hadriel_logs | Intro Log: Welcome to the Snave (snake cave)

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Intro Log: Welcome to the Snave (snake cave)

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for March
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: March 10th-15th
Warnings: Snakes! Snakes! It's a snake!

Good morning, new arrivals! Or, well, it's probably morning. The sun is up, anyway. Okay - not the sun, but that ball of light at the top of the cave that functions as the sun, anyway. Whatever. The point is you've woken to find yourself on the floor of Hadriel's colosseum. You may be wondering where you are and what you're doing here, but what you should be wondering is how fast you need to run to get away from a three-headed snake.

You're not the only one who just woke up. Also to be found in the arena, angry and confused, are Runespoors - large three-headed snakes. Only one of the heads is venomous, but all of them are perfectly willing to take a bite out of you if you get too close - or if you annoy it. If you're lucky, an attacking Runespoor may distract itself via infighting between the three heads, giving you time to run. If not, well, let's just hope you can fight off all three heads at once!

But that's not the only thing you might find. Also scattered around the colosseum floor are what look like tasty snacks. Popsicles, cheese, even toast! Unfortunately, if you get hungry and take a bite, you will quickly discover that each and every one of these is actually soap. So that's great. Maybe the Door thinks everyone needs to shower more? You can also find a few that actually look like soap, and if you're really lucky, you might stumble across the rare and coveted 'pile of baby hands' soap.

With luck, you didn't get eaten by a snake or accidentally eat a piece of soap. Once you find your way out of the colosseum there's plenty of other distractions. Feel free to go 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 March 10th-15th.
► 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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[She wants to ask so many questions, and the closer she is only amplifies it. She can feel the damage to him; bends and dings here, curves in his plating that she knows she didn't build. Not to mention- and she hates to know it this way, hates to think of the way they left things- but he's been somewhere else. She remembers talking to Newt, Hermann, and Rosie about the world they were in before their own.

He has stories to tell. But she has no idea how willing he'll be to tell them- or how much they should be told.

Of course, now that she has him here, in her arms, she can't help but feel her own guilt in the pit of her stomach, still unresolved after all this time.]

I'm sorry that, that I m-made you go out against the human, and, you got hurt-- I'm sorry for messing around, and, only c-calling on you when I needed you and not knowing how to talk to you about things that were bothering me and, I'm... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

[If only she knew. If only she realized how much he missed her and why. Not just because he had been swept away nearly a year ago from doing shopping for her. Not just because the last time he saw her, he couldn't understand why she was upset.

He missed her because the last time he saw Alphys, she was so broken. He had wasted his chance to help her gain confidence and most of all, he wasted his time with her thoroughly. It felt as if she'd scarcely been on the Moira before she was taken again.

So when she apologizes, he can't help the grimace that mars his features, nor the way his grip tightens around her just a fraction more...

Then Mettaton kneels, down to her level, and he looks her straight in the eye.]

There is nothing to apologize for. We've both made mistakes, but Alphys, honey...I don't care about any of it, because the important thing is that you're here. It's been...it's been at least half a year since I saw you!! I will listen to everything you have to say and more, just--Alphys. Alphys please don't leave.

[He sounds so vulnerable, so needy, so distinctly un-Mettaton. But he wants this to be real, and to stay. Let him keep her.]

Edited (sssh i meant this icon) 2017-03-21 06:15 (UTC)

[She doesn't know how to respond to this.

He's... here. But more here, more direct, making sure he can see her in his sincerity, outright begging her to stay. Some part of her, a sickened part that knows the inevitability of her choices, reminds her that she will not get the option when this place decides to take her. But that would be cruel, and needlessly so to say that to him. So instead, she reaches up with shaky hands to gently cradle his face.]

It's o-okay. I'm... I'm here.

[She's never been a reassuring person, and the questions about what happened to him are burning on her tongue. But he's willing to brush aside her problems for now, so she will too. Until he's ready.]

It's been a long time since I've, uhm, s-seen you too.

[Mettaton doesn't want to think about what she could mean. It could be something as simple as her being here for a very long time, just like he was on the Moira, and then Thisavrou for a long time.

Or she could mean something different. Something worse.

No, he didn't want to think about that at all.]

I'm sorry.

[He's sorry. He's sorry. He must have done something. Even if what he did had no bearing on the state of things, he's sorry anyway. Because he can't know, and it's so much safer to apologize when you know what a terrible person you are.]

Wh-- n-no, Metta, it's... you didn't do anything wrong, it's, it's my fault. I mean, w-was, when we were home, it's...

[Maybe this isn't the best time to talk about any of this. Really, she just doesn't know how.]

You just, uhm, you j-just got here, right? I'm living in an apartment with, uhm, a bunch of o-other monsters from the Underground. There's space, uhm, for you too, if you... if you want.

[Of course. She's offering him an out, and he should happily take it. She'll never know how glad he is for her, will she?

Nah. If he told her how important she was, she'd probably get all blushy and sweaty and ultimately uncomfortable, and he won't do that to Alphys when she was already so happy to see him, of all people. Even with that though...he seems a little distant when she mentions the apartment.]

Oh, you all...live together? Well, ah. Who exactly is it that you live with?

[It's noncommittal, for now. Not that he doesn't want to live with Alphys...

It's just complicated.]

[She shrinks back a bit, gently moving her hands from him to grasp them together, but she doesn't move.]

Well, it used to be, just, uhm, m-me and Sans, but now there's also Undyne and Napstablook. It's, uh, a f-four bedroom, but, Undyne's been staying with me, so, there's an open room, and...

I just, uh, it's okay if you don't w-want to, I just... didn't want you to think you'd have to be alone.

[Give him the option. The same thing Sans did, when she arrived. Just let her know that she has a home here, friends to hold him up if he needs it.]

[Mettaton doesn't show it, but for a moment there's a swell of emotion--positive emotion!--when Alphys mentions how many other monsters she's living with. He's so happy for her having Undyne close by, surely that could only be a good thing.

The old him might even have ribbed her a little because how scandalous, Undyne and Alphys staying together!

And...Napstablook. Oh, Blooky...now there was someone he had missed so completely that he could hardly stand it. Both them and Alphys wer ethe ones he had pined for over anyone else. That even absolved the fact that Sans would be around, making Mettaton feel extremely awkward.

But...

He couldn't. He couldn't show them how broken he was day to day. This was still too new, and he was too different. He was no longer the shining star of the Underground and beyond, he was just...a murderer. A murderer who had lost his worth the moment he'd landed in the Outpost and been used so thoroughly.]

Alphys, darling...under different circumstances perhaps, I'd be happy to live with you all, and I certainly don't want to be alone.

[He just deserves it.]

But I think...if it is alright, I'd like to figure out my arrangements on my own.

[Don't be upset, please. Don't take it the wrong way. But she will, because she has a habit of thinking the worst and so as if to immediately try and change it somehow, he blurts out:]

I'm sorry. I'm really sorry!! Please, don't be upset!

[It's impossible for her not to look a bit crestfallen at his response; she's gotten worse at hiding her emotions here, especially around someone she'll willingly make herself so vulnerable for. It's fine. It's not her, he's allowed to live by himself, he's--

Apologizing. Immediately. And that's... so different for him.

Something's still wrong. She wants to know why, but she can't ask. Couldn't force him towards it. She takes his hands again, one hand touching the palm and the other over the top to cradle it.]

M-Metta, it's okay, I... I just didn't want you to feel like you were alone, or, h-had to be alone, or... that I didn't want to see you, somehow, or... whatever.

[He's got his reasons. He has to. And maybe those reasons are that he's putting on an act for her here, or maybe those reasons are something more. She can't say.]

I can help you find a place, if you want, or, uhm...

[She runs a gentle hand up his arm just a bit.]

I do have, uhm, a lab s-space here. The accommodations aren't, uh, great, but if you need something fixed, or, uh, w-want some help, it's the least I could do...

[She'd kind of hit the nail on the head there, it was a bit uncanny because he did feel as if he should be alone. He knows she wants to see him, and he's being selfish for trying to distance himself already. But...Mettaton really doesn't know what to do anymore.

What if she finds out how broken he really was?

What if she found out...what a murderer he was? He couldn't bear it, she'd never want to be near him, and it would be fair. Who would want to be around someone like him?

He won't look at her, but he does look down at her claws taking hold of his gloved palm. He focuses on it, lets her touch him because it's a comfort. It's always been a comfort because he's always been a tactile individual.]

That...would be fine, Alphys. There's a lot of me that needs fixing but...don't worry about that. I'll just stay there if it's alright with you.

[Mettaton doesn't tell her that it's been more than a year chronologically since he's been properly repaired. Sure, Tony had done things here or there, but the man couldn't fix everything. Mettaton wasn't shoddily built, far from it. But he wasn't anything as sophisticated as the suits Tony made. Titanum alloy? A joke.

His body was refined out of whatever Alphys had been able to find. She did good...he loved this body.

But he was just a pile of scrap with a murderous monster inside at this point.]

Thank you, Alpyhs. I...really...I appreciate you so much. You're a good friend.

I d-don't mind! I mean, if you need help, or, if you don't want to do it now, we can, uhm, find some time... I mean, there's really, uh, n-nothing but time around here. Or I can help you, uhm, find an apartment, or, if you don't want to live alone I have, uhm, a few friends, kind of...

[She has people she knows, at least. But she just wants to make sure he's safe. Stable.

She doesn't want to lose him again. She can't.]

Whatever you, uhm. Want. Or would make you f-feel better, or anything.

[Nothing would make him feel truly better. That's the joke, isn't it? Haha...ha.]

Time is good. Time I can spend with you is even better, though I...really must apologize that I'm asking you to do something for me again. I shouldn't--it's just been a while since I've been looked at by anyone who is so intimate with my workings.

[He pauses. He doesn't...want to put his burden on her.]

I'll go it alone for a little while though. Staying in that lab space will be enough. Maybe I can get my head on straight, hm?

[He offers Alphys a smile. A hollow, empty rictus.]

For now though, why don't we just...talk? Sit with me for a little while.

[Please don't leave him. He'll talk about anything so long as Alphys stays.]

[She tries to smile back, as genuine as he can. Give him some sort of happiness. Regardless, she nods, moves to sit next to him at the lake's shore.]

Of course. I uh, I d-don't have anywhere else I'd rather be.

[And it's true. All she ever wanted was to see him again.]

How've you... I mean, uh, been, I guess? You probably have questions about the city, or, uh, something, and... yeah.

[She wants to ask. Really wants to. But she won't push him until he says something first.]

[Ah...

Mettaton is still happy to have Alphys sit with him, but the question is...definitely a stressful one to consider. He reaches a hand up, settling it against his neck, but his fingers only twitch slightly, rather than grip.

He wants to feel safe, but he also has to be sure of this.]

I've been alright.

[He lies like it's nothing. It's better if she doesn't know everything now, right?]

And I do have a lot of questions, but I don't want to overwhelm you with them either. I'm...curious about this place though. What's it like?

[You know. Aside from the giant three-headed snakes and hyper-realistic soap bars.]

[She shifts her feet a little on the ground, hands absentmindedly fidgeting in her lap, always unable to sit perfectly still. At least he's given her a topic to talk about, even if she has to think of a... delicate way to go about it.]

Well, it's... not s-so bad! I mean, uh, I was kind of worried when I arrived, because of the monsters, but they end up in the caves once people stop coming through the door. After that, uh... y-you know, everybody tries to help each other, and the Gods do look out for us. Uh, as t-they can. Some of them, uh, aren't as approachable? But Hope and Tranquility are nice, and uh, Hope will give you things if you uh, d-do small tasks for him, and stuff.

[Its not... awful here. It could be worse, for being dead.]

And, you know, there's power, and food, and everything, so... nobody's been, uh, really mean or a-anything.

Gods? Oh, that's quaint.

[He sounds a little bit caustic as he says that...but it melts away when he actually addresses Alphys.]

Well, from one place to another, I suppose. I'm at least glad to know that everyone manages to work together. That always helps in a potentially troubling situation, and...having the help of the Gods is never a bad thing.

[Not that he knows anything about these so-called Gods. But you know, they can't be any worse than the shoddy excuses for Captains that he'd finally been liberated from.

Only to be dragged here.

He sighs, despite himself, because he wishes he were back home. Will he ever get to see it again? Is it selfish...to think that now that Alphys is here?]

I mean they do, uhm, s-seem to have some form of magic that controls the reality of this city? And Hope can bring people back from the dead. So it's, uh... I guess they're gods. That's what they like to be called, a-anyway.

[In the same way that humans have a much different perception of what the word 'monster' means.]

I know it's, uhm, not the best, but... people are nice. And that's worth, uh, s-something.

Oh, I'm sure they're gods, regardless of whether they demand to be referred to as such or not. It's just...I guess you would have to have been in my situation to find the humor.

[Or the lack thereof.]

I'm perfectly happy knowing that people are hospitable here, and well. Even if they weren't, having you here makes up for any fault this place might have.

[And oh, he definitely means it. He missed Alphys. Just because he'd come to depend on Asriel since July for stability (read: "stability") didn't mean he'd forgotten Alphys. Even if he wanted to, he could never forget. It was one of the things he'd lamented back on the Moira and eventually Thisavrou.]

[She feels a smile tug at her mouth when he speaks. Always waiting for her. She wonders how long he did, how far he traveled.

She hopes she's worth it. But she doesn't really think so. Nothing's worth being stuck wherever this is, instead of going home.]

I... h-hope I match up. I mean, I'm no god, or... anything like that. Just me.

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Intro Log: Welcome to the Snave (snake cave)

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