raiamods: (Default)
raiamods ([personal profile] raiamods) wrote in [community profile] ethyraia2021-05-21 04:56 pm
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◣ 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!.

sunmon: (Default)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-31 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
If it's a chrysalis, that means some insect must be inside it, right?

[ alina isn't an expert by any measure, but it makes sense. that's how insects pupate, if she remembers correctly. she rubs at the spot on the inside of her palm, the one that used to be a scar. ]
trassel: (42.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-31 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
[ no?? he wins???? wow??? Just u wait ]

If you think so.

[ She would be a very good actress. But as she says, that's not her stage. Nina likes to think she has a more subtle touch. She's not so — well, not to him. ]

Tell me if you need another pair of hands.
Edited 2021-05-31 03:05 (UTC)
sunmon: (Default)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-31 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
It's me.

[ she wets her lips. ]

And others. No others can summon light. But etherealki are inferni, tidemakers, and squallers. They can summon fire, move water, change the flow of air. There are two other orders as well. [ she's not even touching on kirigan, right now, or on the other orders. ] It's the small science, calling and manipulating what's already there.
cryptoherpetology: (007)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-31 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
He's a church griffin. And before you ask what that is—

[ Alex taps the screen of the smartwatch comm device, brings up his photo gallery, and sends a picture of the petite lap griffin that he found when he went back to his own egg. He's pretty big for a housecat, what with the added beak and wingspan that the raven half of him. ]

My youngest sister named him. Kind of. When I brought him home as a chick, I was calling him Poe- you know, like Edgar Allen? [ He smirks at the memory, with the kind of mixed pride that comes with getting absolutely owned by one's little sibling. ] Annie took one look at him and said that naming a black-feathered griffin 'Crow' was the least imaginative thing I'd ever done. I spent so much time defending 'my' name choice that I didn't actually notice until he was answering to it that it wasn't actually my name choice.

I'm pretty sure that was her intention the whole time, too.

[ The flight comment catches his interest, and he raises an eyebrow curiously. He's guessing that Sam means via that fancy suit, but he doesn't want to assume anything. He's met a guy here who can duplicate matter on his own, self-propelled flight doesn't seem that out there. Especially since he knows a few people back home with some very different ideas about how gravity should and shouldn't apply to them. ]
Edited 2021-05-31 03:15 (UTC)
neversmall: (015)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-31 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
[ Nina's just not sure she wants to act when other people know it's acting. It feels... vulnerable. If it was for a job, it wouldn't be a problem, but just for herself? Feels strange.

And speaking of feeling strange. Matthias. Tell her if she needs another pair of hands? She can't help herself, but she manages to make it impish instead of just salacious: ]


If they're yours, I have a few ideas.
lifetothefullest: (ᴇᴀᴄʜ sʜᴀᴅᴏᴡ ɪ ᴡᴀʟᴋ)

[personal profile] lifetothefullest 2021-05-31 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
[The less than enthusiastic response isn't the best case scenario or anything, but it also doesn't bother him too much; he's used to people being a lot worse to him--especially lately--and so some grumpiness is easily ignored. Not like she doesn't have reason to be unhappy, after all.

So he follows after her, and although he'd try to stop her to gather supplies if he thought that'd be easy to do, he doesn't actually want to talk to anyone about that. He's trying to keep a low profile, after all, and accidentally pissing someone off by asking for supplies is not going to help in that.]


Unfortunately, I'm familiar with the acid. Hopefully we won't have to deal with it.

[And, as they step out into the sun--]

I'm Lance, by the way. What's your name?
trassel: (41.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-31 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ Matthias huffs in amusement. His mouth tries to pull in a smile, knowing, perhaps, where her mind has gone, but fighting acknowledging it openly. ]

You always have a few ideas.

[ Heh. Still. A good place to redirect, ]

What was the one behind the small pictures?
lifetothefullest: (ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟʟɪᴢɪɴɢ ᴄʟᴇᴀʀ ᴀs ᴅᴀʏ)

[personal profile] lifetothefullest 2021-05-31 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
[Well that's not the nicest look to be getting, though it could be worse. He offers a small smile, half to try to alleviate some of the tension and half to see how Matthias responds, as he takes the offered supplies.]

Thanks.

[He offers a few words of reassurance to the patient, who's calmed down a lot now that he's not bleeding everywhere, and starts threading the needle.]

Have you done this before?

[He asks the question in Matthias' direction, and nods his head slightly at the needle to indicate what he's asking.]
neversmall: (041)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-31 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
The Chrysalis was what they were calling that glowing orb in the middle of the goopy pool we all had to wade through. I don't know why they called it that. Childe said that an ensign had stumbled into it and right after... [ Nina makes a cracking motion with both hands, like she's twisting something apart, to indicate their hatching.

Almost to herself: ]
I really need to figure out which ensign that was and have a talk with him.
cryptoherpetology: (031)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-31 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
"A church griffin," Alex answers, them amends when the furred-and-feathered beast gently pokes at him with his beak, making a chuffing sound.

"And the best church griffin at that," he adds, reaching up with one hand to rub at the animal's tufted ears in much the same way one would with any cat free of avian features. The attention and affection seem to placate the animal's demands for the time being.

"He's not generically engineered, magical or an alien. Just a species endangered enough that most people don't know they exist." There's a lightning-flash of sadness that registers on his face for a fraction of a second there, but it's just as quickly replaced with a smile again when the cat-bird gives him another poke with his beak.

"Yes, I promise, I'll find you something to eat soon," he assures Crow.
trassel: (55.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-31 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ His expression is still a mask, but the shoulders soften, less of a Threat. He is trying to be helpful, and so is the other person, and for the sake of mutual goals he can be... nice. He supposes. ]

In the field, yes. When needed.

[ Hunting injuries, and, quite memorably, when meeting his now best-friend. Most of the trouble in the wilderness isn't from bleeding wounds, but hypothermia, dehydration, and exhaustion. He's been well-trained, but that's what it is, largely: just training. ]

That was magic?

[ They have hatched out of dragon eggs, been on an alien planet the past few days, and yes, this is what he's stuck on. ]
lifetothefullest: (ᴇᴀᴄʜ sʜᴀᴅᴏᴡ ɪ ᴡᴀʟᴋ)

[personal profile] lifetothefullest 2021-05-31 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
[Okay, good change in posture, even if it's subtle; Lance isn't exactly reassured, but he's a little less concerned than he was. He nods to show he's listening even if his gaze shifts back to what he's doing.]

That's good; it seems like they need all the help they can get here.

[And in a way, that's... Not good, because he'd much prefer no one was needing medical attention, but it's familiar in a way that's welcome. It's something he knows he can do and help with, and it gives him something to focus on.

The question isn't too unexpected--it seems magic isn't much of a thing here--and he'd decided he isn't going to try to keep it a secret, so he doesn't mind explaining.]


Yeah, I learned it a few years ago; before that, I didn't even know magic was a thing. Is there magic where you're from?
neversmall: (002)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-31 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ Nina shrugs and works to methodically finish up what's left on her plate. ] I liked them. I thought they were fun and I wanted to share them with you.

[ She's still feeling a little bad that it lead to such a misunderstanding. ]

It was interesting to see the different things that were important enough to get pictures. I don't recognize many of them.
cryptoherpetology: (072)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-31 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ Alex's eyebrows shoot upwards behind his glasses for a moment. He wasn't expecting to get that much just by asking, but he's not looking a gift unicorn in the gnashing maw. ]

Thank you, Captain. Let's hope I can find something to lessen the blow of a few dozen new mouths to feed.

[ Or at the very least, something to keep his brain nice and occupied and not thinking about how utterly fucked up this situation is. ]

I can make myself available to your people as well- within reason. [ He hasn't slept in a hammock since he was in college. Please don't startle him awake. ]
trassel: (46.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-31 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ If there was no one else in the base, perhaps. Matthias doesn't see healing as a distinct part of his skillset. He would rather leave it to others. ]

Yes, there are, [ He stops, and his jaw tics. What... exactly does he say? He's lived his whole life by the creed that he hunts monsters, and when they stop hearts with a look, summon storms, rain fire from the sky... what else can they be? Even Alina's power, new as it is, is only terrifying. There's too much destruction in it for there to be wonder. ]

[ Even if Nina had stopped his heart (metaphorically), he would be hard-pressed to describe them all as nightmares.... because Nina isn't. Because the root of his being is now in unfamiliar soil. ]

— they're called Grisha. Your power, it looks like theirs. What else can you do?
fossils: (pic#8704345)

[personal profile] fossils 2021-05-31 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ He's not exactly surprised. Seems like the three of them can't help talking around each other. He's not as easily dissuaded from the conversation as he might've been earlier in the week, though.

His hands have gone into his pockets again, a half-shake of his head, an almost smile pulling at one side of his lips as his gaze fixes on some space of ground between them, not really looking. A softness to match in his voice, a hint of something worn down at the edges. ]


I'd be doing a lot better if one of you'd help catch me up.

[ Don't keep trying to change the subject. If you know that Bucky's told him, you know he gave him less than the cliffnotes version. ]
Edited 2021-05-31 04:38 (UTC)
psychometries: (007)

[personal profile] psychometries 2021-05-31 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ The friendly way she addresses BD-1 gets a smile out of Cal—treating his droid well is literally the easiest way to get into his good graces. He has kind of a huge soft spot for BD-1. ]

It means he was built for exploration, to accompany explorers and researchers on long expeditions. His last master was a scholar before I picked him up.

[ One of the younger children spots BD-1 and comes over to play(?) with this interesting new toy, arms outstretched and barreling forward like a railspeeder. BD-1 lets out an alarmed whistle and scurries up Cal's leg, until he's clinging out of reach to his back. Now it's probably obvious why he was hiding before... ]

Oh, uh. [ To the child, who is clearly disappointed, he says: ] Maybe you can play with him later.

[ BD-1 beep-boops shrilly, and if vocabulated beeps could sound betrayed—they do now. ]
cryptoherpetology: (060)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-31 05:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ And that kind of request is prettymuch exactly what he needs to pull him out of that spiral of thought. He laughs. ]

I'm not an ichthyologist, but I think I might be able to identify some edible sea life. Given what I've seen of the local fauna so far, there's a pretty good chance we'll be just as edible to the local equivalent to bluefin tuna.

And unless there are any other engineers with matter-manipulation abilities around here, you're probably going to have to be the one to make the boat.
unclesam: ((93))

[personal profile] unclesam 2021-05-31 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
You chose for me.

[ It's an admission that comes quiet, soft, and only after a stretch of silence. Sam presses his lips together, and swallows hard. ]

You told Bucky ahead of time, but you didn't tell me. And the way you were both looking at me, man... you both chose this for me, I didn't get a say, and neither of you really understands what it means. And then you left.

[ Sam feels that prickle in his fingertips again. Like he's gonna crumble away to ash and dust. He keeps his breathing even. It should have been an honor to have the shield passed on to him like that, but he hadn't felt like he could say no. It set him up for failure - accept it and a mantle he couldn't fathom donning for a country that doesn't care about people like him, or reject it and break the hearts of the two people who still mattered, who'd failed to allow him room for input.

And then, fresh out of learning about Natasha's death, Steve had left him, too, and Sam was supposed to hold down the fort on his own, and he'd choked on it all. ]


It ain't your fault, man, and I can't take you to task for shit you haven't even done. I can catch you up. But I... [ Quieter, still. Sam hates how small his voice gets. ] I need Bucky for that. I need my partner.
Edited 2021-05-31 05:47 (UTC)
trassel: (35.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-31 06:15 am (UTC)(link)
[ He glances down, offering a little scritch to Trassel behind his ear. Still eating, they're in the habit of finishing their food at almost precisely the same time. ]

They were very strange. The faces... some of the ones with fingers, they are fine. The others...

[ He just shakes his head. ]
pawper: (wanna go halfsies on a Snickers??)

[personal profile] pawper 2021-05-31 08:06 am (UTC)(link)
[Slumped against the bars of the cell, Lys keeps watching the kid....until she notices one of his tiny hands curling into the guard's pants leg, betraying how nervous she'd made him. Was still making him. Venting softly, she rolls over to put her back against the bars (see, I'm not a threat, look how easy it'd be to stick a knife in me) and visibly pulls herself together, flashing a smile at Lottie that's all awkward sunshine and warmth.

Even if it doesn't quite reach her eyes—bright blue, ringed with dark hollows—the sappy gratitude in her voice is plain, if pitched low.]


Yeah, you're right. There's no forcing it with kids. [...] Maybe he'll come around later, once we're out of here.

[Said with an optimistic note that's slightly forced, ragged at the edges, but stubbornly there. Where the hell it came from is a mystery for the ages.]
figlia_morbida: ([word up])

[personal profile] figlia_morbida 2021-05-31 08:56 am (UTC)(link)
[Fortunately for them both, only Trish is doing something weird by virtue of her weird powers, and there's not actually something in the air or planet's energies or whatever. They could all do without more surprises from this egg carton of a planet...

Trish, temporarily blinded, misses Cal's subtle response, and so she continues to be unhurried in dismissing Spice Girl, letting her Stand linger. After all, her Stand is her...and she can't deny that she is fascinated with this little machine -- droid the young man calls it. Spice Girl continues to float just above it, watching with her arms crossed as Cal translates. She at least knows better than to touch, thankfully.

Trish blinks at that, meanwhile, looking to Cal while offering a wave of her hand to BD-thing-with-a-long-name. Don't worry about it, little guy.
]

Huh? You understood all that?

[He can speak robot...okay, alright. You know, she doesn't know why she's surprised.]

I've never heard of a place called Bogano, either. I've been listening to everyone chatter about being from different worlds, but I don't know if they mean other planets or something else.

[She points her fork at him. Time to confirm the theory.]

You've never heard of Italy, right?
figlia_morbida: ([say that])

i support him

[personal profile] figlia_morbida 2021-05-31 09:12 am (UTC)(link)
[C'mon, anyone can have fun on stage! Surely 76 has some good stand-up jokes? Delivering jokes with a flat affect can make for excellent comedy.

Trish didn't seem to hate performing in the moment, but she seems to be leaving it up to the audience on whether she had fun or not, if only to shield her pride just in case. Now she's embarrassed that they maybe did like it. You can't win with her...

She follows 76's gaze as well, though she doesn't have his survival mindset, and merely ends up taking stock of the people milling about now that the day is winding down.

At his comment, she looks back to him, brow raised.
]

I guess it is. I was five when it came out.

[And 76 looks much older than her...so the fact he recognizes it doesn't surprise her.

However:
]

But you know it, so that means you came from Earth as well. That's nice to know. With how different everything is here, I figured it'd be comforting to hear something familiar.

[She smiles, then. He looks way too hardcore to be a Madonna fan!]

Although I doubt it suits your tastes. Am I right?
pawper: (here comes the donut-ham-hamburger)

horror movie toplevel

[personal profile] pawper 2021-05-31 09:16 am (UTC)(link)
[Gruel patrol, Lys can do. Had honestly jumped at the chance, pleased out of all proportion by the idea of delivering a meal to hungry workers; it wasn't the same thing as preparing the food herself, no, but still a useful and valuable task. Or maybe just one that somebody had to take care of. So off Lys scurries with a friendly smile firmly attached, passing out bowls to various sanitation workers until only one remains.

Cue Mops suddenly leaning out of the hot, humid steam like a slasher villain in a horror flick, the final bowl of gruel abruptly flung into the air as Lys startles.]


Wah—!

[What cuts through her confusion-fear-surprise isn't any kind of humbling realization about Mops as a person, but rather the split-second understanding that the bowl of gruel is still airborne and falling fast. Tearing her stunned gaze away from that unsettling gray skin and those strange eyes, Lys frantically twists around and manages to catch it, tilting the bowl to save the gruel.]

Oh geez, oh crap, oh geez...!
figlia_morbida: ([sugar man])

your forgiven [this time!!!!!!!!!!!]

[personal profile] figlia_morbida 2021-05-31 09:33 am (UTC)(link)
I like that you say that with confidence, as if this place hasn't already tried to ruin what little clothes we have.

[Specifically, the ones on their backs. Has Illumi forgotten the egg-mageddon? The hatch-apocalypse?

In any case, Trish offered if only to see him panic at such a suggestion, as she imagine any one of Bruno's gang might've done. This young man however does not, but his comment still strikes her as silly.

That question, however...
]

Mm, but I won't lie and say I'm an expert either. My mother was a fashion designer, so she had to make prototypes to proof her designs, and I helped occasionally. What I'm wearing now is the first thing we made together.

[First and last.

That being said!
]

So I know enough. Probably more than you, if nothing else.

[She puts a hand on her hip. That she can say with confidence!]