MAY MINGLE

[etrayamods]

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⏴

Comments

rufus shinra | ffvii (remake)

[unionized]

— was a time when that shit might've worked;
COFFEE BREAK.

[The thing about this coffee bonding business is, Rufus knows they're being played. It's a fairly straightforward attempt at psychological manipulation — break down the populace through enforced isolation, unpredictability, and extended duress, and then suddenly put them back into conditions of hospitality and comfort in a manner designed to be social. After weeks of situations where survival often hinged on having others present, interspersed by abrupt periods of long loneliness, who wouldn't be primed to take full advantage of that newly-conditioned impulse to read the presence of others as safety?

It irks him, of course. He knows he's being played. It doesn't mean he doesn't still turn up to the coffee shop, anyway. Notably, he's not dressed in white for once — but instead is wearing a dark Oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled, khaki-ish pants, and a pair of aviator sunglasses that are doing a great job at concealing the fading black eye he's still sporting. Darkstar is, as ever, at his side; don't try to tell him that there are no animals allowed in here, she's his emotional support killbeast. Or something.

The available food and drink are a welcome relief, at least, after nothing but water and MREs and only whatever minor comforts they might've risked bringing with them. He finds a booth and orders one of those drinks that makes Starbucks employees ask "Are you...okay?", then peruses the bookshelves and digs up a few books at random to read while he waits and broods at his table.

(For those getting close enough to spy on him, it appears he's got The Great Gatsby, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and somewhat unfortunately, a Regency-fiction bodice ripper that boasts some sort of title like The Marquis and I, which he probably thought was similar to The Prince except that it is, uh. Most definitely not.)

When he's not drinking his horrible coffee beverage, reading, or staring out the window, he's also doodling on napkins — some sort of round, wheel-like image divided into wedges delineated by spokes that cut from the center to the perimeter, as well as a sort of dark blob shape that might, with some squinting, resemble a figure in a hood.

His placard reads: Hello! My name is Rufus Shinra, and I'm a lonely brat with no friends!

In another time and place, he might've torn it up or sought to scribble it out or throw it away. Right now, it just seems to bring him a measure of very sardonic amusement, and he leaves it where it is, preoccupied as he is by other things.]

— was a time when i just threw a match and let it burn;
SCAVENGER HUNT.

[It's not that he really means to participate in the scavenger hunt, outright; that said, Rufus is certainly interested in all the new architecture that's gone up in the city in their absence, so playing along with the game isn't overly burdensome when frankly it gives him even more of an excuse to be nosy about the new buildings — plausible deniability says he can just blame it on the hunt.

The first code he gets, however, demands a flower from the Sector 5 church, and for a second it stops him in his tracks, because that...can't be right. Only — well, on further thought maybe it does track, all things considered. They'd recreated Shinra Headquarters for him. It only follows that they'd accommodate others from Gaia, as well — however strange it might seem, given how few Gaians are here by comparison, next to all the people from "Earth".

Well. He's heard a lot about this church, though he's never been there himself. Evidently there are...flowers. In it.

(He wonders, idly, how you're supposed to get at them without breaking what he presumes will be the pneumatic glass, safeguarding them from people precisely like him who might try to touch them without authorization.)

Only one way to find out, he supposes.]

— now i'm grown, i know what i deserve;
NETWORK.

un: shinra | text

I'm looking for the services of a medic.

[...WELL, YOU CAN'T FAULT HIM FOR BEING CONCISE, I GUESS.]

— i still like dancing with the lessons i already learned;
WILDCARD.

[OOC: If none of the above prompts work, feel free to hit me up with something else, or message me to plot or discuss! I'm available in the game disco as alex | rufus shinra.

Additionally, if your scavenger hunt happens to be taking you to Shinra Headquarters and you'd like an encounter with Rufus / more specifics about what you might encounter there, please feel free to let me know!]

coffee break }

[matermali]

[ Vanessa's attention is drawn to the man and his unusual feline companion. Something like a jungle cat from another world. After watching them for a stretch of time, she sets aside her collection of Lovecraft's stories, and rises from her seat in the cozy corner of the café. With measured steps, she approaches their table, her dark silk and lace dress blending into the shadows passed through. Her movements are graceful and unhurried—nothing that should frighten a fellow hunter.

As she draws near, her focus shifts entirely to the magnificent beast at the man's side. A hint of a smile tugs at her lips, equal parts intrigue and admiration for the beast's unearthly beauty. The animal could be dangerous.

She hopes so.

Vanessa always had a unique resonance with predators, just as prey animals would panic and attempt flee. Perhaps they could smell the monster within her.

She loves them all, but the dangerous ones will always keep most of her favor. The ones that so few understand. ]

A stunning creature.

[ Vanessa's voice is low, something that creeps and drags through the shadows and beneath the lighter sounds of the café. Her gaze flickers briefly to the man's face, taking in the attempt to hide a fading bruise with his guarded expression behind sunglasses, then pausing on the sad state of his placard, before returning to his companion. ]

Does she have a name?

[unionized]

[Rufus knows when he's being watched; even if he didn't, Darkstar would've picked up on it herself, vigilant as ever when her master chooses to idle his time in a public place. By the time Vanessa begins to make her approach, Darkstar is already watching her through hooded red eyes, so perfectly still and unmoving that her chain collar doesn't make a sound.

Rufus, for his part, keeps his eyes on his book, giving at least the impression of being engrossed in the tale he's reading until he's outright regarded, and only then does he let his attention flick up, eyebrows raising just slightly.]

"She"? What makes you think that?

[Like. She's not wrong. It's just that a lot of people wouldn't make that assumption about a guard animal at first glance, and as a result, he's now curious.]

[matermali]

[ Vanessa usually trusts her instinct, and whether it's supernatural at times or simply a gut feeling, even she can't always say. It's also a fifty-fifty gamble, which are good odds, but his response does give her pause with a head tilt.

Is it so common for everyone to assume a beast to be male? The females can be far more dangerous, in her experience. ]

Merely a guess. Have I offended?

[ She is referring to the beast, of course, who she's still regarding while speaking. One wouldn't wish to cause offense to such a majestic creature. Vanessa is still trying to discern if it's more feline or canine in nature. She tends to have a better rapport with the latter, but this is certainly something otherworldly. Some might consider it demonic in appearance. That, or a science experiment.

It wouldn't be her first encounter with either.

Human men, well— She won't lose any sleep causing them offense. ]

[unionized]

If you'd offended her, you'd know it.

[So he says, which is both confirmation of the good guess and a bit of bone-dry vague amusement — since of course, it leaves open the question of whether he himself is offended, or whether anyone would know it if he were.

Regardless, he sets his book down and folds his hands, elbows resting lightly on the tabletop.]

Her name is Darkstar. And her admirer's is...?

[matermali]

[ The name strikes a chord in her, and her smile only softens in its sincerity. Of course someone named Darkstar would make her displeasure known where necessary. Vanessa wouldn’t have it any other way.

If only for the sake of her instant adoration, she sidesteps any coyness to freely offer her name for the man, even if her smile does sharpen with more poise once her gaze lifts back to him. She will always be more cautious around humans, especially men, at least when still discerning what type of man they are.

But if his placard does not outright lie, then he must be something of a loner, and those are also the sorts that Vanessa cannot help but pay more attention to. ]

Vanessa Ives. A pleasure to make the acquaintance of one such as Darkstar and yourself, Mr. Shinra.

[ A nod to his companion. ]

Is she not considered to be a friend?

[unionized]

[It really is telling that his dog is the latest protagonist of How To Win Friends And Influence People, around here. Still, it's not like he's complaining.

Mostly because if he were, there are better things to complain about — like the reference to his name card, for example.]

Evidently not. But that's hardly surprising.

[He shrugs slightly.]

Does that bother you?

[matermali]

[ She regards him now with an eyebrow perked slightly. ]

Whyever would it?

[ It's hardly her place to judge who or what a man considers his friend.

She has had her own struggles in keeping friends, either because of tragic circumstance, stubborn choice, or merely being too ruined for proper society. Just how many dinner parties has she been banned from, now? How many walls has she built? There were many years where she had not a single friend.

Only in the last year or so had friendship become something to rely on again, but that has all—again—been lost, save for one, so she is now even less likely to easily consider new friends.

Acquaintances are another matter. They can be still be useful.

Tipping her chin, she gestures to the chair across from him. There seems little need for her to loom so while they speak, even if it's only for a short while. ]

May I?

[unionized]

[Ever one for subtleties — and for never using words when a gesture would do — he echoes her motion with a slight one of his own, and lets his other hand drop to stroke affectionately behind Darkstar's long, pointed ears.]

A more palatable way of congregating than what that labyrinth had in store.

[At least here there are novels. And hideous coffee.]

[matermali]

[ She supposed she ought to agree on that matter, but in a way, clarity comes more easily with such a focused goal. Perhaps she has become too accustomed to fighting for her life. Too much idleness feels unbearable.

But, there is strength in gathering intel on her fellow prisoners, so she can appreciate that much.

And the novels, of course. ]

Did the lady Darkstar accompany you in the trial? She appears rather formidable.

[unionized]

I didn't leave her in the "care" of Aurora, if that's what you mean.

[He doesn't have to make the air quotes with his fingers; his tone does it all on its own.]

But I'm sure you noticed that nothing in that labyrinth was conducive to long-term accompaniment. She and I were separated as much and as often as I was with my human counterparts.

[A pause.]

Though she was never left to her own devices altogether. Fortunately for the other inhabitants of the labyrinth.

[matermali]

[ Perhaps she isn't the only one here who remembers that they have all been taken against their will. She certainly doesn't think kindly of Aurora—or Echo, whatever they are. She can't blame anyone for mocking what Aurora might consider "care".

But then, she isn't gunning to be a hero, like so many others seem to be.

Resting her hands in her lap, Vanessa's posture remains pristine as she considers his answer and what it might have been like to have happened upon Darkstare in the labyrinth. Would the beast have assumed her an enemy or ally? It was so very much designed to turn everyone around, or even on one another.

But if he claims the encounters to have been fortunate, then Darkstar must have known better. She might have been quite an asset before Vanessa happened upon Dream and Ben. ]

I have a feeling that future experiments will be no different in that regard. The last city I was brought to had similar occurrences, where company could be fleeting no matter the intent.

[unionized]

[Oh, well. Now that's worthy of a little piqued interest — mostly because he didn't miss the use of the term "brought to".]

Something like this has gone on in your own home circumstances, then? How curious.

church???

[anciently]

[ Since its arrival, the church has seen a lot of activity. Aerith has had more than a few conversations within its walls - more than she'd had back home, with its scant visitors - though not one of them has come crashing through the roof.

Yet.

Those people had come for a score of reasons, including needing a quiet space to decompress after the horrors of the labyrinth and inquisitive investigation, but none of them had really surprised her. When Aerith sees a familiar shape darken the doorstep, though - one that she could never picture crossing its threshold, she's finally surprised.

Perhaps surprising to them both is that she doesn't immediately drive him out with an improvised weapon and some curses.

(Yet.) ]

...Doing some personal recon? [ She ventures, standing in the middle of the flowers and staring him down, should he choose to enter. ] Can't imagine you're here to soak up the ambiance.

[unionized]

[So there is. Uh. Very distinctly no pneumatic glass in this church. Honestly there's very little glass at all, though what remains of it does certainly form some rather pretty and multicolored windows. And it turns out it's a very different experience to be aware of the slums beneath the plates and to actually stand in one — there are so many elements of the environment and architecture that just hit wrong in an uncanny valley sort of way, with the loose boards scattered around and the aged wood showing all its imperfections and the flowers growing right up out of the floor, for Shiva's sake.

Disrepair like this — where a structure still stands like a testament to an old memory of some glory days past — is utterly antithetical to everything his father built Shinra to stand for. For all that the old man had coveted the ancient paradise he believed had once existed, his goals for it had been anything but nostalgic. Always forward-thinking, always new, always how can we use it.

He doesn't even know how one uses a space like this. Aerith seems to know, at least. Evidently it involves standing...in the flowers, letting the growth...touch you.

Nothing grows in Midgar if it isn't behind glass. Flowers are things that come in arrangements, carefully-cultivated to weed out imperfections because nothing but the best will do.

This, by contrast, feels like a place where it's perfection that's weeded out, by comparison. Strange to think how Shinra boots might simultaneously be too clean and yet too dirty to tread on these worn old floorboards.]

So this is what they brought for you.

[His tower. Aerith's church. The image in his mind seems oddly grotesque, trying to place the two of them side-by-side, somehow. Maybe that's why he doesn't move just yet, lingering in the doorway as if in a rare moment of uncertainty that this might not be a part of the world that he owns, after all.]

...I'm not here for a fight. I assume that's what you're really asking.

[anciently]

[ He doesn't move, and neither does she. They make quite a pair in their standoff of sorts, perhaps waiting for the other to blink.

She won't admit it (yet), but things between them aren't exactly the same as before the labyrinth. The needle has been moved, if only by a hair. ]

Yeah. [ Gaia - their Planet - is not here. This church doesn't rest on its earth, its flowers don't soak up the lifestream. Because of that, she's the closest thing there is on this world to a fraction of the Planet...and so is he. Were she to focus, to follow the thread, she might feel a gossamer something connecting them - and the rest from their world - in a way not shared with the other residents of the city.

It's...disarming. Maybe - maybe - comforting? To, in some bizarre ways, be less alone here than she can often feel back home. ]

I sure hope not. [ But she wouldn't talk about any of that with Rufus Shinra. Her tone is firm - a warning - but not exactly harsh. ] So. Why did you come?

[ Because she's curious, if nothing else. ]

[unionized]

[Ostensibly, what brought him here was an idle whim at scanning one of the codes for the scavenger hunt, and simply being surprised by what came up as a prompt. Now that he's here, however, in a place that feels just enough of home to sit right in the uncanny valley of unnerving, it's becoming clear that the hunt was always a pretext for something bigger, something he didn't want to try to put words to.

He does, however, take a few steps into the church, determined to combat the unease in the same way he always does: with action, decisive and deliberate. The floor doesn't fall out from under him and he isn't set instantly ablaze, so whatever traces of Gaia might still cling to this place evidently haven't seen fit to condemn him — yet.

Why did he come? At first he knows what he thought was the answer. Then he doesn't know at all. And then he knows, and it feels like lead on his tongue.]

...When was the last time you spoke to Tseng?

[I work within my directive, Tseng had said. No doubt he's still keeping an eye on Aerith in one way or another — surely for personal reasons as well as professional ones — but whether she's spoken to him is a wholly different consideration altogether.]

[anciently]

[ He makes the first move, stepping further inside, and she remains unmoving, stretching out restless fingers at her sides. It feels - wrong to stand by and let a Shinra (let alone the Shinra) enter when she'd had so many unwanted intrusions in the past, but Aerith does permit it, watching him like a hawk.

The question visibly catches her off guard: eyebrows lift in surprise, then scrunch up into confusion. There's a pause in which she turns over a few possibilities as to why he'd ask, before eventually she replies: ] ...Since close to when I first arrived. [ I kinda told him to keep away. ] Why?

[ Why would Rufus ask, why would he care? Something still largely shrouded in the unknown begins to twist in her stomach. ]

I didn't run into him in the labyrinth. [ She adds slowly. You're the only one from home I saw; lucky me. ] And...not after. Yet.

[ "Yet." Because, for some reason, she does feel compelled to suggest that she's planning on seeking him out. It's...been long enough that she's been able to work through some things, and-...well. She has her reasons. ]

[unionized]

I thought he might've — [The thought just sort of stops a minute, not quite a hitch in his breath so much as just seeming to need a moment to find the next word.] — sought you out.

[His steps only carry him so far; there's still a healthy distance between himself and Aerith, between his boots and the flowers. But he's inside, properly, for all that he might stick out like a very posh sore thumb.]

He's done that, hasn't he? Visited you. ...Before.

[anciently]

[ The mystery continues. Just as odd as the words themselves is Rufus' demeanor: seemingly more unable to find his footing in this conversation than he's ever been, at least in the few times they'd spoken. Aerith regards him with continued wariness, though, still without enough information to understand, she merely shakes her head. ]

He hasn't. [ A surprise to Rufus, apparently, but not to her. ...Or, it wouldn't have been, were it not for this interaction.

What happened out there?

The question earns a nod, though: curt, and following a pause. ]

Yeah, back home. [ But surely that's not news. ] He'd come by my mom's house to try and get me to go back.

[ Someone had to convince her to return of her own will, after all, or so they believed. Some of them, anyway. ]

And...to check on me.

[unionized]

Mm.

[He does that, he thinks to himself, and then dislikes the notion almost as soon as it's crossed his mind. Why? It makes sense. It's in everyone's best interest. Isn't he here, himself, trying to make sure that all the representatives of Gaia are on-side? Why wouldn't he want them all to be in alignment?

Grasping for something to focus on instead, he surveys the surroundings of the church once more — falling apart, everything worn, plants literally growing through it.]

You weren't at your mother's house when he eventually did convince you to return, though. I was told you were retrieved from Sector 7.

[anciently]

[ Aerith continues to watch him through partially-narrowed eyes, observing what...definitely seems like a new side to Rufus. New to her, at least. He might be called fidgety, from the way he seemingly looks at every square inch of the church; she isn't familiar enough with the man to know what this might be suggestive of. ]

...Right. I went back to try and find a little girl, once we heard the plate was coming down.

[ "Being brought down," to be precise. The destruction of that day is...still all-too vivid. ]

That's what I was doing, when he 'convinced' me. [ Troopers at the door, and a child in need of rescue. If that had counted as her consent, it's a flimsier thing than she'd guessed. ]

[unionized]

When he evacuated you, you mean.

[Because the plate was coming down, wasn't it — because his father gave the order and the Turks carried it out, and yet there the Ancient was in the midst of Sector 7, running into the danger instead of away from it. Not that it made any difference to the hundreds and thousands who didn't get out, who weren't evacuated in time. The acceptable collateral damage, for the sake of laying the whole fiasco at the feet of Wutai and AVALANCHE.

No one tried to stop him. Not the board, not the rank and file, not the Turks. Not even Tseng.

That's his responsibility, now.]

I imagine he would've said just about anything, if it meant getting you out of the sector in time.

[anciently]

I'm sure. [ "Know that your options are limited." Tseng, who had always seemed so straightforward, and yet equally difficult to read. The man who'd come to Elmyra's house so often to check on her and try to convince her with words, and not force.

The day the plate fell, he'd had a more lucrative opportunity. Aerith believed that he'd keep his word and ferry Marlene to safety, and he had. ] Out of the frying pan and into the fire, right?

[ Because where she'd gone next had been right in Hojo's hands. Much as she tries not to dwell on her time spent in captivity, it's impossible to carve out his words from that encounter from her memory.

There's another lapse, and she bites the inside of her lower lip. ]

...Why're we talking about this, Rufus?

[unionized]

[Why are they talking about this. Why does he feel the need to talk to begin with, even? It's not as though he's ever had a problem keeping his own counsel before, or sorting through even the most tumultuous of thoughts on his own. It's just that there's something about it that feels like a splinter lodged in his skin, subtle and mostly easy to ignore, save for when he moves the wrong way and it stings —]

...Because you made a bargain with him. So make one with me.

[He's supposed to be here for a flower, isn't he? Or maybe that was always just a pretext.]

Something you want from me, in exchange for something I want you to do.