hadriel_logs | Intro Log: Rock This City

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Intro Log: Rock This City

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for January
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: January 10th-14th
Warnings: New folks, rockin' dudes made of rock, and collectible friends!

This time, it's different.

There's no cave, no stone walls looming up around you and overhead, no stifling air or artificial light- not that you'd appreciate it, seeing as to how you've probably never been here before. And still, when you land facefirst on the dirt ground of the colosseum, you may not quite appreciate all the improvements and steps we've had to take to get here- after all, you're still surrounded by strangers in a crumbling city on an alien planet in the middle of nowhere.

Oh, and you're being attacked by Earth Elementals. These creatures are tall, between seven to ten feet, and made of solid rock, capable of punching through all the squishy bits of you- and for whatever reason, they definitely want to start punching. They're incredibly strong and, seeing as to how they're enchanted alive and have no internal organs, they're very difficult to kill.

But don't let that scare you off. For all the collectors in you, you can also find a very special array of beanie babies all scattered at the ground at your feet. Do you know that some of these things will be worth a lot of money someday? Better find the rarest one and stockpile it while you can! You might run into the rainbow crab, the platypus, or the sought-after bald eagle, or many more! Be sure to never take the tag off and never ever let anyone play with them so they don't lose value.

Once you've got your kids' college fund squared away, it's time to start exploring! You can explore the rest of the city! Find a house, a new monster, a project to help with, or simply scavenge for supplies. Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers January 10th-14th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► All characters arrive with phones that have network communication and the newbie guide installed.
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was better than being alone. And since Seel had no desire to eat things out of a can, uncooked, well, he was trying to be nice at least. Not always succeeding.

"It's not bad. It's not Forever, but it's not bad." Seel sighed at Swift and sat down on the bed, letting go of his hand, finally. He knew what that was targeted at. "I'm nice." He paused. "Sometimes. You know, I enjoy not being so damn courteous all the time."

Swift did not sit down, instead opting to stand by the door with his arms folded over his chest. After that remark, he wasn't going to encourage him. It probably said something that Swift had been here for less than a day and they were already starting the fight.

"Enjoy it or not, it's what polite hara do." He shouldn't be feeding into it. He really shouldn't. Seel had a way of making him. "You don't make friends being terrible and something tells me we need those around here."

The fight. How many times had they had this one, in some iteration or another? They went round and round, Swift claiming Seel had to be nice and behave and Seel maintaining Swift thought he was a better har than he actually was. It was almost comforting having it again. Like not so much could have changed because this always remained the same. Then again, fights should not be safety blankets.

"Why do you always have to be right?" Seel was frustrated, he wanted throw something, but the only thing he had on him was a pillow and his cigarettes.

Swift was not stupid enough to move any closer, either, and he stayed where he was, standing over Seel and glowering down at him. He didn't want to make Seel upset, but when he was behaving so badly, he didn't have much of a choice. They needed friends and Seel wasn't helping with that. He could only imagine what he'd done before Swift arrived.

"I don't know, Seel. Why are we here? Why do we even need to have friends?"

Seel wanted to explode. He wanted to swear and hit but he couldn't with Swift standing over him. He wasn't close enough to hit, but Swift made his point.

"I hate when you do that." Hey, at least he was communicating. Seel's hand went into his pocket and fished out a cigarette, playing with it. He could light he. He could light it and take a few puffs and put it out again. That would be nice. And it would piss Swift off.

So he did it.

"Hate it if you want." He wasn't going to be able to stop him. But he couldn't stop at least trying to make him learn to be nice, either. How anyone ever managed to like Seel was a mystery sometimes.

He didn't even say anything when Seel lit that damn cigarette. He just glared. For several moments of disapproving silence. When he started to smell the smoke he turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him. He wanted desperately to slam it, but didn't. That wouldn't do anything but make him feel better, and somehow just closing it normally seemed to portray more of how angry he was.

Seel stewed in the room. He desperately wanted to finish the damn cigarette but he couldn't afford more than a few puffs, so he put it out. He wanted to be vindictive and fill the damn room with smoke so thick Swift couldn't come in without choking on the stuff, but considering he only had two left that wasn't really feasible.

After sitting in that room sulking for a couple hours his anger wore off and it hit Seel what a gigantic idiot he was. Swift had been with him for at most thirty minutes, after eight months of waiting, and he'd picked a fight with him. Finally feeling guilty, he opened the door and padded out silently to look for Swift.

Swift thought of leaving the house, but he was more likely to get lost and need rescuing than be able to find his way back before Seel started feeling remorseful. Considering he didn't expect he even would, that was truly saying something. Instead of leaving he sat on the couch in the living room and played with his.what did they call it, a phone? He'd have to learn how to use it eventually, he might as well try it now.

He didn't look up when Seel entered the room, eyes fixed on the device in front of him. If Seel wanted to talk he would. He'd already been given a chance.

Seel was tempted to sit silently besides Swift. Trying to figure out what to do, considering Swift was letting him make the first move, he padded over to the kitchen to get a glass of water now that they had running water. He grabbed another one for Swift and moved to the couch, sitting softly next to him and setting both waters down on the table.

"I'm sorry. Do you need help with that?" If nothing else, at least Swift knew his mouth got away from him sometimes. It wasn't an excuse, was it? Maybe it was. Seel's heart was pounding like it was their first fight. It had been eight months, what was he thinking? What if Swift was really, really angry? What if this time he didn't forgive him, for what? For being a giant asshole?

He could hardly blame Seel for being nervous--Swift was sort of doing this on purpose to punish him a little more. He probably shouldn't have, but Seel could be unbearable at times. And Swift had barely even gotten here. Doubtless it was only going to get worse. Now they were practically confined. There was nothing else to do but fight.

"No," he finally answered after a moment, very conscious that he wasn't accepting the apology outright. It wasn't even much of one. After another moment, he set the thing down at looked at Seel, his expression entirely neutral as he continued speaking.

"Did you finish your cigarette?"

They'd been together for over thirty years. Seel knew Swift's methods, just as well as Swift knew Seel's temper. And yet they still fought. Maybe it was because Seel had a hard time changing. He was self aware enough to know it was a problem, but not self aware enough so solve it completely.

He couldn't help but scowl as Swift denied his offer of help, and instead sat quietly next to him until he asked his next question.

"No. I only have two left." Seel was smart enough not to mention now that Law suggested rooning when he wanted a smoke. He took a sip of water to try and steady himself, wanting that damn cigarette and nervous about Swift. Ag, his heart was racing.

Two left. While that was significantly less than it could have been, it was still two more than it should have been. Swift very carefully did not react to the news, but Seel still smelled like smoke, and he wasn't going to comment. Seel already knew he was disappointed and angry at him for that.

He did give a vague "hm" at first and let Seel stew for another minute. Some kind of petty revenge that didn't come off that way.

"I assume you'll be keeping those and spreading them out for when you need them."

Seel knew he'd screwed up. He meant to have quit by the time he'd gotten home to Swift but he'd honestly thought he had more time. And that Swift would never found out that he had lapsed. And then he'd gotten angry and stupid and pulled out a cigarette, lit it in front of him and paraded it around in his face. Smart Seel, real smart. And now Swift knew he was smoking. He'd smoked in front of Swift, what had he been thinking?

He knew he'd fucked up. Swift hated that he smoked, he hated that he'd given in and Seel was sure that one day Seel would fuck up and Swift wouldn't forgive him. There were only so many chances one har could have.

He also knew the right thing was too pull out the remaining two cigarettes and hand them over to Swift right now. But he really, really didn't want too. He also probably shouldn't have admitted the truth, but he did anyway. "I was hoping to save them." For what Seel, a rainy day?

There were a lot of "almosts" happening in Swift's mind. He almost asked what Seel was saving them for, but it ultimately didn't matter what reason he thought he might have to hold on to them. Swift almost demanded he hand them over so he could drown them in the sink or trade them off to someone else, but if it kept Seel pacified, he had to take the lesser of two evils.

Instead, Swift just looked at him for a moment and nodded before turning back to the phone and playing with it a little more before he sighed and put it back down to turn back to Seel.

"What are we doing, Seel?"

That was all it took for Seel to give up those cigarettes, although he clutched at the box for a few more seconds as if it was life itself, and then handed them over to him. He wished he'd finished that damn cigarette now. Seel stared at the box, almost hungrily, but not stupid enough to reach for it back. He should have given them to Swift the moment he saw him, so it never reached this point. But he didn't, and now he was starting at that box like it was more important than their blood bond. He forced himself to look away.

"I don't know what that means, Swift." Seel hoped the look on his face was passive instead of panic.

Swift was utterly shocked that Seel even considered handing over the remaining cigarettes and he slid them into a pocket and out of sight without comment. Maybe he'd actually hold onto them and offer them when Seel really needed them. Or he was tired of the yelling and wanted him to calm down. That one seemed more likely.

"No?" He sighed. Of course he wouldn't. But then Swift hadn't exactly been all that specific either. "We shouldn't be at each other's throats already."

Seel was staring at that pocket, like he wanted to reach in and take them back but they were gone. He had to trust Swift to have better judgement than he did, because clearly he was impaired. Swift was right. They shouldn't be at each others throats.

He took a breath, and forced himself to look away from the pocket and at Swift. "No, we shouldn't. I'm sorry. It's my fault." At least he admitted it. "I'm irritated and nervous and I want to smoke and I took it out on you. I'm happy you're here with me. I need you here with me. But I wish you weren't."

He hoped that didn't sound completely horrible. Maybe he should ask Law for another hit. Could you get addicted to someone sticking their hands in your brain?

"I know, Seel." It was a hard feeling to put into words--wanting to be with him but wanting it to be anywhere but here. Wanting Seel as far away and safe as he could be, but needing to feel the warmth next to him. As much danger as both of them had been in before, this felt...closer. More ominous. Ready at a breath to jump around the corner.

He held out a hand toward Seel, hopefully as a peace offering, but he was already tired. They hadn't even yelled and he was exhausted, ready to be done with everything. Maybe some of that was just because of finding himself in a strange place, but it still counted. He was done.

"I'm sorry I can't make anything better. Just...please don't make this any harder than it has to be."

"I'll try." Seel looked around the apartment he shared with Pell and George and Jo and sighed audibly. Things were already hard with Swift. Things he didn't want to deal with and thinking about them made him want to smoke. Or cry. And he didn't want to do that surrounded by people who weren't Swift. People or hara who had no idea what they'd been through, had no stake in their relationship and would probably try to help when there was no way they could.

"I can't do this here, Swift. I mean in this apartment. It's too open. It's not Forever. We can't just shut the doors and order the servants away when we need privacy."

As agitated as they were now, they were going to have to talk about it. Life in Hadriel was already hard without it hanging over their heads. The thing they hadn't mentioned. Probably because Seel threw a fit over nothing.

Swift wasn't entirely certain they were ready for it. Or maybe he was just sure that he himself wasn't. It hurt too much and he'd just gotten here and after that spat they'd just had, he didn't really trust either of them not to take it too far.

Or maybe he just didn't want to think about how there might not be a way to fix it. It was easier to just be the strong one for Seel and his people and push all of the conflict and pain into a little box that he could hide in a corner behind walls so thick even he wasn't certain he could feel it anymore.

"Where else can we go, Seel?"

Seel didn't want to do this at all. He wanted to keep going and pretend that it never happened but it did happen and if they didn't deal with it they were going to eventually get sent back and then they wouldn't have a plan at all. But, he knew right now probably wasn't the best time for it either. He agreed with Swift on that.

"There are other places. Empty places. We could just pick one. I spent some time in one alone once." He didn't want to go into it, but put it out there as a fact.

Seel offered a hand. "I know I make things harder." He wanted to pull Swift to him, carry him into his bedroom and snuggle and roon him. But his bedroom currently smelled like smoke, and it still wasn't the most private place if they wanted to talk further.

"Alone?" He couldn't help asking, but if Seel wasn't going to give the details, he couldn't force him to either. Not without getting yelled at. And then they'd get off track and forget about the entire thing and then they'd have to start all over yet again. Once was more than enough for now.

"Never mind. You're not alone now. Show me."

"I got kicked out, alright?" It wasn't his proudest moment, and he was sure someone would tell Swift all about it eventually. "It was around when I first arrived. I....didn't exactly act with the decorum you would have expected of me." Shocker, right there.

Seel nodded and got up, offering a hand to Swift. "Come on, we can pick out a place and then come back for our things. And tell people." He couldn't just leave without telling everyone. He knew as much. He'd been there too long.

"I didn't ask, Seel." So much for worrying about him. But it made sense, even if he very carefully did not think that too loudly. Seel getting kicked out was almost typical, really. Only Swift hadn't yet managed to kick him out of the entire house.

He sighed, though, and took Seel's offered hand, standing from the couch. "I don't have anything, Seel." He'd literally just gotten there, after all, he hadn't had time to accumulate anything. "Grab what you need."

Seel was very grateful that was not a very loud thought because he really didn't want to think about it, especially after Swift's 'we all need friends and to be better, decent hara' speech. They hadn't even finished the fight they were having. Had. Whatever.

"Alright. It's mostly clothing. I'll just be a few minutes." He glanced at Swift, making sure he was going to bring those papers. His lifeline. Besides Swift. It was proof that Forever was waiting for them.

Intro Log: Rock This City

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Time skip, hour or two!

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