Event Log: A Hope for the Future

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the A Hope for the Future event
Where: All over the city!
When: April 15th-April 19th
Warnings: Stealth Rock

It's finally time to reap the rewards you've earned from all that hard work collecting and returning the Hope orbs! Be careful walking the streets during the small earthquakes, but feel free to admire the scenery as your beautiful city reassembles its way back into its former glory.

There are new houses where the destroyed buildings once were, and they're perfect for a single person or pair of lovebirds. In addition, you'll find that the electricity to these new houses, and all other homes and shops in the city is restored. The food is better, the monsters are gone- hey, this city might be livable again!

To cap it all off, we've got a feast waiting for you on the 19th! Come one, come all, and enjoy all of your favorite foods, drinks, and party games. It's been awhile since we've all gotten together to celebrate something good, so get your party on and toss all your troubles away!

► This log covers April 14th-April 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 you get hit by levitating rubble or eat a food that wasn't meant for you, please let us know here.

Comments

[glacius]

[To beings like them, not predisposed towards physical contact, even that little bump is noticeable. Glacius chirps softly, an appreciative noise, before turning his attention to her question.]

Drinking..? Ah, just water, most likely. It provides the most efficient hydration to my body. [Knowing what she likely means, however, the alien adds on;] Plus I am... technically on-duty still. It would not become me to consume intoxicants and find myself unable to function properly...

[dedikated]

( He's always understood that about her. Even if, in recent months, she's been shown more contact than she's had in a very long time, all of it comes slowly to her.

Kate doesn't laugh at the answer, but it's hard to bite back a smile. Someone has to work, after all. )

Could always be trouble.

( She would rather there isn't any, but alcohol and people... it's a natural end to drinking with some. )

[glacius]

[That gets a genuine smile out of Glacius. There might be merits to learning to relax a little bit every now and again, but the fact that she accepts and appreciates his diligence rather than teasing him or trying to twist his arm further hones that sense of understanding they've been harboring for so long now. Plus, it is just nice to know that his efforts aren't going unnoticed, and that there always risks out there no matter how peaceful or happy things might seem in the moment. That she trusts him to look out for them while she unwinds is an honor, one the displaced marshal is fully intent on upholding.]

Yes, there could be—and I will be ready to give my best effort to turn it aside. Let us not concern ourselves with such things for the time being, though; it is important to focus on the good things when they are presented to us. So. Let me just make myself a small plate and we can share in some of that together... I shall be right back.

[dedikated]

Sure.

( For the duration of his plate loading, Kate pushes a couple of napkins at the space next to her to make sure no one bothers her about someone sitting there, sipping idly at her drink until he returns. )

Anything you recognise here?

( If they're going about a cultural exchange, she wants to know, too. )

[glacius]

Oh, ah... yes, actually. [Glacius slides his plate over slightly, turning it so that the food in question is closest to his friend. It vaguely resembles carpaccio, actually, except the slices of raw meat are slightly thicker than they would be in said dish. They are laid out in a circular arrangement, with a small pile of grains and vegetables right in the center. That's about all the dish seems to consist of; it does not look like there is much in the way of seasoning or dressing to it, but given the way the alien eats, perhaps that makes sense.]

It might not look like much, but it provides plenty of energy and protein. I suppose I should caution that it is also uncooked, and served quite cold, but if it truly follows the customs from home the cuts of meat should be fairly high quality. I do not know how you humans decide what is safe to eat raw and what is not, but if you would like to try some you are welcome.

[dedikated]

( That is a question best asked to her boyfriend, not her. Kate just goes with what the general consensus is back home. If they say raw fish it fine, then it's fine. Probably. There is that thing which is poisonous but the name escapes her.

She takes in the dish for a moment, looking over the pieces of it without much in the way of a critical eye, simply trying to identify each part before taking a fork and knife. ) Sure. ...Thanks.

( And she'll take a small piece, a little meat and some grains and vegetables. Why not try something new tonight anyway? )

[glacius]

Of course. [Others might not be able to tell, but Kate knows Glacius well enough to be able to pick up on how quietly pleased he is by her agreeing to try it out. Though he can be flighty with people he doesn't know, it pleases him to be able to share his culture with those he trusts and respects—his closest friends. In fact...]

Ha, this is rather nice. Like sharing a meal back home with another of my people. I cannot explain it, but... I never feel as far from them when I am with you. I... I used to think it was because I saw you as a fellow warrior, since you stood up against Ultratech alongside me in that dream—and there is still some of that, certainly. But...

[The alien pauses, staring down at his hands—which are folded neatly on the table—in thought. Then he flicks his gaze back to Kate, one eyebrow arching slightly with quiet realization.] ... Now I think it might be something more than even that. I... do hope that is not strange. [Glacius has not quite pinned down what it is yet, given that he is just now putting some real thought to it. It isn't romantic, but it's more than familiarity, on a different level than even just being close friends. He'll have to puzzle it out later; she is important to him on a way he'd never have expected, that much is for certain.]

[dedikated]

( She can look back on so much time spent together. On the fact that Glacius was the first person to help her in the city, the first person she truly trusted here. She's mid-mouthful as Glacius starts speaking, and her expression flickers, bemusement narrowing her brows and crinkling the corners of her eyes. Her head tilts as she looks at him, trying to follow what he's getting at.

Their friendship is a thing that's never been in doubt, that easy camaraderie which is as natural as breathing, now. The kind of thing which allows them to navigate disagreements more easily than she does with others.

A trust that requires little in the way of words. )

Is. ( Strange, that is. But with the way her lips quirk as she swallows her mouthful... ) Not a bad thing to be strange.

( Emotions are very strange, and she thinks... thinks she knows what he means. Their friendship has always felt like a little more than simple friendship, for a long time. )

[glacius]

[It's an exceedingly rare thing to startle a bark of a laugh out of the big, normally calm alien—and yet that's exactly what Kate manages here, followed by a warm smile from her friend.] Mh. I wish more humans thought as you did. Perhaps then I would not have to spend my life with this sense of a rift between me and them. [Because to literally everyone else before he was brought here, being strange was a point against him, a constant reminder that they saw him as a dangerous monster.

Kate, however, has made it so that it can mean something else for the two of them; they keep it like a quirk, like something unique and special. Just like she is to him, in fact:] But they are not you. No one can be. And I just want you to know that I am so very glad of that, my friend.

looks at their next thread, cries at the juxtaposition

[dedikated]

( It's strange, really, that it's Kate of all people who ends up with Glacius as her best friend here. Strange when she thinks that, if she'd come here at an earlier stage in her life - when The Agency and Superhuman superstition would have told her to register anyone so inhuman looking as a threat - she likely would have seen him in the same light.

Kate clears her throat and takes a drink, her eyes not quite meeting his. He's always been so entirely honest with his compliments, and it still takes her aback when they come out. She's all but sure she doesn't deserve them, but she tries to. )

Erm. ... Thanks.

( Great at receiving compliments, this one. )

they're just trying to help!

[glacius]

Of course, my friend. [That being said, Glacius seems happy to let that topic of conversation lay there for the moment. He might feel an internal need to discern just what their friendship has transformed into, but he also knows what it's like not to know how to take such direct compliments. Thankfully, with Kate he doesn't have to worry whether or not he's made her uncomfortable with such things; he might worry about how others might feel about receiving such words from an alien, something so different from themselves, but there's no room for such worries here.

So he changes the topic while finally deciding to try one of the oysters; his strong fingers pop the shell open effortlessly, and the clump of meat inside gets summarily absorbed.] So. What have you been up to lately, my friend? Are there any plans or undertakings on your horizon? We do not often have the chance to just catch up like this, and I would like to know how you are, if there is anything that I can help with, whether big or small.

they ARE dammit the dweeb is not dying X( she'll go to hope if she has to

[dedikated]

( She's always grateful for their similarities. They lie in just the right places for words to be unnecessary during times like this, and in just the right way that she doesn't feel judged or interrogated for not knowing what to say to any of it.

Her attention turns to her drink in the silence and when he broaches the topic of what she's been up to, she drains the last of the glass as she mulls over her actions in the city recently. )

'Side from work, meeting people, spending time with ( Fine, if she can use the word with anyone in this city it would be Glacius. After Carlisle picked up her photos, he probably knows anyway. ) my boyfriend...

Not much, really. Archery practice. The usual.

( Come to think of it, she could use a new project. She's growing antsy at the clinic again, with so many staff she has less to do herself. )

nope! they'll fix him together!!

[glacius]

Ah, yes! [Glacius replies, reminded that was something he should have brought up already.] I heard that you'd found someone, and meant to ask you about him. He treats you well, yes? In the manner that you are deserving? [Sometimes the alien isn't quite able to help his protective streak, and it doesn't help that he's still redefining just what he views their friendship as. Still, he catches himself and tries to renege on his prodding.]

Well, if you chose him, then he must be the upstanding sort. I wish you both the best. When do I get to meet him?

[dedikated]

( She ducks her head slightly to hide the smile that fights its way out, hand going to try to tuck back a piece of hair that isn't even hanging loose. Kate clears her throat, the brief instant of shyness over in less than a second, though when she raises her head again, the smile's still there. )

More than that. ( Which, in part, is probably attributed to how little Kate really expects from anything. ) He's... kind. Funny. Bit of a neat freak. Probably more patient than he should be. ( At least with her. ) Good at just about everything.

( Really, it's a little annoying how well he does anything he decides to try.

But with that... brief introduction of him over, Kate tilts her head. )

Might've. Part of the guard.

( Giant nerd, very good cook? )

[glacius]

I am glad to hear all that. As for your suggestion, there are many members of the guard, and some come and go. You will have to give me a bit more to go on than that if I am to tell you.

[dedikated]

( That's easy enough. )

Ignis. 'Bout Carlisle's height. Cooks for everyone?

( Always wears shirts, much to Kate's disappointment. )

[glacius]

[Glacius seems like he has to think on it for a moment, his remaining mandible twitching once in recognition as a memory slots into place. Most tells with him are hard to pick up on... but there, for people who know how to read him.] I believe I know of him. We have never officially spoken, though. Had I known he was involved with you, I would have properly introduced myself long ago! Please forgive my oversight.

[dedikated]

Wasn't like we were shouting it out. ( True, other people did learn faster than Glacius, and she probably should have rectified that, but the words always feel so awkward on her tongue and those who learned the situation did so in other ways. Caught them kissing or looked a bit too closely at their interactions. )

Should have told you sooner. ( But lord... )

[glacius]

It is alright. I do not think you or I are the sort to bring up such things, unless avenue in which to do so appears naturally in our conversation. I appreciate you letting me know now. He won't be alarmed if... someone like me approaches him, will he?

[You know, an alien, and a fairly exotic and fierce-looking one at that. His scarred face and various jutting spikes belies the gentleness that he can operate with.]

[dedikated]

( Well, for one thing, he's been around long enough that he probably, maybe just maaaaybe noticed the nearly 7 foot ice alien before they moved to the desert planet and the heat forced Glacius into something far more cautious.

For another... )

He's hard to rattle. Think he's probably seen weirder.