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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.
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.
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:
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:
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!
☆ 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:
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.
☆ 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.
☆ 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:
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.
☆ 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:
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!.
☆ 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!.
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Way easier than looking Sam in the eyes.
He Frisbees it back again. Waits until it's half way there before he speaks. )
You talk to the security guy?
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[ Sam glances at Bucky briefly, just out of the corner of his eyes without turning his head, then looks back at the shield again. Takes his cue from Bucky here. Not that it's a bad idea to keep his eyes on it. His arm's bruised enough as it is. ]
I'm thinking... [ He catches the shield. ] Prickly Pear, or Colonel Curmudgeon. [ Throws it back smoothly, at an angle to hit two targets. ]
You?
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Officer Asshole.
( He volunteers dryly, in tired deadpan. )
He didn't seem all that interested in recruiting. You'd think they'd be taking all the hands they could get.
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Think about it - they experience a catastrophe. Live here for years. Get a system working just barely. Suddenly, 40 people show up out of thin air, need feeding, patching up, clothing, space, medicine, gear. It's a strain on ressources they weren't prepared for.
[ Sound familiar?
Sam catches the shield on a slightly sharper exhale. ]
We look like a threat. Their security force is in rough shape. He starts pulling us in, he risks handing everything they built over to us and being left with nothing. If you talked to him... trust me, dude took note. If he's smart, he starts looking. If he ain't... well. Not like we're always good at asking permission.
[ Comes with the territory. Sam will always lean towards doing the right thing even if it pisses off someone in power.
Her throws the shield back at the same angle, but it's slightly off. He's been at it for a while, and frowns darkly - the shield's still make it back, but it's not smooth, and Bucky will have to side-step to catch it. Sam clenches and unclenches his left hand. ]
Major Buttclench.
[ Rémi or the throw? Perhaps both. ]
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I like that one.
( Mildly, agreeably.
When he hurls the shield back, it's at a slightly different angle. Two new targets, and aimed toward Sam's right rather than his left. )
Don't get too dependent on one side.
( He coaches, but it's gentle. More a suggestion than an order. Just something he's picked up watching Steve. )
If you can switch out, you catch people off guard.
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[ Sam shoots an answering look over, lips quirking up briefly. Alright then.
He catches the shield on the right this time. It's good advice, and Sam takes it. He might explain to Bucky one day that he tries to keep steady on tiring muscles on purpose. Chances are he'll be going against people stronger than him, super soldiers or not. Can't get sloppy when his body wants to give out. For now he takes the coaching, and breathes a little more easily for it. ]
I owe you an apology. [ Weighs the shield on his right, then throws it back against the new targets Bucky picked. ] Shouldn't have pushed on you like I did. I'm sorry.
[ Intent doesn't matter. What matters is that he'd hurt Bucky, and that deserves an apology. Some things are as straight forward as that, even when nothing else is. ]
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You don't owe me anything.
( He says finally, head tipping down toward the ground and shaking absently back and forth. He doesn't feel slighted by Sam, he doesn't feel like Sam did anything wrong. Not since they've been here, anyway — maybe not at all, but he's still working through that last part. It's only been a day or two. It's a lot to unpack. )
There's a lot going on. Nobody knows what in the hell they're doing, least of all me. It's not your job to handhold me through figuring it out.
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There's been something rumbling around his mind, a question he never needed to ask back home even though perhaps he should have. It wasn't necessary back then, because they were already on the right path with each other. Now he wonders, again. ]
I know. You're not my job. And I sure as shit ain't your therapist. Don't got a single obligation to be in your corner, either, for the record.
[ Sam shrugs a shoulder, knocks the back of his hand lightly against Bucky's shoulder.
Do you think you came with the shield, passed on like a package deal? Do you think Steve is the sole reason I'm tolerating you? ]
This place is a powder keg, and it's throwing shit at you sideways. That includes me, that includes Steve, and that includes the entire local lack of charm. You don't gotta have the answers. But you got me in that messy corner of yours one way or another. Tough deal I know - I come in a package deal with Redwing and shitty nicknames.
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He puffs out a breath that might actually be a laugh, if you squint. Drops his eyes to the shield, and then back to the targets for a contemplative second.
He appreciates the sentiment. Appreciates the validation, that he's not a total basket case for feeling overwhelmed by everything hitting all at once. Sam from the future, Steve from the past, being on another goddamn planet. He wasn't in great shape to start with.
You got me in that messy corner of yours.
It plucks a string. )
I had three sisters growing up.
( He says finally, turning his attention back to the targets. Gears up, then spins the shield out again. Easier to talk with this little preoccupation. )
Helped look after them, helped raise 'em. Then I was looking after Steve, practically a full time job. Then I was looking after my men...
( A shift, a conceding shrug. )
Jim- Morita, he... started calling me Nanny Barnes. Stuck for a while.
( Over there in the middle of nowhere in France, or in Germany, or wherever they were backpacking in the war. Check in on Dugan. Make sure he had enough smokes. Make sure Dernier remembered to eat. Got in a bar fight for Gabe in Austria over somebody saying the wrong word at the wrong time. )
Spent so much of my life looking out for somebody else, guess I never really got good at... figuring out how to focus on myself.
( Made it way, way too easy to focus on the shield instead. That's part of why he's been looking for answers elsewhere. Part of why it's so hard to let things go. Part of why he's been saying I'm going with you this whole time. )
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To the rescue?
Always.
He sure knows how to pick 'em. And if Sam were any better at doing this himself, he might share. But he's better at opening doors to others than at opening up himself.
Wonders quietly, if Bucky's sisters are still alive. If he looked them up. If they had any children of their own that Bucky knows about. Or if he chose not to look, because sometimes not knowing is easier.
Sam thinks of Sarah, his little sister who is now technically older than him. Thinks of how he always wanted to protect her, and never realized how staying strong for her kept him strong for himself, too. Thinks of their parents dying, of Sarah's late husband. Of trying to fix the boat, trying to help secure a loan, trying so much just to find one thing he could fix, just to find one thing he could save, after failing to save so much else.
Thinks of Riley, of late night arguments 'cause Sam always made sure he was the first one in the Falcon prototypes. Riley'd thought Sam was trying to push him to the side for the benefit of his own career. Dumbass didn't suspect what was happening until EXO-03 malfunctioned so badly it nearly took out Sam's spine, and figured it out when EXO-04 in turn almost burned all the skin off Sam's back. Thinks of failing anyway, when Riley was shot out of the sky.
Thinks of going into counselling, because it was easier to help others get through their grief and ptsd than process his own alone.
Thinks of coming back to life to find his life in shambles, Natasha dead, Steve pressing a burden onto his shoulders he never asked for and then leaving him behind with nothing but ruin and loss and grief and a legacy he felt unfit to handle. Thinks of how he threw himself into contract work with the Air Force because it was better than going home to Delacroix and lying still in his bed with his thoughts, 'cause at least then he was still helping someone, saving people, doing something outside of himself.
Thinks of unanswered text messages, because making sure Bucky knew someone was still out there thinking of him was easy in a way saying 'I'm losing it, I need to talk to someone who gets it, I'm alone, too' would never be.
Thinks of Karli saying to come alone and Bucky saying 'I'm going with you', and something slotting into place he hadn't really known he needed to feel before. ]
Yeah. People like us kinda suck at that.
[ Sam catches the shield on the right. ]
Back at the VA, when I counselled vets... I remember there were so many pamphlets. They said things like 'Give yourself the same care & attention that you give to others' or 'The most important relationship is the one you have with yourself'. Personally, I hated them. Slogans like that apply to very few people.
[ He holds the shield for a moment, just weighs it on his arm, then glances at Bucky. ]
Sometimes, taking care of your sister and watching her thrive is how you take care of yourself best. 'cause if you show up for people, they show up for you, too, in whatever way they can, even if it's only a laugh or a goddamn hug or the fact that they simply exist and let you exist with them. And if it's good, then it's really good. But they don't show up for you? They don't got your six when you got theirs, or they die, or they leave?
[ He throws the shield. Goes for three targets, close together. ]
Of course the floor drops out under you. Of course you're hurting and angry.
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Imagine looking his sister in the eyes, knowing she's probably seen the news about you and the crimes against humanity you committed. Hell, imagine looking your sister in the eyes and seeing her on the cusp of ending her twilight years, quickly fading. The last time he saw her, he was in his early twenties and she was fifteen. Helping raise her, braid her hair, size up the boys flocking around her much to her chagrin — and now she'll be lucky to last another five.
It's not just about that. It's about the trouble he brings with him, the danger that inherently surrounds him just by virtue of who he is. What he does. Getting close to them means bringing the risk to their doorstep, and...
At fifteen, he won't have made enough impression on her, he thinks, for her to think reconnecting was worth the risk. It's just not a good idea.
But it's one of the reasons why he finds such comfort in Sam's relationship with his sister. It's a little nostalgic, a little familiar.
He exhales through his nose, peeling his eyes away from Sam again. )
Yeah. Well.
( Speaking of leaving. It almost sounds dismissive, like he might change the subject. He thinks they probably both know what he's thinking about; who he's thinking about.
Instead of shutting down, he throws out one last uncomfortable admission. )
I lost it on Steve.
( Snarled at him in a way he's never done before. Closest comparable fight they ever had outright must've been when they were thirteen or fourteen over goddamn Stacey Chapman.
He doesn't feel good about it. )
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Everything's damn fucked here, if you ask Sam, because it's just unfair. Beyond just getting dunked into this overall situation, the fact that they're all from such vastly different moments in time is painful, unfair and impossible to navigate without someone's feelings getting crushed underfoot, to say the least. It's a series of losses, too - Bucky and him lost Steve, but this Steve doesn't remember having forced that loss on them, and grief, resentment and gladness for a friend's happy ending are a heady cocktail to deal with, one that feels impossible to share with a man who can't be blamed for it no matter how you want to shake him and demand 'why did you do this to me?'. Sam lost Natasha, and frankly she's a source of painful whiplash between grief and relief, a freefall he has no control over. And Bucky... yeah. Bucky doesn't know what kind of loss he is to Sam, just has an inkling of the idea, and Sam has to remind himself to leave it at that.
Impossible. Just a line of grief and hurt feelings and confusion.
How do you rank 'acid rain' as a complication when measured against this crap?
It still baffles Sam that any scenario in which Bucky would lose it on Steve. The hell could Rogers even say or do to provoke that? And granted, Sam could ask, but that's hardly the most important question he could ask here.
The priority, as it so often is of late, instead becomes: ]
You okay?
[ It does answer the question as to Bucky seeking him out, at least - whether things with Steve are smoothed over or not, it's a good sign Bucky's reaching out after a situation like that. ]
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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. ]
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( 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. )
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Bullshit, that's what it is. ]
Now I'm not mad at you. Just... [ Hurt. He shakes his head. Doesn't matter. ] I get it, alright?
[ Doesn't make it feel better.
When Bucky doesn't take the water bottle, Sam eventually pulls it back with a small sigh, and takes another sip more to calm the rattling in his own chest than anything else.
He glances at the shield. Tries to reconcile his claim with Bucky's lashing out and Steve's existence.
Nice job, Cap.
It was never even about you. ]
What did Steve say, Buck?
[ The tone goes softer again, but this time not in quiet hurt. Just concern. ]
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His eyes flicker to the bottle as Sam puts it away — too invested in this, frankly, to notice the offering. He gets a little single-minded, which Sam is well familiar with by now. )
Said to give you a break.
( Which is more a murmur than anything, a little vocal concession in there — like he said, Steve had a point. )
Said a few more things, but I just learned a lesson in keeping my damn mouth shut, so...
( This is him, keeping his mouth shut so he doesn't say anything else that's gonna bite him in the ass later. Don't talk to Steve about Sam. Don't talk to Sam about Steve. Don't talk to anybody about any of it, because this dynamic is a goddamn powder keg and he refuses to strike any more matches that might set it off. )
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Sam pinches the bridge of his nose briefly. He's getting a headache. Steve telling Bucky to give Sam a break... appreciated, but way out of line. Way out of line because it's way out of context. Steve, bless his bleeding heart and good intentions, has no idea what he's talking about. It's like they're all stuck in a minefield, and every misstep trips an explosion on someone else. Good grief.
Where's that asgardian ale to get blackout drunk on when you need it? ]
Steve doesn't know what he's talking about.
[ Sam says it with careful gentleness, keeps any bite he might feel out of his voice. He can't judge Steve for trying to help, and he can't blame him for things he hasn't done yet, and a mountain of shit he just... plain doesn't know about. Doesn't make a misguided attempt to have Sam's back go down any more easily. This isn't a potshot a Steve - it's a simple fact. He doesn't have context, so he doesn't know what he's talking about. Hell, it took Bucky a hot second to figure it out back home, and even here he's much closer to the reality of the situation than Steve is just based on the mess of a jumbled time line they're all living. ]
Steve not knowing it was a shitty thing to say to you 'cause he doesn't know where you're at doesn't make it hit any less hard. So yeah, I get why you blew up at that.
[ Sam closes the distance between them. Lightly taps the back of his hand against Bucky's shoulder, and tilts his head to catch his eyes. His hand stays there, just a light point of contact, flesh against metal. ]
You gotta tell me these things, man. I need you to level with me.
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The plates beneath Sam's hand gently shift in time with him ducking his head, then turning his eyes out toward the direction of their targets. He blows a heavy, frustrated breath out of his nose.
I need you to level with me. )
Where I'm at is I don't think it matters what he said exactly, I think I'd have lost it on him eventually anyway.
( He shakes his head slowly. )
When I said it wasn't even about you...
( A glance Sam's direction, and then another avoidant look aimed at the floor because apparently that's all he's capable of. )
I yelled at him for leaving.
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But that's neither here nor there right now. ]
Yeah. 'cause he didn't just leave. He left you.
[ Not a question. It doesn't matter how much Steve deserved to find his happy ending, it still sucks to be the one left behind. It sucks to know that the happy ending doesn't include you. Bucky's not the only one who got left behind, but Sam knows it hits different for both of them, and the hurt they're both left with is not a competition. Bucky's hurt is valid - and so is any anger or resentment that comes with it. And perhaps those feelings are made worse, because the Steve they can level with here hasn't even made the choice yet. He cannot tell them just hard those five years where that getting Bucky and Sam back, getting almost everyone back, just didn't end up being enough. ]
And that hurts in ways losing someone doesn't.
[ Sam shifts his hand, then, curls it around Bucky's shoulder. Solid and steady, but not unrelenting. Holding on, not holding down. Sam's gaze remains unwavering, even when Bucky looks away. ]
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( He mutters dismissively, as though though that somehow negates the thick uncomfortable feeling winding around his lungs like a snake.
It's the damn hand on his shoulder. Apparently he's susceptible to touch, because it keeps breaking down his fortifications lately. Takes a sledgehammer straight to his walls. )
He left you, too.
( He glances over, making it a point to impress that he knows he's not the only one hurting over it. To go from being on the run with a guy and seeing him every day for two years to having him up and walk out of your life in a single day? Leaving him alone to navigate the shield, and reacclimate to the five years where the world went on without him.
But honestly, that's not... important. Neither of them, he means. What's messing with him right now is more-- )
I think I screwed up. I think I shot his happy ending in the foot 'cause I couldn't keep my mouth shut. So that's... you know. That's great. Feel great about that.
( He plows on a half-second later, barely a pause, leveling Sam with an incredulous look. )
How in the hell do you do it? Your whole...
( Vague... helpless... shrug. )
It's like you have some kind of goddamn manual on saying the right thing at the right time, it's unbelievable. What is it, like, yoga? What?
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[ And Sam squeezes Bucky's shoulder in response to that glance, with a small nod. Quiet gratitude and acknowledgment. Feels good to be seen - feels better to be understood. There's the Bucky who quietly slips into the engine room of the boat in the pale light of morning to help. Feels good to see him again.
He's gonna table the whole 'screwed up happy ending' line for a second though, because Bucky barrels straight ahead into yoga for some reason, and Sam just... Sam just laughs. The shift in conversation takes him by surprise and he can't help the way amusement bubbles straight out of him in a small moment of levity that just feels good. ]
Thanks, man. If I say yeah, sure, it's yoga, are you gonna try it? 'cause I'm gonna set Redwing on your ass permanently to catch that. Screw perimeter checks.
[ Sam shakes his head, eyes still bright. ]
Listen... dunno the rules of getting yolked through space and time, but... I really don't think you ruined shit. Remember, that's why Steve had to go and put the stones back. 'Cause... taking them out didn't change our timeline, but it created a whole movie franchise worth of little timeline offsprings or whatever. You know what Banner said.
[ Maybe. Sam stopped listening to Banner halfway through, truth be told. ]
We're still here, we still remember the same thing happening. And that means it happened for whatever reason and in whatever manner. You're not some... agent of chaos rewriting history.
[ Sam leans in, eyebrows going up. ]
You're okay, Buck. Shocking, I know. Cyborg brain's on fire, house still hasn't burned down.
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The pleasant lightness of relief doesn't manage to stick around permanently; a little lingers, but a lot of it fades as they slip back into talk about time and space.
Didn't change our timeline. )
That should probably make me feel a little better than it does.
( He mutters, and despite the words it does actually sound relieved. It's nice to go from feeling screwed up over two things to just one, but that selfish part of him that still wishes Steve wouldn't have left perseveres. There's no solving all of it, though. There's just picking a lane.
But anyway, enough about his shit. )
How about you? How are you coping? And if you just say fine you're gonna ruin this bonding moment, so... be honest.
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