will be warier than others, but most will appreciate the opportunity to have a 'break'.

☆ If your character leaves the basecamp and wanders outside the Leviathan, they may begin to notice that what they perhaps took as a giant cave is actually an enormous dragon. Everything that seems human-made will look varying levels of worn down, patched, repaired and patched again. This is not a place of prosperity and happiness. Many people are recently injured, or have new scars or missing limbs.

☆ PCs will be warned about the acid rain and inhospitable wildlife that they'll face if they venture beyond the shade of the dragon's wings.

❀ RECRUITMENT FAIR



You've been here for a week, had a chance to show your mettle. Maybe you've demonstrated a propensity for fixing gadgets (or plumbing!) or you have the command of a natural leader and the ability to wield a gun (or a tire iron!) to great effect. Either way, the Adamant's survivors are eager to put you to work so they can have their first real 'days off' in three years! Survivors have set up their various areas in the hopes of catching your attention and (possibly!) bolster their numbers! Feel free to wander around, talk to other PCs, and get the lay of the land.

ENGINEERING CORPS

Thorkil has welded a sign to a post out front, cheerfully painted by a gaggle of children to say "WELCOME!" The children are crowded around the area, and Thorkil is telling them stories about one of his many tattoos as you approach — he has a magnificent eagle tattooed on his arm, and in a hush he is explaining how it landed on him and tried to bite him like a mosquito, and how he slapped it and it just splattered right there on his arm and he's never been able to wash it off!

The children seem mesmerized by the story (maybe you are too?) and will scatter at the story's conclusion, tugging you over to the various areas, pointing things out excitedly. What is an Ehlers-Chau sublight engine? You're about to find out whether you like it or not! Or maybe you can teach them a thing or two. Those who seem to know their stuff will be eagerly invited on board by Thorkil.

The Engineering division has salvaged its tools and scrap from the Adamant’s wreckage, so it has all of the essentials from metal mills to CNC routers to circuitry tools. A holo projector throws schematics on the wall — a drill, a few potential shelter ideas for long-term settlement, and a new communications tower.

SECURITY DIVISION

Rémi has barely deigned to participate — and seems to have done so only at the request of some of his companions. He's sitting at an unadorned table and he is cleaning a variety of weapons. He will scowl if approached, and seems openly mistrustful of your intentions should you speak to him. Questions about how a conversation with Rémi might go may be posted to the MOD QUESTIONS thread. (Note: We will not be threading Rémi, so these questions will be handwaved!)

Characters who make a positive impression on him will open up the avenue to work for the Security Division later, but he will not be extending any offers now — please allow for a realistic period of development here!

Feel free to lean into another PC's space and comment on how frosty that dude seems! You can also survey the various weapons stored in racks, help out with building spears, the usual suspects.

THEATRE

The theatre doubles as a childcare center, and many of the NPCs bustling about seem very excited and eager for the chance to talk to anyone who ventures in to visit. The theatre is bright and cheerful, paintings have been done on the walls of scenes from children's stories featuring colorful characters.

The thespians will not only try to recruit you (for acting in a play, for teaching, for script writing, for drawing on the walls or caring for children) but they will actively put you to work if they see you standing idle longer than a moment! Your character may find themselves with a paintbrush in hand, or taking part in a recital for a play (you're free to invent one, or put a new spin on an old classic! Romeo and Julio, anyone?) or building a set piece for one of the many local productions.

The Theatre doubles as the protective hub in times of need, so beyond arts education and babysitting, your character may also be tasked with shoring up those defenses, helping to fortify the walls, or other such tasks. And who knows, they may be paired off with someone else rather unexpectedly!

AID STATION

Sunya Hyacinth is the local medical doctor, fueled by coffee and spite. She doesn't have the time to recruit personally — she's flitting about the aid station seeing to the injured.

If you follow her, she will put you to work. Hold this stent, articulate this dislocation, take this blood pressure reading. If anyone appears to have a proficiency for this sort of work, she may inquire after credentials — and anyone who seems to have medical experience is going to immediately be handed the medic's armband, a white band with a blue cross emblazoned on it. This armband will grant any PC an extra amount of respect and trust from the Adamant's survivors — but you'd better be able to live up to it!

Feel free to treat any injured PCs, converse with other 'recruits', help pin that white and blue arm-band on... you know, anything under the sun. Some of the patients in the medical bay seem to be suffering from the adverse effects of some of the local flora — itching hives or burning pustules. One unfortunate soul seems only able to speak in limericks, which the medical staff will admit is one of the odder things they’ve seen.

SANITATION

CONTENT WARNING: DRUG REFERENCES

It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it! There are always latrines to be dug, pipes to be repaired, general maintenance to be done on the various sanitation systems.

A nervous-looking janitor will approach your character almost shyly, and ask if you wouldn't mind giving her a hand. If you are willing to help her (fix a pipe, dig a hole, etc), she will gradually warm up to you and seem more animated and lively and very, very grateful. Won't you please consider working with the Sanitation crew? Sure, it's not as glamorous as some of the other duties, but they're the backbone of the Basecamp and they could really use the help!

She'll even let you in on a little secret if you really butter her up or show an interest — the Sanitation Crew? Totally has a little underground greenhouse where they're growing marijuana. They're totally willing to share...

Feel free to dig latrines alongside your fellow PCs, or maybe even share a joint. It's a way to pass the time, right? PCs serving in sanitation will also have an easier time overhearing the gossip that spreads around the base, since no one looks twice at them.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO MASS DEATH

During their first two weeks in the basecamp, any character who stops by one of the various houses of worship (in addition to a church, a synagogue, and a mosque, there is a temple with small statues to fifteen different unfamiliar deities, many of whom seem to be from different faiths), the gymnasium, or the mess hall will come across a stand that hosts a dozen or so packages.

Wrapped in the black emergency blankets that many bring with them to and from the bunks, these packages are about one cubic foot and contain folded clothes in roughly the same sizes. The styles are all different and highly individualized. Some are luxe, some are basic, and some are clearly the undershirt (but not the proper outerwear) for uniforms of the Adamant’s crew. Warm-faced folks eagerly give out a single package to each new hatchling. Along with the clothing and blanket, hatchlings will receive basic packages containing basic toiletries — bar soap, a toothbrush, a straight razor, etc.

Come by at the wrong time, and you might see a fight break out. A young person, red-faced, shouts at the volunteers working these stands, “Those were our people! Our families! We should be the one to decide what’s done with what they left behind.”

In hushed tones, clearly trying to keep this from becoming a conflict, the lead volunteer insists, “Take it up with Captain Childe.”


A few notes:
Feel free to have your character sign on to help out with any of the listed divisions, with the exception of security.

☆ Characters may collect one (1) care package from the community outreach program. If your character intends to come back for more, please let us know in the Mod Questions thread.

☆ Feel free to ask for light NPC interactions in the MOD QUESTIONS header; we can give you a general idea of how a conversation might go! Like with the Captain Childe threads, none of these threads will be lengthy, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

❀ THE DREAMING

You are standing at the edge of an immense, underground lake. Water laps at the shore, echoing in the cavern. There is a sense of peace and warmth and — welcome.

A creature emerges from the lake and approaches you. Its gills flutter, its eyes are a faint bioluminescent glow in the darkness. It reaches out to touch you — one long, elegant finger presses against your chest. It feels as if it might crack your sternum open and ferret beneath your bones as if looking, looking for something. Yet, there is no malice from it, and you feel no fear.

But the creature relents. It backs up. Bows to you once, and then turns and walks back into the water.

You stay for some time at the edge of the lake. Eventually, it seems as if another person is here with you, or perhaps they simply came into focus after being here just as long as you. Should you speak with them?

A few notes:
PCs may interact with one another in the dreams. They will be in a semi-conscious state, not wholly aware they are dreaming and not wholly under the impression of its normalcy.

☆ Your character will wake up naturally from the Dreaming, they will feel peaceful and refreshed.
The lake, if they choose to swim in it while dreaming, would be perceived as the perfect ambient temperature for them — some characters may prefer it to be warmer or colder!

☆ If they duck below the water, they will see far-off glittering city lights, but no matter how they try to swim towards them they will never get any closer!

☆ If your character tries to drink the water, they might notice that for a few minutes after they wake they can hear little snippets of NPC thoughts. Weird!

☆ Every character will have a small, pale lilac mark where they were touched on the chest. It will fade over the next few days.

❀ FETCH QUEST

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO LIGHT APHRODISIAC EFFECTS

A small, perky woman corrals you somewhere near the latrines. "Hey!" she says insistently, pushing her hat back and sending a spill of inky curls askew from her forehead. "We need a hand. There's this plant we get for Sunya — the Doc? You met her yet? — it's a painkiller. Go through a shitload of that, which I'm sure is quite surprising," she says all this in a single breath, and her expression is sour despite her cheery tone.

"You any good at botany? We need another round of Starspire root. Can't harvest the ones we've got in camp, they've been a little cranky lately. You'll have to go about four kilometers due west, towards the old Adamant wreck. Just watch them — if they start to sweat, you'll need to get under cover, means the acid rain is coming. I'll upload the specs to your Comm."

Seems like you're being partnered with somebody else for the run — another person looking perhaps about as equally haggard as you, and at least as equally voluntold. Hopefully you won't run into any difficulties — how hard can retrieving one plant be?

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to have random monster encounters along the way! Don’t forget to wait for approvals on bestiary submissions before incorporating them into threads.

☆ The plants are at a high elevation, so they will exist on rocky outcroppings along a cliff-face. The landscape here is mostly high desert, which means it is full of thin, calf-high grasses, scrub plants, and non arable land polluted by dense, alkaline soil and rocks. Be creative in how you get there!

☆ Somebody gets hurt? Here, chew this root! They said it was a painkiller, right? What's the worst that could happen? (People can get a little ... flirtatious, shall we say.)

☆ Or you could go one step further and try exploring portions of the Adamant! Remember, the ship itself was built to house seventy thousand people — it's the size of a city, and it cannot be adequately explored in an afternoon! If you'd like anything specific to come of this, or if you’d like to know specifics about the Adamant’s layout, please consider submitting a plot request!.

northerndragon: (welp.)

[personal profile] northerndragon 2021-05-27 11:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[It’s true. Sam looks strong, and he has several inches on Jon in terms of height. Like as not, Jon weighs a little less.

He’s also keenly aware that, since his neural implant no longer connects to anything, he has to rely on questions. And he feels half a fool asking so many of them.]


All right.

[A glance up the cliff.]

How does it work?
Edited (HTML!) 2021-05-27 23:37 (UTC)
neversmall: (067)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-27 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Nina nods. The year means nothing to her, and the designation 'Great War' is equally unfamiliar. Her war doesn't have a name. It seems Ravka has always been fighting. Grisha certainly have been. ]

I am sorry to say I'm not familiar with that war, or that time. Ravka is also at war, but it seems more consistent than great.

[ And then, to ground the conversation in the factual: ] How long have you served as a medic?
freightcars: (pic#14860638)

[personal profile] freightcars 2021-05-27 11:52 pm (UTC)(link)
( Yeah, Sam is not the sole source and target of Bucky's anger. Some of his issues may be personal, but his poor handling of them isn't. Steve, if anything, is a more appropriate person to lash out at. Maybe easier, too, considering how well they know each other. When you're friends with someone since the age of ten or eleven and now you're a hundred and six — plus you know they leave you anyway — what's holding you back?

Which isn't to say he won't feel guilty about it. There's practically more guilt than anger churning around under the surface, it's just that anger's harder to muffle in the moment.

You okay?

Never mind him. He exhales, and comes straight out with it:
)

Sam, I told him about the shield. About Walker. I didn't mean to, it wasn't even really about you, it just...

( His lips tuck into one cheek, and he shakes his head. He's not even sure how to articulate what it was about, not without a few seconds to try and frame it in his mind. He didn't think that far ahead. Priority one was accountability, and he's never been one to hedge something he's done wrong. Ever. He might be a screw-up, but he's a screw-up that takes responsibility for it like a man.

Or, you know, the slightly sexist 1940s definition of like a man. He's not Woke enough to think about the saying too deeply yet, but he'll eventually cotton on.

Anyway, regardless of what it was about, it doesn't really matter. He did it, and--
)

I'm sorry.
neversmall: (Default)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-27 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Nina may smell a bit familiar to Crow; there are certainly some white bits of hair that Trassel's made sure to leave on her skirts as she walks about, a clearly marked member of his pack.

'Poe after' what author? Someone named Poe, she supposes. Fascinating. ]


We have stories of griffin in my world, but I have to confess they're a great deal bigger - and a great deal less handsome, [ she addresses that last bit to Crow and extends a hand toward him, palm lightly curled inward so her fingers are 'sheathed' as she waits to see how a griffin would respond to the type of greeting she'd give a cat. ]
freightcars: (166)

[personal profile] freightcars 2021-05-28 12:23 am (UTC)(link)
( He's the last person on the planet that can judge somebody for being detached and a little cold. He had those tendencies even before he got captured. He's just a little less straightforward about it and a little more sarcastic.

Interesting to see somebody just flat out say something like that. A little amusement slips into the neutrality.
)

I think this is the part where I'm supposed to say something wise and judgmental, like must be lonely, but...

( He holds up his metal left hand. )

I don't even miss the arm. Wouldn't wanna be a hypocrite.
medik: (in the morning they return)

[personal profile] medik 2021-05-28 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ Yakov almost clarifies that great, in this instance, refers not to warring ideologies or men sacrificing themselves for glorious ideals—only the sheer scale of the destruction, unlike anything seen before—but ultimately leaves it, at least for the time being. ]

Two years. Are you a nurse?

[ That photograph of the Romanova women in their tellingly pristine Red Cross aprons immediately comes to mind, such a twisted juxtaposition to the filthy trench he first saw it in. He'd been compelled to rip it to shreds at the time, like that would do anything to stop the man beside him from slowly dying, but he feels none of the same malice toward this woman—whatever she is, she's genuine, not a despot performing to keep the masses unaware of their own subjugation. ]
sunmon: (pic#14852478)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-28 12:29 am (UTC)(link)
We'll just have to go further outside to see them.

[ she gestures to the edge of the camp. alina doesn't plan to stay here forever. it might be safe, but it's confining. and if there's another settlement, somewhere far from kirigan's grasp, she'll go there instead.

briefly, it occurs to her what he might do to this camp when he finds her missing, when he suspects some of them might have kidnapped and hidden her. it dashes her spirits only briefly, but enough that she plops down to sit beside nina and her biscuit tin.

she doesn't reach for one first. that would be impolite. instead, she wraps her arms around her knees and waits.
]

I can't believe you managed not to lose these to the egg fluid.
fossils: (pic#7753951)

[personal profile] fossils 2021-05-28 12:32 am (UTC)(link)
Steve.

[ He straightens from where he's hunched over the box for a moment to extend a hand. ]

Theater design not your usual gig? [ asked wryly with a raised eyebrow. ]
neversmall: (101)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-28 12:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ ...a nurse. A flicker of wry reflection surfaces over her face before it's dismissed as Nina shakes her head. ]

No. I was a soldier in the Second Army. Now I'm here. [ That distinction is important to her.

...there is probably no one over the age of 14 who looks LESS like a soldier than Nina Zenik in this entire encampment. Yet. Her gaze is very steady, and for all her seeming softness, she does not look like she is lying. ]
unclesam: ((91))

[personal profile] unclesam 2021-05-28 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ The downside of leaving your six open to the dude that you've grown used to covering you - he can stab you anytime, and you just gotta live with having handed someone that power.

Still sucks when it happens. Still hurts.

Sam crosses his arms.

Yeah, they're done throwing that overgrown frisbee. Sam looks at the shield on Bucky's arm for a drawn out moment, then pulls his eyes up to meet Bucky's. This isn't like the apology offered in Louisiana.

It wasn't even really about you.

Was it ever? All this time, Sam knew his own worth, his own value. It was the world around him he doubted. Giving up the shield had never been about a strange sort of imposter syndrome regarding him in relation to Steve, and even through Bucky's worst gripes, Sam had felt secure in that knowledge at least - it was personal for Bucky, while it was systemic for Sam.

And yet here is a Bucky who never learned that, and who just... found a new way to weaponize that shield against Sam.

This one hurt. ]


Alright.

[ It's quiet. Soft, almost. The last time he got angry with Bucky and raised his voice, two cop cars pulled up on him in broad daylight.

Bucky doesn't know shit about Walker. Or about Sam. Not anymore. Not this Bucky.

It wasn't even really about you.

Sam turns away, walks a few paces to pick up his water canteen, and take a long drink. ]


So. You and Steve figure it out? You guys good?
Edited 2021-05-28 00:44 (UTC)
needfully: (pic#14877862)

[personal profile] needfully 2021-05-28 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
Prioritizing the people they already know is the logical response. [ Said evenly, neutrally, like he doesn't fault the crew for such a position. ] To take it further would be to get rid of the "Hatchlings" altogether...

[ To eliminate the potential threat of the newcomers, to eliminate the need to feed more people... yes, that would be the most coldly logical way of dealing with the Hatchlings, that is, only in the world where the crew was certain the cons outweighed the potential pros the Hatchlings had to offer. He agrees that its like a mixture of a lack of trust as well as the Hatchlings' relative ignorance to the state of the planet that's causing this unwillingness to take them on to certain tasks. Still. Illumi shrugs, seeming nonchalant over the matter. ]

But— if they were that kind of group, they would have done that already. Right after we hatched, if they were serious.
neversmall: (003)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-28 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
They were in the second batch. You know, the one where things were mysteriously not covered in goo.

[ Nina opens the tin and hands one biscuit to Alina, then takes one herself. She doesn't bite into it yet. Each biscuit is covered with a layer of chocolate. ]

Have you been back to check them out yet?
sunmon: (Default)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-28 12:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ she nods, but she's too busy taking a bite of the biscuit — which after a week of the blandest rations she's ever tasted, is a luxurious experience. she catches the crumbs in her other hand, then when she has chewed through the bite, finally answers. ]

Found my old kefta, etherealki blue. Sketchbook. Night dress. [ a knife. she takes another bite of the biscuit and decides not to mention it. ] A bag of sweet toffees. [ she points at nina with the biscuit. ] Which, don't worry, I fully intend to share.
medik: (we starve / look at one another)

[personal profile] medik 2021-05-28 12:51 am (UTC)(link)
Your country allows women to fight alongside men?

[ Has Marxism already succeeded there? It's a strange thing to think about, and if it's some other world's iteration of Russia, who is to say that the workers and peasants haven't already succeeded? Or that they were forced to live under a despotic regime to begin with? Yakov's not foolish enough to let a faint trickle of hope overwhelm his common sense, however; he's fully able to recognize that this woman was probably brought up under the power of some other tsar, so he doesn't ask outright. It'll be self-evident before too long whether or not that aspect of her reality is also a mirror image of his own. ]
freightcars: (104)

[personal profile] freightcars 2021-05-28 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
( Jesus, he feels like an asshole. Granted, he felt like one already, so it's just more asshole.

The last time he did something wrong, Sam yelled at him right back. Tit for tat. This muted, minimized reaction throws him. Hits him a little too hard.

There's a long pause after Sam's question made up of just Bucky trying to figure out things to say to make this better that aren't outright selfish excuses. When he answers the question, it's a little distracted-sounding. He hedges a few feet in Sam's direction, lowering the shield down off his arm, propping it up absently against a table leg.
)

No. Yes. Maybe. I don't know. Listen--

( Because I'm sorry doesn't feel like enough, and it doesn't make him feel any better, but he's not sure how else to fix it aside from just... This. Repeating the same goddamn thing over and over again, but staying stuck in place like slowly sinking quicksand. )

I wasn't... trying to throw you under the bus. It wasn't like that. He just... I felt like he was disappointed in me over something he knew nothing about. I don't know why that flipped me, but everything just kind of came out all at once. I know we have a weird... thing, and I'm not trying to screw it up more. I'm really not.
Edited 2021-05-28 00:59 (UTC)
neversmall: (006)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-28 01:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ The desert air is a welcome change to the artic climate she's been in so recently, but it has its own kind of dangers. ]

Do you think they were dragon eggs?
fossils: (pic#9089576)

[personal profile] fossils 2021-05-28 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
[ Can't blame the guy for his caution, anyway. ]

Not a damn clue. [ There's a grim edge to his tone, his mouth forming a line. ]

Thought I'd get a better look at this thing.

[ From afar. A nod at the structure above them, the strange crystalized 'beams' and dome around the basecamp. ]
neversmall: (062)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-28 01:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ ...so she wasn't immediately set her apart upon going to the Little Palace. She'd been given a blue kefta at first, a chance to meet and befriend the other Grisha before setting her apart as surely as Genya had been, if in very opposite ways.

Nina hasn't stopped thinking about it since Alina brought it up - unanswered letters. She doesn't know who did it, but Nina knows the political games of the Little Palace. A sun summoner... would not be permitted... much outside influence. The Powers That Be were probably already furious enough that Alina'd grown up outside their indoctrination; the power she had simply because of the hope she offered...

No, she didn't know who did it - it could have been the king, a wealthy noble, or even the general - but she was sure that it was done. They were at war, and Little Palace politics didn't believe in leaving much to chance. ]


Oh, toffees! Excellent. That should last a great deal longer than these. We'll have to eat them within the month or they'll go stale. [ Nina brings up the biscuit to her nose and smells it, before closing her eyes and taking a small bite, savoring it with unabashed enjoyment. ]
unclesam: ((13))

[personal profile] unclesam 2021-05-28 01:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ Sam clenches his fingers around the bottle for a moment, deliberately flexes them. They feel numb. It happens sometimes - Sam knows it's not actual nerve damage, nothing's wrong with him. It's just that sometimes, his fingers and toes feel numb, as if he's half a second away from crumbling into dust outside in. Alone, confused. Unseen, unheard.

There's a symbolism in there that Sam doesn't care to examine.

Instead when Bucky steps closer, Sam holds the water bottle out to him. Bucky probably doesn't need it, didn't even break a sweat. Sam still makes the offer.

I felt like he was disappointed in me over something he knew nothing about.

Yeah. Something small and spiteful in Sam wants to ask 'So, you get what that's like now?', He pushes it down.]


That doesn't make sense. Steve has no reason to be disappointed in you. You didn't do anything.

[ Not to Steve at least. Sam frowns.

It wasn't even really about you. ]


And listen... that weird thing? [ Partnership. Friendship. ] You're not obliged to try and become or live up to some specific future version of yourself. You don't owe me that, and I don't expect that of you.

[ It's an out, but not one offered unkindly. There's truth to it - Bucky doesn't owe Sam whatever their equivalent to fixing the boat would be. He's got enough on his plate with Steve, and Sam knows it would be unfair to demand something from Bucky that he has no reason to want to offer. ]
Edited 2021-05-28 01:17 (UTC)
trassel: (11.)

even the trees hate us.

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-28 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
[ Matthias and Trassel are his silent shadows. They make their way across the terrain without much fuss — he permits the officer to ask questions about their pace and well-being. There is no pride to speak of here, out in the wilderness, and there's no better way to demonstrate his own capability than to perform sufficiently. He has little to prove and nothing to prove to Yakov besides, but old habits of moving with the druskelle units resurface. He'd been with four officers, before the - whole cataclysm, and Nina Zenik came crashing into his life. ]

[ He'd bent down to study the tracks, glancing up when Yakov speaks, ]

It's not far. We've made good time.

[ They can still find a place to camp at twilight. ]
sunmon: (Default)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-28 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
Saints, that's just around the corner, isn't it?

[ it hits her like a brick. alina looks down at the biscuit, pressing almost lost crumbs back to her lips. she mulls them over. ]

Nearly two weeks already. [ like her time in the little palace, it feels like it's rushing by. she hunches her shoulders a bit. it's going to take a long time to get back to ravka. it's not a matter of simply trekking across a country and boarding a ship. not one with sails, at least. ]
needfully: (pic#14782364)

[personal profile] needfully 2021-05-28 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ In direct contrast to the way she's pinching her face this way and that, Illumi's face barely moves as he eats, not even to chew that much, really... he just swallows the last bit of his plate down, setting his spoon down calmly as he watches her dramatic display. At the very least, his stare isn't judgmental. ]

If that were true, you'd get used to it fairly quickly.

[ Its said without a hint of condescension: he really means that matter-of-factly. Maybe from experience? Nonetheless, he's thinking that it can't hurt to share a #protip if they're going to be eating the same disgusting slop everyday. If only so he doesn't have to watch her make such a big deal out of it. ]

You could hold your nose while you eat. It'll mute your senses. Or you could try swallowing it whole. Oh, but that might not work, if you're not used to swallowing food that way... hm...

[ Sometimes you need to workshop your thoughts aloud? Its clear he's just rambling off whatever ideas come into his (empty) head as she struggles to eat. ]
neversmall: (041)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-28 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ ...sigh. Nina opens her eyes and... yup, Alina's body language is clearly communicating her distress. Quietly: ]

Do you feel it very much? Upset that you're here and not home, I mean.
needfully: (pic#14877873)

[personal profile] needfully 2021-05-28 01:32 am (UTC)(link)
Oh. So, it can even catalogue things from foreign environments...

[ Illumi does not pick up at all on the fact that Cal referred to the droid as he, as he is still thinking of BD-1 as a mindless machine. A remarkable one, but still an object. With his curiosity somewhat satisfied, he lets his eyes follow the droid as it beeps and wanders around, never once looking up at Cal himself. ]

Impressive. The programming must be very advanced.
freightcars: (pic#14860625)

[personal profile] freightcars 2021-05-28 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
I meant now.

( Their weird thing, insofar as Bucky is thinking about it, has nothing to do with the future. He wasn't thinking of some eventual state they'd be in, he's not following any kind of targeted path to get there. He's just living with things as they come, dealing with things happening in the present is difficult enough. The last thing he wants to do is spiral out thinking about the future.

They might've ended their fight with never seeing one another again, but to be honest, Bucky was just mindlessly firing back. Never see each other again made for a pretty clear refute against whatever ideas he'd been forming about their dynamic. He bit out a venomous I'd like that not because it was true, but because it felt good in an exceptionally petty way.
)

Obviously he's got a point.

( What with this exact moment being a thing.

This is great. This is going... great. Really. Truly. Why does he open his mouth, ever, anywhere? He'd very much like to ghost on out of this and disappear into a hammock for a few hours, or years.
)