hadriel_logs | Intro Log: Ugh, Talk to the Hand

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Intro Log: Ugh, Talk to the Hand

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for February
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: February 10th-14th
Warnings: None

Welcome to Hadriel. Your first glimpse of your new home is maybe not the most welcome - you awaken on the floor of the colosseum, surrounded by sand and walls and... trees? Yes, trees. Along with you and the other newcomers, a number of Territorial Oaks have arrived in Hadriel. They look just like normal trees, except for those welcoming smiles - oh, and they don't like you at all. They move fast, hit hard, and if you manage to bring one down it'll go out in a large, dangerous explosion. This may have you rethinking your stance on clear-cutting.

While you're trying to avoid the trees, you might come across a few of the other things the Door has deposited in the colosseum for your (its?) entertainment. Namely, a bunch of toys that no one has played with in years. But maybe one of them will tickle your fancy?

Once you've finished indulging your 90's nostalgia, feel free to look around. 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 February 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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I did consider you might be worried about that. [In hindsight, he should have sent her a message himself, but he hasn't really been thinking straight from the moment he got here. Seeing Noctis so soon had settled the most of the worry, but not all of it.

The commotion and noise of the clinic bustles around them, and he rests his chin lightly atop her head with his eyes closed, just sinking into the familiarity of having her close by. Six... how different would things have been if he'd always known her?]

I'd love to get out of here. I don't suppose you have an extra coat.

( Who does think straight when they get here, even if they're not so badly injured.

Speaking of... )

You in here because of the monsters?

( Or because of something back on Eos? )

No.

[It's still fresh in his mind. The gunfire, the burning in his lungs, the heart-pounding fear that something would happen to Noctis and he wouldn't be able to stop it.

He wishes it was because of the monsters. It would be preferable.]

But let's not talk about it here. It's... I'd rather not.

Ah.

( He doesn't need to say anything else. Kate doesn't have a spare coat, unfortunately, but— )

Hold on.

( She does have a contingent of clinic staff she can ~~bully~~ persuade into offering a coat for the cause. Or maybe just see if she can find something left here by rummaging around enough.

Which, after a few minutes, she does. And, unlike anything she might wear, it's something Ignis can fit into. (Sorry to whoever it was who left it there, except she isn't.) )

Your place?

( The thought of having some privacy is enough motivation to get moving, as evidenced by the way she rocks on the balls of her feet. )

[In all honesty, a coat isn't quite going to do it, but he can use the time she's off searching for one to try and gather himself together enough to stand. He's visibly stiff in his movements while he puts on the garment she returns with, and when he finally does ease himself off the bed it's with a visible wince and one hand gripping her shoulder to hold himself up.]

Ah... if you don't mind. [He mutters, and he doesn't ask much more than that before he puts an arm around her shoulders, reasonably certain that she has the strength to hold him up.]

I think I've seen as much of this place as I want to for one day. [After all, it's not the same without her in it.] My place. Let's get moving.

( She understands that, all too well. Working in a place like this is one thing, but being trapped in a bed, unable to do anything...

Neither of them are good at that. The professional in her should tell him to get back into bed, to lie down and recover fully before leaving. The rest of her knows that there's not that much more to be done, that his bed is as good as one in the clinic and doesn't keep him locked up staring at the same blank wall for hours.

After all, it's not like they exactly have television in Hadriel, is it?

The walk back is uneventful and she doesn't need that much of her stamina to keep him upright, but there's not even a comment about carrying him bridal style, no snark or much of anything. She's just... tired. Tired of yet more fighting, of gods and aliens and the whiplash of people going missing as easily as they arrive. Tired of trying to process losses only to have them return. )

You want a drink?

( Right now, words are automatic more than they're felt, rituals and routine, going through the motions. )

[He does his best to keep his weight off her. A healing potion some time earlier had taken some of the edge off the injuries he'd suffered on his way across Altissia and at the hands of Ardyn, but he would still need some rest to shake off the remainder of it.

They're both tired. They both are, and perhaps they'll talk about why, eventually.]

I want to take a shower. [Ignis replies. His brief stint at the clinic didn't clear any of the dirt off him and he can feel the grime of battle and Altissia's waterways under the barely-dry fabric of his clothes.] And then... I believe I may just sleep for a day or two.

[It's as honest as he can get, right now.]

Join me?

I'm not tired.

( And, despite all the exhaustion of her emotions collapsing in around her when she sat next to him at the clinic, there's a thread of vibrating restlessness running down her spine, electric and uncomfortable. Tired, but too in need of distraction to quite know what she'd do with herself if she lay in bed with his weight next to her again.

She should be happier about this. It should be relief coursing through her veins, not this dark weight, stirring on the urge to get out, get away. Get back to the familiarity of grief which he interrupted.

But... She can't quite manage that either, because the small voice in her head — the one that's a better person, which sounds like Faith — is saying he deserves more than her shutting doors and rebuilding walls. )

... You were gone. ( It's the only way she can think to start this. She's known other people leave and return in short order, but those aren't the people she shares a bed with nearly every night. Sometimes, Hadriel is simply too chaotic to even fully grasp their disappearances before they're back. But not this time. This time, the city was silent, with nothing but the news of Tranquility's abduction to fill the quiet.

His disappearance stood out like colour among the grey. ) ...Was sure you weren't coming back.

( After all, it wouldn't be the first time someone she was so close to left and didn't return. )

[Ignis is tired. He's probably too tired for this, and maybe the way he exhales a soft breath through his nose when she starts to talk tells a little too clearly of how he isn't yet ready to delve into that conversation. Noctis' guilt over the now very immediate future is already prickling at him.

He doesn't say he's sorry, because what is there to apologise for? The machinations of the city and the Door are no one's fault, even if that kind of directionless anger can sometimes be worse than having someone or something to blame. Yet, still, his heart twists in his chest and he stops, surrounded by the odd familiarity of the place he's called home for the past year and the comfort of her, all so normal and yet so strange all at once.

She's been affected by his disappearance in a way that he is still processing as he fits his old memories of Hadriel in between his life on Eos as best he can and notes her absence in the latter.]

I wouldn't have gone anywhere, given the choice. [Gently, he brushes a curl of her hair back behind her ear.] If you need some time to work through this, that's alright. I won't tell you to stay.

[He wouldn't be offended. Disappointed, perhaps, but surely that would be only natural.]

But I love you, and I-- [need] I'd appreciate having you with me right now.

( There were probably better times to say that, Kate knows. It doesn't take a genius to see how drained he is, how whatever happened back in his world has taken its toll, but if she didn't say it now... would she ever? Would she have simply walked out and not done anything else?

The admission, selfish as it might be, pointless as it might be — because what could he do about any of it? They have no control over this, and that thought infuriates her even now. They're so completely at the whim of something even the gods here don't properly understand, and it's simply unfair that they're dragged through more wars, more pain, all of it, and it'll never be remembered when they leave —, is a weight off her shoulders, enough to quiet the restless buzzing down her spine.

His fingers brush her hair and she breathes in sharply, fingers curling against the urge to flinch, trying to untangle the reality from the million whispers of this being too good to be true, that he isn't meant to be back and this is some sort of calm before the storm.

That's just the scars of old pain talking. The wariness of the burned child. No good can come of listening to it and Kate bows her head and lets out a breath, flexing her fingers and letting her eyes close, the scent of his apartment lingering under the scent of drying water and the exhaustion of battle. )

I'll stay. ( She has to, for herself as much as him. Leaving now would be shutting a door and allowing fear to win out once more, and she doesn't want to do that, not after coming so far. ) As long as you need me.

[All of it is unfair, and he won't forget what she said even if he doesn't have the capacity to deal with it right now. He has to make himself remember that her flinching is natural, that she still feels the sting of thinking she'd lost him, and he doesn't take it to heart. She'll stay, and that's what matters the most.]

Thank you. [A soft kiss to her forehead comes with that expression of gratitude, then he excuses himself for the much-needed shower that he's been close to desperate for since he walked into the clinic. Ignis has faith that she'll still be there when he reappears, and leaves it to her whether she wants to join him while he finally makes his way to bed.

Of course, he'd much prefer it if she did.

It doesn't take long for him to doze off - something closer to simply passing out from sheer exhaustion - and it's easy to lose track of time that way. While his body and mind carefully recuperate from the battering they both took, the rest of the day and most of the night slips by.

And when he wakes up, the first thing he looks for is her.]

( While he showers, Kate flits from one end of the kitchen to the next, running damp cloths over the countertops and letting water boil to make tea. She doesn't follow him straight to bed, either, because it is still the middle of the day and no amount of emotion-addled exhaustion is enough to make her want to sleep right now. Instead, she's a quiet presence in the living room, restlessly cleaning everything which hasn't been touched in a good week, unwilling to leave the flat despite that ever-present itch to be out and about.

Slowly, as the hours pass, the worst of the ache fades, replaced by quiet assurance that this isn't some trick of the gods. He's back.

(For now, her mind adds.)

And, by the time he wakes up, she's asleep on the couch, hair spilling over the armrest and legs splayed awkwardly over the back. )

[She hasn't joined him, but in truth he hadn't really expected her to. It would have been a pleasant thing to see her when he finally came to, but he doesn't want to push her, and she's already been through enough on his account.

He stays where he is for a few minutes, doing a silent mental examination of where and how everything hurts. The aching which has been all-encompassing when he fell asleep has focused into several dozen specific points, forcing a wince and a grunt of discomfort when he pushes himself up.

It's a relief, at least, to see that she's still there. He pauses when he spots her, with a pang of fondness at the sight of her sprawled out like that. He's gentle with her as he shifts her splayed limbs to make her more comfortable, then puts a blanket over her.

... Coffee. He really needs a cup of coffee.]

( There's a million reasons to explain why she wakes up so easily when he shifts her legs, but really, it only matters that she does. Her fingers clasp around his wrist when he places the blanket over her, and brown eyes crack open with the gentlest touch of a smile at the corner of her mouth.

He's still here. )

Missed you.

( Murmured so quietly that you'd think she was trying to make sure no one heard it, despite the privacy of the apartment. )

[Ignis doesn't say anything. He moves his arm, twists it gently around to take hold of her hand and sinks down onto the couch beside her. It's not a difficult thing to pull her up, to gather her in close to his chest and hold her so tightly, his heart pounding heavy against his ribs.]

So much has happened. [He mutters, tucking his chin lightly against the top of her head.]

So much I could tell you. I wouldn't know where to begin.

( There aren't many — hell, perhaps not any — other people she'd allow to jostle her about like their own personal soft toy. Most others would find themselves on the receiving end of a comment or shove. But she can't find it in herself to say a word when Ignis holds her like that.

Instead, her finger traces over his knuckles and she leans her head into his neck, frowning at those words. )

Don't have to, if it's too much. ( Would she like to hear it? Sure, but even Kate knows that she'd be too much of a hypocrite to demand answers when there's so much she hates trying to explain. And, for once, she can't rationalise the behaviour to herself.

So... He doesn't need to right now, if it's still too much. She'll listen another time, if that's what he wants. ) Being back's hard enough.

( With all those memories flooding back, mixing with the things experienced back home.

And she realises, finally, that Hadriel's effects mean that his memories of her, of them, disappeared too.

That's... another ache she'll deal with later. )

Perhaps later.

[He doesn't want to keep things from her, but there's only so much he feels like he'll be able to say. Perhaps more than he'd tell Noctis, and yet... it could feel like too much of a betrayal to keep his ultimate fate from him while someone else walked around with the knowledge.

Ignis quiets then, tucking his chin against the top of her head and simply holding on to her, anchoring himself in the moment and the warmth of her presence. Being back is hard enough, for now, and everything is still falling into place but one thing he is certain of is how he feels about her.]

Have you been alright while I've been gone? [He asks after a little while, rubbing his thumb over the curve of her shoulder.] I hope you didn't break anything.

( Did someone tell him? It's the first thing which pops into her head when Ignis asks her that, and Kate remains all too quiet for a moment, continuing to run her fingers against the back of his hand (he's real, so very real, even Hadriel wouldn't go this far to fuck with her emo-- okay, it would but she's pretty sure it isn't right now). )

... nothing important. ( Windows can be repaired, kitchenware replaced, walls fixed. Hell, she could simply move and leave that house to someone else.

Ah, but then she's not got her new-old neighbours any more. )

Carlisle and Glacius moved next door to me.

( Changing the subject? Kate? Since when? )

Edited 2019-02-22 10:25 (UTC)

[No one told him, but doesn't he know her well enough? She wouldn't have taken the knowledge of his disappearance with any kind of calmness. But she says 'nothing important', and he takes that to mean she didn't injure herself or another person. That's enough for the moment.]

Hm, did they?

[He loosens his grip on her, but keeps his arm loosely around her back.]

How do you feel about that?

( Not to an extent that wasn't easily fixable by some healing magic, no.

His grip loosens and, in response, Kate lifts her head away from his neck, shifting so she can look at him while they speak. )

Fine. Long as they're not disgusting.

( Who wants to see something so utterly wrong as Carlisle being happy and adorable with his husband? )

[Ignis laughs. It's a slightly weary sound that catches on the aches in his ribs, but he laughs.

Six, it feels good to laugh.]

No, there's nothing worse than a happy couple.

[Is that right, Kate?]

( And it sounds good to hear it, too. A smile curves her mouth ever so slightly, because it's only then that she realises the hypocrisy of that statement.

... Eh, she stands by it. )

You said it.

( Not her. She just said they needed to not be disgusting. It isn't natural to see Carlisle smiling. )

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Intro Log: Ugh, Talk to the Hand

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