hadriel_logs | Event Log: That's My Rubber Ducky

Event Log: That's My Rubber Ducky

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the That's My Rubber Ducky event
Where: All over the city!
When: March 14th-19th
Warnings: Probably none?

Good morning! It's another fine sunny day in Hadriel, and what's more, there's a good chance that you've woken up with something new and interesting in your possession - something you've never seen before. Something, in fact, that doesn't even belong to you. That's right, the Door is acting up again and it seems to be pulling things from everyone's world and dropping them into the laps (and homes) of strangers.

When you touch whatever it is you've found, you'll get a brief glimpse through the eyes of the person it belongs to, a glimpse of whatever they're doing at that exact moment. Maybe you'll see them eating breakfast, or walking through the streets of Hadriel, or checking out their own sweet ass in the mirror. That last one might be the best, because then you'll immediately know who this strange striped hoodie or weird book or priceless artifact belongs to. Otherwise, you're just gonna have to try to figure out from context, so - good luck with that!

And of course, you might also catch on to the fact that if things are arriving for lots of other people, something also might have arrived for you. Maybe you should search the city until you find it? Or you can hang out at home and hope whoever has it finds you. Your choice! Well, as long as it isn't something super cool that they'll want to keep. That would be awkward.

► This log covers March 14th-19th.
► 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 someone gets really mad about you ending up with their favorite hoodie, please let us know here.

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[Nate delivers a halfhearted shrug in response, because whatever it is he knows she's too excited to keep it from him for long. Elena is about as effective as he is at keeping surprises...surprises.

What she whips out from behind her back is a piece of equipment that gave them a substantial amount of grief back in El Dorado. Sully's "betrayal," footage of the pirates, of those things in the dark recesses of the old facilities...but ultimately, something that shouldn't exist anymore.]

Whoa. [Nate sits upright a little more, leaning in to see it, apple forgotten.] I thought you dropped that on the rocks?

[She can't help but giggle a little at the look on his face. It's pretty much the same one that was on hers.]

I know! It should be in a million pieces. [Unless it was sturdy enough to survive, waterproof enough to wash ashore, and is now being used by those things to make the worst home movies of all time.] But whatever power has been bringing people's stuff here snatched it out of thin air, I guess. Look, it's even got charge on the battery.

[Elena holds the small video screen between them and presses play. She hasn't watched it all herself—call her sentimental, but she wanted them to see it together.]

[After that fall? Doubtful it managed to survive anything at all. But Nate won't look a gift camera in the mouth and he scoots closer to get a better look at it as Elena snaps the viewing screen open.

Nate is almost instantly transported back to the steam-heat of Panama, a younger version of himself talking animatedly as he pries the lead-lined coffin open. He was a little less muscular, then. A little more of an asshole.]

Jesus. Talk about a blast from the past. [Elena's footage catches his unadulterated glee upon withdrawing the journal.] How much of this is there on this thing?

[Elena laughs when his reaction mirrors the initial one she'd had. Less than a decade ago, but it feels like it happened a million years back.]

The whole thing. I checked the amount of saved footage, but I didn't want to watch it all without you. The last shot is probably something like us yelling in the distance.

[The version of Nate that's on screen looks smarmy and cocky and maddeningly hot. And she sounds professional but pissed. Some things have changed, some haven't.]

Look at you. Mr. Drake.

[She snorts at the way she'd addressed him. It almost seems comical now.]

Mr. Drake. Oh my God.

[How did he forget most of this? The majority is sealed into his memory, into the pages of his sketchbook from the El Dorado adventure. They both look so young, not a gray hair on his head, the thrill of adventure written in every line of his face.]

...right, right, okay- sarcophagus. Then pirates. And then we-

[Plane footage, after Eddy's men failed to capture them. The video shows Sully at the controls, Nate poring over the journal, and it zooms in on both their faces before switching to a new location. Elena comments something in the background of the tape rolling, bemusement at the circumstances and the Nathan Drake from years ago replies with an arrogant answer.]

Yeah, this is coming back to me, now.

[It's funny when the footage starts skipping forward, leaving gaps of unrecorded time during which she got ditched, swore a blue streak, tracked them down and shot her way to safety with Nate. Her memories are so clear that it seems impossible every minute of that adventure wasn't captured digitally.]

All of a sudden it's like it happened yesterday, right?

[Elena grins and rests her chin on his shoulder. Ah, there's another look she remembers when she started narrating over footage when it was just the two of them in Sully's plane. Whether he had stage fright or thought she was bonkers, she wasn't sure then and still isn't. Then it's wide shots, panning, visuals she'd intended to be the background of credits or exposition.]

This would have made a great episode.

[But it's not the best for a walk down memory lane, since he'd been off by himself climbing around and trying not to get shot. She fast-forwards the footage, pressing play again when she sees him cautiously exploring the flooded city—only to see a very pointed zoom-in on his ass.]

...uh.

[Nate leans back against the contact, happy for it, cradling the camera in his hands. A few things here and there remind him of what he forgot, and some of memories buried just under the sand, shaken off with renewed interest.]

It would've.

[He agrees with a grin, giving her the opportunity to speed things along until the interesting bits crop up again - this is why shows have editors, right? - and views of the Spanish city, the fortifications, drift into the frame. Navigating that river had been a nightmare up until they found the cabildo. And then there's- ...that.

Lips pressed together tightly for the express purpose of trying (failing) to contain another smile, Nate turns slowly to look at her.]

Wow.

[Elena would like to pretend she has no memory of taking a close-up of her future husband's ass, but of course she remembers it now. With crystal clarity.

She would also like to pretend she's not turning bright pink, but that's a lost cause, especially when Nate gives her that look.]

Shut up. [She gives his arm a shove, and yeaaaah. Already she knows she's lost this one, but she'll go down swinging.] I was testing it. This thing got battered so much, it could have been broken.

Testing it, my ass.

[Literally.

The fire has been given an accelerant, and he is stopping for no one and no thing. He fiddles with the buttons for a moment, rewinding a few seconds to afford them a second glance at that blatant zoom, the benefits of modern technology enabling a woman to check out a man from yards away.

His smile is practically manic, and Nate laughs as he adds:]

You liiiiked me.

[The choice of words does not go unnoticed, but there's no comeback she can offer. When he rewinds the recording to make her past-self's ogling even more obvious, if that's possible, Elena makes a noise of protest but doesn't try to wrestle the camera away from Nate. What's the point? The long-last, ass-appreciating truth it out.

She does shoulder check him when he decides to rub it in, trying to glare more than she's blushing.]

We're married.

[Nate scoffs, completely nonplussed by the light push that barely registers.]

Still.

[His attentions turn back to the camera, fidgeting with the buttons to fast-forward. He's looking for more conspicuous zooms.]

So how many other times did you film my butt? Could we make a mini-documentary with the footage?

[Oh, he'll have to keep searching. There are no more ogling shots...for at least another ten or fifteen minutes of recorded footage.]

Wow, okay, someone's very confident. Who even said your butt was worthy of a mini-doc? Not all test footage gets the green light. You were a short-form film at best.

[Which is total bullshit and they both know it, but she only has so much to work with here.]

Besides, you talk like you weren't checking me out too. I saw how you were looking at me in that wetsuit. And when my tank top got wet.

Don't sell yourself short.

[He ribs her with a little nudge of his elbow, waggling his eyebrows. Elena is nothing if not thorough, and he has no doubt they'll find more critical ass content in the recesses of this footage.

Her follow-up has him grinning even wider.]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Rude. Rude and banned. The worst part is that he's not wrong.]

Oh, please. Journalist, remember? I pick up on the nuances. Not that you were all that subtle.

[If anything, little details tended to get obscured by his more...bombastic moments.]

Besides, if you weren't already into me, we wouldn't have had such a good time celebrating our adventure.

[Without pants.]

[Banned where? Where will you derive your heat from at night? Who will be your space heater? Who???]

I dunno, I was pretty sure I'd screwed up my chances when Sully convinced me that we should leave you at the dock.

[He winnows a sneaky hand over to pinch (lightly) at her side.]

[They make electric blankets and body pillows, you know.]

You did. At the time.

[The pinch makes her jump, but—and this is key—not away from him.]

But you made it up to me over time.

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Event Log: That's My Rubber Ducky

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