etrayalogs | MAY MINGLE

MAY MINGLE

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: May 17th-31st
WHERE: On Etraya
WHAT: A mingle log!
NOTES\WARNINGS: N/A, please note any needed warnings in threads.

⏵ a hero's return ⏴

As champions exit the Labyrinth, they’ll find that their environment has gone through some fairly drastic changes. Where there used to be larger bodies of water is now thinner rivers going through land; the amount of bridges connecting landmasses has decreased, given what had been individual islands are now much more connected. In addition, Etraya is significantly more green; flowers bloom, birds chirp cheerfully, and there are numerous additional species of insects, mammals, and aquatic creatures throughout the lands. Baby foxes roam through forested areas, bees pollinate the flowers to spread them more thoroughly around the inhabited areas, and it feels brighter. Or perhaps that’s just in comparison to how the Labyrinth had been.

There are more areas to explore, new facilities, animals, and Etraya feels significantly more settled than it had before. Aurora’s promise of renovations had been true. And if one looks up, they may notice a city bubble visible on the closest planet that hadn't been visible before.

⏵ coffee break ⏴
After hearing Clarke’s suggestion, Aurora sets up a new cafe close to the apartment complex, and sends out notices to individuals with mandatory coffee hour times listed for them to come to Corrine's Cafe and make a few friends.

While the note does state that it is mandatory, there will be no follow-up from Aurora nor the companion bots to ensure those who receive notes do show. Given this is Aurora trying to take suggestions in mind and see how successful they are among the citizens of Etraya, however, following directives may not be a terrible idea.

It's up like a modern-day, smaller cafe. One walks in through the front door, and is greeted by a companion bot behind the counter who offers a wave of their hand and a friendly “Welcome! Let me know when you’re ready to order”. The menu offers lattes, mochas, espresso, black coffee, several different kinds of teas, and a few drinks that are a little odd to find in a cafe; ale, canned sodas and coffees, numerous bottles of wine, but only pinot noir.

Soft music plays in the background, impossible to place but it sounds as if it may be based on tracks that were popular in the early 90s.

Tables and booths are set up to seat two to four, with packets of sugar and small containers of creamer set out towards the middle. There are charging stations set up at every table, which may seem strange considering phones and laptops aren’t widely available, but Aurora’s doing her best. There are also a few bookshelves full of the classics, a few historical fiction, and several written by H.P. Lovecraft.

Each seat has a placard in front of it, with a name, and a ‘fun fact’. One might say “Hello! My name is Joe, and I like to paint!” Another may say “Hi, I’m Jill! My sister died tragically in front of me and I’ve never gotten over it.”

⏵ new horizons ⏴

Several of the new bridges found in Etraya now have signs posted just outside of them, and on those signs is a QR code that the earpiece’s HUD can scan. Scanning this with the HUD will bring up a scavenger hunt, listing several items and circling areas where they can be found.

Some of these objects will be obvious: find Corrine at Corrine’s Cafe - the companion bot who runs the counter, find a delicious meal at Bangsan Market, break into S.T.A.R Labs, or find room 87 at Point Blanc Academy. Some will be less obvious, like locating a bat, becoming friends with an archer, find a pink shirt, open bagged milk without making a mess, or get a drink at the mutant-friendly pub. Please feel free to make up your own items to find around Etraya!

⏵ NOTES ⏴
Welcome to our mid-month mingle!

Please feel free to use this to explore Etraya, put up wildcard prompts (you don't need to use the above!), or use the open prompts to assist in jumpstarting cr.

This mingle covers the period from May 17th to May 31st. Our next mission (and next mod log) will not go up until June 7th.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I only got information about renovations. [ She'd asked about the atmosphere, and got strange answers about renovating, or something. Maybe she should have asked for something like Clint did?

Still, her eyes squint in confusion at what he says. Points? Tools? ]

A copy of a bow, and replica of a building... Does she realize that copies and replicas mean the same thing? [ She doesn't get it. ]

The terminology is certainly interesting, however. Copies imply that... more can be made. A second bow? A third building? And these can all be requested with... [ a beat. ] points, of some kind?

[ She thinks a little further, and then: ] Do you think we are in a twisted gameshow of some sort?

( twisted gameshow, she says, and he pulls a face, attention sliding over to the companion bot behind the counter. he mutters a clearly audible ugh, distaste pulling at the corners of his mouth. ) What, like Arcade's thing? With the murderbots? God, I hate that. I hate him.

( that would suck.

but he doesn't linger on the topic. instead, he moves on because ororo brings up a good point. he hums before speaking— )

Yeah, I thought it maybe meant that getting my bow — the one that's currently in my apartment, mounted right above my couch where I fell asleep — is different to getting a copy. That it means there's a chance of defects, or it's not quite what you're expecting, 'cause Aurora — or whoever — has to make it rather than bring it here.

And then I thought that maybe it's just a quirk of programming language, and kinda wished Viz was here to translate.

But it kinda sounded like there are things we can ask for and Aurora'll give them to us if she thinks we've earned them, and then there are things that Aurora'll provide for us — like buildings — if she's, I dunno, feeling in the mood? Benevolent?

Like Arcade, yes. Or Mojo. [ Her frown deepens. She won't repeat what he says, but it's obvious she shares the sentiment. ] They are more overt, however. And very particular about letting us know that we have them, specifically, to blame. [ And not, you know, anyone else. It wouldn't do to let another villain get all the credit for their creative genius, after all.

She sighs. ]

A benevolent god, then. Who measures the worth of her world's people through some arbitrary points system... Wonderful.

There are so many new buildings now, though. Borne from that kindness. Do you think we can trust them? Have you seen any of the new ones?

I don't trust any of this, Storm. ( it's comes out more tired than he means it to, because that hasn't changed, not from arrival not through to the labyrinth, and certainly not with this "mandatory" coffee session. he knows it's a little hypocritical — he'd chided kate for deciding to use bishop's building as a new base of sorts, but as soon as aurora had mentioned (a copy of) his bow would be in the labyrinth, he hadn't thought twice about taking it.

hadn't even thought twice about asking her for it, either. )

There's my building, ( he adds after a breath of a pause. it's meant as explanation, a furthering of why he's still reluctant to trust. then, because he's not sure if ororo's familiar— ) The apartment building in Bed-Stuy I bought a few years back. I haven't told Kate yet, or Bobbi, 'cause—.

( he runs a hand through his hair. )

Need to make sure it is safe, y'know? Feels like someone's just trying to ( what's the term— ) lovebomb us with things that are familiar and homey, so we overlook how messed up all this really is.

[ She's not familiar with the term, but the way he uses it makes something unpleasant curl in her gut. Because he's right; she, too, can't shake the uncertain feeling that something here, something in all the gifts that come after putting them into a labyrinth for unclear reasons, is... very wrong.

There isn't even much they can actually do just yet. That's a separate frustration that they have to figure out another time. But for now... ]

You told me, however. [ For whatever reason. She'll examine the why for it later. ] Shall I help you make sure it is safe? [ She gets to her feet. Good thing her drink is in a to-go cup. ]

( the why isn't something he's really thought about either, it's just that telling ororo felt more of the right decision than not. that maybe it's because when kate and bobbi find out it's here and he didn't say anything, he can point at ororo and say he wasn't hiding the fact that it's here, he told her, he just forgot to mention it. he hadn't seen them after realising it was here and then stuff happened and— whatever, it wasn't deliberate.

he's never been an especially good liar, but he's always been good at bending the truth. at playing with facts. at cheating.

he doesn't expect ororo to offer to investigate it with him, and the surprise flits across his expression entirely unsmoothly. she gets to her feet before he's really had time to think about it, and it takes him a second to untangle his legs and join her. his coffee's not in a to-go cup and he looks briefly and momentarily disappointed by that before opting to neck the rest of it.

(waste not, want not and all that.) )

It's not far. Next little island over. Can't miss it, it's a solid piece of Brooklyn architecture. ( compared to the everything else of the everything else. )

As opposed to the rest of the architecture?

[ They're thinking the same things, it seems. But it was pretty easy to point out. And: ] There's something else from home, too. A place we... [ -- the X-Men -- ] that I used to frequent, with friends. I've not investigated it myself yet, but perhaps I will, after this.

[ Maybe if this proves to be safe under their own scrutiny, it would be easier to go in there. ]

It isn't from Brooklyn, however. Westchester, where the Institute used to be.

( he glances at her out of the corner of his eyes when she mentions 'something else', a little watchful as she amends 'we' into 'I'. he doesn't know if it'd be good form to offer to give her a hand in return for coming with him, and so he doesn't say anything for now. they'll cross that bridge (ha—) when they get to it. )

Westchester was always a bit rich for me, ( he says instead. it's a remark devoid of the context that the only reason clint had ended up where he'd ended up was because the rent was cheap as far as brooklyn went these days, that up until the whole thing with barney and zemo, even though he'd had money, he'd never had money. (then barney had stolen it all back, the shit—. and then he'd been ronin again, because he's a shit too, and that'd been a good way to get SOME money.)

but that's where he leaves it, adjusting his quiver a little as they step outside the coffee shop, bow held in his free hand. a brief pause, and he looks one way then the other before deciding: that way, and he indicates the direction with a point of his bow. )

It is, isn't it? Or it had been, the last time we had been there. [ Ages and ages ago, now. When the school had been renamed in Jean's name, it felt more removed from the rest of the county. But in the old days (goddess, when did she start sounding so old?), when the X-Men weren't public and they could still drive downtown... she felt it, then. ]

The mansion itself was quite opulent, even the first time I was brought there. I was very surprised. But I hadn't realized how well-off the surrounding town was until I explored the rest of New York.

[ She takes a look around them now, at all the green surrounding them as they walk, the chirp of birds and insects that hadn't been around before their time in the labyrinth. ]

It is so quiet here. Compared to all the life in city. [ No traffic. No bright lights, no people hurrying to get to where they must go... ]

When I was a kid at the circus, having families from places like that come to spend money was always seen as a good day. ( it's a remark made in lieu of agreement because she's right: it's hard to piece together the disparity until it's there in front of you. )

It wasn't so different with the Avengers when I first joined. I didn't really get why Jarvis was there, ( he admits, a slow, lazy smile tugging at his lips. ) Kinda figured he was my own personal butler and didn't understand why Wanda and Pietro weren't asking him to do all the things they didn't want to do. ( if he's exaggerating or not, there's nothing in his voice or expression that gives it away. jarvis was one of the main reasons he'd even ended up an avenger, and he's fond of the man.

—even if he'd been a hotheaded little dick back then.

still, she's right about etraya, about how quiet it is. he's found himself wondering if that's not why he finds it so discomforting — he's never done quiet, never done slow. there's always been noise, and hustle and bustle, even when he hasn't wanted any of it. ) —And I don't want to point out the obvious, but it's only quiet 'cause there's only about sixty of us here.

I think I just did not have a clear idea of how Americans lived. How different people's lives could be in the same city. [ She came to New York on Charles's private jet, landed straight in Westchester. It was only when she'd asked Logan to bring her to Harlem, a place she knew by name as where she was born, that she'd made the startling realization that what she'd had as a child in Cairo... was a reality, even there.

But that was a long time ago. And it was a problem still today, but a problem on Earth. Here, things were very different. ]

It's quiet because there is life in New York, Clint. Here, this world is just trying to learn how to live - taking copies of different worlds and places, and what can be found there, trying to make a replica of how we lived our lives. [ Maybe they are copies, too. But that's a thought experiment for another time. ]

If she fills this place up with more like us, more buildings... I expect it to be a little less quiet. But I doubt that that would be better, necessarily.

( he glances at her, first when she says that she didn't know how different lives within the same city could be, and again when she says there's life in new york. he inhales, sharply and audibly, at that remark. (isn't that what he'd said? there's sixty of them—). he thinks, too, that most people would finish a comment like that with 'barton' rather than clint, and he presses his lips together before exhaling through his nose. )

—Yeah, eight million lives versus sixty, which is what I just said. ( he interrupts, apparently unable to help himself. (come on! give him some credit!) but then she moves on to talking about copies and replicas, and he lets it drop.

it'd occurred to him, too, that they might be copies and it'd been a thought that'd made him feel a little sick, actually, so he hadn't lingered on it, because if they are—. (bobbi.) )

And the only way this is going to be any degree of better is when we get answers to what's going on and go home.

( but whatever. whatever. )

My building's got four floors, a basement and a rooftop, and—. ( —oh. hold up. ) We might have to—. I mean, I don't have my key.

[ It is what he'd said, and she gives him a brief, bemused look. Was there something wrong with what she'd said, to support him? Why was he so offended?

She sighs, and opts not to pursue it; allies were few here, friends even less, so it wasn't wise to pick a fight for such a small and petty reason. Less so when they had other things, more present things, to worry about. Ororo's stance shifts, she pulls back whatever worries and anxieties she might have been telegraphing all this while and puts on a more professional and composed look. He'd needed Storm's help for this, she may as well give him what he expected. ]

... We can see if the place is unlocked - perhaps Echo and Aurora have left a copy of your key for you somewhere. [ Perhaps there was a houseplant outside that was hiding one, or something. She'd make sure to check. ]

If we cannot get inside the traditional way, well, there are other methods.

( it hadn't occurred to her that she'd been agreeing with him, in truth, he'd thought it pedantry of the sort he usually comes out with. but when he catches her glance, the way she questions his interruption without saying anything, he realises he'd been wrong.

(nice, barton—. amazing kneejerk reaction.)

but then she suggests that it'll be unlocked, or a key left somewhere and he realises that thought hadn't occurred to him either — well, not the latter, anyway. his assumption had been to opt for a less traditional means of entry, either by picking the lock on the main entrance, jimmying a window open, or by scaling the fire escape and picking the lock to the door from the roof.

the way he looks a little sheepish reflects his thoughts even as his gaze travels skyward. none of the other buildings had been locked, had they? the keys to the main apartment complex had all been left in the lobby—. (his building doesn't have a lobby.) )

I was thinking the roof, ( he admits eventually. ) My apartment's on the top floor, there's no elevator, and it makes more sense to go top-to-bottom. Especially if it comes with any of my stuff.

[ All business, Ororo nods as he details his plan. Top to bottom seemed appropriate, and if he wanted to prioritize his own apartment, to see if he had his own things in there, then that was his prerogative. ]

I can lift us up. Do you need to hold on? [ She could carry him with the wind if he was amenable to that, if he was sensitive to someone physically carrying him. She knows some men were sensitive to that sort of offer. ]

Or I could head up ahead - I will let you know if the door at the roof is locked. I have my picks with me.

( he doesn't really know what she's asking. sure, the words are all english and they all make sense, but as one sentence, he's not sure what she's getting at. hold on to what? her? does he? his expression dances between confused and uncertain, a frown knitting his eyebrows together as he works and reworks through the question.

finally, he shrugs. )

You're the one that flies. My expertise is mostly in falling.

( clint is sensitive in many ways, most of them relating to confidence, to insecurities he'll never admit to, to rejection. what he's not especially sensitive about is a woman being more powerful than him. stronger. more capable. he'd married bobbi, after all. dated natasha, dated jess. dated karla. all women smarter than him (not difficult—), all women who could kick his ass in a multitude of ways. (well, he could hold his own, but—.)

he gestures at her, a vague action with his hand as if to say 'do whatever'. )

[ It's uncomfortable, that she doesn't know him well because they rarely worked together. Still, she figures he's been carried before? It's part of the job.

So she nods, lifts up a couple of feet so she can take him by the arms and summons a precisely measured gust of wind to carry them both without straining his joints. ]

It won't be long. [ -- she says belatedly, lifting off until they're at his rooftop. ]

( she picks him up and it is a little uncomfortable precisely because they done know each other, not really. not in any way that matters. but she's right — he's been carried before, but not like this, not with the weather used as an accompaniment, and it's different enough but — fortunately(? question mark) for the both of them, it doesn't take long.

there's a second after they land where he just eyes the view — first of the rooftop, then over etraya. it's so green and so quiet. he's used to hearing bed-stuy down below, to hearing the traffic not getting very far, angry horns and equally angry yells. the mixture of deeply familiar and unfamiliar is—
—it's the first time he's felt how jarring it is.

and then he turns, quite abruptly, to the door leading into the building. he doesn't linger on the roof, doesn't bother to take a moment to think about how it should have his neighbors up here.

he tries the handle. jostles it. thinks aurora probably meant for them to enter from the ground, and even though ororo had said she had a pick, he opts to root around in his pocket for his.

(he wouldn't be a carnie kid—.) )

[ She's halfway to offering to pick it for him, but he gets ahead of her. That makes her smile a little, even if he misses it while he's very busy over the door. Well, no reason he shouldn't take point. It's his building, after all. ]

If I may - have you ever broken into your own home before?

[ She's not judging! It happens. ]

( it doesn't take him long to get the door open — he's good at picking locks — and the question earns a laugh. he tilts his head back to look back over his shoulder as he leans on the handle and pushes the door open— )

Not this one.

( it opens into a stairwell that's utilitarian, a little dark but serviceable, and clint holds the door open for ororo to enter before closing it behind them.

at the bottom is a hallway that, at first glance, seems to hold two apartments. it's a little rough and ready with chipped paint exposing the brickwork underneath here and there, and it's (seemingly) old as far as new york buildings go. the two apartments don't seem to have numbers, instead there's a letter above both doors — 'H' above one, and 'S' above the other.

then, a thought seems to occur to him— )

—Wait, no, I had to climb in the window once.

Haven't we all had to? [ -- said half-jokingly, really. Well, maybe those of them who are more inclined to the breaking and entering bit would do so. It was often left to them, then open from the inside.

She floats down rather than take the stairs the normal way - it's dark, and he's not switching on any lights. She'd rather not miss a step, and... it's dark, and narrow, this stairwell. She needs to know there's air still moving around her.

When they get to the apartments, she turns to him. ]

If this, [ she nods to the helpfully labelled 'H' door, ] is yours, then does this other one signify someone particular?

( it's not a conscious lack of consideration that means he doesn't think to turn on a light, it's familiarity with the building, with where to step and not step. it's night after night of muscle memory, and ororo doesn't say anything to make him think to turn on the lights.

she speaks and he glances above his door as he toes it open — it's been left a little ajar, a helpful indication that either someone's inside, or aurora had left it open on the basis of the key either being downstairs or inside the apartment itself. he looks, just for a second, a little startled, like he'd forgotten the letter was there, and then he looks across to the other apartment. )

Simone. ( he answers, before heading inside. ) She lived here a while ago with her kids. ( before barney had stolen his money and bought an island. before she and her kids moved with him and she stopped going by 'simone'.

but unfortunately, their conversation in the hallway doesn't mean they're being very subtle or very quiet, and he hopes it's not needed. he doesn't add anything else about simone or her kids, and instead steps inside his ("his", it's unsettling) apartment. if there was ever any doubt as to what the 'H' might mean, the decor inside seeks to clarify: there's an astonishing amount of purple and blue, from periwinkle through to lavender, from the walls where there's no exposed brickwork through to the rug in front of the couch. it's not everything, but it's certainly hard to miss.

it's not especially large but it is open-plan, meaning clint comes to a stop by a kitchen island near the front door. means that when ororo follows behind him, he's in the middle of picking up a key, and frowning. the layout's a little off — one bookcase where there should be two, the two archery targets at the end of the lounge in the wrong place, the wrong shape, the wrong brand of tv—.

but it's unmistakably his home.

weird.

from the kitchen to the lounge, he stands in front of his sofa. stares at the wall for a moment. )

—Man, I was really hoping it was gonna have my bow. ( not the copy or whatever he'd found in the labyrinth, but the one he kept on his wall. )

[ Ah. She's glad she didn't lead with an uneducated joke, like... is the S for Storm?

But that did add to the unsettling nature of the apartment. He'd had neighbors. This place is meant to be inhabited, lived-in. Each apartment was missing the people who lived in them, stories they had to tell. Now, it all feels abandoned.

She lands on her feet quietly just past the front door, making her own assessment of the place. Windows, fire exits, places to escape from, areas to hide things... ]

She said she would provide you with a copy. I assume you must be happy with whatever she deems suitable.

[ She walks over to the TV and starts looking around for its remote - she just wanted to see if it was functioning (what channels would he get here?) ]

Is there anything else missing from you can see?

Yeah, she did, and it's better than nothing, but I was kinda hoping—. ( eh, it's nothing. it's fine. he waves his hand in place of finishing the statement, and shrugs. it looks much the same as it ever had, if he's honest, the exception being only a handful of mostly subtle differences. it's not that he doesn't (didn't) spend much time at home — he does, when he's not at work — but his time is mostly spent trying to catch up on sleep, or training, or hanging out on the rooftop with his neighbours. )

I have a habit of breaking them.

( she'll find the tv remote poking out from behind a cushion (pink) on the couch, and when she turns on the tv, there'll be classic cowboy movie after cowboy movie with the exception of one singular channel that shows dog cop. similarly, there'll be an assortment of western pulp novels in the bookcase, more than clint truthfully owns, but it's evidently an attempt by aurora gone slightly overboard.

he doesn't immediately answer her question, instead making his way upstairs — it's a loft apartment, with a small mezzanine housing his bed, his wardrobe, and the one-and-only bathroom. from there, he calls down to her— )

As long as my coffee pot's in the kitchen, nothing important. ( he doesn't have anything important, really, not except his bows. the thought occurs to him and he decides it's a little sad, so he doesn't vocalise it. (if she looks for it, she might notice a landline on the wall in the kitchen — an anachronism, or a quirk of clint's? who knows!). )

—And I had a thing behind the curtain on that wall next to the kitchen.

( "a thing".

a corkboard with a map of the world, pinned polaroids, and an assortment of sticky notes with illegible (clint's) handwriting. it's probably not there. )

Good thing our benevolent captor has professed to be able to make copies, then, hmm? [ If he has a habit of breaking things, anyway. But she clicks through a few repetitive movies and eventually switches the television off in favor of wandering around. That was unnecessarily unnerving, but it did tell her that the electricity was somehow working just fine. (Where does the power come from?)

She makes sure to stay on the lower level, heading to the kitchen as he describes. If he's going to speak vaguely, then... Well, of course she must ask for clarification! She'll reach over to part the curtain so she can check for him. ]

What sort of thing? Are you hoping for valuables? [ Is he the sort of person to keep a safe in a wall behind some art or painting? Probably not, but it would be amusing if he was. ]

MAY MINGLE

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