Event Log: The Hope of a Child

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the The Hope of a Child event
Where: All over the city!
When: January 23rd-Feb 1st
Warnings: Youths

By now, the gods have probably done enough weird crap to you while you're asleep for you to be a little suspicious- but it's not like you can just not sleep, especially when there are a few supernatural forces making your eyes droopy and your body feel heavy.

And now, when you fall asleep, you'll wake up somewhere else and you'll likely have quite a different temperament- you'll be younger, maybe a little more naive and innocent, and you won't exactly remember all the wild stuff that's happened to your adult self. Maybe now you'll be a little more trusting and emotional, hm? The gods could definitely use a little boost in power, and what better way to do it than to harness the power of overemotional kiddos!

Or maybe you aren't affected at all and find yourself surrounded by youths. What are you going to do when your best friend doesn't know how to cook for themselves? Or your bitter rival is throwing a temper tantrum because they broke their favorite toy? Nobody asked for this kind of responsibility, but think about what would happen if nobody was around to take care of these babies...

► This log covers January 23rd-Feb 1st.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you trip over a kid and die, please let us know here.

Comments

[aroundthecoroner]

[The eye contact is unnerving. Michael's own gaze slides diagonally to the ground. He puts his hand down, together with his other one, and is now sort of fidgeting with them.

What does this guy mean, "it's tough to explain"? That's not an answer. Michael doesn't know what to do with that.]

Why's it hard to explain? I might be able to understand.

[He thinks he's pretty smart, but he also knows that bragging is rude.]

[hot_mes]

[As much as he's sure even kids aren't going to jump at the chance to believe they're on an alien world with people who can do magic, Law also feels kind of weird saying such things out loud. Instead, he pulls his phone out of his pocket, finds Mello's guide, and then holds it out for the youngster to see]

Read that and tell me if it makes any sense.

[aroundthecoroner]

[Michael would actually think it was very cool to be told he was in a magical alien world, but he might not believe it at first. He tentatively reaches out to steady the phone so he can read it, not sure what exactly it is that he's reading off of. It's like a lit-up picture frame, but with words on it? Like a Game Boy, but without the buttons?

Whatever it is, he obediently reads what he can see on the screen. Which is about the first two paragraphs or so. He doesn't know how to make it show more, but this doesn't seem like the whole thing. Either way-]

I can understand this. [See? He's not stupid.] It's about a city called Hadriel- [he pronounces the first syllable like the verb, "had",] and it's nowhere and I'm not supposed to be there.

[Wait.]

Are you saying that's where we are right now?

[hot_mes]

Yeah. That's exactly what I'm saying.

[at least it's an icebreaker, Law can probably go on from there if necessary. Some of the kids are just too young to understand or care, but this one seems sharp.]

Right now I'm not completely sure what's happening but that much is true for all of us, so if you can handle that, the rest should be easier.

[aroundthecoroner]

[Michael seems to turn this over in his head for a bit. This man just showed him a piece of what might as well be alien technology and told him he's in a city that's like, beyond space and time. That... kind of checks out. It could be a dream, but even if it is, he's still having it. So what does it matter? He should probably just go along with it.]

So, it's kind of like Narnia? Except without the wardrobe part. Or the talking animals- [Wait. His eyes light up a little, though he tries to keep a lid on his sudden excitement.]

Are there any talking animals?

[hot_mes]

[slow deadpan. What the fuck is a Narnia?]

No. There are no talking animals. [wait...almost forgot] Except Alphys, I think she's a lizard of some kind.

[at least she's the only one he's met, and even that, only over the phone]

[aroundthecoroner]

Too bad.

[Michael seems marginally disappointed by this. But hey, at least the lizard lady sounds promising. And Alphys is definitely a fantasy name. Speaking of which.]

Who are you, anyway? [And since it's polite to introduce yourself first:] My name's Michael.

[hot_mes]

[oho, is this seriously Michael? Haha! A tiny smirk flashes across Law's face before he can clamp down on it.]

Law. I work at the clinic. [when he feels like it] I have this odd feeling like we've met before, Michael-ya.

[aroundthecoroner]

[Law? What kind of a name is that? Aren't laws just like... things? Michael guesses it's like naming somebody Summer or Ruby, since those are also just things, but still. It's weird. Not that he's going to mention it. Besides, there's a way more interesting thing here.]

Clinic? Is that like a doctor's office? My dad works at one of those. And my mom works at the hospital. Maybe that's how we've met before. Do you know my dad?

[He doesn't exactly go to work with either of his parents, since he'd just be in the way, but his dad has other doctors over at the house all the time for like, parties or something. They're pretty lame parties where all anyone does is drink wine, but Michael's usually allowed to wander through them if he's quiet.]

[hot_mes]

It's possible. [not knowing whether these kids are real or not, yet, Law errs on the side of making sure anyone he gives a shit about is taken care of. Or, at least, has someone to trust.] Yeah, pretty much a doctor's office, or a triage clinic, whatever you want to call it.

[aroundthecoroner]

[Triage is a big word, but Michael definitely knows what that means. He knows the meanings of a lot of words that are generally useless to eleven-year-olds.]

So, like the ER? That's pretty cool. [He glances up, having to squint a little because of the sun, and eyes Law's sword, like he hasn't noticed it yet.]

... You don't exactly dress like a doctor, though.

[hot_mes]

[is it the tattoos or the earrings? Or maybe the coffee shirt with stains that look suspiciously like blood that he's tried very hard to wash out?]

Yeah, well, I don't like neckties. There's no rule forcing me to wear one, is there? I can show you where the clinic is - there may be space for people to hang out there, or sleep if they have to.

[aroundthecoroner]

[It's all of that.]

I guess there isn't a rule. [Not like he knows.] But I'm not sick or tired, so I don't need to go to the clinic.

[He may or may not sound a little too eager to avoid it.]

[hot_mes]

If that's what you want.

[totally chill about it. I mean, what do you do with kid versions of people you know?]

[aroundthecoroner]

... Really?

[He's not going to take him to get looked at or find his parents? He's not going to take him to the police station or something? This is weird. Adults never tell him he can just do what he wants.]

Um. What should I do then?

[And immediately defeating the purpose. At least this much doesn't seem different from the adult version.]

[hot_mes]

[life really is different when kids are allowed to just...run wild]

What do you want to do? This place is kind of in ruins right now, there's not a lot of, well. Fun things to do. The Speakeasy has... [what did they call it? ...an arcade.

[though if the power's still out that's probably not an option either...]

[aroundthecoroner]

What's a speakeasy?

[They haven't exactly taught him about Prohibition in school yet.]

That's cool that it has an arcade, but I don't have any quarters. Or any dollars for the money-changer machines.

[Of course this little nerd has been to an arcade before.]

[hot_mes]

[he doesn't want to explain, so...] That's just the name of the bar. We don't use money here, at all, so I'm sure the machines are rigged up not to need anything.

[dollars and quarters what, but money-changing...yep, he gets it]

[aroundthecoroner]

Whoa, really?

[He can't wrap his head around that. They don't have any money?]

How do you get stuff? Do you just... take it? Or do you have to trade stuff, like in the colonial days.

[He's at least learned some history, even if it's not for this world.]

[hot_mes]

Pretty much just take it. [yeah it's odd, and even the whateveritis that makes people feel guilty for just taking it from the stores doesn't really bother a pirate.] Though I've always wondered if people wouldn't rather trading, if we had anything to trade.

[aroundthecoroner]

Probably not. A lot of people like to steal.

[Or so he assumes.]

Where does the stuff come from if nobody pays anything for it?

[hot_mes]

A lot, huh? [he smirks just a little at that. Already trouble at this age, huh?]

Uh. The beings they call gods, here. It just appears. It's weird, I know.

[aroundthecoroner]

[He's not saying he steals. Probably.]

Gods? Like in Greek mythology and stuff? Or is this like those people that say all their money comes from Jesus or something.

[He has only the most passing knowledge of religion, okay?]

I don't really believe in that stuff, sorry.

[hot_mes]

[who is this Jesus guy you keep speaking of...]

Neither do I. It's what they've styled themselves, they might just be aliens. But they can provide food and other shit so it's worth at least accepting.

[aroundthecoroner]

Aliens?

[It's not really a question, he just sounds incredulous. He doesn't believe in aliens, either, but now he's onto something, so he's going to babble for a minute. Sorry Law.]

Like the kind with spaceships? Is that what happened? They abducted us like those cows where they cut off their faces and udders and stuff. Like with a laser. I saw that on TV. Does that mean they're gonna do experiments on us? I guess it's nice of them to give us free stuff, though.