Event Post: Everyone Chill

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone participating in the event!
What: The event log for Tranquility's resurrection event!
Where: All around the city
When: December 27th-January 7th
Warnings: Absolutely nothing creepy or weird at all.

The revival of Tranquility on December 27th marks a vast - if temporary, and actually completely fake - change to the city. Upon awakening that morning, the inhabitants of Hadriel will find the city changed from its usual broken-down dour cave self into a sparkling, clean, delightful island city. Instead of being surrounded by hard stone walls, the city is surrounded by warm ocean waters and soft white sand beaches.

Gentle waves lap at the shore, the sky overhead is perfect, wide and open. The spires have been replaced by shining skyscrapers, the roads are clear of rubble and paved neatly. The stores are quaint, windows no longer broken, and the items inside have changed too. Instead of simple canned goods and strange clothing, you might find delicate pastries, cool drinks, fresh fruit, and flowy summer clothes to match the city. How nice! How calming, really. Didn't everyone need a vacation? So throw on some flip-flops, grab one of the mopeds that have been provided, and enjoy yourselves!

As the days go on, though, you might notice one or two odd things. Maybe the pretty sun hat you picked up looked, for just a moment, like a grubby old baseball cap instead. Maybe that beach ball is a little heavier than it should be. Maybe the shining wall of that skyscraper feels more like stone than glass. Maybe - just for an instant - the sky above was solid rock instead of the gentle, calming hues of the sunset.

While there is a mild compulsion toward calmness and tranquility, towards accepting the city for exactly what it seems to be, that can be ignored - and the illusion can be broken, if you choose to try. But do you really want to? Isn't that croissant much nicer than yet another can of beans? Wouldn't you rather relax at the beach than run around, trying to convince all your friends that this is just the gods getting inside their heads again in an even more creepy and all-encompassing way than usual?

Come on. Don't be a buzzkill.

► This log covers December 27th-January 7th.
► 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 chill out so much you end up dead, please let us know here.

Comments

[glacius]

"We all have our fears. It makes no difference if they're big or little, few or numerous. What matters is how you choose to handle them--and you, Carlisle, are trying. That makes you brave in my eyes," Glacius explains, his voice strong and assured. "It also shows me that you care enough about me to make an effort on my behalf, to spend time doing something that's important to me even if it's difficult for you. So tell me... where is the downside to your company?"

[tongueamok]

As much as Carlisle would like to argue that there is a downside to his company, and that Glacius simply hasn't found it yet, or is too stubborn to see it, he doesn't. Glacius may vanish with the strange overhaul of the city tomorrow; Carlisle doesn't want this time when the alien has found something that makes him so undeniably happy to be tainted with his own sense of doubt, certainly not after all the kindness and patience he's been shown with these outfits and whatnot.

He pushes a sigh through him, closing his eyes. "Just stay close to me," he requests quietly, "please. I know it- it isn't exactly in my nature or yours to have someone so- someone invading your space so thoroughly, but it..."

Carlisle trails off a second, adjusting himself so Glacius is between him and the tower in his line of sight. "I believe it does me good to not see them- see them looming like that. Like the legs of an unfathomable beast."

[glacius]

"O-of course," Glacius blinks, surprised by the open request for the exact same reason Carlisle has just stated. Even when one of them was feeling down about something or other and desirous of company, they'd never asked for such blatant physical closeness... but he'd wanted to spend time with the human, and he can't deny that the thought that his presence means something to his friend makes him feel better.

He just has to figure out how to do this. The obvious answer would be to remain right in front of the clergyman so that he obscures the man's entire field of vision, but walking backwards all the way down to the beach doesn't seem like it would work out very well. Instead, the towering ice alien shifts so that he's standing right next to the clergyman and slings an arm around him-- trying not to grimace as he feels the fabric of his newly acquired shirt rub against his icy skin--not only so that he can keep him close, but so that he can turn his friend towards him slightly. It means that Carlisle is probably getting more of a view of Glacius' broad pectorals and the long strips of muscle in his throat than anything else, but if he looks up he can see the alien's head arcing upwards on the serpentine curve of his neck... and he can also at least cast quick glances out towards the road if he starts to feel wary of his footing.

Taking the first careful step, the ice alien waits to be sure that Carlisle is moving with him before he starts walking. "Just keep looking at me," the ice alien suggests. "As I said, it won't be long before the buildings start to look smaller."

[tongueamok]

"Right," Carlisle agrees, careful with his steps as they make their way away from the main buildings, keeping his eyes mostly on Glacius, as instructed. Their close proximity is a little awkward, but at the same time, he can't deny that he does feel... safer, protected from the lingering fears that claw at the back of his mind as he visualizes those huge towers starting to move on their own, becoming alive as a great monstrosity.

"The Tranquility was said to be alive," he starts in, trying to talk away his nerves. He catches sight of another tower on his periphery and forces his gaze onto the alien beside him, his muscles only partially obscured by the shirt. As grateful he is for Glacius' strength, he cannot help but wish he had even a fraction of it for himself, if for no other reason than to be able to cope with his own, irrational concerns. "It, too, was terrifying in scale. How- how something so vast could be constructed is beyond my scope, but- but thinking of it as a living, malicious creature is no better."

[glacius]

Glacius may not be able to siphon off a chunk of his physical toughness to grant to Carlisle, but he is hoping to gradually inspire him to a little more strength of spirit through his stolid encouragement. He keeps them moving, his arm around his friend the whole time--every time he feels the human begin to get frazzled, he pats his shoulder encouragingly and attempts to engage him once more. Being so close to the clergyman in a moment of fright is an enlightening experience for the alien... he can feel his body tense up, the way his breath quickens, all the physical reactions of an individual fighting for whatever sense of stability he can grasp. Sympathy tugs at the alien's hearts and he resolves not only to be there for his friend however he can, but to make do whatever he can to make sure that Carlisle has a good time when they're actually at the beach to hopefully help him forget about all of this.

"The Tranquility... the ship that you were on before being brought here, correct? It sounds like a rumor to me. My people are one of-- if not the most--advanced races in the universe, and yet even they though they could easily construct something vast in scale, they wouldn't make it truly alive. And besides--you said it crashed, yes?" Glacius attempts to reason. "That it laid ruined on a jungle planet? I'm sure that no matter what it was before, it was quite dead at that point. Just another lost wreck, like my once proud ship..."

[tongueamok]

"I suppose," Carlisle returns, a shudder running through him that he's sure Glacius can feel. "And yet, there were times we could feel it prying into our minds. It was a dangerous site, the wreck, but... but there were times at the end there, before I was brought here, that I felt- felt the need to go back to it. Compelled, even."

He stiffens, and crosses his arms -- his hand lands on Glacius' that lies along him, and though he pulls his own away at first, he does settle to leave it there after a moment, the knowledge he's protected a comfort he can't describe. "I don't know if the others felt that too, but I could feel it creeping up my spine, pulling at me every night."

[glacius]

Carlisle doesn't need to go much further than that--he knows how grave of a matter the issue of compulsion is to the clergyman before he even feels that first shudder, though it's a powerful testimony to how much just remembering it affects him. It's nothing, however, to the feeling of the human's hand seeking out his own... the ice alien goes wide-eyed as he stared down at the point of contact, and then a powerful surge of that earlier sympathy for his friend's troubles courses through him. The alien's hand tightens on his shoulder ever so slightly--he's being careful with his strength so as not to hurt the more fragile human, but he still wants to show his support and he remembers Carlisle doing this for him when trying to dredge him up out of his own self-doubts.

"Well... there are a great many oddities in this universe that I do not know how to explain, so perhaps I should not have been so dismissive of the thought. It is very odd, though, I wonder what purpose such a vessel would have..." but thinking on that probably isn't going to bring the clergyman any comfort. He tries a different avenue. "... Well, it doesn't matter now. Its hold on you is broken, and it is nothing but a bad memory. Now, how about we work on making some good ones together?"

[tongueamok]

He's silent another moment as a tentative grin pulls at him. "I would like that."

And he realizes he might actually get his wish, as he cracks his eyes open and sees the beach approaching, the buildings behind them, both out of sight and out of mind as he takes in the view. He's as awestruck as before, but far less hesitant. Perhaps it's distance that doesn't scare him so much as things looming over him.

Whatever it is, he's silent again, squinting in the light of the setting sun. He can see why Glacius likes this so much.

[glacius]

Glacius simply smiles and nods, glad that sentiment at least is not being met with resistance. The silence that follows, however, he is not quite sure what to make of--most of the times he's seen Carlisle at a loss for words have only been dire ones. The ice alien gives a small warble, swiveling his head about and craning his head down so that he can nudge gently at the side of his friend's head with the smooth curve of his nasal cap.

"Carlisle... a-are you alright? This isn't too much, is it..?"

[tongueamok]

It's not until Glacius gives him an encouraging nudge that Carlisle snaps back to awareness, with whatever words he'd lost suddenly found. He starts with an exclamation, clearly startled by the contact.

"Ah!! I'm fine! Fine, I just- I've- I've never seen something like- like this, with the water and the sky and it just- it just keeps going, with no end."

Which is how most horizons work, but the last time he saw one so open, he was at the edge of a cliff in a jungle and psychically tethered to a possibly living spaceship, and even then, trees blocked most of the view. Bear Den sits surrounded by hills and mountains; the river that runs adjacent to the town leads down to the sea, but that's a far journey that Carlisle has never made himself, not even when his family was alive. This is the largest body of water he's ever seen, and much like the towering city, he's not entirely sure how to handle it, or the sun, or the glistening reflections of the emerging stars on the ocean's surface.

"And it's- it's not that we don't have oceans and the like in my world, but I- I've never seen one in person like this."

It's an illusion, Carlisle reminds himself. The false gods wouldn't simply transport their captives somewhere so free; however, in that moment, with the wind sweeping across his hair and the sea air filling his lungs, he can't help but both believe the view and be overwhelmed by it.

[glacius]

"Now you know how I felt when I first saw it," Glacius chuckles, pleased with his friend's reaction now that he knows he's not slowly shutting down from mental overload. "I have longed for the open sky ever since I was first brought here. Even if it may not be real... just being able to see the way it stretches endlessly before me does a lot to make me feel more free. And when night comes, the stars will shine brightly like a pathway that could lead me back home. I have missed that..."

But that aside the alien goes silent again, happy to drink in the novelty and vastness of it all in silence with his friend. The hand on Carlisle's shoulder relaxes somewhat as the otherworldly being draws in a breath, one deep enough to fill his cavernous chest and make it rise, his neck swelling as air floods into his body through his gills. He holds it for a moment or two and then releases it... and the great plumes of freezing mist that escape his neck with the exhalation are even more noticeable now in an environment so vastly different from what his body is suited for, they quickly dissipate in the heat. It won't be long before he'll have to dip into the water to assist his microweave with thermoregulation, but for now he just wants to enjoy the moment with his friend.

[tongueamok]

As for Carlisle, he's silent still, pondering the distance before him as his sense of paranoid logic kicks in once more, keeping him from simply accepting things for how they are. How much is real, and how much is what the false gods want them to see? How much of the sight is but a hallucination? Or is it a type of compulsion, where they are are being compelled to live in this figment of a world?

While that thought does make the buildings behind them marginally less frightening, he doesn't have much time to dwell on it, as the frosty plumes from Glacius' exhalation draw his attention back to the here and now -- and more importantly, to what is real: his friend, the alien standing beside him, his great arm over his shoulders in a physical gesture of protection and camaraderie. What else is real is what Glacius is feeling in that moment for the freedom he has yet to attain; it's genuine, authentic, significant, even if the catalyst is not.

What else is real enough is the feeling of sand between the soles of his feet and that of his sandals. He looks down to them, finally managing to pull his eyes from the sunset. "I'm still not sure how these shoes are supposed to be practical for this terrain," he notes, not wanting to question anything else -- not right now, and not with Glacius.

[glacius]

"Are you asking the alien?" Glacius barks a laugh, "Because I couldn't tell you. I prefer to go without... even if the heat of the sand is not agreeable to my feet." Now he holds one up, wiggling his two big toes as if in demonstration. His icy skin is still intact--perhaps the only reason his poor soles haven't been melted down to the underbody is because of that ever-handy weave of technological glyphs. It does seem to be flowing over his body a bit more quickly than normal.

"Come, this way," the ice alien finally removes his arm from around the clergyman and begins heading down the beach a little further. "I left some things here--a towel to sit on, some bottles of water. Let's check on them, relax for a bit... and then see about making use of what sun we still have left."

[tongueamok]

With a quick glance back toward the city -- the buildings do look a little less intimidating from afar, but are still imposing enough that he'd rather not look at them for too long -- Carlisle follows Glacius, his feet shifting in the sand and getting more grains in his shoes with every step. Impractical, indeed.

It's as he's following behind Glacius that he finally notices the way his alien body is reacting to the sun and the sand, the heat making it harder to hold his icy frame together. Carlisle sighs, having been so preoccupied with his own woes that he hadn't thought on the consequences of such an environmental change on his friend and his peculiar anatomy. At least there is water nearby, and the weather hasn't deterred him thus far. In fact, he seems so sincerely happy, though whether it's their proximity to the beach or because of the company, he's not entirely sure.

[glacius]

Likely a combination--though he has no love for the environment as a whole, he enjoys the open sky and the cold water... and the warmth of the sun is easier to put up with when it's his choice to be out in it, and he has various means of getting respite from it all. He's not trapped in the heat and the humidity like his double was on that wretched jungle, unable to escape weather that stripped him of comfort and drained at his strength. And as for the company... well, that should go without saying considering how hard he worked to get the clergyman to come out with him, shouldn't it?

Glacius pads over to the large towel he'd set out, lowering himself down onto it in a neat, cross-legged sit. Then he pats an open spot on it, indicating he'd like Carlisle to join him. "You're very quiet, my friend. What is on your mind?"

[tongueamok]

Carlisle obliges, taking a seat next to Glacius. He pulls his legs to him, wrapping his arms around them, leaning forward so the alien can tower over him. Glacius doesn't cause the same distress the buildings do, however: his height serves as a barrier, a wall. Protection.

"I suppose I am just adjusting to the sight," he answers. "As well as everything else. It's a lot, admittedly."

[glacius]

"I know it is, but you're still doing very well," Glacius attempts to soothe, "I really do appreciate you coming out here with me, Carlisle. You know I... I'm not the kind to get lonely, but... well. I was starting to miss you, the way you were keeping yourself all cooped up in the apartment. I'm glad you found it in yourself to join me."

[tongueamok]

Carlisle can't help but redden at Glacius' confession. He wrings his fingers and turns his eyes back to the water, trying to mask his reaction.

His words are more telling, though. "I... I felt the same, actually. I prefer to live alone... or did. I- I'm not so sure anymore."

And that scares him, as well.

[glacius]

"... I shouldn't be surprised when we unearth yet more commonalities, but I am." Glacius blinks, but then his expression goes a little more solemn. "When I first came here I wasn't even used to relying on people, let alone living with someone, let alone humans. For countless years I'd been operating alone on my missions, and thought that was how I liked it. Not only did it give me space to be alone with my thoughts whenever I needed it, and allow me to work as I saw fit... but it also meant that I was the only one at risk. Things seemed... simpler that well."

He folds his hands in his lap and thinks about it for a moment. "But simpler does not mean easier. I came to realize that when I was brought here, and I was tormented in all the ways the gods could come up with. Bearing all of that alone was hard on me... you saw the evidence of that first hand when you found me locked away in my apartment after... well." So he still has a hard time so much as saying it. "The rest is as you know it. In any case, if I have managed to make a positive difference in your life that is anything at all like the one you have made in mine... then I can consider that one good accomplishment in this place, at least."

And just like that, the sadness is gone from his face as he considers the man before him. It's always nice to know that he makes a difference, especially in the lives of the people that he cares about.

[tongueamok]

He gives Glacius an unsure smile. The more commonalities they find, the harder it is for him to go back to how things were. It's nice having someone with whom to commiserate -- someone who understands, who knows his faults in their full capacity, yet still insists on having him around -- even claims to enjoy his company. Perhaps it won't last, but there are times Carlisle cannot deny that he'd like it to, if even for only a little while. They will all go home, eventually.

Well, he hopes. If not, perhaps those like Glacius will be allowed to leave. They do not deserve this place.

"I have lost people recently," he admits. "Chris, Miriam. They considered me a friend, though—" He cuts himself off, knowing the remark about how they shouldn't will be met with disapproval, no matter how much he believes it. "And it hurts with them, but it's not the same."

He doesn't explain not the same how -- not yet. "And living with Kate and Faith -- it wasn't that they were overbearing in any way, but even when Kate died, I didn't even realize it. And when I found out, I felt guilt, but also... acceptance, I suppose. It did not surprise me, and I couldn't even find it in me to be sad about it. Just- just disappointed, I suppose. But- but with you, it's not- not the same."

His shifts on the towel, his eyes locking on the horizon so they have somewhere to go that isn't onto Glacius. "There is a lot I am still adjusting to, but with you, it's- it's different somehow. And I'm not sure why."

[glacius]

Glacius has to think about that admission for a good second or two. Of course he knows he's different, but that word usually carried with it more negative connotations-- he was alien, he was other. He was a creature that didn't belong. But the way that Carlisle says it... it makes him feel like he's being embraced not just despite it all but because of it, and that causes a surge of emotion within the alien that he's not entirely sure how to identify. Whatever it is, he's glad that Carlisle is looking away, because he can feel it causing a purple blush to darken his cheekbones underneath his icy skin.

"I, u-uhm, I've never had anyone say that to me before," the otherworldly being responds, scratching at his mandibular support bashfully. "I have made so many friends here, people that I feel so blessed to have in my life... and yet there is a little part of both my hearts that wonders how much a being like me, so different from everyone else in this place, can really mean to them. I know that if given the choice, the humans here would likely rather spend time with a member of their own kind... and that is fine, it is only natural. But to hear my difference be celebrated like this, it... i-it..."

He loses the words somewhere along the line as that feeling flares to life again, like a cold and bracing wind inside his soul. Glacius fights hard to identify it, unsure if it's a sense of attachment, or gratefulness, or... or something along those line. Whatever it is, he's decided it's good. The alien lowers his head, the long curve of his neck bringing his forehead closer to Carlisle's. It's a gesture that he's initiated a couple of times now, but right now there's a whole lot of intentionality behind it.

"... It means a lot to me," the alien finally manages to finish, whether or not his friend chooses to accept the contact.

[tongueamok]

Carlisle glances over at Glacius as the alien trails off, struggling as much to find his words as Carlisle had his own. Perhaps it's because Glacius has so actively tried to protect him, not just from actual threats like monsters and demons, but even perceived ones, like the buildings behind them and what may be lurking just beyond his darkened windows at night. They may be irrational fears, but they have plagued him enough to keep him awake at night, which makes them real in his mind.

Or perhaps it is what they have in common that draws Carlisle to Glacius, and gives him pause when he tries to find just what to say. They both often feel like outcasts, both have lost their families, both represent a lineage that is hard to live up to. Both know the fear of torture, of being controlled, of being denied free will. Both of them struggle to believe they are less monstrous than their pasts would have them believe.

They have more often turned inward for solace, but as they've adjusted to living together, the two usually solitary beings are finding out they are stronger together. Carlisle is receiving the patience and understanding he desperately needs to cope with his nerves, both things he often denies himself; Glacius is getting the support he needs in his most troubled times, reassurance that he is not as lost as he may think.

And most importantly to Carlisle, he feels significant, needed. He feels, for the first time, that it's him who can make a difference for someone. Not his family name, not something he had the potential to do, but failed spectacularly -- him, Carlisle, as he is here and now.

Carlisle recognizes the way Glacius lowers his neck, knows what his alien friend is offering. It is acceptance; it is fellowship. He might not be able to put a name to that emotion lapping at his chest, but Carlisle has to admit that... he likes it. He likes that feeling of gratitude and warmth blooming within him, so foreign that he cannot fully identify it. It's like the wine of Fireclaw Country, imported and precious, exhilarating and addictive to drink because of its effects.

He might not know its name, but he knows he wants more of it, and so he leans forward and presses his forehead to Glacius', returning his offering of solidarity with a gesture of his own.

"It means a lot to me, too," he admits, his voice low, nearly a whisper beside the soft hiss of the ocean as it draws upon the beach. "Just that- that you wanted me out here so badly. You could have better spent this time with any of your other friends, but that you wanted me out here makes me feel as though I'm- I'm doing something important. Makes me feel as though I could do more."

After all, they are stronger together. Carlisle knows that to be true for himself, having seen what he's managed to do in the weeks they've spent together in close quarters, but he may someday realize it goes both ways.

[glacius]

Glacius doesn't seem to have words for that, though what happens next probably speaks volumes. Carlisle not only allows but return the gesture, which causes another wave of that indecipherable emotion to crash up against the inside of his rib cage... the ice alien shuts his eyes against it, and underneath the combined pressure of it all, the dam finally breaks. A deep roll of purring rumbles up from the very pit of this throat, but it's not a subtle or soft sound like the noise given off by most common animals capable of producing it. It is low and powerful as a roll of thunder... and over with just as soon, ebbing as the alien's eyes crack open to tiny green slivers.

"Of course you're doing something important," Glacius murmurs, his words coming back to him with his presence of mind. It's rare for the normally reserved ice alien to act purely out of emotion like that, but then it's rare for a member of his species to sit forehead-to-forehead with a human as they stumbled over their feelings. Gradually, he's getting to the point where he's not questioning every little thing about these interactions... and more than any bitter struggling or defiant fighting he's put up against the gods, that might be one of the greatest victories he's managed to achieve in this cave thus far. "Friendships are, that is what I have learned. And... on that note, I know we never really got a chance to talk about it, so... I... I'm sorry about Chris, and about Miriam. I know you were close with them. Just remember that I'll always be here for you, alright? I don't want you to feel like you have to bear any burden alone."

[tongueamok]

Glacius likely feels that moment where Carlisle stiffens, the rumbling catching him so off-guard that he pulls away and looks behind them toward the buildings, certain that's them coming to life. He's wrong, of course, and sheepish the moment he realizes that noise is instead coming from Glacius, rattling from the back of his throat and through the curve of his neck. It's not something he's heard come from Glacius before, not a chirp or a warble, or even a growl, but something less aggressive, like the purring of the kitten-kind when they were expressing comfort. However, the kitten-kind weren't icy giants, so their affection was a lot less startling.

But he settles back down as Glacius continues, a little closer to Glacius on the towel now that he's thinking about those buildings again, and Chris and Miriam. Glacius will be there, it's true... for as long as the false gods allow him to be.

He turns back toward the ocean, trying hard to swallow his apprehension and leaning toward Glacius again. "Perhaps we should save my burdens for another time," he says finally, desperate to not bring Glacius down when he's in such good spirits, "and enjoy this while we can, lest the false gods take it away from us tomorrow."

Or take one of them away.

[glacius]

"Are--are you sure?" Glacius protests, having of course noticed Carlisle's temporary retreat and feeling a little bit bad about it. He hadn't meant to ruin the moment, he had just been feeling... so touched and at peace that the vocalization just sort of happened. "Sharing in the sight of the sun and the sky and the ocean is important to me... but your mental well-being is even more so."