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⏴

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So downhill. Had he known that was going to be the easiest part of the whole thing he probably would have taken a little longer with all their acrobatic acts.

But he'd survived, mostly, but he does not feel rested. He's not sure he ever will.

"No. I never thought I'd actually want t'go home." He had been pretty contented to stay here at first but after all of that? He's not so sure and he can't imagine it's going to get better. He waves the bartender down and orders a dirty martini. "I feel like there isn't enough sleep to feel normal again." Or showers to feel less dirty but he doesn't want that to be taken so literally, considering.

"What about you?"

Honestly, seeing Angel - though difficult wasn't necessarily the worst thing Dick began to realize. Their time together had made them partners that weren't of the enemy sort and Dick ... hated to say anything, but he trusted Angel. He knew that Angel knew his 'secret identity' - he'd tossed that out there sometime in his dazed confusion. Dick happened to be a font of knowledge before he clung to the other for what he needed.

Angel had been everything that Dick had been craving, and it was starting to come back to him. It may have been the high that got him looking, and doing it all-- but it was a need, a craving that the man couldn't deny. Sighing, Dick nodded his head toward a booth in the back. Might as well talk about it.

"I'm doing better now. I was never so happy to see a damn city in my life. Running water, and a fucking bed. I think I showered for two days, and then slept for two or maybe I slept in the shower. Both could be true. " Dick doesn't think about being clean from Angel. He thinks about the layers of blood, grime, creature guts and the like that covered him. "It's actually nice to see you again."

It isn't as though Angel is going to go spreading it around. Aside from the fact that he hadn't really been able to many any friends here it wasn't the kind of priceless gossip he felt the need to spread around.

Plus fucking everyone here seemed to have some sort of secret ability or identity here. Go figure.

"Yeah. I don't even know why I am out here now. I should be still sleeping." He lets off a bit of a chuckle but the others words stop him almost midway through. He debates for a moment on what to say but eventually settles on simple;

"Yeah. It's nice to see you again too."

It's good that Angel's not a gossip factory. Dick isn't ready for that sort of news to hit the wire. He's not really ready for any sort of news relating to his life to hit the wires. He's not been himself lately. He's been rather off-kilter and turned around since landing here and finding a whole host of people that all seem to know his name but not him. Trying to fit in somewhere, and be someone they expect really messed up everything for him.

Now Dick is eager to sit back and relax, to turn it all around and stay tucked away until needed. He's more settled and not as concerned with what anyone thinks of him. He's going to be the person he knows he is, and not some construct. It doesn't matter to him that there's another version anymore. Dick will make his friends and family where he finds them. It's easier that way.

That's why Dick's happy to see Angel. They had their own reason to bond, even if it was completely unconventional. They can at least be civil. "Do you drink coffee, you can come have a cup with me if you want. I wouldn't mind talking about what happened, and it did happen, right? I was really messed up."

It's incredibly lonely to be on your own, especially given the nature of Angel's whole sense of self, but in a way it's truly a blessing. He can only imagine what it's like to have two of him, thank god there isn't. No one would really want that.

"Yeah well I should have figured that beelzejuice wouldn't have been a good choice for humans." That's on him, that's totally on him. Considering it gets Hellspawn drunk it was stronger than probably Dick had ever had. Angel didn't figure in cooked form it would do much.

But he'd been very wrong.

"It did happen though."

"Beezlejuice" He repeats. All he knew was that he had some sweetbuns that tasted really damn good at the time, then he's suddenly feeling like he'd been drugged up. His up was all sorts of twisty and his down, well it was feeling frisky. It had been a strange experience of a like he still didn't quite understand.

Maybe if Angel had been put together like a natural person, then it would have been easier-- but he was decidedly not human and there were all those arms and the teeth, and tongue. Dick can feel the goosebumps crawling across his skin when he thinks about it and that's not a feeling he wants sitting here in the coffee shop.

Looking down at the mug that arrived he coughs to clear his throat. "Yeah, I am recalling more and more sitting here. It was my first time like that. Not that most people go around sleeping with people from hell, so I guess it would be a lot of first for people..." He decides that's a better issue for him to focus on, and not the other one.

Probably not one of Angel's finest moments, taking slight advantage of someone under the influence of otherworldly substances. In his defense he wasn't sure how it would have affected the other, but he should have figured and he probably ought not to have gone as far as he did. To him it wasn't strange at all, that was all he did in his world for a long time and while he had actually broken most of those habits with the help of the hotel he has always had a bit of a specific way of dealing with stress and most of them were not entirely appropriate for any situation here and when presented with the opportunity to destress in the way he was oh so comfortable with? He fell into the sweet embrace of it so easily.

"No most people can't say that, considerin'." He watches the other carefully trying to gauge just how guilty he should feel about that. He might not be a good person, but he was trying and it was frustrating that this place just kept handing him setback after setback. "I guess I should'a known that shit'd get you fucked up. Good thing ya ain't had it straight."

Back home, Dick didn't cope with stress in the best methods either and he hadn't had all of those options open to him at the time. He hadn't realized that he'd be drawn under the influence or what it might do to him. A part of him now has to wonder about all types of things that he didn't have to before. Now he watches people in different ways, and he can't afford to even think about that here and now.

It's rather offensive to his sensibilities to even think about it. Here he is in the fight for the lives of people and possibly a universe or two (although he doesn't really believe that), and he's stressing about something so off-hand as pleasure. It shouldn't even be on his plate of things to be dealt with.

Blowing out a breath, he nods. "I guess that's good. I might have passed straight the fuck out. Who knows. I don't even know how we did it. I mean, what was that even considered." Okay, now he went and opened the can of worms. He didn't mean for it to come out that way, but it was strange sex, that's all he can come up with. It's not like Angel's made like most others.

And oh what a can of worms it was. Angel raises a brow, is he serious? What is it considered? Isn't that obvious?

But then he sort of remembers that this world, and likely Dicks world, doesn't work like Angels and while Angel was used to this sort of thing it's clear Dick was not.

Oh man where do they even start.

"Well lets start here; what did you consider it t'be?" Getting a gauge of what Dicks thoughts on it might seem the easiest to deal with right this moment. Angel knew what it was for him at least.

Dick suddenly really wishes that his coffee were a bottle of beer, or something much stronger. It would really make this conversation easier to wash down if he had a tiny boost of liquid courage. Not that Dick knew fear. This was more about things that made a man like him extremely nervous and drew circles outside the realm of behavior he might have expected of himself while under the influence-- even if the substance was from hell.

Taking a deep breath, Dick takes a sip of his coffee and slowly looks across from him. "Sex. It was some kind of sex. I mean, I imagine. I- I remember that much. You, you're different ... I mean, you're not.. " female he's thinking, but Dick didn't clearly recall there being male parts either. He was confused and there was fur, and touching and he felt hands everywhere. God, that felt so good at the time.

It was enough to stain his face slightly red now even beginning to think about it. As far as Dick knew, his only preference had always been women, and now he didn't know. He had stepped outside the track, and was on a new train altogether.

Stress can do that to a person, and there is no better stress release than absorbing yourself into a moment of passion. At least as far as Angel was concerned, in life and in death it was the only thing that made his mind stop even for a second.
So some of that out of character-ness for the other might had, had more to do with Angel than Dick.

"We fucked guy." It's down, it's dirty. It's what it was. Angel got sucked into the moment, thankful for just one second of something that seemed so familiar and comfortable. Even if it was vastly different than what he had been used to it had been fun for him but that was what it was, a bit of fun. So he puts that distance now, because its clear this is a struggle for the other. "It was a bit'a fun, to combat a bit'a stress."

Angel clung a set of hands to the coffee in front of him until he goes white knuckled, not that anyone can see thanks to the addition of his gloves. "But it don't gotta go anywhere my dude. Listen; it's been a long ass time since I got to just, fuck and not have to deal with someone tellin' me how I'm doin' it or how much I'm takin' in for it. So lets maybe just leave it at that?"

It's probably not the best answer but maybe it will be easier for the both of them if they don't think too much about it. And then, just because... "And just cause we fucked doesn't mean you're anything. So maybe just deep breaths guy. Don't think too much about it. No one back home if ya get back there ever gonna know."

In a lot of ways, Dick wish his mind would shut up about it and that he could rest. He had nothing but a world of thoughts in his head all over the place here. There were things he could never tell a single soul about, and things he didn't want to talk about, but might. At least with Angel he could talk about what they did together, kinda, maybe, to whatever point they were talking.

It felt pretty useless, and made Dick feel rather used as well. He may have had his first unusual experience due to drugs and that was that. He wasn't going to fully remember it, and all he was going to get from the other person was that they fucked. Fantastic.

Drinking the rest of his cup of coffee, Dick straightened his face so that it was rather unreadable, as he'd been taught ages ago and nodded. "Right, then. Thanks for the fuck, I guess. If I remember more, maybe I'll ask you if we enjoyed it."

Not feeling up to the herculean task of fighting the fact that there are actual implications to this, not because of what Angel said or did, but because of other factors that are completely out of his control. Dick decides that there are far more important things to worry about. This world has a lot to throw at them, and what's in the past is very much in the past. "This tea thing is a bit strange, don't you think. They've got us here with all these little cards, trying to set us up to talk to one another."

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MAY MINGLE

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