Intro Log: Death Comes

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for July.
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: July 10th-15th
Warnings: Deathclaws. That's all you really need to know.

As usual, the new arrivals in Hadriel will be waking up on the dirt ground of the colosseum, and as usual, they won't be waking up alone. This month brings coat hangers of all shapes and, uh, sizes strewn about the colloseum floor around all of the new arrivals.

Get up, get out, meet and greet, find some new exciting interior decorating options, but don't forget about the more prominent threat: the (newly) local deathclaws roaming about in the inner halls of the arena. These deathclaws are vicious bipedal creatures with long arms ending in curved talons, horns ripe for goring and, of course, teeth as long as fingers. These animals have been engineered to be as deadly as they can possibly be, so you might want to buddy up before taking one on.

Have you escaped from the deathclaws? Made a few friends? Not died horribly? 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 July 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

[benumbing]

[Jack starts to turn away, but Johnny's words make him pause. He looks back at him with raised eyebrows, scans his attempt at a disapproving posture. Oh, he's trying so hard, but he's more like an open book.]

Only until I find a gun. [He smiles sweetly.] And then you get to be the weird monster bait.

[Would he trust Jack as much as Jack seemed to trust him? He intends to find out.]

March. If that dream was true, there's more to this place than just this arena of death.

[fulminants]

Why, you're gonna threaten me at gunpoint?

[ Because what. Also Jack looks more terrifying when he's smiling like that, like he's going to club baby seals or something. He doesn't waste any time trotting along, his curiosity about this new place winning out over Johnny's morbid curiosity over whether this guy's got at least some bodies in his basement. ]

You knew it too, right? [ It's a long shot, but he has to try; it seems too vivid to be false. ] That dream with the freaky zombie nurses?

[benumbing]

As if I'd have to.

[He snorts. And really, where's the sport in clubbing baby seals? He'd get bored quickly. Baby alligators, on the other hand.]

Once I find a gun, I can pick them off as they're coming for you. [He explains slowly.] But I'll make sure they get nice and close first.

[He's trying to be a little bit of an asshole there, but he's under the impression that Johnny would actually thank him for that. It's more exciting that way, right?

Jack glances at him.]

Yes. It looks like your hot, undead girlfriends weren't actually real.

[But he did see them.]

[fulminants]

Seriously? Dude, you're freaky.

[ But in an exciting kind of way. New and dangerous and obviously pretty bad for his health -- which is a pretty awesome kind of deal. Jack seems like the guy who doesn't give a shit about pushing the envelope, and as a fellow envelope-pusher, he can totally respect that.

Also Jack really isn't going to try to kill him, right? He really has no idea.

He raises his brows at Jack's observation, realising that the guy's actually been in the dream with him too, and oh man, how weird and cool is that? He snorts at that, filing that curious little tidbit away to mull over it later. In the meantime, he's keeping pace with Jack, keeping an eye out for possible threats. ] That's too bad, [ He quips. ] I was about to ask one of them out. Gotta see what kind of face is under all those bandages, right?

[benumbing]

Your standards are hideous.

[It's actually kind of funny. Johnny is and isn't the kind of person he would've hung out with back in Shiloh. He's definitely attractive, charismatic, and Jack liked the company of those kinds of people. (Though if past experience has taught him anything, it's that most people suddenly seemed more attractive and charismatic to others by virtue of being around him.)

But he's also genuine, and Jack can count the number of genuine people that he's met in his life on one hand. Here he is, keeping step with Jack, saving his life without a single idea of who he really is.

Was.]

You can do better. In fact, I'll find you someone better myself.

[fulminants]

[ Johnny laughs at that, a bright, unabashed sound of genuine amusement and mischief. ] Hey, don't knock it. Maybe she's hot under there.

[ Hope springs eternal, and all that jazz. Johnny raises his brows at that bold promise -- despite the rocky start to their acquaintanceship, Johnny decides that he's coming to really like this guy. He's full of surprises, for one, with a flair for the decisive that makes Johnny wonder if he ran his own company back home, or something.

He doesn't know who he was, but who he is now is pretty damn entertaining. So. ] Are you volunteering to be my wingman?

[benumbing]

Yes, that's exactly why her face was covered in bandages.

[Why are the pretty ones always so dumb? Johnny doesn't seem entirely dumb, though. More...optimistic. Unfiltered. Jack envies that a little. He looks over at him with a smirk on his lips.]

Something like that. You'll thank me for it when there are only beautiful women clawing at your door instead of monsters.

[fulminants]

[ Boundless, unfiltered optimism is more like it. But he's not thinking about the nurses now, having moved on to something else as easily as he's settled on the topic of weird and freaky zombie nurses.

Jack is sharp, electric, almost, and he squints at him. ] Are you a pimp?

[ Because what the frickle-frackle, Jack. He talks like he's got a bevy of hot women on tap. ]

[benumbing]

[He snorts, but it's mostly humorless. The Crown Pimp. Wasn't that another of his nicknames? Jack is torn between wanting to cling to all that he was and shedding it like a snake's skin.]

I'm royalty.

[Jack smirks as he looks at him. Maybe Johnny will just take it as a joke, and he won't correct him if he does. He's not a prince here, but he still has his wits and his charm. That has to be worth something.]

[fulminants]

What -- like Prince William?

[ Johnny raises his brows at him. See, he generally trusts people. It's just a thing that he does, having lived a charmed existence despite difficult family circumstances. Besides, Jack doesn't look like he's lying -- besides, why lie about that, right? ]

[benumbing]

Prince who?

[Jack's never heard of a Prince William before. But then he'd never heard of a literally flaming man before either, so clearly they're from different worlds.

How quickly he's getting used to accepting the absurd.]

[fulminants]

Dude, seriously? You never heard of the guy? What about England?

[ Johnny raises his brows at him, mildly surprised -- then again, it looks like they're from different worlds (because he's very sure Jack doesn't look North Korean), which is weird enough to wrap his mind around if it wasn't for the fact that they're both in a world where they're being hunted by huge ugly monsters. ]

Where are you from?

[benumbing]

Shiloh, the capital of Gilboa. You've never heard of it either.

[He says this with certainty, and maybe just a touch of arrogance. It's impossible for anyone to know of it and not the Benjamins. They're intertwined, his mother saw to that.]

[fulminants]

I'd remember it if I did.

[ Johnny assures him; that sounds pretty exotic, and if there's one thing (amidst many) that he's good at, it's exotic places. He spots another deathclaw in the distance, then tugs on his arm, leading him to the other side. He neatly puts himself between the prince and the thing -- by now it's an ingrained habit, and he doesn't think about what he's doing. ]

C'mon, over here.

[benumbing]

What do you think you're doing?

[Or does he think? Jack's getting the impression that sometimes he doesn't, he just acts. Though he's one to talk. He glances from the deathclaw to Johnny, suddenly feeling a little uncertain.]

Leave it.

[fulminants]

What?

[ What does he think he's doing what? Johnny doesn't budge, frowning when it looks like the deathclaw has caught the scent, stiffening and turning in their direction. They're not very good with the vision thing, but the other senses? Dreadfully accurate.

Johnny pauses. ]

Hey, get behind me.

[benumbing]

You don't have to kill all of them yourself. There are other people here.

[You don't have to be a hero. They've only just met, but Jack would still just as soon see someone else risk their life.

He does get behind him though, stepping closer.]

[fulminants]

But why? [ Johnny frowns, like he's said the most ridiculous thing. Leave it to someone else while he can do something about it? He shakes his head and shrugs it off -- that's not important now, right? What's important is that Jack is safe behind him, and he makes relatively quick, violent work of the Deathclaw.

He doesn't end the fierce battle unscathed, earning a long, but shallow cut on his cheek when the thing finally falls over, charred and burning. Johnny grimaces, wiping at the blood on his face. ]

Ugh, tell me that won't leave a scar.