Intro Log: Eight Legs No Heart

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for June.
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: June 10th-15th
Warnings: Spiders. Soooo many spiders. New people. Probably swearing.

For once, the new arrivals to Hadriel will not be waking up on the cold hard ground of the colosseum. Oh, sure, you'll still awaken in the arena - but this time the Door has been kind enough to ensure that you wake up comfortably arranged in a very nice chair. Or maybe not so comfortably. Some of those look pretty awkward - hopefully you didn't wake up with a crick in your neck! And hey, feel free to try to drag some of these super cool chairs to your new homes. They're probably not cursed or anything.

As you make your way out of the arena, be careful getting to close to the walls - well, except that's the only way out, so good luck! Chilling up on there waiting to get the drop on you are Skulltulas. These funky-looking spiders have squishy underbellies, but their upper exoskeletons are hard and very difficult to break through. They really just want to nibble you a few times, and maybe suck out all of your blood. No big deal, right? Have fun!

Have you conquered your arachnophobia and managed to escape? Great! Feel free to go explore the rest of the city! Find a house, find a new monster, or simply scavenge for supplies. Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers June 10th-15th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► All characters arrive with phones that have network communication.
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

Comments

[muscovy]

He'll take the opportunity, slipping in after her, complete with munching fairies and big backpack, and then just stand there, looking around briefly while he waits for her to continue on. Or stay there.

Hopefully, she didn't trick him in here to then slam the door shut on him and run away, but if so... he'll find her again. He's fairly good at finding people.

[synthedick]

As it turns out, the two of them aren't the only ones in the house. Hearing someone coming up the walkway, Nick had left his desk upstairs and headed down to the first floor, glad to work in the company of his roommate rather than in the silence upstairs. He's moving just a hair slower than usual -- those steps are giving his leg trouble again -- so he doesn't make it to the door by the time Rey's through it.

Correction: Rey and guest. Nick's glowing eyes start at the flying... insects (he'd swear they looked like something out of a children's book at first glace, but given he comes from a world where giant, radioactive mosquitoes are common, he's not ruling out that they're something more sinister). They trail down to the kid's backpack, finally landing on the kid himself, giving him a curious look. His gaze is only there a moment before it flicks back to Rey.

"Didn't know you'd be bringing company over." He'd have put on his trench coat if so, and maybe be less surprised by the fact that Rey brought home a child in the first place. Apparently, the Door had no qualms with bringing in even young kids.

[circumitus]

The flustered ringing in her ears almost deafens her to Muscovy's presence when he breaks through the door. By then Rey is marching into the house, shoulders squared and hands in fists when she stops in the middle of the living room.

She blinks at Nick coming down the stairs, the ringing only just subsiding for her to make out his words. Her senses flare up again when it occurs to her what he said.

An "oh goddammit" blurts out of her mouth as her head swings from the child over her shoulder, and back to Nick. "I wasn't," she hisses through her teeth. "He just followed me here."

NICK HELP. Rey doesn't know what to do with a child that thinks she's their parent. In all of the many lives that she has crammed into her brain, this one is new territory for her. And that makes it terrifying.

[muscovy]

He doesn't contest that he just followed her there - after all that is kind of what happened. So he'll just stand by the door, the fairies thankfully quietli sitting on his head as they watch the big things curiously, and wait for the two adults to have their conversation, looking Nick up and down with interest as he stands there. Who is this man, and how are him and Rey related?

[synthedick]

It doesn't take a detective to see that Rey is being pushed to a limit by this kid's mere presence. Nick doesn't know why that is just yet, but he knows that her hitting any kind of an edge can make a situation dangerous in no time.

So he steps forward to diffuse the situation, to pull Rey out of it and let her decompress. "Let me handle this," he utters to her as he crosses the room, dropping to one knee before their guest to put him on eye-level. "You got a name, kid?"

[circumitus]

For as calm as the boy seems to be, Rey is the very opposite. Her unease is only slightly muted, but palpable enough that someone like Nick would be able to pick it out from a mile away.

She wants to tell him that the kid's crazy, but the facts lining up make that difficult. Still, when it had come to Carlisle, he hadn't expected much from her, if anything at all that she can recall. This one, whoever he may be, wants her to be his mother. A total stranger, no less!

Relief is visible in her disposition as Rey sinks back when Nick passes by, approaching the strange child with a more gentler nature than the one Rey had graced him with.

[muscovy]

He's starting to wonder about how stressed out Rey is. Yes, she seemed to be stressed out by him, but that heightened when this new person showed up (that it also coincidenced with him forcing his way into her home doesn't occur to him.

And the guy that had hurt Rey and made her unhappy and was potentially dangerous for her was someone whom one could not receive a proper physical description on, because he might be able to get a new body...

Rey doesn't seem to be straight-up afraid of him, but he wouldn't have expected anything else, because Rey is strong and probably wouldn't want to admit to being afraid of anyone.

Why not cut straight to the point. Instead of answer, he replies with a question in turn.

"Are you two from the same world?" It's directed at Nick, not Rey, for obvious reasons, but he tries to keep an eye on both for their reactions.

[synthedick]

Nick makes it his business to know most of the folks in town, if not by name then by face or presence over the network. This is the first time he's seen a kid this young in Hadriel -- with all the spiders he'd seen around when he'd been on his patrol earlier, the assumption he's new is an easy one to make.

However, the kid asks an oddly specific question in return without answering the one he was given. Nick doesn't balk, doesn't give a tell that he and Rey have an eerily similar nature, despite their vastly different appearances. It could be a coincidence, but Rey isn't exactly the talkative sort with most folks -- neither about Hadriel, nor herself, so the chances she'd have explained the multiple worlds and her synthetic nature to anyone so new is zero to none, especially when that someone is a small child she likely just met.

That is unless Rey has been hiding the kid somewhere, or knows him from her own world. Given the question posed, he doubts the latter. Of course, the Door has brought in all sorts over time: synthetics, an alien, the consciousness of a ship. Nick suspects there's more to this 'kid' than he can tell from just a glance. There always is.

Still, he handles him like one. Having lived in Diamond City for so long, Nick is no stranger to children. "I asked you first."

[muscovy]

"And I asked the more important question, yes?"

Normally, he would back down - this stranger seems to be stronger than him, which would be enough of a reason when he's alone, and he's not just alone but... looking at how Rey stands off to the side and caused the issue in the first place, he for now is also without his most important back-up. And he doesn't know what is up with his second most important back up - how things are with Firo.

So he should back down.

But the thing is, even if Rey doesn't remember him, she's still his mother. She's still family, and while Firo doesn't know it anymore, the two of them vowed that should that man would meet a terrible accident should he ever show up so he couldn't trouble Rey ever again.

Which means that he needs to figure out who this guy in front of him is, at least to the point where he can rule out that it is him.

[synthedick]

"No," Nick responds calmly, unimpressed by the kid's deflection. "Seeing how you're the one who followed her here and walked right into our home, maybe you oughtta introduce yourself before we get to the hard questions."

Not that the answer to the kid's question is particularly difficult, but the finer details may be tough for a child to grasp --that is if this is a child at all, and not some alien in disguise or another trick of the gods. Seeing how unnerved he's made Rey, there has to be something.

[muscovy]

"And seeing how you are a strange man living with my mother, I get to ask you who you are first, yes?"

That seems quite logical to him - children might not have any power over their parents, but it is always enforced on boys that they should look after all the women in their family, or at least he has seen that a lot. So by what people say, it should be within the boundaries of even a child to look after his mother, no matter the age.

[synthedick]

So there it is. His eyebrow rises in a silent question: mother?

He's dealt with his fair share of stragglers in the wasteland -- kids whose parents had abandoned them or been killed by raiders, children with nowhere to go but the refuge a place like Diamond City might offer them. Some ended up back in the wastes, eking out a life for themselves, or dying in the attempt because they thought they could take on the world alone. Some, however, made friends, surrogate families. They got attached, stuck around.

Which is what Nick assumes happened here. He'd be partially right, though it's not a lost duckling situation. The rabbit hole goes far deeper.

"I'm Nick Valentine," he says, before adding firmly, "now answer the question."

[muscovy]

"I'm Muscovy."

For the first time in a while, he introduces himself only by his name - but his last names hurt right now. It meant family, and all that comes with it - mutual support and the warm feeling of never leaving one another - and now Rey doesn't recognize him and runs away from him and doesn't intercept when this stranger tries to keep them apart, and while Firo is less opposed to the idea, Prochainezo was his family name because it was Rey's first. Because both of them shared it and extending it to him seemed logical.

And his father isn't here, either. For a moment, for the first time since he grew his hair out, he wants to cut it off, though the impulse is gone quickly. Perhaps one day... and for now, it is a warm memory.

A memory that he clings to as he stands there, not even noticing as Sketto starts to quietly chime at Nick, probably not in the most friendly way. His father said that it is sometimes better to watch someone from a distance if their beloved doesn't like you. This isn't like that, but perhaps Rey will be safer if he finds more about this guy from the distance, too. At least he has the name that he seems to go by here now. Maybe observation and questioning other residents will tell him more.

"You will not hurt my mother, yes?"

It isn't said in the tone of a threat - if anything, it sounds like a statement or a question, and far less serious than the content implies. But in a pinch, he is sure that he could still see to an accident even alone, so if it were to be taken as a threat, it wouldn't be empty.

[circumitus]

A kneejerk feeling wrenches in Rey's gut when the kid -- this Muscovy -- says that word again. Mother.

Rey killed her own mother. What makes her think, in any reality, that she could ever make such an attempt herself? Or had any right to, for that matter?

Her mouth dries as she folds her arms over her chest, tightening to the point where she's almost hugging herself.

"I'm not your--" she almost snaps, but cuts herself off for some reason.

[synthedick]

Nick is less concerned with the fact Muscovy is clinging to the notion that Rey is his mother and more with the part where the kid keeps using that word to begin with. He's seen how Rey reacts to family: she wasn't initially warm on the idea of Nick using the term to describe the two of them, as though he was making a mistake by even considering her a friend. Her own mother -- the first person to have loved her, by Rey's admission -- was a touchy subject. And then there was the man Nick had become in her dream -- her father; she'd attacked him on sight with more ferocity than a hungry feral without so much as a second thought.

He's seen what happens when Rey gets frustrated, when she finds things are out of her control. It's one thing for Nick to risk his own welfare handling her; it's another when someone else is in the picture, especially a child. If this kid calling her Rey mother and following her home has rattled her bones this badly, then it's easy to assume it'll only get worse, at least until she's had some time to parse it out in her head and figure out that he meant no harm.

Of course, there's bound to be more to it, Nick thinks. Rey wouldn't lose her cool that easily, would she?

Whatever the reason, Nick sets out to protect the only family he has. He glances over his shoulder as she cuts herself off, his suspicions confirmed, concerns bolstered. "I wouldn't dream of it," he answers, getting to his feet, "but let's talk outside for a minute. Man-to-man."

[muscovy]

Muscovy barely manages to not wince when Rey snaps, his smile not going away but losing its cheer until it only remains in his face because anything else would be worse.

But it is fine; he has a plan. It will just need time, and he will have to be patient - and keep her safe until she stops being silly.

All of which comes together in why he simply nods at Nick's suggestion and backs up until he can open the door and step out without fully taking his eyes off Nick.

[circumitus]

Much as she tries to avoid looking at the boy, a pang of guilt hits Rey when she notices his reaction to her unpleasant retort. Ignorant to his persistent nature, she doesn't personally know Muscovy well enough to tell whether that would put him off for good or not. She doesn't even know what she wants out of all of this.

Her arms loosen around herself as Nick suggests they take it outside. Knowing him, Rey knows he won't be too hard on the kid.

She hates this. She hates that she's allowed herself to get so riled up over this mess, least of all by a damned child. But she also knows that Nick means well in what he's trying to do.

After a moment, her arms drop to her sides. Her gaze veers towards the wall rather than the other two in the room, mouth tightening into a thin line, and says nothing. Yet her silence speaks volumes -- and it's almost a quiet approval.

Time. That's what she needs. Time to sort through all of this, figure out what's going on, and decide what she actually wants. On one hand, this boy has been deprived of a mother, or a mother-like figure. It's hard to imagine that Rey could ever be someone to fill in that role, but there are many things she just doesn't know.

So it will take time.

[synthedick]

Nick says nothing to Rey as he follows Muscovy outside, but he doesn't need to. He glances back at her and gives her a small, reassuring smile. He's watching her back, just as she watches his. This is what they do.

Once the two of them are outside, he closes the door behind him and has a seat on the stoop. He pats the ground beside him, indicating for Muscovy to do the same. Kids are tricky to handle, he's found: they're more understanding than adults tend give them credit for, even of folks like him -- people who aren't quite human. They usually meet his synthetic appearance with curiosity rather than fear, not knowing the more sinister nature of his existence. They often don't know just how dangerous a place the world can be.

And that's why he's out here: not just to give Rey some room, but to see if he can make this kid understand the pot he's stirring. This isn't just for Rey's safety -- it's for all of them.

He starts with something easy. "Tell me about your mother, Muscovy, and why you think that lady in there is her."

[muscovy]

The better question, in Muscovy's eyes, is why anyone would doubt it, but Nick finds a good phrasing. Muscovy likes talking about his family, even though he doesn't trust this guy.

Or perhaps especially because he doesn't trust him. Claiming family can go both ways, to claim their strength as his, or to reenforce that there is a claim to them whose holder will look after them.

So he skips over things that he isn't sure about and presents them as certainties instead. "She is this Rey, but from her future, yes? Because she looks like her but has less fingers and a few more scars, and she sounds the same and she behaves very similar but is a bit sillier still about being friends or family with other people. She is still silly when I am from, but she got better."

He doesn't take the proffered spot but keeps standing, a few feet away from Nick, hands clasped before himself.

[synthedick]

Nick keeps his eyes on Muscovy, his expression neutral; he has no problems with the kid not taking a seat. Him standing puts them closer to eye-level again, anyway. He's found it's easier for children to relate to the conversation when he gets at their level, doesn't force them to look up to him they way they do to other adults. It makes them feel smaller than they really are -- great for intimidating criminals, but not so much for trying to talk to kids.

What Muscovy is saying, while complicated, lines up with what Nick has heard: people being brought through the Door from not only different worlds, but different times, too. Muscovy says he knows her, as though they come from the same world, or met in another; Nick can't be sure if that's true or not, but he's certain Rey doesn't know him from Adam. She's not one for fabricating stories -- not one for shirking responsibility, either.

And this kid is a responsibility she didn't ask for -- a big one. He can see why she's on edge.

"Well, she's not better here," he says, his tone soft. "Family is complicated for her, and you calling her your mother is hurting her rather than helping. That's why she's acting the way she is. You wouldn't want to be called a name that isn't yours, now would you? Called a monster, called a brat, called something that isn't what you are?"

[muscovy]

"But she is my mother, yes?

She called me her child, and then we talked about it and agreed that that means that she is my mother. And being a real family is good, yes?" The last words are sharp, with an emphasis on the word "real". Family is good and has nothing to do with blood relations, more with loyalty and not leaving one another for good. Both of which are great things, in his opinion.

"So it is not like when someone calls me monster or brat, because those are not nice things."

[synthedick]

"They aren't... but to her, neither is being called a mother."

He sighs, trying to figure out how to put what he's trying to say without being too harsh. "Even if it's true where you come from"— a fact of which he's not fully convinced just yet— "she doesn't know it. And putting that kind of responsibility on her all of a sudden is asking for a lot."

[muscovy]

"She put it onto herself. She just doesn't remember it."

And, to him, that makes no difference. Because family is forever, and that logically needs to apply backwards just as much as it does for present and future.

"But I can wait until she stops being silly and lets me help her with the memory." Sometimes people just need time with learning how to not be silly, and he does his best to be patient then even when it hurts. He's never needed to wait for someone to not deny that they are his family anymore, but he is sure that he will be able to manage that, too.

[synthedick]

For Nick, this Rey and some Rey from another world might as well be two entirely different people, each with different experiences that have led them down different paths. It's an odd concept to wrap his head around, but it's not so different from the varied experiences between himself and the original Nick Valentine. One was a man of flesh and blood who lived in the past, in a world before the bombs; the other faced the world after the apocalypse and was far from human, his synthetic nature meaning people treated him very differently than they would have if he'd been the real deal.

And yet, one had inherited the sins of the other: his hopes, his dreams, his regrets. There wasn't anything he could do about it, either -- and Nick loathed that. It's a feeling he's hoping to spare Rey from. She has enough troubles from the memories crammed into her head; she doesn't need some from this other Rey, too. And that's if this kid's story is true.

Thankfully, said kid is starting to get it. "I thinks that's going to be what's best," he concedes. He doesn't know if Rey will ever want his "help" with her memory, but he gets the feeling this is as good as he's going to get when it comes to explaining different worlds to a child.

"The question is what to do now," he continues. He pauses there to see what conclusion Muscovy will come to, to see if he'll figure it out on his own.

[muscovy]

Muscovy waits.

He doesn't hear Nick's words as a question; he hears them as a starter, as couching an order or a threat that in the end will pertain only to Muscoy as something that is a mutual task or universally done. That is how he has usually heard them used. And when that happened, there never was a use in saying something, it might only make things worse by those words being remembered later at a bad time.