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!

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For the time being, it's about as good as it gets. But Nick probably already knew that. It's a miracle on its own that Rey even managed to get up that day, let alone make it all the way here to set things up. If not for the aid of Alphys and Rose, none of this would have gotten done.

Just take things one day at a time. That's what you're supposed to be doing, right?

While Rey isn't active among the partying, she doesn't mind tending to the patrons and offering suggestions where she can give some. While any sense of normalcy still feels like lifetimes away, this is just the life she has long since been accustomed to, anyway.

Nick, at least, provides some normal sense when he stops by. She already knows what he's here for, and it isn't to kill it on the dancefloor, as entertaining as that might be.

"Guessing you're not here for a drink or hot date," Rey tries to comment lightly, leaning her elbow against the counter.

In all honesty, Nick can't help but be relieved to see Rey working again. Things won't ever be quite the same again, sure, but... you learn to keep moving, one day at a time.

"Can't imagine who I'd be here with if I was," Nick replies, his tone equally light. He's sure someone in the city could come up with some ideas, but he's got more on his mind than potential partners and celebrations. The gods, with their ghosts and their dreams, have given him enough of that for now.

Edited 2018-01-15 03:07 (UTC)

Given recent history, Rey could imagine who, not that she's here anymore-- or was ever here at all, for that matter. But before the thought can threaten to occur, she is just as quick to banish it. Clinging to the past won't do anyone good, least of all herself.

"Well, they say there's someone for everyone." As dismal as it is for Rey of all people to say that, maybe it's true. Maybe she's just had bad luck at... finding someone. "Anyway, had some help with this. It was a pretty last minute thing, so... I'm surprised that it happened at all."

Just being able to leave that day is good enough.

Though Nick can also think of a certain someone, he's glad Rey steers clear of that conversation, picking up instead on her followup statement.

"I was wondering who might've helped you put this shindig together," he says, casting a quick look around the place. "Not that you couldn't have done it on your own, but it's a hell of a lot of work for one person."

Especially a person who spent most of the last month on the floor of her bedroom.

Even for someone who is quick to recover and heal, Rey has her limits. The lack of activity is more of a mental strain than a physical one with a body like hers, so being out and about is more difficult than it should have any right to be.

"Well, you can give some credit to Rose and Alphys. The latter tends to help out when she can, anyway." Whereas the former is... something else entirely, given Rose's history with Rey.

For how small and quiet she is, Nick holds the doctor in fairly high regard. Alphys helped out a lot during the Null invasion by reverse-engineering their technology, and despite her insecurities, always seems to have the best for others at heart. That's an attitude Nick can wholeheartedly appreciate, especially when there seem to be a number in Hadriel who would do the exact opposite, looking out for no one but themselves.

Rose, on the other hand, has been a pleasant surprise for how much she and Rey seemed to come around, especially given they were, at one point, literally at each other's throats. Funny how things out work sometimes.

"You getting along better with Rose these days?"

He knows the answer, but he likes to hear it from Rey herself, get a little bit more insight into what she's thinking. She's been cooped up for so and hardly speaking to anyone that he can't help but want to get what conversation he can from her.

"Well, she did ask if she was on the menu, so..." Rey shrugs.

No, she isn't that obtuse for the innuendo to go over her head, or expect it to go over Nick's. She can't even say it's surprising, in the wake of everything that's happened.

But that also doesn't include the other connotations that such a thing would entail. Such as the very specific diet that Rose had been afflicted with that Rey is also very familiar with.

Though Nick is only passingly familiar with Rose based on what she's said in the open air of the network, he's not dense enough to let the implied innuendo go over his head, no; however, his response is muted save for the raise of a single eyebrow. There are some things that are just uncomfortable to discuss with family, and frankly, it seems a little soon for someone to be chasing after her in such a way. That could just be his old memories of heartbreak talking, he realizes -- or his inclination to keep Rey safe at all costs. He doesn't want to see her hurt again.

"I'll take that as a yes," he replies finally.

At the very least, Rey has the self-awareness to recognize just how soon is too soon. She might be putting on a work face right now, but the pain of what happened is still fresh. Still hurting. Even someone like Rose would be bound to understand that as well, or so one would hope.

"Yes," Rey confirms. She pauses, and then adds, "I think... I'm going to try and help her."

"Yeah?"

Nick leans on the bar just a little, partially to support his old joints and partially to get closer to Rey, just in case she says something that's sensitive in nature. He can't deny he's interested though, especially in whatever gets Rey up and moving again. Helping people is a good way to go about it -- he'd know.

"How so?

Arms folding over her chest, Rey stops to think a moment. She remembers what Rose had told her on the rooftop, and what she saw happen upstairs when just trying to drink a cup of tea. Her expression twists into a grimmace.

"She said that she was experimented on before she came here. Made it so that she can't sustain herself on anything other than human flesh. With Hope still out of commission and no one to supply her with an alternative, she starves herself instead."

Having been in a similar situation herself, Rey has more than enough reason to empathize with what Rose went through.

Now that's a grisly revelation. Nick's brow furrows -- the way Rey describes it makes Rose sound like some kind of feral ghoul in diet alone. He'd have never guess that just from looking at her, but they all have their secrets, some qualities tied to the worlds they were drawn from. He has no room to judge.

And he wouldn't, anyway -- despite Rose and Rey's somewhat spotty history, Nick feels sympathy, wants to help. He might be a machine, but it's in his very nature. The question of what kind of help it is they can offer still remains.

"You're not gonna carve yourself up like a Christmas turkey, are you?"

He asks that with a tone of levity, but he expects a serious answer to that one, Rey.

That comment just gets him a look.

"What? No. That's fucked up." She scratches the side of her neck, also remembering what Rose had told her about Wade. How he used to 'provide' for her through regeneration. While Rey is unable to conveniently regrow limbs, that wouldn't even be an option on the table. "Going to check with someone who might be able to see what the hell happened to her. Maybe figure out a way to reverse engineer whatever was done."

It gives her something else to focus on than her own problems, at least. Gives her a goal to work towards. She needs that.

He was just making sure. Given Rey just spent the last couple of weeks lying in the floor of her bedroom and has made some questionable decisions in the past -- even ones with good intentions -- Nick can't help but worry. She is talking about the same woman she tried to murder once over a single network post, after all.

"We got any doctors here who specialize in that sort of thing?" He knows they have psychologists, mechanical engineers, and general physicians, but something akin to genetic experimentation is pretty specialized, and isn't something one would want done by an amateur.

Not just a network post, but a mere relationship chart had been enough to set Rey over the edge. Of course, strenuous circumstances had factored in as well, but Rose sure did not help to make the matter any easier. Ironically, Rey came out of that less furious with Rose and more pissed with certain intervening parties.

"Actually, yes. Sort of. He's a doctor but he does some weird shit. Like keeping Atem's spare eye in a jar so it could just be popped back in later." Which Rey helped him do after ripping out that gold eye that was making him crazy. "If anything, he can maybe see what happened to her and we'll find someone who can fix it. Would rather it not be a god, but..."

But she would be willing to go that route, if needs he. All the better if she can avoid it, though.

Nick grimaces at the mention of Atem's eye -- he makes a mental note to ask about that later, though with all the bizarre antics of people from other worlds that he's seen during his time in Hadriel, he's not sure he wants to -- and sticks to the subject of this doctor and his potential instead.

"Sounds like a hell of a doctor," he says, inwardly hoping someone with that kind of skill is on the Clinic's side, filing through what he's heard on the network to see if he can piece together who it might be. Nick's head dips, his eyes on Rey as his tone takes a stern direction. "See what he says first before you go making any deals, especially with gods." His brow knits the slightest amount as concern bleeds into his voice in the utterance of one word: "Please."

He knows she wants to help, to feel like she's still worth something to the city, but she'll always be worth more than she realizes, especially to Nick -- and he'd rather she not work any more for the gods than she has to already, certainly in light of recent events.

Edited 2018-01-23 00:20 (UTC)

Far as Rey knows, Law might be collaborating with the clinic. It'd be for the best, since she'd never step foot in there herself if she can help it. Good thing she has those she can call on for that.

"Trust me, making deals with one of them is going to be a last resort. Would rather have it so that neither of us are any more indebted to their kind than necessary -- but this is necessary."

For Rose, that is. Rey could very well let that woman starve herself, but... Having been in her shoes before, in a way, she can't bring herself to turn a blind eye this time.

"Let me know if there's anything I can do." Rey ought to know that offer is always on the table, but it's worth reiterating in case she forgot it in her weeks of intoxication. Despite that she might have to go to the gods as a last resort, the corner of Nick's mouth quirks upward at Rey's insistence that this is necessary. She's said the same thing about the parts she's gotten for him in the past, noted how he was worth the trouble. She's got a good heart, as always. If only she could see that.

His smile is brief, fading as he remembers something himself. "Speaking of the gods and necessities..." He reaches into his coat and pulls out a small package -- rectangular, and carefully wrapped in old papers from the Guard HQ -- and sets it on the counter before her. "Thought you might need one of these."

"Will do."

At this point Nick shouldn't feel the need to offer, but even now Rey struggles with the idea of asking for help when it's at her own expense. For someone else... it has an odd way of seeming easier. Imagine that.

She blinks as Nick extracts a wrapped up item, presented almost like a gift. "What's this?" Rey takes it anyway, already starting to pull apart the layers to reveal its contents.

When she recognizes what it is, she frowns. Oh...

While he wasn't expecting Rey to jump for joy or anything, a frown isn't exactly what Nick was hoping for. He can see why she might want to avoid the network -- and its people, their platitudes and condolences related to Maketh's disappearance, and anything else that could remind her of the pain she just went through. At the same time, having a way to get in touch with each other, especially when things get out of control or if the Null show up gain, is something he'd rather not lose.

He leaves it in her hands, though. "I can take it back if you're not interested," he suggests lightheartedly, belying his concern. "I kept the receipt in one of these pockets."

She shakes her head. "No. No, it's... fine. I can get why you'd want me to have one again."

There were reasons Rey had chucked her phone. Not just because of the risk of repeated condolences, but it means moving on. It means seeing people happy when she's suffering. She can't do that.

But that doesn't mean she can avoid the pain forever. And it doesn't have to always hurt.

The world won't stop for her. She can't linger in the past.

"And I get why you wouldn't."

Nick's eyes fall for a moment, down to the counter; he lifts them back to Rey after letting out a sigh, offering his hand on the bar to her as a sign of support. The unfortunate nature of the city means that people come and go, but so far, they've manage to keep each other. It's not perfect, but it's enough to give Nick hope, to keep him going even when things look darker than they've ever been. That doesn't make the losses any easier to suffer, but... at least neither of them is alone.

For now. That part of him that tries to consider all angles of a situation can't help but remind him of that little possibility. That's what makes it all the more urgent that they either find the Door themselves and learn to use it, or make the gods understand why it is some of them want to go home while others want to stay. If only they could work out a way to pull in those who need a second chance at life—

But if that were the case, would he even be there? Nick doesn't want to go home now, but there was a time he would've liked to, when he thought more about what he left behind than the people who need him within Hadriel.

Not much point in mulling over it now, he figures. What's important to him is right in front of him.

Edited 2018-01-27 07:15 (UTC)

"Still... It's better to stay in contact with people." She pauses, a slight simper stretching across her mouth. "Otherwise they kick down your door and don't leave you alone."

Rose had been the only one to do the actual door kicking, but it wasn't like everyone else in between was giving her much of a choice.

And that's fine. Maybe she needed the tenacity of those willing to help pull her head back above water.

She's just grateful that Nick had the courtesy not to kick her door.

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Intro Log: Rock This City

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