thisavrou_log | January Intro Log

January Intro Log

Who: New arrivals and old residents
When: January 5 and beyond
Where: Avagi
What: Hello, nice to meet you
Warnings: Label where applicable.

Arrival

A shiver of light, a sense of falling, and Avagi's portals have claimed another traveller. For those first stepping out of the Ingress Memorial, Avagi may be rather disorienting, but some areas are quite lively, and there are plenty of places to explore. As newcomers make their way into their new home, they'll encounter new acquaintances and a few pitfalls.

Last month's time distortions have settled... for the most part. The strange flickering light atop the Ingress Memorial's central fragment lingers, though, pulsing and shifting in strange, hypnotic patterns. Left to their own devices, a character may stand in place for over a day, entirely unaware of their surroundings or the passage of time. They can be snapped out of the daze... with effort. And in most cases, touch.
Over the last few months, Avagi's sudden population has done a good job breaking in old living spaces. Unfortunately, after a century of disrepair, some of those systems have been quietly breaking down. Today? It's the plumbing. The Bar, Bartering Block, and several of the Labs are rapidly imitating a swamp. The Gym has acquired a new pool, and Sanitation is mostly underwater. Residents of the Chemistry and 🙀 housing sectors may need to start putting up sandbags—or bailing their rooms dry.

Whether to lend a hand or loot their neighbors, someone's going to need to (dive) get to the bottom of all this. The water spillage is mostly clean, but if conditions persist, that won't last long.
While a few (aquatic) species of the local mini-dinos are enjoying the new swimming space just fine, their more feathery compatriots have rapidly gone from bedraggled to soaked... and heading towards hypothermic. The recent spate of exterminations has them warier than usual of humanoid life, but less hostile (or more oblivious) station-dwellers may find a small flock trying to get dry in front of their space heaters—or any sources of potential warmth.

[Welcome to Thisavrou! If you haven't already, we encourage you to check out the OOC intro and calendar for January. Oldbies, please also make sure you've glanced through the activity check. A mod update will be going up soon with information on what's coming up, but if there are any questions in the interim, feel free to use the activity check comment.]

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["Us" as in what remains of his team. What remains of the family they'd had, for those few months, in the house, approaching something like normal. Something ripped away from them all.]

[But now isn't the time to talk about it. His face hurts. There are stars whirling in his vision. His eyes sting and burn under water. Before he thinks about it, he's inhaling -- choking.]

[When they grab for his shoulder, it's jarring enough to pull his attention up. Up toward where they are. Out of the water, gasping, coughing -- chin smeared with red.]

H... hey... stairs.

[He's fine.]

[He's hurt.]

[He based his head on something, or ran into something, and now he's bleeding. Chara hisses once between their teeth, something close to a sigh of exasperation or frustration or regret, and the sight of it it is enough to pull every instinct forward, forward, so that they're hooking one arm beneath his to try and serve as some form of support.]

Get up. How bad is it?

[They're... concerned. They're concerned. Voluntarily grasping at him. Touching him. Trying to pull him upright. It's... shocking, really. Enough to where he wonders if somehow he fell and the resulting impact was more traumatic than expected.]

[His toes move. His fingers move. And when he brings the free hand up to touch his face, it's not until he gets to his jaw that anything hurts.]

Not bad. Just the face.

[He's not going to call attention to their effort. As much as he does appreciate it. He'll just heave himself out of the water properly. Onto the stairs.] Cut it.

[It's simply that it's different - different, when they are the one in control, when they are the one who can time it, when it is their choice and they may relent at any time. It's not bad, he says - but the water has come from the plumbing, and Eddie's obsession with germs and infections may be unwarranted most times, but in this case, they can visualize perfectly what sort of choice things he might have to say about exposing an open wound to infection by filthy water.]

One moment.

[They still have their PacDisc, thankfully, and within it - a fully stocked first aid kit.]

[They are not, uh, the best? when it comes to treating injuries? But they have band-aids, and band-aids they know how to use. That will surely stave off all incipient infections. Yes.]

[Whatever the reason for it, he'll take it. He'll take Chara being more active, being more in control of themselves. That's a good sign, isn't it? At least, it tends to be in himself.]

[He doesn't go anywhere. But he does shift enough to sit on the stairs, as opposed to just lying there like a lump while they dig out their first aid kit. Their effort even gets a sincere smile out of one side of his face.]

What... no robot bandaids? [His tone is light, amused. Underneath the words is real gratitude, too.]

If you have an issue with the design, take it up the chain.

[Take it up the chain? What chain? They found the first aid kit without any indication that it belonged to anyone in particular and took it. The band-aids look absolutely ordinary. They'll do, surely. They extricate a disinfectant wipe and beckon for him to lift his chin so they can get a clearer look at the cut.]

[They may not necessarily know what they're doing, but they're very good at acting it.]

You don't want an open wound while slogging through dirty water, as I'm certain you're going to be heading right back into that mess once you're done here.

[That earns a choking laugh. More water than actual amusement.]

That... sounds like an insult when you say it.

[But he laughed, all the same. Laughed and lifted his face. Just as asked. Gritting his teeth instead of actually wincing at the sting. He's used to it. The disinfectant. Used to cleaning up scrapes the old fashioned way.]

[The corner of his mouth still flicks in a faint smile.]

You're right. I am. Thank you, Chara.

[Unbelievably, their mind fails to supply them with an appropriately bladed retort to that. They can do nothing but purse their lips and peel away the paper backing for the adhesive and press it over the cut when they locate its source and then - retreat, just as swiftly.]

I hardly see why that would merit gratitude. You were perfectly capable of doing it yourself.

It was simply a question of not trusting that you would prior to playing rescue.

Maybe I am. You still did it.

[So therefore, they get the thanks. They get the gratitude. He does shut up, however, as they apply the bandage. Though his smile doesn't fade. Not even a little.]

[When they finish, he finally sobers up, looking at them for a long moment before speaking up again.]

And... thank you for trusting me to get you here.

[There are a million things they ought to say to that. It isn't trust. It was necessity. It was lack of choice. It was what was necessary.]

[They bite their tongue hard enough for it to hurt, and pack the contents of the first aid kit away to close it with a delicate snap.]

I suppose it's my fault, for continuing to require you to haul me clear of peril.

You didn't require anything.

[He pulls back, enough space to shake his helmet off, dumping out the excess water trapped in it.]

"Require" would mean you made me do it. I didn't have to stop.

[OH REALLY.]

Shiro.

[Their look has surpassed withering and has landed right smack in the middle of "you are a fucking goddamn moron how stupid do you think I am" territory.]

You could no more have stopped yourself from saving a drowning child than you could saving a box of kittens from a meat grinder.

[... Space Lion God help him. The full force of that look hits, and he can't... not laugh.]

[Mostly at himself. Not at them.]

Okay, okay. But. It's not as big a problem as you think. Really.

I'll believe it when I see it.

[So, never. They'll never believe it. It's easier to respond flatly, to rebound that grin of his off their deadpan; it means they won't be tempted to smile back, in turn.]

Just try not to die. I'd hate to have wasted the band-aid.

Fair enough.

[He laughs a little more, shaking his head. Water droplets fall off his bangs, but the amusement lingers.]

Only if you do the same. And... [The expression turns more serious, but no less warm, even as he pushes himself to his feet, intending to move on, just like they said.]

I'm proud of you. For letting me help like that. I know it wasn't easy. But you made it.

Edited 2018-01-13 06:31 (UTC)

["I'm proud of you."]

[They didn't do anything worth that sort of pronouncement, did they? It was his involvement, his effort, his ability to persist that allowed events to progress as they did. They applied a band-aid, something he easily could have done on his own, so why...?]

[The chary squint to their gaze flickers into naked uncertainty.]

You can't be serious.

[But he is, isn't he?]

[That's the worst part.]

Why would you ever think I wasn't?

[He wouldn't tease, or joke, about something like this. Not even for a second. Not to them, not to anyone.]

[He does stop, though, rather than slog back through the water, that look on his face turning to something softer. While he can't guess why it was happening, why it took so much for them to do this, the way they reacted was all too familiar. The reaction of someone forcing themselves through a situation.]

[Pushing through. When all you wanted to do was scream, or lash out, or do anything it took to get away.]

It's all right if you don't believe me. Honestly... I have a hard time hearing it, too, some days.

[I'm proud of you.]

[It's not right. What have they even done that merits...that merits pride, or anything of the sort? It isn't fair. It isn't - but he's so bitingly sincere in all the worst ways, and they can hardly dismiss it on the grounds that he'd abruptly decide not to be.]

[They settle for scanning the first aid kit back into their PacDisc. It gives them something to do with their hands.]

I've done nothing to merit anyone's pride. [Ever, actually.]

You have. But if you can't see it now, that's all right.

[He won't force them to accept it. Not now. Maybe later they can talk about it, if they want to. But for now? No. Now it's not important as getting out of the wet.]

Will you be all right if I head off?

Rest assured, I have no desire to attempt drowning again.

[Yet, anyway. Doubtless they'll venture back once they grow restless with observation and elect to attempt to help, and that will come to pass with...mixed results.]

Continue, if you will.

Good. I'm glad to hear that.

[He'll take that as a good thing, honestly. He also won't push his luck and go for a handshake here. Just give them a slow nod, a soft smile.]

I'll come check on you later. All right?

Of course you will.

[They're...not about to tell him where they're going to be, in part because they don't quite know themself just yet. But should he be interested in finding them, they have a working ACE at this point.]

I'm sure I'll see you later.

Yeah, buddy. You absolutely will.

[Because he doesn't intend to go anywhere. He'll be here. If they need him. That, he promises.]

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January Intro Log

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