hadriel_logs | Hideout Catch-All [OTA]

Entry tags:

Hideout Catch-All [OTA]

Who: Delmar, Seel, + Open To Anyone who wants to help with the hideout or to hide in the hideout.
What: The goings on at the hideout Delmar and Seel built under the unfinished bakery.
Where: Hideout under Delmar's unfinished Bakerycross (across the river near to moped lot)
When: On-going throughout Null Event
Warnings: N/A right now. Can update if needed

[[All are welcome. Maybe you've found yourself across the river and in need of food, shelter, or rest. Maybe you want to volunteer. Maybe you are checking on a friend. Feel free to make any top-levels you'd like. The hideout is equipped with food, blankets, + running water.]]

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[The worse things got overhead, the less Hayden has been going out to provide his services for the rest of the city. Part of this, of course, had to do with the fact that the Null had started to notice his meddling presence, and Hayden's hardly (read: not at all) good in a fight. But then there was Delmar. Poor, blind Delmar. How could Hayden leave him? He needs help! So he's been down with him in the bunker more and more.

This, of course, can't last forever. He feels like his stomach is twisting up thinking about Harlan. Is he doing okay? Did he beat the bad guys? What happened? Hayden tries to occupy his thoughts by playing with John Frusciante as much as he can, but of course his own agitation isn't doing much for the kitten's mood. The longer time goes on, the more he can't stops his nerves from vocalizing into whines. Translating into aimless pacing.]

I gotta go find Mister Harlan.

[It just comes out of him out of nowhere. He can't hold it in anymore.]

[Delmar's mind has similarly been distracted. He hasn't heard from Harlan. Or Michael. Not for a while now. And with all the bad news thats been coming in one wave after another, he feels a sinking fear in his stomach. One that reaches up into his chest and makes his heart ache for the fear of all the things that could have happened.

He lifts his hands, reaching out for Hayden]

Hayden...do you think you can find them? Harlan and Michael?

[He hesitates. Afraid of what they might discover if they leave the bunker]

Miss Margaery...you haven't heard anything about them, have you?

[Margaery has barely left Delmar's side since she found him. she only left for a brief time to look in on her sewing shop and do one more search of the city for Matt.

if she could see herself, she'd be horrified. her dress is torn in various places, her hair is a mess, and there's a deep furrow from worry between her eyes.

she still has her sword with her as protection and has had to use it more than once.

she doesn't know Harlan or Michael, but if they're important to Delmar she's willing to help him find them]

I'm afraid I don't know either man. Do you know where they would have went?

[Hayden shakes his head--and then nods--and then remembers he needs to speak out loud instead, fidgeting as he takes Delmar's hands.]

I'm not sure...they were helping with the fight, and the bad guys are after Mister Lord Sir Hope, so I think maybe his temple is a good place to check. And if that's not it...I'll just check everywhere else, too.

[Delmar gently squeezes those small hands, taking comfort in their familiarity. They are like a small anchor for him. He's trying to keep a brave smile but unfortunately his worry is written deep and plain on his face and his smile looks like it will break any moment.]

Could you take us with you? I want to find them too.

[He falters when he realizes he just volunteered Margaery without her permission. He tries to look in her direction]

Oh. I'm sorry, Margaery, I didn't even ask if...if you would want to...you've already been in so much danger...

[she watches Delmar's expression grow brittle and knows how he feels. she wishes there was something she could do or say to ease his mind.

she smiles at Delmar and pats the sword at her side] And before the end of this, I'm sure I'll be in more danger. Delmar, you've already been wounded and I don't know if your companion can fight. I will see to your safety while we look for them.

[Hayden's small hands tremble inside of Delmar's, but he holds onto them no less tightly, looking between him and Margaery.]

I...I don't mind taking you with me, I can do that, but are you sure?

[He can't stop that he's still whining nervously.]

If you're super sure, it's okay! I just don't want anyone else to get hurt!

That is awfully kind of you. And very brave.

[Delmar murmurs to Margaery before turning back towards Hayden's voice. After a deep nervous inhale he nods.]

Yes. Yes we are sure. Please..please take us with you.

[she smiles at Delmar, trying to look as brave as he thinks she is]

You are my friend. Of course I'll help you.

Then, um...then, let's go!

[He gently steps back to pull Delmar up to his feet, then takes a deep breath. If he's taking people with him, he needs to make sure he has his destination in mind. He doesn't want to end up throwing them somewhere unpredictable, or somewhere that gives them more vertigo for no reason. He lets go of one of Delmar's hands so he can use it to tear open one of his dark portals, and while it sits swirling in the air, reaches for Margaery.]

Hold onto me, Miss Lady! You both might get a little dizzy, but we just have to walk through together.

Edited (slightly wrong emote) 2017-12-07 03:13 (UTC)

[Delmar does his best to help Hayden in the effort of getting himself up onto his feet then holds Hayden's little hand in both of his, patting it gently in an attempt at reassurance.]

I'm ready if you are.

[Margaery takes Hayden's other hand in hers, wondering at the series of events that have gotten her this far, being effectively the muscle in a rescue/seek-and-find mission. she wonders if anyone from home would even recognize her at this point and she wonders if she'd want them to in the first place]

I'm ready, Ser . . . I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name.

I'm Hayden!

[Hayden nearly distracts himself with the exciting happening of someone giving him a kind of title, but he remembers that there are very important and scary things happening so he can't afford to waste any time.]

Okay...okay! Let's go!

[Putting on his bestest most bravest face, Hayden leads them forward into the portal. It seems like it should swallow them up into darkness, like there should be a sensation of weightlessness--there may in fact be a split second in stepping where they feel like they're searching for a stair in the dark that isn't there, but then their feet touch ground. In an instant they are where they need to be: the disastrous site that was the battleground at Hope's Temple.

And right away, even without having found who he's looking for, the sight of such clear loss and destruction takes his breath away.]

[Thanks to Harlan, this is at least not Delmar's first encounter with magic or teleportation. And as such he manages with minimal trouble to follow Hayden through and step out on the other side. On to a battlefield.

As his sight still fails him now, only the vaguest touches of light and hints of color washes among the darkness, it is the stagnant metallic smell of blood hanging thick in the air that hits Delmar first. So thick he almost feels he could choke on it when he breathes in. Instinctively he raises his free hand to cover his mouth.

His voice is almost a whisper through his fingers]

D-do you see them?

[He swallows back some of the gagging reflex and tries for a weak yell]

H-harley?! Michael??!!

[this is Margaery's first time with both magic and teleportation and for a brief moment, she feels like she's floating.

only to end up at Hope's temple, bodies strewn across the area, the stench of blood and offal thick in the air. her eyes widen and the hand which isn't holding Hayden's slowly raises to cover her mouth in shock.

she has to keep her composure even though she's internally screaming that Matt could be in there, one of the corpses. she summons her resolve enough to ask]

What do they look like?

Not yet.

[There's no real reason for him to keep holding Margaery's hand since she can still see--but he finds himself keeping himself latched onto them, like he thinks they'll float away from him. Or maybe that someone or something will snatch them. Or maybe he's afraid of being the one who will vanish if he isn't rooted to the living.

He tries not to let himself feel upset as he whips his head around, looking for them as he leads the two forward, careful not to let him or Delmar stumble over any bodies. It's good that he doesn't see either of them. It means they've just made it out safely and are waiting for them somewhere else! They haven't had a chance to say hello.]

They look like...like...

[His voice trails off as his eyes land on the reality that he'd already chosen to reject. He can't bring himself to say that they look just like the two bodies up ahead. The ones that are getting closer with every step that Hayden can't stop taking. He knows he has to say something. It's his job. Margaery doesn't know who they are and Delmar can't see. Only, he opens his mouth and words don't come out.

He wheezes, his voice stopping and starting, and makes a sound that could almost be a scream if it wasn't so quiet and pained, and then finally, inexplicably, he starts laughing. It's a forced, denying laugh. Because this is definitely, certainly not happening. Michael doesn't have a hole blasted through his chest and Harlan's body hasn't been sliced almost entirely in half.]

Mister Harlan is playing a joke where he is pretending to be dead, but I'm sure he will stop any second now and say hello and then something funny like he always does because he's a very funny person. Please stop being joking now, Mister Harlan!

[He's clutching onto his companions' hands too tightly now, his knees going heavy, he can't hold himself upright. Hayden laughs again, but the laugh turns into sobs.]

Please...please?

Edited 2017-12-08 00:10 (UTC)

[Delmar knows at the first strangled sound Hayden makes. He knows that noise. Knows what it means. It is a sound simultaneously so unique and so universal that touches on suffering and the agony of loss beyond the capacity of words. It was etched in his heart when he was a young man fighting. When he'd hear comrades wailing for the loss of their friends and when he'd hear mothers and fathers pleading to no avail for the body in front of them not to be their child's.

Just as Hayden begins to plead now.

It is strange to think that the loneliness that had dogged him his entire life had also done him the favor of shielding him from being on the sharp end of such loss. With nothing to lose there was nothing much to mourn, but now that he finally has....had.... someone...multiple someones...to cherish, now he has something so very precious to lose.]

....o-ohno... [He chokes out, his jaw trembling and his tears already welling over, spilling through his dark lashes and down his cheeks in heavy thick streams as his breathing begins to hitch.] ....no.

[With trembling hands and his legs now feeling like rubber, he begins to kneel down, his motions awkward, clunky. And fumbling against his blindness he tries his best to pull Hayden close.]

[Margaery doesn't know either of the two young men, but they had deaths she wouldn't wish on anyone.

she was lucky back in Westeros. the War of the Five Kings raged on and on, yet she sat in comfort, first in Renly's camp and later in King's Landing. not to say that she's never lost. she lost her brother and father to Cersei and by the end of Daenerys' war, she'll likely lose her grandmother. by now, she's given up hope that any of them will arrive here.

but here is different. here, she is different. she's valued not for her looks or her dowry but for herself. she's made friends, true friends, for the first time in her life.

and right now, one of those friends is suffering.

she gets to her knees and wraps her arms around Delmar and Hayden, rocking them gently, and murmuring soothing nothings into their ears.

it's all she can do]

[Hayden's not exactly sure what happened--how he got to where he is. Just, all of a sudden, his world is moving, flipping over itself, and then he's shielded from the sight of his dead friends by the combined efforts of Delmar and Margaery. He's not even sure that he's making any noises, or saying any words, his laughter turning to sobbing turning to wailing and it all ending up as white noise in his own ears.

He curls his knees up to his body as he presses his face into Delmar's chest, shuddering.]

This was supposed to be a better place. A better one where people don't die like before! Why isn't it better? I don't understand...I don't understand...

[Delmar settles on the dirt, leaning into Margaery and trying to keep Hayden encased in his arms to the best of his ability. What Hayden says lands like shrapnel in his heart. Because it was true, wasn't it? At least for the three of them there in that moment this cave had given them things their worlds had deprived them of. Love. Friendships. Laughter. Closeness...

He wants to comfort Hayden or to thank Margaery but he can't find words, just more tears and poorly swallowed-back sobs.

At long last he manages to murmur]

T-they'll come b-back, Hayden. they...T-they're going to come back.

[Margaery moves so that she's kneeling on the ground, supporting the weight of Delmar and Hayden. she takes turns stroking their hair with one hand, the other arm wrapped tightly around them.

part of her is screaming that Matt could be out there and she needs to try to find him, the rest insists that for now her place is here. that part wins.

so she stays, giving what little comfort she can and murmuring reassurances]

Of course they'll come back. Hope will be fine and they'll come back to you soon.

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Hideout Catch-All [OTA]

December 6th | Closed to Delmar, Margaery + Anyone Else Body Bouncing (cw: dead bodies and sads)

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cw: super gross deda

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