etrayalogs | OCTOBER MINGLE

Entry tags:

OCTOBER MINGLE

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: October 25th - Early November
WHERE: Etraya
WHAT: The arrival of newcomers, and some holiday fun!
NOTES\WARNINGS: Supernatural elements, temporary physical alterations, mild horror and jump scares, spooky scary skeleton robots, mild suggestion of compulsion or loss of control, mild body horror.

⏵ arrival ⏴
Welcome to Etraya! Everything is fine now. 😊

Arrival goes expected - or it does for the most part. Aurora greets newcomers in the hospital as they awaken, offers a brief explanation and gives them their earpiece so they can communicate with one another.

Around the hospital and outside of it, Companion Bots are hard at work decorating the city for Halloween—complete with festive touches like pumpkins, cobwebs, and glowing ghost decorations. The atmosphere is fun, light-hearted, and maybe just a little spooky. 🎃👻

Some carry buckets of candy, and offer those they come across a trick or treat. Except both options are, in fact, treats. 🍬 Tricks are treats specifically wrapped in a green wrapper that very clearly declares that they are tricks. Treats are wrapped in orange, and labeled with treat! Companion bots will recommend that those who do want to take a trick take them when they're beside their friends. There won't be any permanent effects from these, nor will they be terrible tricks - just fun ones! All effects last roughly 24 hours.

Giggle Drops cause uncontrollable giggling that bubbles up randomly, even during serious conversations.
Beasty Bites cause characters to grow small fangs, and they will begin craving red foods - apples, cherries, etc.
Bat Gummies cause small, bat-like shadows to follow characters around wherever they wander. These shadows are harmless, and super cute.
Pumpkin Puff is a cotton-candy-like treat, that causes their voices to change dramatically. Either becoming significantly deeper or perhaps very high-pitched, as if they've recently inhaled helium.
Floating Fudge gives characters the ability to float in the air! Just a few feet off the ground, but it's still fun. Right?

⏵ getting spooky! ⏴
Etraya is embracing the season - and maybe even going a little overboard.

Around the hospital, a few small pop-up shops are manned by festively dressed companion bots. They offer samples to everyone - although sampling isn't really necessary. After all, everything here is free!

Candy Shops: Perfect for stocking up on sweets and treats for the upcoming trick-or-treating event. These will not stock the tricks the companion bots offer around Etraya, but instead only carry harmless sweets. They do take custom requests, too, and are happy to create the treats others want!

Costume Shops: Find the perfect costume for Halloween! But beware... rumor has it, if you wear a costume, you might become whatever you dressed up as for a few hours. Those who put on vampire costumes may find themselves suddenly craving blood and growing fangs - those with werewolf costumes may find themselves feeling a little wolfish. These effects may last a few hours, up to a few days.

⏵ masquerade ⏴

In the spirit of mystery, Etraya will be hosting a Masquerade Ball outside the hospital through the nights of October 26th and 27th. Dance anonymously with other attendees and make new friends under the cover of your disguise. Everyone receives a single rose they can exchange with someone else throughout the evening. At the stroke of midnight, the roses will reveal the true identities of your masked dance partners. 🌹

⏵ all hallow's eve ⏴

On October 31st, multiple companion bots set up shop along one of the walkways through the larger island towards the center. With chairs and small booths set up, they offer candies out to trick-or-treaters who wander around through the first part of the night. Some of them will request trick-or-treaters to do a trick for them, to earn a bigger treat! They may ask characters to dance, sing, or show a talent unique to them. Can your character bend themselves into a pretzel? They want to see it, and will offer them a nice bracelet in exchange! Can they whistle super loud? Maybe they'll get a nice piece of kevlar armor after showing off. This can be anything within reason - bike parts, small weaponry, armor pieces, toys, canvases for painting. Please request these items HERE.

Not everything is as light-hearted as it seems, however. Aurora issues a warning to the citizens of Etraya: Do not stay outside after midnight. Strange happenings have been reported, and those who disobey may start seeing visions of past loved ones. The visions are compelling—guiding people away from the safety of the buildings and into the mysterious mist surrounding the outskirts.

But be careful, these spirits may not be as friendly as they seem.

If you come into contact with these ghosts, you’ll feel a chilling cold, leading to hypothermia-like symptoms. The longer you’re exposed, the worse it gets. Treatment? You’ll need to be warmed up quickly.

⏵ skellys! ⏴

The Companion Bots wanted to join in on the fun, so they painted themselves with glow-in-the-dark paint to look like skeletons. But in the dead of night, for those already suffering from the chilling touch of the ghosts, seeing glowing skeletons approach from the darkness might not be the most comforting sight. 🤖💀

Stay safe, warm up, and enjoy the festivities!

⏵ NOTES ⏴

For all questions relating to this log, please refer to the mod queries comment. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

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[ Krouse laughs, a quiet, papery sound. He tilts his head and his glass in opposite directions, affecting a slight shrug. ]

According to some reliable sources, I don't need the excuse of a mask to act like an idiot.

[ But it helps. Even when you're not actually anonymous. ]

Appreciate it, though. [ He shifts back to his watchful stance, attention flickering over the party before it snaps back to John. ] So. You're settling in.

[ He's only met John the once, but it was memorable. He didn't catch it until John said his name, though, which feels sloppy on his part. ]

Any ideas on how this is measuring our merits as universal saviours? Because I'm at a loss.

[ Yeah, John was right. Teasing Krouse is fun. He even gives a small smile. Just a small one. ]

To be honest I was hoping you would tell me. Or [ John gestures at the room with his very much full glass, ] this is a treat. Maybe even a reward.

[ It's odd, getting a positive reaction to his smart mouth from anyone over the age of twenty-one. Not bad odd. Just unexpected.

The corners of his eyes crinkle inside the eyeholes of his mask in a suggestion of a lopsided, rueful smirk behind it. ]

You have to provide enrichment for the lab rats, right?

[ That's someone else's joke, but she's not here anymore to tell it.

She'd have thought this whole thing was a waste of time. She'd probably be stalking through the party like a restless, puffy-tailed cat in some off-the-rack party dress, scouring the event for angles, and - he's not thinking about her. His smile falters, but only for a split second, a tiny twitch of tension rising up and resolved in the same heartbeat. ]

Foster social bonds, put some of the nice lab chemicals in the water, that kind of thing.

So sure. Reward. Let's go with that. Are you feeling rewarded for your compliance?

[ John is inclined to agree with Krouse on this one. Lab rats, indeed. He doesn't seem pleased about that, but if John wasn't trained to watch people he doesn't think he would have caught it. Not that it's a pleasant idea, he can't blame the kid. ]

I've gotten to talk with some interesting people tonight, so I suppose I am. Are you?

[ There's a relaxed quality to John tonight, in his posture and voice, like he's comfortable; in control. The tension from their first meeting is gone.

[ John's got his feet under him. That's good. It's not an entirely uncomplicated kind of good, given that Krouse expects this place will find a way to kick him off of them again in due time - but for now, he's going to try to just appreciate one person having their shit somewhat together. ]

I always feel rewarded for my compliance.

[ That's a easy, obvious lie, which is to say it's a joke. His eyes crinkle further, evidence of a widening smile. ]

But you've been talking to some interesting people, huh? Any idea who they are? Maybe we're forming mutual acquaintances already.

[ John can tell Krouse is smiling, joking. They're both doing better tonight. Obviously Krouse has a lot of experience on John, clearly can take care of himself to some extent— but he is still a kid, at least in John's eyes. He's always had a soft spot for kids. It's good to see Krouse making something good out of a bad situation. ]

No clue, you'd have to tell me. You're the first person tonight that I've recognized. [ Apart from Harold, which makes him realize— ] I've actually been meaning to talk to you. You saved Finch from the shadows. Thank you.

[ It's perhaps the most sincere thing he's said since his arrival. Except, maybe, something he's said to Harold. That hardly counts. ]

[ Krouse's kneejerk response is to say: who?

He knows who. He doesn't meet enough people he's whisking away from shadow creatures on ill-advised impulse that they blend together. But the sincerity in John's direct, simple thank you makes him want to flinch from it, a reflexive recoil he doesn't even know the reason for.

(Yes, he does.) ]

Mutual acquaintance, huh?

[ More than an acquaintance, in John's case. That's easy enough to clock. Someone close enough that John is grateful he's not so much vanished nothing in the black pits at the bottom of the shadows. Krouse's voice is carefully casual, trying to find nonchalance that doesn't make him sound like a dismissive dick again. ]

'Saved' is a strong word. I was in the neighbourhood.

[ That's worse. That makes it sound like a cousin of the kind of humblebragging that he can't stand, that I was only doing my job, sir and or ma'am patter of the modest local hero playing up their modesty for a press interview. ]

...he's good now, though?

[ And worse still. He can hear the uncertain curl of the question, like he's invested in the answer. Like dragging someone out of a tight corner once gives Krouse some level of attachment to anything that happens to them after that, like he thought about it later, even in passing. The fact he did think about it is just the cherry on top of the bullshit sundae.

It's all microexpressions around the eyes, this little whirlwind of conflicted responses: awkwardness, discomfort, vague guilt, inward irritation, reluctant and unexpected follow up concern. ]

[ There's something complicated happening to Krouse right now, John just doesn't know him well enough to understand what. He doesn't try to decipher it, not now, and he doesn't think he'll have enough context to remember all the details later. Sometimes it's just like that; he'll just have to get to know Krouse better.

John also dodges around the "mutual acquaintance" comment. Harold said they would be "partners" here but John isn't about to go around introducing himself as such. As much as Harold believes he can be mysterious and get away with it, John doesn't have that kind of faith. And he's not entirely sure he wants to face the potential implications of that. They're "partners" in the way that business men are, that's just— not everyone's first reaction to the phrase. And he can't really explain what they truly are. ]

He's good. He's around here somewhere if you wanted to say hi.

[ John says "somewhere" but he knows exactly where Harold is. ]

Edited 2024-10-31 07:02 (UTC)

I'll keep an eye out.

[ Krouse gets a grip, reining in all of whatever that was as he readjusts the full glass he's holding. Harold is good. He's around somewhere. It's not some kind of thing.

Part of him, reflexively, starts trying to think about it tactically. He's managed to secure a new connection, two potentially valuable allies who think that he's a reliable, helpful -

Then he stops thinking about it like that. It's not some moral qualm or sliver of self-improvement finally turning up. He's just fucking tired. ]

I don't know if I should say 'good for you two' or 'my condolences', [ he says, wryly ] on the one hand, you've got someone you can presumably count on to also not want your universe scrapped. On the other, well - I wouldn't want to see anyone I was attached to end up here. Stressful.

[ John thinks back to the first two days he was here without Harold. How he started cutting himself down into something sharp and pointed, how he only managed to close his eyes in a secluded corner at night, how everyone around him was just a thing he could use. And then he found Harold and that changed. How Harold changed him, again— reminded him of who he is now. They don't see eye to eye on everything, but John trusts Harold. He'd be dead without him.

John is glad he didn't have to remember how to do this on his own. ]

I'll protect him.

[ And that's that. ]

[ Krouse recognizes that certainty. Not the words themselves, because Krouse was never good at protecting, but the simple, factual lodestone pull of the tone. John will protect Harold. There's no or, if, or but.

For a moment, Krouse's fingers tighten on the stem of his glass, pads slipping on the condensation. ]

Lucky guy.

[ He has no idea what their relationship is. He probably doesn't need to know. He prefers not getting caught up in other people's business like that. But Harold's a lucky guy. Krouse can bet that John has a whole list of reasons why Harold's not lucky, that he earned this kind of loyalty, but again - Krouse doesn't need to know, so he's not going to ask.

He'll just raise his glass in a toast, easily sardonic again. ]

To keeping him out of shadow infested apocalypse city, next time? If that's not terribly inconvenient.

[ John can't help but give a little smirk as he clinks glasses with Krouse, though he doesn't drink in the aftermath. ]

To my credit, I didn't know he was here yet. Next time, you have my word.

[ John will go instead of Harold because he can take care of himself under such circumstances. This is why their division of labor involves Harold behind a computer and John running around the city. ]

Do you know anyone else here? From your world?

[ Krouse doesn't drink either. It's about the gesture. Same goes for nodding at John's disclaimer about not knowing Harold was around yet. John just doesn't seem like a guy who'd sign off comfortably on 'book search in the creepy city' without notes.

As for people Krouse knows - he scoffs. ]

Yeah. A few. If you meet a small, creepy child, the girl with the most strikingly peculiar bedside manner in the multiverse, or the most annoying blonde girl imaginable? That's them.

[ He didn't use to admit to knowing them. Listing them off, he kind of remembers why. ]

Riley, Amy, Lisa. You probably don't want to know them.

[ But Krouse says it without rancor, which is also a novel development. They're almost all on casual speaking terms these days, incredibly. For a certain measure of 'casual speaking terms'. ]

[ It sounds like how John would talk about his... well, calling them friends would be... his associates from back home. Imagine if Fusco was here. The thought is amusing. ]

So what you're saying is that I should be on the lookout so I can hear embarrassing stories about you.

[ It's a tease. He probably wouldn't do that. Probably. ]

[ It's not necessarily easy to pull off an aghast look behind a mask, but Krouse is actually fairly good at emoting without most of his face when he wants to be. Looking aghast is a good cover for looking, briefly, deeply unsettled. ]

Yeah. I don't know that they could give you much on that front.

[ Or: embarrassing is only technically one of the words that applies to the stories they could tell about him. Another word that springs to mind is severely incriminating. And Krouse is eighteen enough that both prospects feel almost equally terrible. ]

Tell you what. I don't ask Finch about your embarrassing stories, you don't ask my fellow multiversal travelers about mine. Deal?

[ Krouse called Harold "Finch" and John is struck by how pleased that makes him. Krouse might have saved Harold, but John is wary of people being overly familiar with Harold. It just doesn't seem right. They've been forced into close quarters here, but Harold is, truly, a very private person. ]

I'm pretty sure I don't have any embarrassing stories, but you have a deal.

[ John is always cool. He's always competent. He definitely hasn't needed Carter to save him a handful of times, he always had the situation under control. ]

You have no embarrassing stories?

[ The disbelief is palpable and friendly. John's too level-headed seeming a guy to lack both the self-awareness that everyone has embarrassing stories and to have nothing he's embarrassed about. Shamelessness is reserved for the delusionally confident and the blithely apathetic.

It's a lot more likely that Harold, or Finch, isn't the kind of person who's going to divulge those stories to some random teenager. Which is why it's a funny angle to push. ]

You can't tell me that after we struck the deal. Now I'm overcome with curiosity.

[ It's hidden behind his mask but John raises one eyebrow skeptically. ]

Do I seem like the kind of guy that has embarrassing stories?

[ There was that one time with the Aryan Brotherhood thug where Carter had to come to his rescue... or when Theresa cut his hand while he was trying to catch her... really, it could happen to anyone. ]

The less likely a person is to be embarrassing, the more embarrassing stories they have. It's kind of an inverse law.

[ Krouse leans in, like he's confiding a secret. ]

If someone is consistently embarrassing, those are anecdotes. Part of a general life pattern, right? That's not really a story, per se. When someone who's usually on the ball blows it, though? That's a story. You have to find out why someone who isn't embarrassing got themselves into that predicament. There's a narrative arc, motive, cast of characters, the whole thing.

So yeah. In your case? There has to be a decent catalogue.

[ Oh, two can play this game. ]

So I guess you have plenty of anecdotes?

[ John isn't going to justify Krouse's comments on himself, he's turning the conversation around. Certainly he's not going to tell any of his own stories. Not that he has them, to be clear. ]

[ Well-played, old(ish) man. ]

Harsh.

[ Krouse says it with a smile behind his mask, unruffled by the accurate hit. ]

Harsh, but fair. I hear it's something people theoretically grow out of.

[ He's willing to cop to being eighteen going on nineteen, a fundamentally embarrassing age to be. If he can't deny it, he might as well lean into it, as unfamiliar as conceding anything about his age to someone older feels. ]

I'm assuming you were a teenager, once upon a time. Back before they invented color television, right?

[ Okay he's not that old. ]

Clearly you weren't paying attention in history class. When do you think color television was invented?

[ John does actually know the answer but he's not sure Krouse does.

[ Krouse never finished high school, and the only parts of history class he found interesting were earlier than colour television. ]

If I'm remembering my Flintstones right, shortly after the wheel, but before the extinction of the domestic dinosaur.

[ He grins behind his mask. ]

[ Oh, haha, he gets the joke. ]

It was 1953, though it took a decade or so to become mainstream. No one had black and white television when I was growing up and the Flintstones had long since aired. How old do you think I am?

[ He both does and doesn't want to know. ]

You know that off the top of your head?

[ And yet he doesn't know Star Trek. Krouse reshuffles John into a different category of trivia collector, the kind most often found on forums discussing classic cars or herpetology. Practical nerds.

Krouse gives John a once over, evaluating. Definitely over thirty. Fifty seemed too old. ]

And genuine guess? Thirty five to forty five. You're in good shape for your age, but - [ Krouse gestures at his own temple to indicate John's touch of grey ] - I'm assuming you've been stressed longer than you've been here.

That, and you just seem sick of everyone's tomfoolery. You also seem like a guy who might unironically say tomfoolery, if the circumstances were dire enough. Sorry.

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