hadriel_logs | INTRO LOG: BLACK CATS & WALKING UNDER LADDERS

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INTRO LOG: BLACK CATS & WALKING UNDER LADDERS

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for February.
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: February 10th-13th
Warnings: Fresh meat, creepy moving shadows, terrible luck, the screams of your loved ones.

Welcome to Hadriel, new friends. While waking up on the ground of a broken colosseum may not be the most pleasant arrival, you can at least find comfort in the fact that there's no giant monster immediately attempting to eat you. Plenty of the people already here will tell you that they weren't quite so lucky. But - wait. Is that something moving in the shadows, or is it just your imagination?

Of course it's not just your imagination. That would be way too easy. No, arriving along with everyone this time are wraiths, vengeful spirits that enjoy darkness, shadows, and misery. On the plus side, they won't try to kill you. On the minus side, their touch chills you and saps your energy, as well as inflicting a temporary curse of awful luck. Anything that can go wrong, will, including (and especially) things that might kill you. Wraiths are subtle and sneaky, so be sure to watch your back. That shadow isn't just a shadow.

Compounding the confusion the wraiths can cause, you just might wake up to the sound of chattering voices - only to be quite alone. A small flock of jabberjays has come through the Door as well. These genetically engineered birds are capable of mimicking entire human voices and conversations - as well as screams of terror and pain. Initially only in the arena and bringing only conversations from their world, they'll soon settle throughout the city and begin to learn the voices of those living in Hadriel. Your best friend screaming bloody murder just a street over? It could be them, or it could just be one of these lovely birds. Don't let it stress you out.

Once you've escaped the colosseum, hopefully without accidentally impaling yourself on your own weapon, 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 February 10th-13th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well!
► All characters now arrive with phones that have network communication.
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

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(Newt is extremely used to explaining agonizing things to people. Even before coming to Hadriel. Had to greet all sorts of greenies into the Maze all of the time and had to deal with a whole wide range of shock. Puking, passing out, sobbing, kind of anything and everything in between. He's patient on his best days and while Thom had found him on one of his worst days ever...Newt's already soft on the kid and so his patience has thus been aptly restored.

He's watching Thom carefully- just in case he does pass out.)

Yeah, that sort of thing. Or different timelines from similar worlds or different galaxies or- it really...depends. For example, there's a little girl here whose practically become my sister- well she's from a world that doesn't even have electricity or anything of the sort. Then my roomie is from a world where magic is extremely common. And I'm from a world that's practically dead. So- it's...strange. It's all sorts of worlds. Timelines. Alternate realities. Choose your poison, I suppose. Whatever makes the most sense. One thing's for certain- none of us are from this world.

(He stands up to go fetch the tea from the kettle, letting Thom have his little break down on the table there. He goes about making his tea very quietly. Stirring in some honey and then he's pulling out one of the wrapped sandwiches from the fridge.

He sets the mug and sandwich down in front of Thom and gently rests a hand just against Thom's shoulder.)

It's okay, mate. Not a whole lot of people here are all that cut out for this. But hey.

(He squeezes Thom's shoulder and goes to sit down across from him.)

You're not actually on your own. There's a lot of good people here. And, you know, if you want, this house has four huge rooms. You're more than welcome to stay. I certainly like you. Peter's relaxed about everything so he wouldn't care. That's two people right there.

[thom startles a little at the touch to his shoulder, he honestly can't help it, but it doesn't take him much time to relax under it again and he's slowly raising his head up from the table to stare at the sandwich and tea before dragging the mug over to him and taking a sip to try and clear the taste of sick from his mouth.

he doesn't waste much time after that to pull the sandwich over as well, unwrapping it and taking a huge bite only to choke on it when newt offers him a place to stay out of nowhere.

his hand scrambles for the mug of tea to help clear his throat, but somehow between feeling suddenly chilled again like he had in the colosseum and his looming self-consciousness, the message to his hand gets confused and instead of getting another sip of genuinely good tea, he winds up knocking the entire mug off the side of the table in a spill of hot liquid that scalds his hand as he tries to catch it.

the attempt to stop the mug from hitting the floor continues to go abysmally when thom smacks his head on the edge of the table and tumbles from his chair to the floor with a groan of abject embarrassment before burying his face in his knees with a low and heartfelt:] Oh my god.

(Maybe one day Newt would realize that asking people to live with you that you barely knew was considered socially strange. Until that day though...He was living with the mentality of the Maze ingrained into him. Accepting total strangers was just kind of the way of things.

He's patiently awaiting Thom's response to, well, everything when...well, everything happens. Newt's so stunned that he kind of just gapes. There is a minor attempt in helping, his hands jutting out but it quickly becomes evident that this entire thing is just. Hopeless.

Completely hopeless, oh god.

Then it just- it actually gets worse. How could it get worse? Newt didn't think it possible but there it was, going from bad to worse and he's stuck at a crossroads of laughing his ass off and feeling Intense Concern. The feeling of concern wins out only for the fact that Thom had been physically unwell earlier and Newt's on his knees before he can think of another moment. He hovers by Thom, hands up in the air and okay. Seriously.

Thom, for a healer, you're really good at encouraging heart attacks.)

Are you okay?

(He asks in a rush. He's already clearing away the mug because maybe that'll just be easier to deal with. He grabs a rag from the stove and is soon mopping up spilled tea. The rag gets pushed aside quickly and gentle hands find Thom's shoulders and he gives him another squeeze.)

Hey, you okay? It's fine. Just tea. You hit your head though-

[one more thing happens. the door opens, and peter walks in with two bags full of groceries. he'd only left newt alone for a minute, he fucking swears. well. a few minutes. not nearly enough minutes for there to be a strange boy on his kitchen floor in a puddle of tea.]

Kitten, what the fuc--

[and then he actually looks at newt.]

Newt? Your--you're...

[in a show of abject human empathy, peter steps over thom to go over and ever so gently touch one of the spots on newt's head that had earlier been a livid, open welt and was now whole skin with a smattering of peach-fuzzy hair.]

What the hell is going on here?

(Newt's head snaps up and his mouth falls open. There is just way too much happening. He's not qualified for this. Especially not in his current mental state. He looks down at Thom then back up at Peter and okay, he looks a little bit guilty.

Peter had kind of told him to stay and Newt had wandered off.)

He-

(He starts to offer up an explanation but then Peter is stepping over Thom [which- rude, Peter!] until he remembers that yeah. When Peter had left him alone, Newt had been pretty butchered looking and now- welp.

He wasn't.

Newt briefly shuts his eyes when he's touched and it still feels weird, being healed. It felt like his skin should be ruined still, painful to touch, but Peter's hand just feels like a regular touch.)

Um.

(Eloquent, Newt.

He clears his throat and leaves a hand on Thom's shoulder because the kid had just hit his head and looks up at Peter properly.)

I uh- I met Thom out in the- and he -

(Newt cut himself off because he wasn't sure how to explain Thom's powers exactly. So he kind of just gestured vaguely to himself.)

He helped me. But he got a little sick so I took him back here to give him some tea and he uh- he...

(Newt doesn't actually know what Thom just did. He's pretty sure this wasn't another episode but he could be wrong.)

Peter, this is Thom. Thom, my roommate.

[thom doesn't even react to being stepped over by peter, to be honest, with the way he's feeling right now he'd almost rather prefer it.

in fact newt's concern and gentle touches are really only serving as a reason for thom to bury his face even deeper into his knees and actually? this almost seems like the perfect time to have a seizure? any excuse he can take to extricate himself from this situation would be great, really.]

Just kill me. [he mumbles, mostly into his leg, but also maybe a bit to whatever higher power might possibly be listening right now and willing to take pity on him. at his name and the introduction, thom manages to convince himself to drag his head up just enough to see peter over the top of his knees, offering him an entirely unimpressive:] Hi.

Sorry about, uh. ['me', he's extremely tempted to say.] Everything.

[peter takes all this in silently, still touching newt's head with an absent sort of wonder.]

You said you'd stay put. Instead you go out and bring home another stray?

[the words are accusing but not in the least angry, directed at newt. then he looks down at thom. there's a moment of hesitation, and then he squats down beside newt, forearms on his thighs. there are a lot of rings on his fingers, silver ones, and his nails are a bit long for a boy.]

You...healed him? What'd that cost you? That why you got sick? Some kind of trade?

[the questions should sound like an interrogation, but they don't. they're just a scruffy looking guy squatting there, absolutely and not for a moment doubting that thom healed newt.]

(Newt looks a little more guilty after Peter mentions that. He takes his hand off of Thom. No need to cause the poor guy any more emotional torment.)

I know. I'm sorry.

(He means it in earnest, at least. He doesn't really know why he had wandered off anyway. His mind wasn't all there still and that's his only real defense in the matter.

He glances down at Thom and frowns a little bit. His hand goes to Thom's head then because he had definitely smacked that. He tips his own head to squint down at Thom's head- mostly to make sure that he hadn't cut himself open. Although really, if Thom could heal Newt then he could probably heal himself.)

In all fairness, he's a bloody adorable stray.

(He withdraws his hand a moment later and pushes himself up to his feet. He mops up the rest of the tea and tosses the rag into the sink.)

I'll make you another cup, Thom.

(And gets to work on exactly that.)

[and yep, thom is back to burying his face in his knees at the comment and hand on his head, but probably not quick enough to completely avoid anyone getting a glimpse of his suddenly bright red cheeks.

not that it matters either way, because his ears are red too and basically there's no possible way to pretend he isn't blushing right now.]

It doesn't really cost me anything. [thom says without lifting his head, pitching his voice loud enough for peter to hear him regardless.] Not usually anyway, not anymore. I guess it used to cause seizures but normal stuff like what I did for Newt or whatever doesn't really bother me anymore.

Or it wouldn't have, but I kind of wound up wearing myself out at a hospital right before I woke up here so I'm not really at my best right now?

[which still had nothing to do with all the tea spilling nonsense but maybe he could pretend it did anyway.]

Just...don't do it again.

[that's to newt, before peter leans back in to listen to thom's explanation.]

Okay. Where I come from, that kind of shit's not free. Doesn't sound like it's quite free for you either, but definitely cheaper. Now come on, stop cringing on the floor. Nobody's going to kick you over some spilled tea, and you have a perfectly good sandwich here.

[there's something uncomfortable in peter's chest from newt calling thom adorable, but he also can't quite deny that there's something about this cringing, seemingly harmless creature that does bring words like adorable to mind. he offers the other boy a hand up, gently tapping his forearm to get his attention.]

Newt has a good instinct about strays.

(Newt doesn't say anything to that. He wouldn't leave again. He already felt bad about it and guilt was a pretty useful tool in getting Newt to do something. That and disappointing Peter sucked.

He has a second cup of tea relatively soon and sets it down onto the table a lot more inward than the first cup. Just in case, you know, Thom decides to do another nose dive.

He may or may not also be smirking the teeeeensiest bit at Thom blushing.)

He's right, you know. The floor's not nearly as comfortable as our chairs, mate.

(He sits down on one himself, drawing both of his knees up to his chest to rest his arms over them.)

Relatively good judgement. Peter's a bit rabid but he's endearing in his own scruffy man-child way. But you're shaping up to be quite lovely already.

[the 'lovely' comment isn't exactly helping settle thom's nerves any either, to be honest. he's in no way used to being complimented (???) quite so much in such a short period of time over anything that wasn't, like, the number of points he scored in a basketball game, and thom is genuinely at a loss for how to handle any of this.

he's still blushing pretty firmly as he eases his face up to look warily at peter following the nudge, and whatever heavy hit his head took to the table earlier there doesn't appear to be any problem with his forehead now.

thom sheepishly accepts the helping hand up and eases himself carefully back into his chair with a sigh.] I'm not usually this clumsy, I swear. [he says, nudging at the sandwich in front of him cautiously now.]

And I don't know about free, but where I come from some people are just sort of born with special abilities like super strength or flight or invisibility... [a shrug. it's not like he exactly understands the science behind it or anything, he was still in high school after all. and there were people like justice or scarlett to contend with as well that didn't exactly fall into the neat little box labeled 'genetics'.]

Newt, I think he's going to die of chronic embarrassment if you keep telling him he's so much more darling than I am.

[peter also sounds amused by thom's pain, sorry thom. but he's used to nearly every word out of newt's mouth being something flirtatious, and the whole thing seems to have put newt in a better mood than he's been in since he got back. peter leans a hip against the table once thom is seated, arms folded across his chest in a way that manages to not be imposing at all. peter is just really not an imposing guy.]

So it's not magic, then? Or it is, but you're born that way? Something like that?

(Newt looks over at Thom rather thoughtfully. Beauty of Newt is that he doesn't actually have any idea when he is or isn't flirting. Not a whole lot of social grounding in this one. He mostly just talks how he wants to talk to people and Thom's become a victim of it. Congratulations.)

I've only let him know he's more darling than you once.

(Newt finds this to be a perfectly reasonable amount of times to let someone know something like that. He didn't count the adorable thing. Thom is adorable. In a pathetic, mopey sort of way.

It's true though. All of this, being healed, being distracted by Thom, having people to talk to- it has Newt in a better mood. To an extent, anyway.)

I think it's more science based than that.

(Newt says mildly and for once, it's not really him putting down Peter's notion of magic. They hadn't really talked about magic in a way that Newt can wrap his mind around but the way Thom had explained his powers earlier really had sounded a bit more on the science end of things than the magic end of things.

Then again, this whole people-with-powers thing is definitely a little out of his depth. He can accept it no problem but once he starts using his brain? Yeah, it can be a bit frazzled.)

[yeah peter, because calling thom out on his embarrassment was definitely helping him, you know, not be embarrassed anymore. oh wait, no, making it worse, yeah, that's what i meant. making it worse.

thom honestly only picks up the sandwich again at this point for something to look at that isn't either of the other two boys in the room with him in the vain hope that someday soon maybe he'll finally stop blushing. so much for thinking he was even a little bit subtle about this sort of thing.]

It's probably more science than magic, yeah. I mean, Justice is from another planet, so that's why he has powers, and there's a girl on my team that got her powers from growing up next to a nuclear power plant. My mom had powers, so I have powers. [he offers up a pretty flimsy shrug here and finally takes another bite of the sandwich, chewing carefully and swallowing before speaking again.]

Or something like that anyway.

[peter is, by his very nature, a helper like that. also, get used to it, thom, these two are terrible. but peter is listening to him, taking what he says seriously. it's just newt that he gives a line of shit to.]

So partially genetics, partially mutation...pretty weird. No offense, though, weird shit is kinda my daily life. So you can heal people. That's a pretty awesome thing to be able to do. Useful and awesome. Good job, Newt, you found a keeper. This is, by the way, Newt's Home for Wayward Boys. I'm just the only wayward enough one he's found until now.

(Newt is rather quiet during this exchange. He zones out the slightest bit without meaning to and it's not until Peter speaks his name that he his expression clears a little.

He looks over, a little foggy. The two boys were a pretty good distraction for the most part but Newt really still isn't all there. It takes a moment longer for him to realize what Peter had said about him and eventually he gives a wry, half-smile.)

He's not exactly wrong.

(He pulls himself together a bit better and sits straight in his seat, focusing on the other two. Right. Focus.)

You really can stay here if you like. I know we've kind of traumatized you but the offer is completely sincere. There's three rooms here you can pick from. I'd say you can join us in our room but I don't think we could squeeze in a third bed.

(Annnnnnnnnd no Newt does not actually find this a weird thing. Nope. His voice and face are void of embarrassment.)

[thom's shoulders manage to tense ever so slightly when peter first calls his abilities 'weird' but he relaxes them again immediately after when peter adds that weird isn't necessarily bad. he's a little sensitive about this sort of thing, sorry peter.

either way, he sends a tentative sort of hopeful smile peter's way at being referred to as a "keeper". he's not even going to argue about being labeled a wayward boy as well because, well, he can't exactly refute that point right now. it's not the worst thing he's ever been labeled with, particularly in such company.]

I'd like that. [thom tells newt, though if anyone had traumatized him today with was honestly only himself. he was just so very good at it.

case in point here, where he once again finds himself blushing (though at least it's a bit more subtle this time around. it's almost like he's getting inured to all this nonsense).] The other room, I mean. You don't need to... do. That. Squeeze me in.

[oh god thom, why.] I mean--

[peter looks at thom for a minute before shaking his head, not quite hiding a smile.]

You've really got a hell of a case of foot-in-mouth, y'know. I see why Newt finds you so charming. If I were you, I'd take one of the bedrooms upstairs, since the open one down here doesn't have a mattress. Or move one of the ones upstairs down here, it's all the same to me. There's no smoking in the house, says house mom-- [he gestures at newt] --but that's what the balconies are for. Newt also owns the kitchen and gets very fussy if people who are me try and cook things, so good luck on that. Laundry is every five days or so, but you can do your own if you want to keep your socks and underwear sacrosanct.

[which...peter and newt are apparently too lazy to do.]

(Newt just kind of blinks slowly and obliviously. He realizes he's missed some sort of something but that's not new. This time it has nothing to do with his state- he just kind of winds up looking from Peter to Thom and then back to Peter as if asking him to explain what he just missed.

You're so lucky, Thom. Newt's pretty oblivious to a lot of accidental innuendos.

Peter begins rattling off the house rules and the funny thing is Newt just looks proud of him. He smiles a bit and reaches out, patting Peter on his face.)

Look at that. You're so well-trained.

(He coos the last bit at Peter like he's a giant puppy. Which, you know, he basically kind of is. He removes his hand from Peter and drops it onto the table.)

Tell me about it. [thom groans lowly and yep, he's hiding his face in his hands again, thought at least this time it's only for a moment before raising his head again and he isn't even blushing this time.

his foot in mouth thing isn't really anything new, he's kind of used to making a fool of himself, it's almost... comfortable in its familiarity. except for how there's nothing comfortable about this sort of thing at all, of course.]

Oh, I don't smoke. [he hurries to reassure(???) peter, only for a laugh to get startled out of him by newt's treatment of peter, which he quickly smothers by covering his mouth with both hands.]

That's okay, you can start anytime. I'm slowly corrupting Newt.

[smoking, he means. he doesn't sound in the slightest bit repentant, either. he rolls his eyes at newt patting his cheek, but doesn't move away from it, just gives an extremely halfhearted swat at the other boy's arm that makes it clear he's used to and tolerant of this.]

What can I say, I like to be fed.

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INTRO LOG: BLACK CATS & WALKING UNDER LADDERS

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