etrayalogs | MISSION 009

Entry tags:

MISSION 009

⏵ CAMP ETRAYA ⏴
On May 16th, Aurora and the companion bots direct those not heading off to Solmara to make their way to Camp Etraya.

Nestled away from everything else in a large clearing full of wildflowers and redwoods, Camp Etraya is a nostalgic summer camp experience put together just for it's residents! Cabins are assigned, scary stories are told around campfires, gossiping happens among friends on the trails surrounding the cabins - and don't be surprised when something goes awry. After all, this is still Etraya.

While the rest of Etraya is still accessible and will not be blocked off, characters are discouraged from venturing far from camp for too long: Aurora will specify that they are on a mission, and that missions do require participation, but she has intentionally left them the freedom to wander. Not sleeping in their assigned cabins, not participating in events, and staying away from Camp Etraya will end with her having to take more extensive security measures, so please be on your best behavior! The last thing she wants to do is start enforcing boundaries, but she will if she has to.

Camp is set up much like your generic summer camp! Each cabin is named, housing is assigned to characters as they arrive, there are camp counselors, and rotating daily tasks and chores. There are also multiple activities that characters are expected to participate in, and each activity is worth points that goes toward their camp graduation score. This score will be visible on their earpiece, and follows the A-F grading system. We are not be monitoring this, and are leaving character scores up to players. We do, however, ask that you please report your characters' camp grade HERE for rewards and demerits to be handed out after the mission itself.

Cabin assignments can be found here, which also has their roles, and chores assigned to that cabin. Those who are participating in Solmara have received an assigned cabin, too, but their absence toward the beginning will not harm the cabin's ability to compete given how spread out their assignments are.

⏵ WELCOME TO CAMP ⏴

Camp life is meant to instill a sense of belonging, connection with nature, encouragement towards the creative, all on top of a firm foundation of responsibility. Upon arriving, campers will be escorted towards a table of white t-shirts and countless buckets of dye!

Each Etrayan will be invited to make three Tie-Dyed shirts- as well as required to wear one as part of their summer uniform. Camp counselors must wear 80s basketball shorts or cut-off jeans. Campers may wear cargo shorts or a skort. For those with physical limitations to what they can wear, accommodations will be provided.

Here, bonding is the camp runners' priority. They will be pushed into various ice-breaker activities, such as trust falls, two truths and a lie, and Never have I Ever. As the sun goes down, there will be weenies roasting over the bonfire, followed by s’mores and a sing-a-long! With the stars well-visible, it’s off to bed with campers.

Each day after will start much the same: with the ringing of the bell and raising of the flag (Aurora, while unfamiliar with flag designs but an understanding of the concept, has chosen a rainbow flag for the camp. Rainbows make people happy, right?), followed by a meal at the Great Hall, morning assembly, activities with counselors, chores, free time, and then an evening winding down by the great fire. An hour after sun down, campers will be escorted back to their cabins for curfew. Camp Counselors are expected to keep track of their campers, and ensure they're all within their cabins for bedtime. This is part of their grade, too! Curfew lifts an hour before the first bell.

⏵ CAMP ACTIVITIES ⏴

As with most summer camps, Camp Etraya offers a wide variety of activities to participate in. While some of these activities may be mandatory, others are optional. We'll be leaving this up to individual player discretion: perhaps Viktor is mandated to report to arts and crafts, whilst it's optional for Silco to show. Silco, on the other hand, may be mandated to report to the archery contest. Characters are encouraged to participate in a minimum of one camp activity per day.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of camp activities.

Three-Legged Race - You and a partner are tied together at your ankles, and you must race others to the finish line. Those with abilities that would give them an advantage will find that the rope that ties them together hinders those abilities from functioning.
Archery - This can be more traditional, magical, or include moving targets! If you're particularly unlucky, your target may even shoot back.
Softball - What instills a sense of camaraderie better than a bit of team sports? Games will be held on Wednesdays, the field is otherwise available for practice.
Dodge Ball - Standing diametrically opposed to Softball is dodge ball, the bully’s sport. This is a great opportunity to claim dominance or be sent to the Nurse’s Office.
Obstacle Course - You are directed into a large maze with multiple obstacles for them to overcome, such as rock climbing walls, ramps, tires, and nets.
Capture the Flag - Small teams are put together in order to take the flag from a particular bot, whose entire goal is to avoid being caught.
Canoe Race - Canoes are placed into the rivers just off of the camp, and characters must race to the finish line.
Chocobo Riding - Learn how to care for and ride these magnificent birds! Newbies will be taken around the corral, whereas more experienced riders can take the trail around the lake.
Arts and Crafts - Make friendship bracelets, bead lizards, paint rocks, learn origami! Or perhaps you're tasked with putting together an enchanted necklace. Don't know how to do enchantments? Now is as good of a time as any to learn.
Campfire stories - Share scary stories amongst yourselves around the campfire late into the night. If you're particularly unlucky, you may just hear the thing you were just warning others about..

⏵ NIGHT TIME ⏴

Once campers have been put to bed, the counselors can still stay up. Unwind with hidden beers and the strumming of a guitar. Don’t get too comfortable, though, since without supervision, no one is keeping the campers in bed.

After dark, should campers evade their counselors, they can go exploring in the dark. Eerie lights glimmer from the lake. There’s rumors of a headless spectre walking from the archery field to the edge of the forest. Should you behave, you still might hear a scratching at your bunk house window.

And on the very last night of camp, there will be a talent show. Show off your hidden talent and bask in the excitement of wowing your fellow campers!

⏵ NOTES ⏴

Welcome to Camp Etraya! Please enjoy the s'mores and campfire songs. :)

Camp will last approximately two weeks, going from May 16th to May 30th.

For all questions relating to this mission, please refer to the plotting post. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Well, his human form is definitely stronger than his mushroom form, so...a nod.]

It would. When I'm catkins I don't have any strength at all, and I can carry more with two hands than I could with ten hyphae.

If they expected the camp councillors to only follow the rules and not have any fun, then they should not have made Loki one of them. Even with his new found responsibilities back home and how much he’s changed, he wouldn’t be Loki if he didn’t like having a good time.

And he especially likes having a good time with Hob.

Loki smiles at Hob, licking some remaining chocolate from his fingers (possibly) accidentally flirtatiously and nods. “I am looking forward to it. Now are you going to have one of these? Because I think I might have a second one.”

They were surprisingly better than he’d thought they would be.

[they had come together because they had fun. Maria wouldn't say they didn't still have fun but their relationship had taken this turn. ever since he said he was going to Solmara. maybe part of it had been her fault for asking him for the boundaries again for their relationship, maybe she should have just kept it to herself that she thought things had gotten a little funky.

now it felt like things got out and they couldn't get back in. Maria didn't mind if they couldn't only be fun and Maria was happy to comfort him. she had offered it before and she would keep offering it until he made it clear he didn't want her around anymore. part of Maria's purpose for James had been to comfort him and most times he had rebuked her attempts. being able to finally do the very thing she'd been made for had felt good and it was for someone deserving like Vander. while he had done nothing to show her that he would ever do anything similar, it was built into Maria to expect it. for two decades, it was all she had known.

and when she realized how close she was growing to Vander, how they behaved, the deep worry had started to consume her. Vander had wanted a casual friends with benefits situation and they didn't behave like it anymore.

as if he can hear her thoughts, she looks to him in surprise though the darkness must hide it a little.] Not once have you made me feel like James did. You've never made me feel used. Not like James did much. He never used me even if I offered it up. [she regrets the words as soon as she says them and sighs.] Sorry, an attempt at a joke. A really bad one. I shouldn't do that. But...god, Vander. [she wraps her arms around him (as best as she can) from his side.] Thank you. For saying that and being so good to me because you have. I'm so happy to know you, to see you every day, and I want to keep doing that because I want to see you be happy. To have good things. You should be cherished, too. All the times we've had has been so valuable to me.

And that's why I'm scared. I can be a lot and I don't want to see that one day you just don't like me anymore. That you can't stand me. That's what I'm scared of and I keep telling myself I should run before it happens.

[ Dion doesn't seem to mind that she's playfully prodding at the orbs. As the light orbits past again, she does a small hop, trying to clap it between her hands like catching a bubble. Only mildly distracted, until she hears someone has lost their medicine. She looks more attentive, turning back around to look at him with concern crossing her face. ]

Medicine? Something like that's too important to lose. [ They need to find it. ] When did he notice it missing?

[ Shaking her head, she lets out a short, quiet laugh as if amused that he would expect her to want anything in return. It's not necessary. She gently shoves her hand a little closer, as if to quietly urge him to take it. ]

It's okay. The memories we make here are good enough. I'll have lots to talk about when I get back.

[ There is much she would like to learn about the hedgehog, especially with how much information he withholds from her. But there is still something that she can talk about him, like how he protected her from massive birds and the beautiful clearing of flowers under the dappled sunlight. Tonight's memory is just as important too, even if it was mostly full of silence watching the foreign night sky. Perhaps she'll become like the android who watched over the server, who staved off loneliness by reading through the records of humanity. ]

[ She picks up another arrow, sliding the nock onto the bowstring, and repeats the same steps. Each time is slow and careful. ]

I'll... try to ask sometime. I'm a little nervous thinking about it.

[ She admits. Especially since her only interaction was during her arrival. It almost felt similar to being called upon to protect her world in the Cage. But unlike Aurora, the little ghost in white held a more motherly tone when speaking to her.

Fio launches the second arrow. It hits once again far from the center. She'll try again a few more times. Each arrow lands, none quite landing onto the bullseye. With each try however, she grows more accustomed with loading the arrow onto the string. It's not quite perfect. Obviously very far from an expert. At least, she's beginning to simply enjoy the sensation of just letting the arrow fly through the air whether it hits the target or not. ]

I'm not good at this... [ An embarrassed smile. ] But it's kind of fun.

[ Though attentive, it's about halfway through the explanation, Fio's lost. Usually when others speak too many words at once, she has a difficult time following along. At the very least, she's capable of paying enough attention that she manages to attempt the first part of the instruction. She looks down at the paddle, positioning her hands as instructed and muttering the initial steps to herself. ]

At the top, one hand. Half way, the other hand. [ ...Fio already forgot the rest of what he said. Lifting her eyes, she looks at him expectantly both for approval and to remind her of the following steps. ] Like this?

[ A long pause, looking down to focus on coating one of her rocks with paint. ]

He could be real in some worlds, I think.

[ Maybe not hers if Santa didn't visit. (Or maybe she really wasn't good enough...) She won't deny his existence. This woman sounds like the kind of person that would deny the existence of dream eating monster friends... ]

...Getting presents from the people I care about is nice. [ Friends. Family. Which isn't often. She's used to getting by on very little or receiving nothing at all on special occasions, especially coming from a poor family. ] But no one has to give me anything. I just like spending time with others.

Yeah, I do! And there's so much more that I need to learn. We can learn together.

[ She'll continue walking along with Laura in tow, until they reach the crafts corner. As she guides her on their short trip, she remembers what they talked about over the network, recalling the older girl's favorite color. Grinning, she has a brilliant idea. And maybe it's something that may have crossed the birthday girl's mind already... ]

Let's make all different kinds of animals from the colors of the rainbow. Inclusion is important! [ A wise nod, even though that is the same wording that Laura used with her over the network. She learned that from her. ]

[ If this looks weird, it doesn't feel weird to Gorgug. He's grown up the taller one, always, as big as his parents as a baby, and only getting bigger from there. Their limbs have never reached entirely around him in his memory, and their tightest squeezes never really pressed as close to him as some of his friends' hugs. Even as Maria's does now, whether she's putting her whole strength into it or not.

He would do anything for one of those hugs right now. But this isn't a replacement for that, asking Maria for this. Gorgug keeps his head down, nods when she grants him his time, and-- he doesn't cry much. He puts his arms against her back, their pressure soft, his head craning to lean down close to her shoulder, at least letting his face hide near to her hair.

His tears are few, and he doesn't mind much sound; just some heavy breaths, a small shake of his shoulders once, and that's it. He's not afraid to cry, and not in public, but it's difficult. It's hard. The things he misses and the things that he worries about, and facing the truth of their situation. The actions they can take, but the changes they can't make.

He wants to do more. He just wants to be a teen. He wants to remember being here, but thinks he might want to forget it, too.

Gorgug takes his time, as Maria allows him. His throat sore, even if he didn't really cry, but the pressure of the emotion still leaving an uncomfortable lump that he has to swallow against, rolling his lips to lick them without catching Maria's hair. ]

I don't want to ever forget you.

[ He phrases it like he might have a choice in the matter. If he did.

But if there was anyone who deserved to be remembered, wasn't it the woman who wasn't made to be? ]

[From the onset of their relationship, she had comforted her at his one of his lowest points, joked and helped him to stand again. He liked to think that he had provided a similar function on their second meeting when she had divulged her cough. They had started on the path of wanting to see more of each other and rather than just say it, they played the game of making excuses. She was the only one, and he liked it. Something to look forward to. Then they had seen what they both were, what they would become and he thought that was the moment everything changed.

Suddenly there was stakes layered in their understanding of one another. She had moved in shortly after that, finding solace in united realizations of one another. It was a fact that he suspected she might be one of the few to understand. They still had fun, but the close proximity let them in on each other: her need to comfort and lift people up as part of her purpose. His slow descend to grief which he hid behind a mask and a protectiveness. She protected him from the worst aspects of himself; he liked to think he protected her from the trauma of James as much as he was able.

The fact was that she was the person he had grown closest to and the sheer idea that she was waiting for him to show her the door when all he wanted to do was pull her closer hit hard. It wasn't healthy to cling harder to her because they had their own social circles beyond each other, and perhaps in those, they could find their comforts as well.

This right here was why they couldn't date; he'd drag her to the abyss and she deserved better than that. She deserved better than what he could provide. If he pulled her down, he'd be no better than James in the end. It just might look different, but the result would likely be the same. She'd be another Felicia, a victim who deserved so much better than the world had provided her.

He leaned into her arms around him, even if it was comical given how wide he was. He moved to rest his temple against the top of her.] I like that you've learned to cook, that I could teach out the basics. It never sounded like you were provided the opportunities that you deserved because of your circumstance, and Etraya can be that place where it is home. I want that for you because feeling like you have a home is important. Not just a place but the people in it that lift you up.

[He huffed a laugh but there was little humor in it. He turned his head so he could keep her crown affectionately.] I've seen what you become. You've seen what I become. Do you honestly believe that I could not like you anymore? I'm not going to stop you from running if that's what makes you feel safe and protected, and even if you do, I'll be your friend. Living together or apart, we are still friends.

[He sighed from his nose.] I like that you claim to be a lot and yet you're the one living with a guy that beats a bag in the middle of the night because he can't get his shit together. If anything, I should be scared you'll throw hands and run from this level of insanity I hide behind a smile.

[He shifted his leg back in, shaking his head against her own.] So much for a fun carefree date in the forest, huh? We're a bit of a mess, Maria. [Bit being the downplay here.]

Then I do not mind.

[ If the form An Zhe is in cannot grow stronger or limits him, how might it affect him on missions? It would be better for him to have options. Dion feels he knows this, as one who can transform himself.

There are some tasks for which Bahamut is suited that his human body simply is not, after all. ]

[Fio meanwhile, will continue to confuse him. He could try to decline her again and again, but she'll just keep trying to be kind to him, be his friend. Asking for nothing in return but his company. And at this point, he's starting to believe she truly wants that. But...it's just like what Maria did once for him.

The hand that nearly reaches for the gift, lowers back down. Both ears falling forward now.]

...I can't accept this right now. [It's too soon. All he can think about is her in these moments still. What should be bringing him happiness only reminds him of the pain he went through. The loss of her and what they had. Quietly, he lifts his head to look at her.]

It's nothing you've done, so...maybe another time. [He manages to add and assure her. It's not you, it's him.]

[ Dion nods in agreement. Though Jayce had said he could secure replacement mediation in the morning, the ideal would be to locate what he had lost. Who could say when their supplies might become more finite than they have been?

As to the matter of when, Dion can easily answer that. ]

He noticed when I was escorting him back to his cabin, so the loss is recent.

[they had always helped each other and that had not changed. what Maria doesn't seem to understand is that their relationship has changed. they don't just rely on each other for distractions anymore and that hadn't been the case ever since they'd learned about each other's darkness. nothing could stay the same when you saw such an ugly part of someone and said you still wanted to be by their side anyway. who would stay the same? it would have been impossible for two people like Maria and Vander.

and yet understanding this was a natural evolution for their relationship seemed to pass them by. Maria thought that showing him her weakness, her own fears and dark feelings, just made her a little too real. not the kind of woman you had some fun with. even though Vander must have known that once he saw the monster, once he learned what she was. instead here they were, trying to make sense of each other.

but they don't want to lose each other. Maria had been scared of that but Vander made it obvious how much he did appreciate her and how much he didn't want to lose her. Maria needed to focus on that and try to believe it even if a voice inside of her told her that there was no way a man would just keep her around. even if they continued having sex, Vander had other sources. what good was she?

stop, she tells herself.

instead she does laugh.] Yeah, bit of a mess is a way to describe us all right. [she doesn't sound very amused either, though, and she sighs.]

I'm happy I can be there for you, Vander. I don't think you've ever gotten much of a shoulder to lean on. You're a big guy, you want to protect other people. But who's protected you? And I like being that for you. I like helping you. I mean that. You're so important to me and you're always going to be one of my greatest friends. I can't see that or how I feel about you ever changing.

And I don't want it to. You could keep punching that bag and wake me up and I'll still offer to come hold you through the night. That's always on the table.

[ So there's a chance that the medicine could still be sitting around somewhere outside. Hopefully it hasn't rolled off anywhere. There's a lengthy, thoughtful pause as she racks her mind over how she can be helpful. A couple more questions to gather more information, perhaps. ]

Hm. Where... was he before you brought him back to his cabin? And which cabin does he stay in? [ A pause. There's something else she wants to say. What's the word? "Retrace"... yes. That's a word a detective would use. ] We've gotta retrace his steps.

I agree, that would be the best place to start. I can show you where we crossed paths.

[ Dion returns to his feet, glancing around to get his bearings. Vander had given him a bit of resistance, but he's dealt with far worse, and he recalls well enough where he'd found him. ]

This way, then.

[ He gestures for Fio to join him, and one of the orbiting lights breaks off to take position a short distance ahead of them, lighting the way. ]

[Vander had the benefit of a lifetime of relationships, many of the messy and some of them clean and easy. He understood that people grew; they grew together and they grew apart. Sometimes time and maturity was the biggest changes of how relationships went and there were other relationships that persisted until the day one or both of them died. He had seen it in other people and experienced it himself. For him, this natural evolution of their closeness was just that: natural.

Yet, in seeing the ugly sides of each other, in witnessing the warts, blemishes and imperfections, it would make or break a relationship. Had he and Maria found differences they couldn't accept or move passed? No, not at all. If anything, Solmara painted the picture that they operated best when they could come together. Life was better with Maria in it when he compared it to life without her there.

That kind of realization was scary though. This place was dangerous enough without putting her in harms ways of the threats of his own world. He didn't talk about them as them because there was a chance that it would put a target on her back, but had he ever explained that? No, it came with too much weight, too many questions, too much loaded history. It was like James; so much history that he only scratched the surface.

If she walked away, he would accept it. He had to. She had her life to lead, but he didn't want her to. He wanted to keep her close, to have their laughs, their in-jokes, their seriousness, their sex, their sleep, their moments that all culminated into what the evolution of their relationship had brought them.]

This is a relationship, Maria. Messy and sometimes ugly. Look at the gamut of experiences you have to be put through with me? [He tried for a low-key joke, but it seemed to fall a bit flat from his mouth. He better not be losing his touch with her.

He lifted his head and stopped leaning on her though didn't stop her from doing so to him. No, his left hand smoothed over the leather brace on his right forearm.] I don't have the liberty of being protected and haven't for a long time. My role, who I am is the protector, and I've failed at that over and over and somehow people - you - still look to me. [He could be vulnerable with her; he thought she was the only one.] But I do appreciate your efforts with me. It's like a protective competition with each other sometimes.

[He turned his head to look at her in the dark and his fingers touched the friendship bracelet she had gifted him.] Don't leave. Stay in the apartment as long as you feel safe in there. You... [He trailed off, clenching his hands for a second.] ...make it feel like it can be a home. Filled with our messes and us being messes sometimes.

If it suits me.

[ And honestly? He's more likely to pretend and then break them when he wishes. Hence why he's sneaking out after everyone else has gone to sleep. He makes a show, but... Silco is Silco. He wouldn't dare do more than barely play at compliance.

Then again, he is also getting an F here. Rule breakers. ]

Honestly? If this is how they determine value, then perhaps it is better that we die off with our dignity.

[ It's put upon, but it's also a lie. Really? All Silco wants is here. It's Jinx. He has her, she's alive, she's well. He knows their future, or enough of it that he...

Thinks it's better if they died off. Jinx wants to preserve it, but Silco hates the idea of them giving in yet again. Giving up everything they were for compromise. Again.

Here, he's impotent, he's angry, but he has one thing he can do: He can stop them. ]

What about you? Even if Aurora doesn't like you...

[ To be fair, there's no way she likes Silco either. ]

Hm.

[ He eyes the activity. ]

I wouldn't do it. After all, if the information is to be gathered, it would be from the individuals performing the activity.

[ He points to the rock, slowly being painted. ]

What you are painting onto it, for example. Some may paint a person, a thing, a place. They may use decor from their worlds.

[ Hey, Silco can see it, even if he hates it, clearly. ]

I wouldn't be interested in providing that information to other people. Were it to be useful, of course.

[ Angry with him?

Silco knew he was. That he blamed him for his kids. Of course he did. He wondered, if maybe he left it, if he'd let the enforcers take him away, and let those foolish children follow him to take him, would they be in the same boat? A pack of dirty Zaunites trying to break into Stillwater, only to end up right next to him? Oh, but they would still be alive, right?

Hardly living.

He inhales the smoke. He wants to tell him that he's surrounded by pain, as if that was their choice. As if he couldn't look at everything they had, and not be angry? That was the problem. Silco wreathed himself in anger. He felt it. He thrived in it, and it motivated him. He was alive out of spite. Because he wouldn't allow anyone else to have domination over him. He wouldn't let them. Not Topside, and certainly not Vander. ]

Look at you, talking about it all like you're above it all.

[ He doesn't stop him. He doesn't intend to. ]

Like that anger and pain doesn't exist, hm? Or is it that you're taking it out elsewhere? After all, you can't take it out on me, now can you? Not really.

After all, you don't want to isolate yourself from the last of what you have left, isn't that right?

[ Idly, he taps the cigar, ashing into the detritus. ] You have to play nice instead. Is that why you're sending little letters? I can't imagine you would want to communicate with me otherwise, hm?

[ Or... ]

Or is it that you want to make sure I don't forget that you're still haunting me? [ A cloud of smoke escapes with his words, inhaling before he speaks: ] You had the indignity to plan for death, and then not even die.

[ Had the indignity to leave that letter. And for a half-second he'd read some of that and hadn't been angry. That's what makes him so mad. ]

Um....

( he truly has put her in a tricky and questionable position it seemed. so much so that she's left wondering just how to avoid hurting his feelings. he's done so much for her, surely she can indulge him in one report right? a single little document she's sure is going to end up multiple pages.

so after an amused roll of her eyes, she shrugged her shoulders and relented. )

Fine, report it is. You need something to read while you actually build the real things right? You...you are actually going to make these aren't you?

[Maria had been created with the knowledge that she should know how to talk to people, that she's made a habit of it. but Maria knows that James had been the only person she ever actually spoke with. that before James there was nothing. and so because of that, Maria is left struggling to keep up when it comes to relationships. especially the kind she has with Vander. it's simple and complicated all at once. not to mention how quickly it had grown and evolved.

and now he was important to her in ways she hadn't seen happening. there were important people to her here besides Vander but he was still in his own category. Maria couldn't quite explain Vander but all that mattered was she knew he was integral to her life now. someone she wanted to keep around and do what she could to keep him around. especially when he talks about himself like this. she wants to say something before he says the last bit and it makes her heart flutter only in the best of ways.]

Since you twisted my arm so much, I'll stay. [it's meant to be a joke but it comes off too soft to be one of those. her cheek finds his arm and she nuzzles her cheek there.] I'll protect you. As best I can. In my own way. I may not be strong but I can protect you. Even if you might say you don't need it, I don't care. I'll hold you at night and call you baby girl anyway. You've done a lot even if you aren't ready to hear that.

[there's both so much to unpack with the two of them but it'll come in time and hopefully they have plenty of it.]

[Sometimes, like in this very moment, Vander wanted to let himself be angry. He had developed such a strangle-hold on it since the Pilt that he had almost forgotten what it was to experience the full breadth of his rage, the frightening exhilaration of it rampaging through his veins. He felt unstoppable, and often time he was.

Yet, that strangle-hold remained even as his emotions twisted like cutting knives into himself. He could see it though, how Silco's anger was like armour, a repellant for any other hurt that might come his way. Cool and calm once, now a trembling mess of fury while Vander had swung in the opposite direction, practically neutering his rage as little more than a flicker in his chest.]

I'm not above it. I just hide it and control it better than you do. [Perhaps it was his first and only acknowledgement of a suffering he preferred not to give voice to. Vander the coward. Vander the protector. Vander the Hound of the Underground. He had no room for public meltdowns, even out here. Especially out here.]

Do you want me to take it out on you? We both know how that would end. Or are you prickling at me to see if that man on the gangplank is still there?

[This was the game, the maneuvering around each other. All because of a letter that annoyed Silco, no doubt. It scraped at their long and twistedly bitter history with each other, where normal conversation had no room to exist between them. It was better to rail and fight each other, and yet how does one fight against a letter? Smoke and be snotty apparently.

It wasn't like Silco could hand the words back to him. They were written and read, and there was no easy take-back to that.]

Jinx doesn't care what I do with you as long as I don't cut you. That's the rule, but otherwise, I think she's seen the writing on the wall and knows there's not getting together as she had thought. So I expect she prefers us apart than squabbling like a couple of sumprats.

[He rolled his eyes, stamping out his nub of a cigarette on his boot heel.]

Janna above, I knew you'd harp on the letter, so yeah, maybe next time I'll make the extra effort to die so I don't have to put up with your hissing whinging. And for the last time, I sent it because, at some point a long time ago, you once mattered to me. And I figured you deserved closure. I should have known that was too much for you to manage.

[He tucked his hands into his trouser pockets and took his first limping step to leave the area. Slow, steady, painfully, he tried to put distance between them.]

If you've got it, flaunt it?

[Which could fit either of them, really. Shaw doesn't tend to go for skimpy outfits, but she still knows full well what she looks good in.]

Long pants are good for practicality reasons sometimes, though. Road burn sucks.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 122 of 124

MISSION 009

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

sorry for the wait on this one... gotta be on my a game

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject