[log] double meetup bonanza [closed]

[mrcreamsicles]

Characters: Davesprite, Karkat, and the Cat, plus Steph and then Ecks and Castiel
Location: Building 263, then building 254.
Date: Day 246, midday then evening.
Summary: A bird, a crab, and a cat play courier to a super hero and a quilt person. Also, an angel is there.
Warnings: Discussion of/allusion to anomaly murders.

263: A small office building. It's the sort that looks like it should attach to some larger facility, but whatever it might have connected to is long gone. It's two stories: the first contains a small lobby area, a waiting room, and an area for secretaries. Going upstairs reveals a small honeycomb of eerily empty cubicles. There are desks and chairs in each one, but nothing on any desk or placed on any of the cubicle walls. There's one small one-person office in the back that's similarly empty, and two public bathrooms that work, though the water runs cold. On the wall by the desk in the one-person office, a drawing that says "I love you, Daddy!" has been adhered with cat stickers. "ALPHONSE ELRIC, DAY TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO. IF YOU NEED ANY ASSISTANCE, PLEASE CALL @LELRIC." has been written on a wall.

254: This skyscraper is half-ruined: the top of it has clearly collapsed. Still, it's large enough to work as a landmark, what's left seems stable enough, and the doors still work. Going inside reveals a fairly standard-looking lobby. The marble floors were probably pretty once, but are now dusty and cracked. Any signage indicating what this building was for is long-gone, and instead graffiti speaking of the prophet and eye symbols dot the walls.

The elevator shaft and the door to the stairs both open, but there's no elevator car, so it's best to take the stairs. Most of the doors here are ruined, crushed by rubble and debris and impassable, though there wouldn't be anything of use in crushed floors anyway. The top floor, however, is intact, and stepping in reveals what was probably once a floor for offices, though now everything is empty. There is a symbol of the prophet drawn in red paint on the floor by the door, and then a line that can be followed in one of three directions. Each one leads to one of the three skybridges in this building.

Comments

[mrcreamsicles]

[Davesprite lets him without fuss, and pets at his back to compensate.]

I'm sorry you had to do that too. Even if it was easier for you than me.

[absentconstellation]

I have killed before, and I will again.

I pray you never will.

[mrcreamsicles]

[That hurts to hear. Hurts to contemplate.]

That's dark, Cat. Fuzzy bundles of stars shouldn't have to kill anyone, and you're not going to convince me otherwise on that.

[absentconstellation]

Better to kill than to lose those you love by doing nothing.

[mrcreamsicles]

[He rubs at his forehead.]

Sure.

[The idea keeps coming up. He thinks of Aymeric telling him about knighthood where he comes from, and what the Cat himself said earlier about Alanna. About way too many stories, and about the kind of person Bro was.]

You want to talk about anything else? No offense, but it's pretty weird getting life and death lessons from a house pet.

[absentconstellation]

Yes, I usually prefer to let life teach such lessons.

[ There are extenuating circumstances, for sure. ]

I have other stories to share, if you would like to hear them. They need not all be about the trials of knighthood and political unrest.

[mrcreamsicles]

[At least he moves on smoothly. Davesprite exhales, relaxing the tension from his shoulders.]

I would, yeah. My ears are open.

[Meow Mix gets a grateful ear scritch.]

[absentconstellation]

[ He begins to purr quietly. ]

Alanna felt that once her true gender was revealed, all those she knew in the palace in Corus would despise her. This was, of course, absurd. Those who hated her for being a woman and lying never truly knew her. Still, she was determined to spend her early years as a knight wandering.

She went south-west first, towards Tyra through the Great Southern Desert. There the Bazhir lived, and though their land had been claimed by Tortall they were not all at peace with the king in the north. Alanna found herself among one of their tribes after a short battle with hillmen.

Among the Bazhir women wear veils, and only men are permitted to take up arms. The tribe that found her, the Bloody Hawk, did not acknowledge the northern king. They were uncertain what to do with a woman warrior, a knight sworn to the kingdom. They decided to let her try the combat. Naturally, she beat her opponent and they made her a man of the tribe.

The shaman at the time was a stupid, hateful man. He tried to kill her outside the laws of his tribe. He died in the effort, using magic he did not have and burning up his life in the process. As such, Alanna, the Woman Who Rides Like a Man, became shaman for the Bloody Hawk tribe. She had to stay with them until she finished training her replacements - two girls of the tribe with the Gift of magic.

She meant only to pass through, and instead became a beloved legend among the Bazhir, leaving two young female shamans in her wake.

[mrcreamsicles]

[He keeps up the attention, though mild enough not to distract, while he listens through the story. It's a better one, less upsetting yet impressive all over again. Not just the first female knight in an age, but one of high accomplishments.]

Man, closest I ever got to something like that was making friends with some of our consorts. They never made me any fancy shaman, though. I just got them to stop trying to steal my stuff.

[In the background, the difference sits in his mind, percolating over the concept of 'hero'.]

[absentconstellation]

[ This is not a use of the word "consort" that he is familiar with. Probably. ]

That is impressive enough in its own right. After all, you do not have the Great Gods on your side.

[mrcreamsicles]

[Davesprite shrugs at him.]

I wouldn't call making friends with a bunch of big lizards impressive. They're kind of there to help and be helped by the player along the quest they have to fulfill, so getting along with them is like step one of what the game wants you to do with them. The circumstances were just different then.

[absentconstellation]

What is expected of a person is not always easy.

[mrcreamsicles]

No, I know, but there's nothing that difficult about a bunch of talking reptiles. I've been through harder stuff than that. Just not the fancy shaman deal Alanna did.

[absentconstellation]

Strange things always happen to those chosen by the gods, even beyond their given expectation. They tend to be extraordinary people.

As are those I choose to give my time to.

[mrcreamsicles]

I see you trying to fluff up my ego, Meow Mix.

[He scruffles his ears for that.]

You're a good three or four years too late to tell me I'm not the ordinary, though. I didn't survive the end of the world and become half crow for nothing. And as shitty as Karkat's self-worth is, he's one of the ones who even made my universe. Even the whole "chosen by the gods" thing has relevance with how much they hassled us and the general shenanigans that went down because of it.

[absentconstellation]

I am merely making conversation.

[ Totally fluffing up the ego, yup. ]

I spend time among mortals because they are interesting. Whether they be a lioness, a bird, or even a crab.

[mrcreamsicles]

[Interesting, huh? He doesn't buy that he's not ego-fluffing, but that still puts his mind to thought.]

You have anything you want to ask about my life, then?

[absentconstellation]

Ask, no. But if you have stories to share, I should like to hear them.

[mrcreamsicles]

Let me think.

[What's a good one? It's a hard question. A lot of the boat journey was simple and boring, and funnier moments just leave him missing better times, or bring up depressing thoughts of missing his friends. It's only been two days since what happened with John's anomaly. Jade's still dead, and he hasn't seen Rose in three years... The only actual impressive stories happened to his friends, or were for their benefit, and have all the complication of Sburb involved besides.]

I don't know. What kind of story do you want?

[This would be easier if he liked his life better.]

[absentconstellation]

[ Well, if he has to choose... ]

Tell me about a time you accomplished something, however small.

[mrcreamsicles]

[Saving John's life comes to mind instantly, but fuck, that's right back into the depression pit. Does it mean anything when he's dead now? Even if it's not actually the real him, and he can't write it off that easily now. He rubs a thumb at his forehead, just above the bridge of his nose, trying to find something else.]

[Maybe...]

You remember the night when the snow stopped in midair and all our eyes changed? I'm not going to focus on the bad parts of that one, but it got me thinking because none of us really knew what was up then, except that the drawn eyes were a symbol of the prophet. That still left the glowing eyes that other half of us had. I ran into Nat the night—Natasha—and we got to talking about it. I don't remember what sparked the thought exactly, but at some point it clicked that Andromeda was associated with lights like that. Her eyes had glowed, and there were the lights in the dream Ecks had before when everyone had the weird ones. That was before I wound up here, but it was enough that I decided to go check it out after everything went back to normal. I tracked down Andromeda's house from Nat's guide, and I chatted at her about Winter since they were close, and how I had my own friend who was into space stuff too. I told her we might be able to help Winter if she helps us, and I asked if she knew anything about the prophet and what happened with the eyes. And that's when we got the first SD card with her and Winter talking about the cult being after them.

[It's a shorter story, but it felt important. It pushed them in the right direction for learning more about what happened.]

[absentconstellation]

[ His tail lashes once, flicking into the air and settling back against his side. ]

That was quite the intuitive leap.

[mrcreamsicles]

[He looks down at him. Even if he can't remember the exact things they said...]

You think so? I just tried to follow from the eyes. And if one kind already linked to the past, it felt like it made sense for the other to do that too.

[He feels flattered nonetheless.]

[absentconstellation]

Not everyone would have made the connection, all the same.

[mrcreamsicles]

[He's silent for just a second, then he pets the Cat like a reward.]

Thanks, then. There was a ton of stuff I read back on about Norfinbury with Steph's help, and as much of a pain that was to work through, I feel like it paid off then. And with the other help Andromeda has given, I think it was a good idea to try her, you know? Her and Winter.