the heart (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
uprisenheart) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
dualislogs2020-01-15 08:15 pm
uprisenheart) wrote in dualislogs2020-01-15 08:15 pm
i hope you're ready for a firefight ...
WHO: Open to all Dualizens
WHAT: Another Heart meeting, a warehouse raiding, a Travis-bot-napping.
WHERE: A different run-down warehouse on the outskirts of town.
WHEN: Jan. 15
WARNINGS: Please use these in comment subject lines if applicable!
It's been a solid four months since the last time the Heart made contact with our intrepid band of kidnapped adventurers - plenty of time to think over what was said at the last meeting, to see for yourselves what sinister plans the Head has in store for everyone, to gather your own information. The well-meaning but shit-at-acting group of revolutionaries promised they'd be in touch, and today, they've made good on that promise.
Around mid-morning, there's another mysterious text message sent from an impossible number, and just like the last time, there are a number of hoops to jump through to get to the message and security precautions to make sure the message is erased without a trace. The message this time invites you to a different run-down warehouse in the far north end of town, tonight, when the streetlights spark to life.
Shortly before sunset, it begins to rain. It's a steady shower, not a violent storm like the night the mechanical doubles attacked, but the rain is piercing and cold, not quite freezing but not far from it. Hope you remembered your umbrella!
This empty, dusty warehouse is also dimly lit inside by a few flickering overhead lights, and once the last stragglers have entered for the meeting, the lights shut off as a burst of loud electrical humming echoes through the warehouse. All electronic devices inside the perimeter of the warehouse - yes, that includes your phones! - have been temporarily disabled, and will remain so until the overhead lights come on again.
Buckle in, everyone - it's time for the shitshow to begin!
WHAT: Another Heart meeting, a warehouse raiding, a Travis-bot-napping.
WHERE: A different run-down warehouse on the outskirts of town.
WHEN: Jan. 15
WARNINGS: Please use these in comment subject lines if applicable!
It's been a solid four months since the last time the Heart made contact with our intrepid band of kidnapped adventurers - plenty of time to think over what was said at the last meeting, to see for yourselves what sinister plans the Head has in store for everyone, to gather your own information. The well-meaning but shit-at-acting group of revolutionaries promised they'd be in touch, and today, they've made good on that promise.
Around mid-morning, there's another mysterious text message sent from an impossible number, and just like the last time, there are a number of hoops to jump through to get to the message and security precautions to make sure the message is erased without a trace. The message this time invites you to a different run-down warehouse in the far north end of town, tonight, when the streetlights spark to life.
Shortly before sunset, it begins to rain. It's a steady shower, not a violent storm like the night the mechanical doubles attacked, but the rain is piercing and cold, not quite freezing but not far from it. Hope you remembered your umbrella!
This empty, dusty warehouse is also dimly lit inside by a few flickering overhead lights, and once the last stragglers have entered for the meeting, the lights shut off as a burst of loud electrical humming echoes through the warehouse. All electronic devices inside the perimeter of the warehouse - yes, that includes your phones! - have been temporarily disabled, and will remain so until the overhead lights come on again.
Buckle in, everyone - it's time for the shitshow to begin!
no subject
Drifter's centuries old and most of his experiences are loss and betrayal. He keeps a wall up, a constant wall, for his own protection and the protection of others (because, in the end, stopping the Darkness or at the very least getting the hell away from it is the most important). An oncoming apocalypse only he knows about, and the preparation for doom always lingering in his head along with those invasive voices.
She curls close and he doesn't expect it to hurt a little. But it does, causes a throbbing deep in his chest.
"I hardly ever find company, Darlin'. But I live kinda rough so... When you got better options? Maybe don't bang the destitute old space hobo." He rubs her shoulder.
It's taking him a moment to interpret what she's saying as anything nearly romantic. His brain's been all bent out of shape, twisted by years of running, by being surrounded by 'Brothers' that made a practice out of hurt. Tragic shadows that taught him a lotta bad things but nothing about like.
no subject
What she used to expect was the worst, ugliest sides of everyone. It’s what she saw in the earlier years of her life, an existence almost entirely devoid of kindness and affection; she was treated badly, so she expected more of the same. But the last few years have given her a different perspective. She doesn’t expect people to be awful, but she isn’t surprised if they are, either. She keeps her expectations low. It’s a realistic outlook.
She’s close to finally nodding off, but something Drifter says pulls her back the other way. When you got better options. It’s like a discordant note in an otherwise harmonious symphony, a jarring reminder of someone else’s parting words. Nick sits up, searches in the dark to lock onto his eyes with her own.
“D’you really think I’m just settling by bein’ with you?” She’s quiet - not angry, just intensely serious. Mouth pursed tightly, she shakes her head.”’Cause I’m not. ‘Mnot just using you as a - a placeholder ‘til something better comes along. This city’s got more people than I could count - I got plenty options right now. But I chose you. ”
She sits back on her heels, the pounding of her heartbeat echoing in her ears. This kind of raw honesty in speaking about her feelings is terrifying, but Nick pushes through her fear and continues, because she’s decided it’s necessary for him to hear this. What she’s confessing to isn’t just romantic - she’s not naive, and she doesn’t have some misguided schoolgirl crush. What she feels for him is much, much deeper.
“Y’know, you’ve been sittin’ here tellin’ me to love myself more, but it’s like you’re hellbent on not letting me do the same for you. Why is that?”
no subject
"Hell, I sell weapons in wartime. Says what sorta company comes to me usually."
Her seriousness, though not intentional, doesn't have the effect she likely intends. To him, he's not as complimented by the idea that a person would find him worthy of affection in a field of contenders. He's seen the 'You're my favorite out of all the others' option used far too option as a loyalty tack. Lord Shaxx's fault, mostly.
He knows she doesn't mean it that way. But the resistance is strong. And nothing about Drifter he's tailored to earn fondness- it's all meant to distract.
Something to deal with later, not tonight. Not when they're bathed hip-deep in failure, and he's angry at their choices. Both he and Nick are compromised now. That's a heavy thought, and he wants to keep his ears open for the iterations.
no subject
Every dimension she’s been dragged into over the past few years has been fraught with peril. She nearly died in Vancouver, and it triggered a fundamental change that she can’t undo. Even her childhood home town, a tiny settlement in rural Kansas, needed to be navigated like a live minefield. Nick’s only ever known safety as a matter of degrees, never an absolute.
“Bein’ scared of getting hurt or fucked over isn’t gonna stop me from livin’ my life anymore. Living is messy and painful and hard as hell, but I’m not gonna let anything that comes at me break me, no matter how much it hurts. I’m way too stubborn to give up.”
For Nick, it’s not about avoiding the blows thrown her way anymore. It’s about being strong enough to endure them, and she’s more confident now than ever before in her life that she can do exactly that.
“Look ... I don’t wanna fight. I just wanna be with you right now. Can we agree to that?”
Tentatively, she reaches a hand out, asking for Drifter’s - for reassurance, maybe, that he isn’t going to push her away tonight.