hadriel_logs | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Glacius and you!
What: As per usual, various prompts for various characters, open and closed options.
Where: Various locations in the city.
When: Mid-July.
Warnings: N/A, will update if the need arises.

Delight's Bar - OPEN

Ever since Delight's bar had been constructed and the goddess had taken it upon herself to throw a giant party that had caused Glacius much aggravation, he'd given the establishment a fairly wide berth. He'd never had much reason to go in, anyways; he wasn't familiar with any of the fancy human drinks served within (and was perfectly fine with subsisting off of water), and it was usually packed with people and fairly noisy, both of which were usually reason enough to push the alien away. He wasn't a particularly sociable creature, and he preferred his peace and quiet... but today he'd been summoned, and given that he was meeting someone here on business, he was going to have to do his best to make a good impression.

So the alien stands on the street corner across from the bar, trying to prepare himself for this endeavor. He takes a deep breath and squares his shoulders and then crosses over, pushing the door open and walking into the establishment. There are a good number of humans here, enough to make his shoulders hitch up slightly... but it's still very early, which means that it's not as crowded as he's expecting, and most people are already hunched over their own drinks or engaged in their own conversations. Nobody moves to bolt immediately at the sight of the massive alien creature that looks more like an icy monolith, and only a few of them give him long, hard or wary stares... Glacius does his best to ignore them as he moves into the bar, looking for the person he's supposed to meet. If anyone else in Delight's bar takes notice of the otherworldly being and would like to strike up a conversation, they're welcome to get his attention before he leaves.

Emily's Lakeside Shop- CLOSED to Emily

It had been a rough couple of weeks for the ice alien, whose mood had not been helped in the least by the waning health of his fireflies. He'd been noticeably saddened by this when he posted to the network, hoping against hope that there was something that could be done for them... and though that was still up in the air, at least there were people that cared about him watching the network today. He'd received a few invitations to help and a few other offers to visit with people, which he'd accepted, thankful for the distractions from everything.

First up, he is on his way to visit Emily in her shop, which as it turned out was not all that far from the place where he'd been living as of late. Casting a few looks at the map he'd sent him just to be sure he hadn't made a wrong turn anywhere, the alien made his way over. The location was nice; the ornate glass windows of the shop caught the sun well, and the river that cut its way through the city was visible through the grounds. After taking a little bit of time to look around, the alien approached the storefont and knocked on the door... and thankfully there are no bleeding monster carcasses in hand. He has, however, brought something else that might seem odd to a random passerby, operating under a misconception in hopes to pay Emily back for all the kindness she's shown him thus far.

Glacius' Apartment- CLOSED to Kate

After his visit with Emily, Glacius heads north again, making a much longer walk up to the Colosseum to meet with Kate. He doesn't like visiting this place; it was where he woke up in Hadriel, the arena inside the first thing he saw when he was brought to this cursed place.

Just considering the way his life and his mission on earth had been completely upset is enough to make some of his bad mood come back... but at least that's about the worst of what he's suffering. At least this time they weren't meeting with any heavy topics burdening their souls. They were just meeting one another to converse, to chat casually like... friends might do. The thought was still an odd one to Glacius, but given how heavy things were lately, he was glad for the respite. His relief meant that he wasn't quite fretting as much over what to do or how to act with a human than he usually might; after the two meet up and make the walk back to the Spires together, he leads Kate into his apartment and gestures for her to make herself comfortable, then emulates how she had welcomed him in when he had visited her residence not all that long ago.

"Here we are. Would you like anything to drink? Something to help hyrdate you after the walk over?"

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Now that's an interesting thing to mention. Glacius tilts his head ever-so-slightly, very much wanting to ask what happened, but knowing the question would probably be in poor taste. He can make a few guesses at least--and if she really wanted him to know, she would have explained it after bringing it up, wouldn't she?

"Politics are difficult things, easy to get tangled up in," the ice alien replies, being careful with his response. "Whatever happened, I am sure you have learned from it."

Maketh quips a smile. That's a kind way of putting it. "I have. Or at least I hope as much. But I did promise you coffee. I suppose I should get on that."

"Oh, ah, yes," Glacius blinks, seeming to be taken slightly off-guard by the sudden jump from a serious topic to a more casual one. He can't say that he isn't curious, however! "I take it this place is like the shops, and is restocked by the god that constructed it..?"

"Exactly so." Maketh smiles. "And it is well stocked. Plain coffee is rather bitter, but it can be mediated by adding certain ingredients. Cream, for instance."

"And... that means that I did not accidentally walk out the door wihtout a proper form of payment, then?" the ice alien tacks on, sounding a mixture of sheepish but hopeful. He's still figuring out how things work around here, and the last thing he wants to do is have the head of the organization he's joining feel like she has to provide for him.

Maketh smiles a little, gently. "You needn't worry about that, sir. This place is just like the shops. We take what we need, and Delight restocks them as she pleases. Thus far she hasn't poisoned the drinks."

"That was going to be my next question," Glacius grunts. "These gods feast on our emotions, and they don't seem to have any scruples when it comes to the things that they do in order to evoke them. It seems a risk to rely on supplies provided by them... couldn't they easily turn it against us? Perhaps we should at least establish some sort of... alternate source, provided that is not being worked on already."

"We're working on securing additional supplies, as well as clean water." He's a quick learner. That's good. Maketh appreciates it when she can move quickly from point to point without having to slow down and explain things. "But this place is under Delight's control. It doesn't serve her to harm us. Rather the opposite."

"I wouldn't mind seeing those establishments or devices once I have clearance," Glacius requests, dipping his head in a show of formality. "And yes, that may be true. But the gods are in conflict, are they not? Couldn't one of the other gods sabotage this place?"

"Come to the guard headquarters and I will show you personally." There's no efficient way to enforce any level of security clearance here, so largely they don't. Part of Maketh - and no small part either - quails at the crassness of it. But this is how they live now. "Anything is possible, of course, and it's foolish not to be on guard. But, for the moment, Delight is not served in harming us and the gods don't actively deny each other food. Whatever they intend requires all of them alive and healthy."

"Well then, I suppose we should make use of that," Glacius nodded, "I will try this 'coffee'. Prepare it however you like it best; as I mentioned previously, the closest thing I have to a sense of taste is my smell, so I am not anticipating any problems when it comes to disliking it. You said you already brought it, if my memory serves me correctly?"

Maketh nods, pleased that she won't have to experiment. Though coffee itself is simple enough, she likes it when she knows what she's doing, and not trying to anticipate what an--acquaintance might desire. Unless it's in combat or politics, but that's a different beast entirely. "I set mine up beforehand, but it's not hard to brew another cup. Shall we?"

"Yes, let us," the ice alien bobbed his head in a polite nod. He's content to wait patiently for Maketh to do her thing, though his curiosity is definitely nibbling away at him now. "Do you mind if I watch the brewing process?"

"Not at all." She had been about to ask, anyway. Maketh steps around the bar so she can get at the coffee maker. "The machinery does most of the work, but there are steps. Coffee is made from beans. They're ground into a powder, then filtered through hot water. That gets you the liquid."

She pours a mug of black coffee, just to start.

Glacius listens carefully--and when the word "hot" makes it past Maketh's lips and when he actually sees the steam rising from the cup, it finally occurs to him that he might have made an oversight. To his credit the ice alien doesn't recoil, but he does go a little bit straighter as he furrows his brows.

"Oh... ah... my apologies. I did not know that the... temperature would be... so high," the otherworldly being falters, "I do not think it is safe for me to ingest like this. But perhaps... if it could be cooled off..?"

"Oh!"

She hadn't anticipated that. In hindsight it seems foolish, considering what she can see of his physiology. Maketh feels herself blush and looks away quickly. "It can brewed cold, of course. I'll start a fresh pot."

"If it's no trouble," Glacius agrees, catching only a hint of that blush before Maketh turns away. Damn, this sort of awkwardness is really what he was hoping to avoid... and it's why he usually tries to avoid bringing up any subject or participating in any activity that might bring his unique physiology to the forefront. But in this situation there was no way around it, as ingesting steaming liquid would cause extensive internal damage.

Trying to smooth things over, the ice alien accepts the cup--now much colder and thus much safer for him than it had been before--from Maketh when it is done brewing and bows his head. "Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to make an exception for my unique needs. Usually it... isn't so difficult, but extreme heat is not something I can afford to be careless with."

It's not hard to make cold brewed coffee, exactly. Just different. Maketh ducks her head briefly, returning to her own cup just to have something to do with her hands. A distraction. "No, I understand. It's only polite. And as I said, hardly unheard of in my world. I shouldn't have assumed."

She glances at his cup. "Do you...like it?"

Now that he actually has the cup in front of him and she's asking for his opinion, the alien supposes he can't delay in actually tasting it now! Maketh gets a briefly tentative glance from the galactic marshal, as he's not sure how she's going to react to his method of drinking... but he can't just not try something she made for him. That would be rude! So he extends one long finger and shifts it into a sturdy and hollow needle-like form through which the cold brewed coffee can be absorbed. Once he's taken a small sip--small for him, anyways, a large creature such as himself can go through a lot of food or drink rather quickly--he pulls his hand back and reverts his finger to its natural form, lifting his glowing green eyes to find the woman looking at his cup.

"Well. As I said before, I do not taste like you humans do, but... it smells pleasant, and when it is made at this temperature it is agreeable to ingest... refreshing, even." He hasn't yet detected the caffeine, though the energy boost will likely be valuable to a being that draws on his own in so many various ways!

Interesting. Is that how he generally ingests liquid? Maketh smiles a little. "Good. It's a tradition among some humans to share coffee while discussing matters. A way of--easing the way, as it were."

"Meeting over a drink or a meal is something that my people do as well," Glacius responds. "You are right, it does make things a little bit easier--much easier than it would be if we were sitting at opposite ends of a table merely staring at one another as we made conversation. It is good to know there are some cultural constants between your people and mine."

At least they have that much in common. Maketh smiles a little. "Would--would you tell me a bit about your world? I'm curious."

Now the ice alien pauses again, studying the reflections in the dark liquid in his cup as he tries to figure out how to respond. He will answer, of course--Maketh has been kind enough to explain a great variety of things whenever he'd asked, and shutting her down now would not bode well for their professional relationship. It is just that there are certain unspoken rules when it comes to sharing his culture... he won't go against his people by spilling sensitive information, but there's bound to be a middle ground somewhere that he can tread safely on.

"My world exists in a system far, far beyond humanity's home Sol System. It is larger than earth and possesses a nearly global cryosphere, which means that snow falls year-round and water is found in solid form--making features like frozen oceans, massive glaciers, and snow-coated mountains very common. There are some subsurface oceans that we have cracked into, however. As you might expect from a species that has mastered space travel and can blink across systems in an instant, the level of technology on my homeworld is highly advanced--but in most citites and towns, we attempt to have the architecture blend into the surrounding ice and snow as much as possible. We wish to honor and respect the environment that supports us and gives us life, which also means adamant conservation of the noteworthy geographical features of our planet, and many other areas as well."

Now the ice alien stops and pauses, looking back up to Maketh. Hopefully that was a satisfactory enough answer, and gives her some decent information to mull over!

Maketh nods, taking in the information. A world of ice and water. She's heard of such places, but never visited one herself. There had been no reason to. The Empire had never assigned her a post on one. "This place must be--a change, for you, then."

Glacius gives out a low, rumbling laugh. The sound is short-lived, equal parts amused and... something a little more somber. Wistful? Nostalgic? "Yes, it certainly is that. Adjusting has been confusing at the best of times and frustrating or alienating at the worst... and not just because of the climate." The ice alien sighs, leaning back and waving a hand. "But we've already been over that. No need to dwell on what cannot be changed."

But that thought leads to another, and suddenly Glacius sits up straight again, looking around the room before leaning in towards Maketh and lowering his voice. "...Have there been... attempts to change it? To... escape from this place, and return to our rightful worlds? Or is everyone simply waiting around to discover if the gods will make good on their promise to one day send us back?"

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