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

[equivo]

[ Krouse blinks, and then laughs, a grin slicing over the tension he's still holding in his expression. He leans back against the couch and props his elbow against the top of the frame to make a support for his head, palm pressed against his temple as he takes a second to marvel at her.

She really does keep working the angles, whatever the circumstances. Just another quality to add to her list of admirable traits. ]

Oh, absolutely. You could have wrung me out for assurances, caveats, promises of future favours...maybe thrown in some subtle hints about crossing the aisle to feel out the competition?

I'm actually not sure if I'm flattered or insulted you didn't think you needed the leverage.

[ He's neither, but the flutter of reassurance flitting around his chest is closer to the former than the latter by miles. It's oddly uplifting to be able to joke about this, his free hand coming up to wave lightly through the air despite the pangs that shoot out from his stitches when he does. ]

For the record, though, I don't usually extend this kind of offer. You've just been exceptionally reliable.

[ Which falls short of the things he wants to say, but she wouldn't appreciate him dragging sentimentality any further into this than he already has. He is capable of keeping his goddamn mouth shut occasionally. ]

Which is why I'm also hoping no one holding anything against you shows up, either. Hard to imagine them as reasonable people.

[ His smile fades to a sharper, closed mouth version, his levity deliberately held steady. He's not going to jump ahead to pledging to fight hypothetical battles for her, because that's another thing he's sure she wouldn't appreciate.

He'll just do it, if it comes up. For the sake of allyship. ]

[skaikru]

( it isn't a comfortable thing, to be marveled at when feeling like you're just doing the bare minimum. krouse laughs and readjusts on the couch, and for a second clarke can feel her back locking up — but he just continues on in his usual fashion, laying it on comically thick. and the answering groove between her eyebrows is nowhere as severe as it could be, the tension interwoven between her spinal chord effectively sliced by humor, even if she cannot muster easy words to deflect in kind. after all, what competition?

but sure, okay, next time she seeks out a potential ally they will be met with more scrutiny. and a little leverage never hurts to have in a back pocket, it just also never felt... necessary here.

here, and here only though. in previous instances, on previous worlds... )

They —

( there is a long, awkward pause after that word slips out unbidden; the beginning of what would be a very long story. they could mean bone marrow drilling mountain recluses she'd left to rot, as easily as they could be the inhabitants of the serena eterna that she'd left rotting in cages. and regardless of which tale she could tell him at this time, clarke is never the hero. her teeth snap together and her lips press tight; there is an self deprecating sort of smile tugging at the edges of her lips, and in the end she admits: )

They were. All of them, just... In their own way, you know? I liked plenty of them, we just happened to be on different sides.

[equivo]

[ Clarke's sobriety tempers his levity, even if it comes with a tight smile on her part. He can't decide what it means, not with the breadth of ambiguity that just happened to be on different sides can cover after a hesitation like that.

But it's not pulling back on her end. There's an extension of more tentative trust, wrapped around a question she might not even know she's asking. ]

Those are the tough ones.

[ He turns his head slightly with his gaze, leaning further into his palm as he studies a seam in her couch upholstery. Unsurprisingly, there's no revelatory insight hidden in the stitching. ]

It'd be convenient if more people were completely irrational idiots, wouldn't it? I know it'd be a weight off my mind.

[ He hasn't liked most of the people who have been on different sides. Tattletale happens to be an acute case in point, but also an exception, in her own way: she doesn't have friends on her own side either.

Then again, neither did he. Some people just aren't built likeable. ]

Maybe if they show up, they'll exercise some of that reasonable self-interest to realize it's not a great idea to fuck things up for themselves over old grudges. [ He shifts his focus back to her, mirroring the tired ruefulness of her still ambiguous smile. ] Nothing brings people together like a common cause, right?

Or so the theory goes.