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

[westcoasts]

( clint wouldn't describe himself as a light sleeper, strictly speaking — he can nap almost anywhere and at any time, but it generally, generally doesn't take much to wake him. here and now, clint's not consciously aware of anything that wakes him up, other than a vague, indeterminate FEELING. it takes a moment for riz to register — falling asleep on a sofa, with or without lucky, is nothing new to clint, but it's normally within the confines of his own home.

and normally, there are no — children? teenagers? he doesn't know — present in his home. normally—.

dawning realisation, then: he's not at home ("home"), he's at bishop publishing. the clubhouse, whatever kate had called it. the realisation's punctuated by a noise that's part groan, part sigh, all ugh — not anything to do with riz, just the entire process of waking up and having reality hit. he sits up. his neck kinda hurts and—.

—and the kid's green. he's not a skrull (probably?), which is good, even if there'd been a moment where clint's semi-awake, semi-asleep brain had thought 'HEY!'. a moment more, and riz's question finally registers and he looks from riz to lucky and back again. )

Ye—. ( excuse him. ) Yeah? ( it's not actually a question, this is just a little awkward. ) His name's Lucky. ( beat. ) What time is it?

[stresstokens]

Thanks! It's cool seeing an animal around here that isn't actively trying to eat us.

[ Normally, Riz isn't the sort to get all that excited over animals. But Lucky's cute, and it's a little glimpse into normalcy that he's been sorely missing since they've come to this strange place, as eerily lacking in ordinary life as it is. He holds his hand out for Lucky to sniff at it before carefully tucking his claws into the palm of his hand and gently stroking the top of the dog's head, slowly, repetitively.

He glances down at his watch. ] About half past four. You were pretty dead away. My name's Riz, by the way.

[ Now that he's gotten - or getting - his fill of petting Lucky, those yellow eyes land curiously on Clint instead. ]

I was under the impression that this was supposed to be like... a teen clubhouse.

[ And you're old, goes unspoken, though there's nothing particularly accusatory in his tone; rather, he's more curious about why Clint's hanging around here with a bunch of kids. Who knows? Maybe that lady in charge decided to get someone in as the world's weirdest guidance counselor. ]

[westcoasts]

( he doesn't reply to the comment about animals, thoughts otherwise occupied with how much (or little) sleep he'd managed to get. after his conversation-come-argument with bobbi, he'd — well, technically he'd slept, but it'd been fitful, short, interrupted by weird dreams of their west coast days and things that hadn't happened mixed in with arguments that definitely had. the sort of shitty night's sleep where you wake up wondering if you're hungover or tired, not quite able to work out the difference.

then he'd come here — dogs aren't judgemental, right? let alone dogs that save your life because you gave them one (1) slice of pizza right before—. oh, four-thirty. he'd maybe fallen asleep for forty-five minutes. that sucks. his life sucks. )

Clint. ( he answers on auto-pilot, blue eyes meeting yellow. ) It is a teen clubhouse. I'm not part of the club. Kate— ( heavy, pointed, despite the fact that kate isn't here. ) —Has my dog. Came to see the dog.

( smooth. eloquent. god. )

Gimme five minutes, I need coffee.

[stresstokens]

[ Riz shrugs. ]

Okay. You don't have to, like, hang out if you don't want to, [ he points out, a little awkward. A couple of years of friendship (even the best, most supportive friends a guy can ask for) doesn't erase a lifetime of poor socialization, keenly aware of the fact that most people probably don't want to hang around. But Riz isn't opposed to the company either. It's to everyone's benefit that they get to know each other around here, he thinks, and besides, life here is oddly monotonous without a bustling society around them.

It's nicer to be around people. He considers himself a pretty social guy at the end of the day. His watchful eyes don't leave Clint until he's out of the room (Riz considers briefly that he'd like coffee too, but it feels weird to just tag along), at which point he hops onto the vacated couch and grabs one of the controllers, curiously toggling through the clubhouse's collection at such a rapid pace that it looks as though he hardly has time to read the titles as they blink past.

By the time Clint returns, Riz has stopped on a game and spares the time to nod twice at Clint, rapid-fire, before his eyes flit back to the screen. ]

Weird games, [ he says, by way of making conversation. ] Apparently this one tells you if you're fat, which doesn't seem very sound, medically speaking.

[westcoasts]

( the remark earns a glance, lightly questioning even if clint doesn't say anything before he disappears — briefly — to obtain coffee. the benefit of this being kate's space is knowing that she has as much (almost as much?) of a reliance on coffee as he does. if there's a difference, it's marginal, built only on the fact that clint is older, that clint has been an avenger-slash-thunderbolt-slash-etcetera for longer.

in all honesty, he hadn't had any grand intentions on socialising, on hanging out with anyone, but admitting it would be rude. he's here, he's awake now, it is what it is.

when he re-enters, coffee in hand — black, no sugar — his gaze flickers towards the tv, then back to riz, the sofa, and lucky. apparently incapable of sitting on a chair like a regular person, he reseats himself with crossed legs, inhaling a mouthful of coffee that's a little too hot before he even thinks about replying to riz.

(the last video game he'd played had been a fishing simulator, he has no idea about these things—.) )

Not when not everyone here's human. ( it's out of his mouth before he's had time to think about it. (it happens a lot.) he pauses, just for a second, internally winces, and adds—. ) And if you're getting your medical advice from a game, worrying about whether it's sound or not's probably the least of your worries.

[stresstokens]

[ The smell of coffee fills the room as Clint returns with his coffee, making Riz all the more envious -- but whatever, it's fine, after he's done here he'll get in there and drink the whole pot. (Not out of the pot, sweetie, he can practically hear his mom say, so even in his thoughts, he obediently amends it to drinking the entire pot through consecutive mugs, because he'll obey the letter of the law, not the spirit of it.)

His eyes dart over to Clint at the non-human gaffe, though he doesn't look at all offended -- mainly just curious. ]

Well, back home they'd probably have different modes for different species. Not that it would make it any more accurate? Or good? But I guess it can be wrong and inclusive. What other non-humans have you seen hanging around here?

wheezes SORRY i lost my notifs

[westcoasts]

( he hasn't been keeping track, he almost comments, cup of coffee hovering somewhere in the vague proximity of his mouth. more to the point, he doesn't know quite where storm would feel if he commented on the fact that mutants aren't exactly baseline humans, meaning it's a little blurry and complicated, and he's really not the best guy to be answering this question. he's as human as they come, with tact buried at the very bottom of his skillset.

and so he hums into his coffee, trying to think of any overtly non-humans he's met here.

the list is thin.

ropey.

non-existent.

he drops his gaze into his coffee. if this was home, it'd be different. fucking eegro. fucking everything. fucking his life. )

I dunno, man, is that something that's polite to ask? "Hey, what are you?" The guy who pulled together my last team muttered something about sensitivity, y'know.

no worries at all!!

[stresstokens]

If we're going in that direction, then it's not very sensitive of you to have referred to me as a non-human in the first place, you know. What if my human parents just had, like, a really fucked up kid? It could have been my entire traumatic backstory.

[ It's obviously not. He's obviously non-human. There's some level of variance in humans to account for some things - in a magical world, coming out green, or with claws and fangs, or cat eyes are all feasible - but the combination of all of the above leads to the assumption of a flagrant affair between a human and a goblin at best.

He shrugs. ]

Personally, I'd rather people just be straightforward about asking instead of just making stabs in the dark. As long as they're not calling me names, or whatever. [ His eyes flit over to Clint, who's looking -- a little awkward, honestly, like he's trapped in this conversation with Riz. But, admittedly, that's how a lot of people look when they're talking to Riz. Less so these days, but still. ]

Does that mean it's insensitive for me to ask what the deal is with the dude who pulled together your last team was?

[westcoasts]

( the look clint levels at riz when he suggests that maybe his parents just had a fucked-up kid is unimpressed and disbelieving, bordering on incredulous. eyebrows arching, he holds a hand up as if to say hold up a second and he doesn't quite interject because riz carries on talking, but he does eventually say— )

It's kinda fucked up to refer to yourself as really fucked up, kid.

( but the way clint says it, the tone of his voice and the ease with which he throws that back to riz says 'thank god'. it says that this — the conversation — is edging towards slightly more familiar territory that's a whole lot easier for clint to navigate.

and so he shrugs, settling back into his seat on the sofa more comfortably. there's a quick pause of consideration, one where clint takes a moment to decide if he wants to draw his legs up onto the sofa and sit cross-legged, shoes and all, or if he wants to stretch out.

he opts for the latter, crossing one ankle over the other. )

—Mayor of New York, ( he answers into his coffee. it's not great coffee, but it's coffee. thank god for kate's hideous caffeine addiction too. ) He needed a legally sanctioned team to operate in the city, and the guys he'd normally call on aren't sanctioned because the last guy in office was a real asshole. ( a beat. ) Anyway, turns out when the mayor puts something together, it has to have, like, a marketing department and worry about optics.

( it's fucking bullshit, is what it is, and he kind of hates luke for dumping him in the middle of it.

(he doesn't.)
(but it's a thought he likes to comfort himself with.) )

It's a pain in the ass.

[stresstokens]

[ Riz grins. ] I didn't say I am really fucked up. I said I could be really fucked up.

[ He is really fucked up, actually, but it has nothing to do with the whole Goblin thing, and everything to do with -- well, everything else about him, probably. But much like the superheroes around him, you don't go into Adventuring and remain mentally healthy even if that's where you started. It's just a hazard of the job. Still, he lets it pass, instead listening eagerly to whatever Clint's willing to tell him. He's been gathering information about the other residents here for quite some time, and the more he hears, the more he realizes what a fragmented picture of other worlds he has. ]

So -- politically speaking, your boss had like, a diversity quota? And put you guys through sensitivity training? That doesn't sound like the worst thing in the world.

[ If they did it right. Which they probably didn't, Riz thinks, on the basis that people seldom do. ]

What'd your team even do, anyway? Are you not one of those people who's supposed to have a secret identity? I hear that's a really big thing around here.