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

[keepitgoing]

[It would be so easy to melt into abject woe and verbally spew all of his misery to a hero from his own world. But that's not right to do to anyone, especially not to Captain America, who has already retired... and now has to deal with all of this after the fact. Etraya, that is.

Peter sits there with indecision painting the silence that predates his response. If they go too deep into this discussion, Peter is absolutely mortified that he might end up emotionally gouging his heart out, not only for the umpteenth time, but now in front of a fellow superhero instead of in the privacy of his shabby little apartment.]

... Really, Cap, it's nothing you gotta worry about. Everything's good.

[Which both is and isn't a lie. Things are good for MJ and Ned, and things are better for the villains and the other Peter Parkers (or at least he hopes they're doing better than when they showed up). There are good things that happened.

But getting multiple doses of a raised eyebrow from Steve Rogers is very dangerous.

He has the sneaking suspicion that he's not being convincing at all.

Pressing his hands together, he lets them sit on the table for a moment.]

... Okay. I, uh. I trusted someone I thought was a good person... someone I thought was a hero, too. But he wasn't. And he gave up my identity to everyone in the world, so things were... really messy for a while.

[That's a hell of a way to put it.]

[notmyfuture]

[Steve has done enough deflecting in his time to know bullshit when he hears it. He remembers the feeling of not wanting to burden others or come across as feeling sorry for himself. A lot of those five years had been spent patiently waiting for people to be ready to talk, too.

Maybe it's cheating to use the so-called Captain America look, but hey, that's just his face.

When Peter does finally explain, Steve sits back in his chair with a sympathetic wince. The kid's been through more shit than anyone ought to, even if he had decided to put on nanotech underwear and save people.]

I'm sorry that happened to you.

[It couldn't have been easy to keep it under wraps in the first place, much less when the whole word knew. Steve has been on both sides of that story. ]

Hopefully you didn't leave a wreck in the Potomac about it.

[keepitgoing]

[Wreck in the what-now? He looks mildly puzzled by the comparison.

Youngsters these days, I guess.

But Peter can at least use context clues to figure out what Steve's saying there, and it's not exactly something he wants to answer... With a small gulp, he reaches for a packet of sugar to fidget with more than put in his own untouched drink.]

You don't gotta apologize. It was my fault it ever happened to begin with. It's just... After — [His fingers twitch around the mug, and he looks down with a gulp.] After Tony died, I, um. I don't know. I guess Quentin Beck just found me, right time, right place... It felt nice to have someone who heard me and believed in me again.

[He scoffs.]

This isn't your problem though, Cap. It's in the past now, and we all deal with that kinda thing sooner or later, right? Being let down, then letting people down. You just... gotta make up for it by being a better hero and person later. So — that's what I'm gonna do here. Learn from my mistakes and save a universe if I gotta.