etrayalogs | home again, home again

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home again, home again

WHO: Riz Gukgak and YOU!
WHEN: Pre-September Mission
WHERE: Various locations
WHAT: Riz is back after two and a half months (give or take) out on an isolated solo mission (and his player is getting back in the swing of things!)
NOTES\WARNINGS: This is just me dipping my toe in after a while away, so forgive me for the generic prompts of "yeah he's hanging around here" lol. If you want anything special, feel free to hit me up on plurk <3

a. immediately upon his return.

[ Riz is of two minds, upon his return.

One: spending months away on a solo mission doing investigative work in utter isolation is a dream come true, a reflection of what he hopes his eventual future will look like, an incredible opportunity that makes him feel closer to his Dad's line of work than ever before.

Two: spending months away on a solo mission in utter isolation is not, in fact, an ideal situation for a guy like him, obsessive and exacting and paranoid as he is, prone to conspiracy theories and a chronic inability to take care of himself, subsisting on coffee and a dream, unable to regulate himself well enough to eat and sleep or put in the labour of cleaning his clothes by hand as often as he should.

In all, he's thrilled to be -- not home, per se, but back, hungry for conversation and a properly cooked meal and, god, sleep in an actual bed! He looks worse for wear, divested of his usual suit and wearing only a rumpled, dirt-stained dress shirt and trousers, a little skinnier than before, the deep green of his dark circles apparent on his face, visibly jittery despite his relatively high spirits.

You can run into him as he charges his way through Etraya in a single-minded effort to get what he wants - answers, a fresh pot of coffee and a hot meal in that order - or perhaps you catch him right upon his arrival, as disoriented as he is pleased, flagging down the first person he sees with a frazzled: ] Hey, it is September, right? Time didn't get all fucked up?

[ That sort of thing is always going to be a gamble. ]

b. out and about.

[ Once he's been reunited with his boys and gotten a square meal into him and a full night's sleep, the one thing Riz is more hungry for than anything else is the simple joy of companionship. Despite his inclination towards the solitary, he does genuinely enjoy companionship, and he's eager to hear about all that he's missed in his absence. Chatty fellow that he is, he's quick to start up a conversation if the other party seems amenable, whether that's in his familiar perch at the library, at any number of cafes or restaurants, or even at any training grounds where Riz appears to immediately change his mind about partaking in any sort of physical activity whatsoever.

If someone seems helpful enough, he might approach with a casual: ] Hey, were you there for that last mission? What even happened there anyway?

[ Or perhaps you might find him on the back stoop of the grocery store, ripping into a shrinkwrapped container of raw meat with his claws and settling down for a private little snack, unable to resist fresh meat, even if that means blood happens to dribble down his chin. (It's fine, a little peroxide and he can get that out of any shirt collar.)

Or, better yet, you can find him at the shooting range, practicing with his firearm, runes gleaming along the sides of the sophisticated bit of arcanotech, clicking his tongue as his shot fires a little left of centre of the target. ] Dang, I'm a little rusty...

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[ Of course, when Riz first arrives, there's only a single thing on his mind -- or rather, two things on his mind, in the form of two people he really, really, really hopes are still here with him. The bad boys chat will immediately be inundated with Riz: ]

I'M BACK!!!
Please come pick me up I'm really tired of walking.
You guys are still here, right?
You're all right?
Nothing shitty happened on the last mission?
You didn't vanish while I was gone right?
If you did I'm going to be really mad
Bring snacks
Please

[ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ]

riz

riz?

snacks

i have snacks

where are you

?????????

Gorgug!!

You're still here!!!

And you have snacks!!!!!

[ You know Riz is excited by the amount of exclamation points he's using. He's usually a one exclamation point kinda guy. ]

The portal dumped me at the hospital..

we're coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ You know Gorgug's gotta match the energy! He's adding all the exclamation points too!!

Also it's 'we're' because there's no way Fabian isn't coming too. Fabian, are you closer to the hospital. Are we both. YOU WANNA JUMP IN ON THIS, FABIAN!! ]

[ There are like ten thousand messages in the boys group chat at this point. And so many exclamation marks. A dangerous amount of them.

And yet there's no Fabian message. Nor Fabian showing up, if Riz and Gorgug are already at the hospital.

This could be a bad sign if it was anyone else, but-- let's be real. It's Fabian. He's not checking his messages. Sorry, boys, might have to try something a little more direct. ]

[Well. There's a face Paine hasn't seen in a while. To be honest, she'd wondered if Riz had been sent back home by Aurora and Echo.

But that's him in the flesh, unmistakable. Even if he looks like he's been through the wringer. Literally, just look at the state of his clothes.]

Yeah, it's September. At least it is here.

What the hell happened to you?

Still September? Cool. Cool, awesome, okay, I can work with that, [ Riz says, bouncing on the balls of his feet and squinting up at Paine through smudged lenses, happily coming to the conclusion that she doesn't look a year older, so it probably hasn't been a whole year. Losing a couple months sucks a little but it's certainly workable.

He looks down at himself with a little grimace, fussy hands fruitlessly smoothing down his shirt, suddenly conscious of how awful he must look. He's the sort of guy who prides himself on his professionalism, and being caught looking like this is so not his style. ]

Eugh, yeah, sorry I'm all gross. I got sent on a research mission for a couple months, but they didn't exactly have showers. Or laundromats. Next time I'm bringing one of those portable irons.

[ ...probably not your point, sorry Paine! ]

[Yeah, he sure looks awful, but the smell wasn't Paine's main concern--concern was her main concern.

That said, yeah, he looks like he hasn't seen a bar of soap for a while. It's a state of being Paine has known in her life, that time when she was on the run from the oppressive theocracy.]

As long as none of the stains are from your own blood. [What color is his blood? Green?] You got sent? By who, Aurora?

Oh no, there was... actually a suspicious lack of fighting? It was all research, it was just a long time to be more or less camping.

[ Camping's never been his favourite on a good way. Frantically trying to find his way back in complete isolation? Frankly, he would have preferred a good fight. At least that way he could have tried to befriend someone, right? Half of his friends started out as foes!

(Just Ragh, really. He's prone to exaggeration in his own head.) ]

But yeah, Aurora sent me out there. She does that sometimes, you know. I'm not actually sure that you can say no.

Doesn't look like it was as nice a campsite as the one we had to go to a couple months ago. And if I had to bet, I'd bet you're right about not getting a choice in the matter.

[No more choice than they got in the big campsite, or the train, or the library, or Aphaia.]

What kind of research are we talking about? Not the sterile lab kind, I'm guessing.

No, it was... remnants of a civilization, I think. I had to go through a bunch of the researchers' journals and notes to try to piece together what was going on there, but as far as I can tell, either something happened to them or they managed to escape to somewhere else.

[ Probably the former. But Riz will hope for the latter. ]

I can give you a copy of my notes, if you like. I don't really believe in keeping this kinda stuff close to the chest.

[ He knows some people do, and power to them. If this were an active investigation and he was worried about those around him being on the side he's against (a side he doesn't even know exists, frankly), he'd be more cautious, but for anything about the mysteries of this land? Two heads are better than one, and besides, he wants his notes in as many hands as possible in case of his seemingly unlikely disappearance. ]

[Hmm. Paine is also thinking of the strong "something happened" possibility, but she can't discount that they just might have escaped. Spira escaped from its spiral of death after a thousand full years of it, so these people could have found a way to survive as well.

But her eyebrows go up when Riz offers to share his notes. That's pretty generous of him. And pretty smart, too. Sharing information is the only way they're going to make real progress.]

That'd be great. I'd like to learn as much as I can.

...Before that, do you want to grab a sandwich or something?

[She's not usually the solicitious one but given the general state of his appearance she kind of doubts regular meals were a feature of his time there....]

[ John keeps pretty good track of the people who come and go from the library, and he has noticed that Riz hasn't been around for a while. It's not entirely his business but he's almost about to ask Gorgug if the little guy is still here when he spots the kid in question.

He has grocery bags in hand but he doesn't want to risk Riz leaving so he approaches anyways. ]

Riz.

[ Not the best greeting, but it's John's standard fare. ]

[ In all honesty, the list of people that Riz had looked forwards to seeing again was shamefully short. Many of his friends have returned home by now, and his pool of contacts he actually enjoyed spending time with rather than just cooperating for some mission or another is shamefully small.

He likes John, though, finds him interesting, and is visibly pleased to have run into him. ]

John, hey! [ He puts down the massive tome he's reading to balance it precariously it on one knee. ] Long time no see!

[ His eyes dart to his bags, and he raises a brow. ] Grabbing a cookbook?

[ A warranted question from someone as sharp as Riz, so John gives him a bit of information. ]

Just coming home after a trip to the market.

[ Has Riz figured out that he lives here? If not, now he knows. But it's not a secret anymore, so he doesn't mind sharing, especially with Riz. ]

Yeah? I wondered about that.

[ He thinks that John and Mr. Finch would be around the library a lot regardless - they take pride in their space - but he sees them here an awful lot. That, combined with the huge area that's off-limits had painted a certain picture. If not their home, then a home. Or a secret lab.

He straightens his spine, setting his book down on the table in front of him and tugs his feet a little closer to his body, sitting so rigidly cross-legged that his legs are simply folded atop one another in a way that doesn't look particularly comfortable. ]

How've things been?

[ It's not just small talk, in a place like this, though he'll accept small talk. There's every chance he's managed to miss something monumental. ]

[ Of course he wondered about that. Riz seems curious enough that he probably wonders about most things. It's a good trait, though it can get the owner into trouble. ]

Went to a version of Earth for a while. Looking into an anomaly, but no one talked about it on the network so I'm not sure what happened. It was a different Earth than I'm used to, and not a city I've spent much time in. I think you would have kept yourself busy.

[ Riz probably would have liked going around and investigating things. A lot of new sights to see on Earth for him. It's a bit of a shame he wasn't there. ]

Yeah, that more or less tracks with what my friends have told me about it. It sounds like it was at least interesting, but not much more than that.

[ It makes him uncomfortable, not having been there. He hates missing out on clues. Not that he doesn't trust his friends to have investigated thoroughly - he does, really, more and more these days - but there's nothing like getting your hands dirty and getting close up and personal all on your own. ]

I'm sorry I missed it anyway. I -- [ It feels presumptuous to think that John talked to the others or, moreso, that he talked about him. He switches the subject midway. ] Well, I was on a solo mission for a while. Nothing interesting, but I'll send you and Mr. Finch a copy of my notes later anyway. Going to a different Earth sounds like it was a lot more fun. Especially if it was one like the one everyone here is from.

[ It's still a bit of a sore spot. He wishes there were more people here from his world.

Then again, considering the people he knows from his own world, maybe not. ]

[ Was it fun? It... was. It was nice. And painful. A glimpse of what he's given up forever, something he can never go back to. The time he got to spend with Harold, going to the movies, running missions again, it was a dream come true. And the fake family he got to have with Accelerator, a thing he's dreamed about for many years and knew he'd never get.

But there's no point in reminiscing about the impossible. ]

What was your mission?

[ Whenever Riz makes it back to the hospital, perhaps to restock on supplies or investigate if any new arrivals are showing up, he might find Toph working there. She's commandeered a whole room and has already bossed the bots into setting it up to her liking, making a huge workspace of tables pushed together with mechanical parts strewn all across the surface.

She's examining Robert's old prosthetic arm, practicing assembling and dissembling it, and trying to decide if this is something she could replicate.

Without turning around, she senses the tiny, light-footed presence peaking in and says, ] Who're you? Do you know anything about prosthetics?

[ Toph is, incredibly, only a little bit taller than Riz. She's actually sheared off the bottoms of the table legs to make the table lower for her to work. The resulting metal scraps are still scattered around the floor carelessly. She's only been working here for a couple days but she has the attitude of someone who owns the place. ]

Edited 2025-09-14 18:16 (UTC)

[ Despite the fact that Riz still finds the hospital eerie even after all this time, he's spent long enough here that he's familiar with each and every room and hallway, every drawer he's snooped inside and pilfered for supplies. More than that, though, it's a place he's used to being alone, save for newcomers stumbling into this world as disoriented and frightened as a fawn. He'd heard the rustle of someone else in here, of course, but he'd been halfway expecting another newcomer, not the loud, confident voice that greets him.

He pokes his head into the room, only a little surprised that someone actually heard him, and debates how one answers who are you. Is she wondering why she's here? Is it cool and normal to just answer with his name? In the end, he's quiet for just a touch longer than socially acceptable. ]

I'm Riz? And prosthetics are a little beyond me, sorry.

[ Curiously, he peers at what Toph's working on and at the general area, messy with what has to be days of work. ] Who're you? Is this, um, pressing?

[ Is someone out there sans an arm, he means. Riz is a generally helpful sort and even though he doesn't know how to deal with prosthetics, he's confident in his ability to find someone who can. ]

Toph Beifong. Sassy doc is missing an arm but he seems pretty chill about it, so probably not that urgent.

[ Toph offers that answer with all the unhurried self-assurance of someone who's spent their whole life dealing with what would be considered an emergency to most people, which is losing their sight. Riz is a little socially awkward compared to Toph's assertive no-nonsense confidence, but she doesn't mind it.

She sets the pieces down she'd been examining and turns to actually face him. Someone as sharp as Riz is probably likely to pick up on her blank, milky gaze behind messy bangs that fall right in front of her eyes. ]

I'm trying to see if I can make him something better than what he's got now, but I haven't done anything this finely detailed before. Not with electronics, anyway.

[ She can make exquisitely detailed sandcastles, but that has nothing to do with electronics. ]

[ Riz nods, reading the detailed answer as permission to enter the room properly and take a good look at what she's talking about. He catches onto the fact that she's blind pretty immediately - noteworthy only in that there aren't a great many people here with such an obvious physical limitation; Mr. Finch, Batgirl, and apparently this doctor guy being the only three he can think of off the top of his head - but being that it hasn't stopped her from such detailed work, he readily assumes she's got things under control. ]

Huh. I mean, it'd be nice if he could have another arm, then. [ Whoever 'sassy doc' is. ] Mind if I take a look? I at least know a thing or two about electronics.

[ He doesn't wait for permission before bounding over -- not touching, but certainly getting close enough to see all the little bits and pieces even with his less than perfect eyesight. ]

This is a pretty big project to take on if you're not used to working with electronics, [ he muses. ] What sort of things d'you usually do?

It's because I can do this.

[ Demonstrations are Toph's preferred way of explaining her abilities rather than getting into a whole lecture, and he's offering to help with the electronics part, so she doesn't hesitate. She's not at all the type of prideful that refuses help on a project or in a fight.

Toph snaps through some quick hand movements, and the whole arm reassembles itself neatly on the table, pieces flying through the air and clicking into place. ]

So if I can figure out the electrical stuff, I could probably do some pretty cool things, right? [ That's her vision, anyway. ]

Whoa, that's sick!

[ Riz has grown up in a world made up of magic, everything from the very streetlights that illuminate his way home to rebuilding efforts after a cataclysmic disaster performed through some combination of arcanotech and raw magic -- but just as a human from an ordinary world may still be impressed by a feat of engineering, he still has the capacity to be impressed by the familiar. ]

It's kind of like conjurative magic, [ he reasons aloud, trying to slot her powers into his own worldview more for his own convenience than anything else. He misses Adaine, sharply and suddenly, his most frequent collaborator and his greatest inspiration when it comes to something like this. ]

If you can figure out the shell, I could probably work on the insides. [ He reaches out to run his fingertips along the length of the arm, then reaches out to pick it up and flip it over in his grasp. ] I have a workshop we can use. Fully equipped. Not that what you have set up here isn't great, but I have more of my components there.

[ How does a blind girl work with blueprints? He'll have to figure that part out. ]

[ His immediate appreciation gets a smirk out of Toph and a relaxing of her posture. She's always a bit on edge until she knows whether or not someone else is going to doubt her capabilities or think less of her because of her age, gender, or stature. Riz is just as small and maybe just as young as she is, but that's never stopped anyone before.

She has no idea what conjurative magic is and doesn't particularly care, so she doesn't ask. ]

It's called earthbending, [ she corrects, ] and I'm really, really good at it. [ That's an understatement, but Toph is just trying to get the point across that not every earthbender could try to take on a project like this. ]

Sweet. I basically just threw a bunch of stuff in here, so I'm down to use your workshop. And I want to learn the insides, too -- there's a ton of electronics around here, and if I can get more comfortable with them, who knows what I could do.

[ Toph Beifong has never seen a limit she didn't want to blow up. ]

Oh -- and there's some other guy who's trying to work on this, some goody-goody nerd. I think he actually does have prosthetics experience.

[ If Riz is hyper-aware following his reappearance in Etraya, he might notice that he's being tailed across the city... by a couple of squirrels. The second he makes eye contact with one of them, it'll skitter off up the nearest tree and off into the distance.

... And a few minutes later, there's the pelting of footsteps across the nearest rooftop, and suddenly Doreen is crashing down directly in front of him, her tail streaming behind her like a furry comet as she lands in a springy crouch. ]

Riz! Ohmygosh, you're okay! I was worried about you, dude, you just disappeared!

[ Doreen throws her arms wide, as if she's about to go in for a hug... and then freezes with her arms outstretched, as social etiquette finally kicks in. ]

... Wait, can I hug you? Are you a hugger? No problem if you're not, we can fistbump or something instead!

[ Riz is definitely aware of being followed, of being watched, but -- even knowing that it could be a malevolent druid using their familiars or whatever to get at him, he's already aware of the much, much more likely option. Even someone as paranoid as Riz knows that the likelier option is most often the true one and, well.

He very much does have a friend with a huge squirrel tail. He admittedly does not expect her to come sailing out of the sky and reacts with appropriate caution (which is how he narrates it to himself; someone less concerned with painting him in a good light might just say that he screams), hands flying up to cover his face instead of reaching for his firearm like a good adventurer. Alarm quickly gives way to affection as he gives her arm a quick bop of reprimand. ]

Geez, give a guy a heart attack why don't you!

[ He grins at her. ] ...but I am a hugger.

[ Most people wouldn't expect it of him, self-serious and devoted to his craft as he is but he flings himself into her arms nonetheless, giving her the best squeeze his short arms can manage. ]

Sorry! I would have said something when they sent me on a mission, but I really didn't think it was gonna last that long!

[ Listen, if nothing else, Doreen is always on brand. Riz gets scooped up into a quick, enthusiastic twirl-hug before Doreen sets him down again! Sorry buddy, she got a little carried away in the moment. ]

Sorry for the jumpscare! Once Jiminy spotted you, I came running.

[ But more to the point: ]

Jeez, no kidding! Are you okay? You're not hurt? I mean, I don't super trust Aurora at the best of times, and she does not have a good track record when it comes to other people's personal safety!

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home again, home again

closed to the bad boyz

1/2??

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ok DONE

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A

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library

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b except wildcard, I do what I want

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I somehow never got this notif so please poke me if I don't respond to your next!!

will do!!!

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out and about! (outdoors somewhere!)

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