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

( makes sense, he thinks. though with everything that’s been on his mind and bruce himself being alone here with no one he knows or recognizes from his own gotham, he hadn’t exactly pieced it together. didn’t even really know dick had felt jealous, but. again. it makes sense. a sort of sense he didn’t think would be possible in terms of being jealous of another version of yourself. but this whole place has a lot of things and people within it he didn’t think possible.

people— children he didn’t even know he had. somewhere else.

he glances down to his drink again. stares to it for a long moment before he indulges in another one, reaching for the bottle there. )

Not everyone’s in some group.

( he sets the bottle down. holds the glass there close to his lips. recalls the way damian had said to him that his father didn’t have patience. that the other dick had been the one to teach him and raise him better, from the sounds of it. he should be with him. )

Some of us are just trying to survive here.

( knocking back the drink, he allows himself to feel the burn down his throat and licks over his lips again, gently tapping the glass down to the counter to which he stares at it. tired. emotionally. beating himself up within his thoughts like always. letting them drag him back down into the shadows he’s grown so used to. where he belongs. where there’s only batman. )

Hey, hey. I see you, this. No, who cares about groups. I don't anymore.

[Feeling that same darkness from Bruce from the last two times they were together, Dick takes a deep breath. He's slowly starting to recognize it now, this slow backpedal that the other man seems to dive into whenever they are alone together-- or maybe Dick's been lucky enough to catch Bruce when he's been in this mood. It could be either. The party, he maze, and now.

Maybe he feels like Dick is a person he can be like this around. It's hard, because Dick identifies with it. He's told Bruce his story time and again when they've talked but this is probably the first time Bruce paid attention, actually heard him.

It was funny, Clark heard him right away. Although, he's not seen the man since deciding to become friends that first day. Strange, this world. The one friendship he made and didn't fuck up, disappeared and all the others kept blowing up but somehow showing up again and again.

Watching the way the liquid goes down, Dick wraps his fingers around Bruce's on the glass after the last shot lands it back on the counter.]

I know. I know you don't need or probably want help. You don't trust me, and aren't sure we can even be friends, but let me be here tonight. You don't have to be anything for anyone, no one is looking at you. No one is here in this kitchen with us. You want more liquor, fine. Whatever you need, let me help you tonight.

[Pouring another shot, Dick takes their hands and shoots it himself then sets it down. It's a strange thing to do, but the point is that Bruce can be deep in himself as he wants, but he doesn't have to be completely alone -- and Dick isn't going to ask anything from him. Nothing. ]

( he hasn’t had friends in years. there’s alfred, but. that’s different. he’s a recluse who stays within the tower and barely ventures out as the prince of gotham. rather, he dons the cape and cowl and feels more like himself when he’s within the shadows on the streets. taking his own anger and guilt out on others in some attempt to rectify everything he carries with him concerning his parents. it never works though. no matter how many things he beats down or how many Big Names he tosses in jail or even arkahm, it never fills the emptiness inside him that he’s carried for years.

nothing probably will here either.

so he eyes dick when he goes and makes that offer. when he pours himself a shot and sits there with him. he eyes him in a way that comes off a little more harsher than he intends it to before he’s slowly licking over his lips and looking away. around the kitchen. this kitchen that’s familiar yet not to him. much like the entire manor. )

You want to help? Figure out how to save your world without the cost of it being for another.

[Going from being the center of a group of friends to being an outcast, to working his way back into graces again to be pushed out once more, Dick has taken his fair share of dirty looks and loud angry curses alike. His mentor was esteemed in looking over his nose at Dick, and right this second Bruce was doing a very Batman thing whether he knew it or not.

Dick wouldn't think of it in this moment, not even in a hundred moments from now because he was sitting here with a man in pain and he knew that. There was a breath, a roll of eyes. Oh, were they back to this again.

Refusing to let go, to take away his hand, the contact point between them just yet. Dick bites his lip.]

We've done this before. We're not going to get there tonight. Right now is about tonight. We can have this discussion again later. Stop pushing. I'll push right back. Life sucks, so fucking what. Let's deal with what we can right now. Tonight.

Edited 2024-05-21 16:11 (UTC)

( there's a look he gives dick. one that is almost incredulous. he's stubborn, he'll give him that. he'd almost commend him for being such a way when it concerns reaching out to others. except it's him he's reaching out to and bruce doesn't exactly do well with that.

he breaks the physical connection between them. disconnects from it. huffs a bit with a shake of his head and gets himself up from the bar stool. hands flat on the countertop. )

What makes you think I want to deal with anything right now?

[Brilliant. Dick actually wants to hit him...a wee bit. The look in his eye screams someone, please knock this stick out of my ass a little. Truthfully, all Bruce had to do was sit there and drink. Drink for fuck's sake. That wasn't a whole lot to ask of anyone. ]

You were the one who started talking about shit. You asked me, and then responded. That's why I fucking offered. I mean we can sit here and let the world revolve around you. I can sit here and for the third time be told how you are all alone, while I sit right next to you. Jesus. Get a clue, man. Way to shit on people. I already felt alone, and you kept knocking me down, and I'm trying to pick your ass up, and you want to knock me down still? I mean, all I wanted to do was fucking drink. That's it!

[Dick takes the bottle, and drinks from it deeply. He's got to catch up after all]

Then, you said some shit about this whole universe dilemma, which left me brooding after we talked in the labyrinth. So, yeah. You're the one who brought it up.

( bruce's own temper is one to be rivaled with and one he hasn't let get the better of him since he's arrived here. if anything, he's bottled the majority of everything up that he's felt as a means to try and either dissect it at some later time [which never seems to come] or because he just doesn't have time or want to deal with it. he doesn't know what the angle is here with this place. being told that he's here as a representative, of sorts, to make a case for his world — his gotham — to be saved. he figured being around others meant they were against each other. each vying for their own world. but then aurora has the audacity to play games with them — to try and get them to get to know each other and even work together... the very same people who, in theory, should be the ones you're against. he's wondered if it's a ploy. to get them all comfortable with each other, only to flip the tables on them at some point and have them see if they're capable of going against one another for the safety of their worlds.

he wouldn't put it past her.

and it's why he's cautious about getting too close. to anyone.

having to embrace a traumatized damian — a version of a son he never even knew he had — not once, but twice now when he doesn't even know the first thing about being a father figure— strains his own with alfred at times and now regrets it with the current state of him back in his own gotham... how long before he and damian are forced by this place to be on opposite ends of a game or a mission where only one of them can be considered the victor? this place doesn't put killing others past itself. it's a genuine concern and worry for him and maybe it's just better to disconnect while he's not too deeply intertwined with any of them.

because bruce doesn't kill. he won't. and the thought that that means he might sacrifice alfred and so many others back in his gotham — his world — because he won't kill damian or dick here... it's weighing on him far more heavily than he'd like it to. along with everything else.

his mind tells him to scoff. to walk away. leave. it's literally the easiest option here and untangles him from anything that might be here between them. but dick— this dick is a little different in the sense that they're a lot more alike than he is with the others. they're both flying solo here — without anyone else here from their gothams, and having to deal with being around those who know some other version of them. in dick's case, that other version is actually here. there's a brotherhood there. he knows it. he just... shouldn't want it to be there.

but, to even maybe his own surprise, he doesn't walk away. doesn't leave dick there in the kitchen by himself. honestly, there's a part of him that wonders if he even could, what with how stubborn the other man is, but. instead, he stares to him. harsh at first. but then relents some and flicks his gaze off towards the side. teeth sinking down into his bottom lip. )

I'm sorry.

[A lot of that theory Bruce tossed at Dick while they were in the maze. Dick doesn't know exactly how close Bruce and Damian are, but he has spoken with Damian and heard a word or two that's brought things into perspective. Dick understands that there are feelings involved that make being impartial impossible.

It should be impossible, Dick thinks but he has never been of the belief that there will be only one universe saved, or of the belief that they were brought here to be islands unto themselves. Their ability to fight is judged as is their ability to bond, what if they are required to bond and they end up fighting instead. Who are they to allow this place to dictate their lives. They've already been kidnapped, been forced to deal with intenuable situations, please.

They should be able to live their lives here to the best of their ability. There's no guarantees anywhere that any of them are going back. The least trustworthy person here is Etraya.

Setting down the bottle, Dick looks to Bruce and meets his eyes-- those stubborn orbs. He knows that they are in similar spots, and Dick's been plaintively pointing it out since he got here-- kindly, at first. Now, he's happy to take the alcohol and give it the break he was willing to give the other male.

That is until those words come. ]

Fuck. Okay. I'm sorry too. I only meant to let you sit and drink with me in silence. I know you have a lot of shit to carry. I know you don't need to, but you can lean on me now, never, whenever. I won't break. I don't trust many people, but least of all the words of this place. I trust what they told us when we got here less than anything else. Why waste a day alone if you don't have to.

[Deflating bodily, mentally, exhaustion creeps into the space behind his eyes. He misses so many things. He wishes for connection again. It doesn't matter how bold or quiet, Dick misses the titans, the people he had around him, the hugs-- sitting on the damn couch eating popcorn and movies. It's stupid, but Bruce should be able to find that somewhere one day. Little by little maybe. Step by step. A finger touched at a time.]

( stoic for a long stretch, he finally lets go of the sigh he'd been holding and lets his eyes fall shut. he just... needs a moment. )

You heard what happened to the other you in the labyrinth?

Yeah, we had to go through the same thing together. The drill thing.

[He hesitates, because he didn't want to bring it up to anyone. He knows it was a big deal around already. Dick had been more than willing to throw himself on the drill for the other Grayson. He wasn't going to let it happen twice to the same person. It was already enough.]

Dick and I. We broke the bonds and got out in time. It - I think it made me feel... more open toward him. How can I dislike myself because he got kidnapped too. Like I says, this sucks for all of us. He's got more people to worry about.

[He looks over, and realizes this is about far more than that...Quiet, small. ]

Mm. Damian.

( a glance down. yeah. damian. )

He didn't take it well when it happened or after. He was there. Blames himself.

( and bruce... doesn't know how to fix it for him because he's been there himself. with his own parents. becoming batman and seeking vengeance on those who harm others... it hasn't help. no matter how many thugs he beats, it won't bring them back or make the nightmares go away. even after all these years.

licking over his lips, he looks up. across the kitchen. distant, almost. )

He needs him.

[a beat. then a breath where dick does reach over and take that stubborn hand.]

You know he loves you, right? A whole lot. He yanked me out of a room to yell at me for saying something that might upset you. He tries to protect you every way he can. It's how he shows love. You need to push him back, show it back. He needs you through it all too.

[It's really not easy. What did Dick do but lose his temper with his teens. Rachel over and over, and yet for some reason she kept tossing her arms around him when he didn't deserve it.]

We don't deserve their love, or whatever it is, but we can't help it. I went through it back home. My titans. Three teenagers, all strays, all attached themselves to me when I didn't want it. I fucked up. I yelled at them, even hit one. I left them alone, abandoned them more than once, ran away, and they kept taking me back. I don't know why. Maybe that's why I'm stubborn. They were first. Damian's rock hard stubborn. He will have Dick. Trust me. Damian knows that. He knows who his brother is, and told me that too. He also needs you. Don't doubt yourself there.

[No, the nightmares will never cease. Dick has been in one of Damian's nightmares and it was a doozy. It's horrible. Dick knows this is causing a lot of pain for everyone involved. He doesn't like that it had to happen, that this horrid place did this. It did it for this purpose. Wedges, grief, but also to show bonds, Dick imagines.]

( dick goes and takes his hand and bruce drops his gaze down to it. he's not used to physical affection. since coming here, he's had more of it than he's had in years. alfred was there and offered comfort how he could, of course. but this feels... different. it's something else. both with dick and damian.

softly, a sigh leaves him. eyes fall shut. )

I'm not his father. I never will be.

( because damian has him back in his own gotham. )

No, but that doesn't mean he can't love you. He doesn't hold much stock in his biological dad from what I can tell. Way more about compassion and teaching from Grayson, and he's all about you beyond that. That's what I know, and I'm a damned good trained observer.

[He squeezes the hand lightly. It feels good to touch another person. He's had a handshake since coming here, and something else that was related to drugs and Dick isn't so sure it actually happened-- but beyond those things, this is it. Well, he may have fallen asleep on Damian for a few minutes, but he was asleep. Dick mainly feels guilt for that. ]

I'm not going to be close to anyone. I never will be. They have another me, but I can be ... whatever. I'm going to be alright with that. That's why we can drink, and hate this place together now and then.

( he doesn't mean to replace damian's father. the version of himself that they all know, minus dick here. yet he can't help but feel that he's grown gently attached to the boy over the course of the two? months now that they've been together and he worries about that. thinks that he shouldn't. because he's here for a reason. for his gotham. so why does he find himself remembering to bring back vegetarian options? carrying a weary and emotionally drained damian with him when he can't go anymore? wrapping him arms as a means to keep him safe from everything that threatens to hurt him? it has bruce sigh and begs the question now: can he give up damian if he's forced to? )

Don't sell yourself so short.

( aka pot calling the kettle black a bit. )

Says you.

[Dick laughs softly, cause he's gotta. They're a pair, really. Releasing Bruce's hand Dick picks up the alcohol and pours Bruce a shot, and then holds the bottle out in a salutatory manner. They're both stuck. Dick has begun tiny relationships that can all be superseded by the other him, and he feels it with pin-pricks of wee words in almost every conversation-- and Bruce finds himself wanting to return the fact that Damian considers him Father already. It's done and decided in his complex mind. If only things were so easy for adults. ]

To being things we might never understand, or to not being them, or to being inbetween and still not getting it. To us not selling ourselves short.

( taking the glass in hand, he eyes dick there. eyes the bottle he keeps for himself and listens to the little toast he says for them. rather than say anything, he just slowly takes a sip of his drink, letting his gaze wander around the kitchen as he does. hm. )

[Taking another swish, Dick hands the bottle back. He knows it wasn't his to begin with and he plans on replacing it when next he heads out to the little bar they have in town now. It's got some pretty fine spirits, and Dick goes often enough trying to make connections in this strange little place-- people that aren't a part of this little bat-party he dropped himself into the middle of.

Following Bruce's gaze. Dick can feel a buzzing question, but he doesn't want to push.]

Did you and Damian get into it?

Not exactly.

( looking to his empty glass he holds, he gently goes and sets it down on the countertop there. gives himself a minute. )

I don't know how to help. Not sure I can. ( licking over his lips. ) It's better he figures that out with his brother.

No? Then what.

[His voice was still soft, gently edging along the conversation-- hoping to get Bruce to at least get the words out. There was at times a catharsis in speaking pain. Dick wasn't sure he fully supported it, but he'd found that it worked a time or two, more so in times like this.

So, he allowed Bruce the space to speak if he wanted, and tried to encourage him to be the person he had been, because it was obviously working. ]

I think if you keep doing what you were, and just be here that's all he might need. He's hurt, and teens push when they hurt.

[There's a pause when Dick thinks about what he knows from dreams and conversations, and where the lines are between confidentiality and helping Bruce. ]

I don't know Damian, but I know he's a fighter and he's been through a lot of death and hell. I think he .... he will always feel the need to sacrifice himself for others, especially Dick who he feels gave him....basically everything. He idolizes him to an amazing degree.

That... I don't think that lessens his relationship with you. It's a different relationship? So, be here when he needs it. He will. It's never one or the other. It's both. He needs you both.

( dryly: ) I wouldn't know.

( because bruce stopped being a child when his parents were murdered in crime alley.

another shot poured, he's lost count of how many he's had now. five? that sounds right. maybe six... regardless, he should stop, he knows. he's not yet fallen into the coping means of alcohol when life starts to become difficult than he's used to it being. one day he'll get there. maybe. but for now, it's a simple indulgence for the moment. something he's a little surprised he hasn't done yet since his arriving here and being bombarded with... everything.

he watches the way the liquid swishes around in the glass as he holds it. contemplates dick's words. then down shot number six, possibly seven. licks over his lips and stares ahead. he's definitely starting to feel the effects of it. )

I guess we'll see.

( setting the empty glass down, he starts to make his way out of the kitchen. heads for the living area. )

[There's no reason for Dick to relay once more the part where he lost his parents too. It's not his childhood he recalls. He was raised by the man Bruce is now, pretty much-- except add British. How's that for the perfect storm. Is there any wonder Dick kept running away in the beginning. Then Bruce shoved weapons in his hands and pushed him time and again so he'd never break. That, or left him alone, alone with the same thoughts of vengeance, darkness, shadows. He was more violent than his Bruce ever was. He has no idea of this one. He'd take everyone right up to the edge of death, and he let Zucco die, let him die as if it were by his own hand. No, he was no judge of what a real teen should be. No one held him through nightmares, or watched him sleep. No one sewed him up beyond himself or Alfred.

Dick went back and forth between love and hate. Love, hate, vengeance, they all walked fine lines, didn't they. Where does one really cast the first stone. Dick had no clues, and he wasn't going to tell anyone else what to do anymore tonight. He was tired.

Tapping out for a little bit, he shrugged. He leaned against the counter when he watches Bruce walks away and ponders if he should follow. Chances are the other doesn't want company. Dick knows he's not fond of it when he's in a mood. It's not a bedroom, however.

Giving Bruce a few moments by himself, Dick emerges and stands there. ]

Would you rather I return to my room, or stay.

( he's dropped himself down on the couch. turned the television on and lets a random black and white movie of some sort play. he's not really paying attention to it, it's just there for background noise. he's hunched over some, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes fallen shut. he doesn't need to look up to know dick is there. he can just... sense his presence. helps to be trained in that. )

You live here. ( words he murmurs. ) You don't need to ask me where you want to be.

[It's a true toss up. There's a part of Dick that wants to provide comfort. He's not even completely sure why at this point. He knows he should leave Bruce to stew in his own misery, but Dick has been there and has felt at least part of that deep pain, the way it pulses against a person's core. It might be completely different from Bruce, because all he can see is the outward signs. The eyes, the pinched bridge of a nose.

Quiet steps take Dick to the couch where he sits next to Bruce, he leans against him lightly. Touch is comfort, even if it's a thing unused to. Bruce of course, can take it or leave it. All Dick can do is offer himself as here. Period. ]

( the moment he feels the other there beside him, blue eyes softly flutter open. land on the television there with the black and white movie playing. it's merely something for him to focus on while he sits there. silent. letting the other's weight lean against him.

a duck of his head, fingers card through dark strands of hair at the nape of his neck, bruce letting his hand fall away then to rest against his leg. no. he's not used to this. but he also doesn't want to push it away either. not all of him does, anyways. )

Was he much of a father to you? ( he asks then, softly. ) The other me.

MAY MINGLE

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