WHO: Ignis Scientia (lenity) and you, hopefully. WHAT: General catch-all for October. Event stuff will be handled in event threads, this is general. WHERE: Throughout Dualis. WHEN: October. WARNINGS: None yet!
[He hadn't expected this. How should he? Destiny and fate had been something that'd always proved itself to be insurmountable, unchangeable, inexorable even, and the bleak eventuality that'd hung over his shoulders for over a decade obviously had not prepared him for this.
...Whatever this was.
This was not scripted. This was not the course they were all on, it was not the ending point, this was not supposed to happen.
He hadn't laid eyes on the Head, alike the others. Yet he hadn't had to. There was enough about the encounter- be it the synthetic voice that greeted him, the lack of discernible smell the speaker emitted, even the complete absence of warmth, that'd tipped him off. That, of course, and what it said. That'd helped clarify.
Arguing the point that yes, it could run whatever trials it wanted- later- was irrelevant. It was a machine. Machines didn't reason. Asking where the mechanism had even heard of him was just as irrelevant. In a sense, it was just like a MT. It followed a specific course. That was it.
It's as he's making his way to the dormitories that he truly starts to discover what the city is like. He's being followed, he's sure. The surroundings are unfamiliar, roads seem to lead to nowhere, and there's a steady sound- footsteps- behind him.
They know he's blind. They see him as a target. He's quite sure of the former. The latter is more than likely. What was this? Some mugging? Chance would be a fine thing. He's not weak.
As he makes his way around a corner, he hangs close to the edge. The footsteps follow. He's quick- latching onto an extended arm, keeping hold of it as he uses the wall to take a few steps up it- twisting the arm over the would-be mugger's shoulder as he turns mid-air, over him.]
Leave, or I'll break it.
[It's a small growl, into his would-be assailant's ear. Then he lets go. And the man runs. He straightens his collar, as he steps out of the alley.
[Oh yeah there's someone else. Someone who had been further further back than the mugger, stalking not Ignis but the asshole he'd seen on the street while coming home from work. Like, seriously, what prick decides to go and rob a blind man? Not cool, not cool at all. But Nida, guy that he was, didn't really want the blind guy to realize just how much danger he'd been in. His intention had been to move, to lunge forward and strike just as the would-be mugger was turning the corner. Except...
Well, except the blind guy was a) quick, b) doing something Nida can't see around that corner, and c) completely and totally changed in Nida's eyes to a very dangerous and very cool guy. So he stays back while the mugger runs, and stays definitely out of reach as the sharply dressed man comes out of the alley.]
Gotta say, don't know what you did to scare the guy off, but I'm definitely impressed. Wish you'd held him, though. Know a guy in the police here. Two of them, actually. Could have stood to lock the asshole up.
[Despite Nida's distance, a few things carry over. All to be expected, really. He'd trained his senses for over ten years, affording better qualities of each- in order to compensate for his (lack of) sight.
The first is smell. Whatever fragrance he's wearing, it indicates taste. The second, the timbre of his voice. He's young. Not obnoxiously so, if he were to be associated with the failed assailant, he's not too young to experience the same treatment. But he's some years younger than him, he's reasonably sure.
Fortunately for the both of them, what he says means it's not going to come to that.]
An error of judgement, perhaps.
[His own voice is calm, measured.]
Yet where I'm from, people seldomly do unbecoming things without reason.
[Who was this man? He's unsure. But from what the Head had dictated toward him, he's not a native.]
[Well, at least the fragrance indicated taste. Nida hated smelling like the garage when he was done, and since the place had a shower, he always changed clothes and freshened up after. And that tended to mean just a bit of cologne so he could get the oil smell out of even his own nose. What? He loves mechanical things, but there is a time and a place for being a grease monkey and after work was definitely not it.]
Yeah, people do that stuff here for a reason too. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't be punished. We've all got to live through crazy robot overlords together.
[Still, Nida considers the question carefully. Too long is not a fair answer, and if he says 'forever' that might not come through enough in tone to say he's joking, what with the guy not being able to get the body language to back it up.]
This is the start of my fifth month here. Almost halfway done with the mandatory sentence.
[And his tone... it's unsure. He doesn't say 'halfway home' because he doesn't know that there is a home for him anymore. There might not be a place to go at all. So he's just under halfway to having to make a decision. And if he's lucky, they'll deal with the Head and he can just choose to stay here without worrying about some evil shit.]
Indeed. Perhaps something to remember the next time I'm taken for an easy mark. The experience is all rather new, you see.
[Slight(?) sarcasm? Yes. Very slight. This man, whomever he is, doesn't seem a bad sort. But he'll admit, he's not exactly in the finest of spirits to be here.
Why should he be? At one moment, he's fighting a six-damned (literally) Astral and facing the end of days, the next, it's insinuated that his life is no longer important and he's participating in the most ethically dubious medical trial he's heard of, on a star which, by all accounts, even before the apocalypse, wasn't even known.
Still. His snark is only passing. Of course, it wasn't this man's fault. So. He listens, indicating slight dismay at the answer.]
You get used to it. Well, as used to getting abducted to alien worlds from all the different corners of the multiverse as someone can get. I mean, there are apparently people here who chose to stay and have lived here for years.
[Those he doesn't believe in as much, mostly because now the Head seems... more dubious and less righteous than it had been. But there's no point in worrying a new arrival with that information. Instead Nida just swings the metal bo he'd taken from his back as he approached the situation back into the holster he had on his back. No reason to be ready for a fight now.]
How new? Like, we talking fresh off the airship here, around the block once or twice, or something in between? Figured you were somewhat new, there would always be a chance that by now you might have traded in for some cyber eyes or a spell to heighten your awareness of your surroundings. Though it looks to me that you're more capable at handling yourself. Especially since you're only dealing with people and not something like a Behemoth.
[The reference is more for himself. So far his experience had given him only three worlds out there with behemoth's. His own, Cloud's, and the place that Vanille, a sweet girl from the last world, had come from.]
[Getting used to it. That seemed a highly foreign concept and something which, in his case, would certainly not apply. Not when the others were still back there- not when the thought exists in his head of Noctis accepting his destiny- their defeat- alone.
He's just barely brought himself to accept Noctis' fate. So this? Unthinkable, for him. Quite unthinkable. So, the question.]
Fresh. Were we lambs to the slaughter, I'd envision myself as fresh enough to still be bleating. [His tone, of course, is dry.] Anyway, I've yet to find the dormitories. I was given a location a few hours ago.
[The comment about the behemoth doesn't cause any reaction. Why should it? This is his first rodeo. It stands to sense that behemoths should be on all worlds.]
Rest assured, that's of little concern. [He's confident in himself. Even without the others.] I'd rather not while unaided, however.
[Okay, and now Nida is pausing and really looking at the guy. Because wow. That's interesting.]
Either you don't know what a behemoth really is, or you're cocky as all hell. Because I've never managed to take one down myself, and I'm not exactly a slouch in the combat department.
[Actually, he... Ouch, now that he's thinking about it, trying to find the dormitories in the guy's condition might be rough. It's not easy if it's not visually apparent, because the guy wouldn't even have the phone yet. Okay, time to consider that.]
They really should have offered you an Iteration as a guide, given you don't have a device with a nav program yet. Tell you what, I'll help get you in the general direction of the dorms if you promise not to use your apparent combat genius to kick my ass for offering.
[It's rather easy to perceive his manner as arrogance. Nida, absolutely, would be well within his rights to. But the reality, the saddest reality, is there's things worse than behemoths where he's from. Even the vaguely harrowing hunt for Deadeye at Wiz's Chocobo Outpost is nothing, compared to daemons.
Yet. It's best not to think on better times. Even if Gods- fighting behemoths even qualifying as 'better times' is something else. The next statement is a better option than thinking on it.
Even if the next statement appears to be... a joke, hopefully. So he'll return it with one of his own.]
[A joke back? Nice. Even gets a chuckle from Nida. Intimidating? No. He's never been that.]
No offense, you don't look very intimidating yourself. That doesn't mean you're not capable of defending yourself in a pinch. And, unlike you, I'm armed in multiple ways. Not that people around here always take a staff as a weapon. But it's not my fault my brother hasn't gotten past his sword infatuation to make me a weapon yet.
[One day, there will be a naginata with his name on it. For now, he's content with the staff.]
Anything I should keep in mind for walking with you? Don't want to find out that I was doing something like stepping heavily and having that throw off your ability to tell when other people are nearby.
[Because this guy? Nida's certain he can get around without his vision. Doesn't know how, but he doesn't want to mess that up.]
[Difficult, as well. And dissimilar, but not too dissimilar, from the polearm. That's certainly enough to make him interested. At the next statement, he laughs. He might be warming to this gentleman already, even with all considered.]
Only that you needn't compensate. I assure you, I'll not walk into a wall should you sneeze abruptly.
A stave is a starting point. People would take it a bit more seriously if it had literally any form of polearm head on it. But the weapons in this place leave a lot to be desired. Professional advice? Get to know a blacksmith.
[Seifer is spoken for, of course. He's got a lot of work to do and Nida REALLY wants something with a cutting edge already. But mostly he's just walking now, confident the man will keep up. If he perhaps takes a little less effort in masking his steps than he normally does, well, that's his won business.]
Indeed we shall. We do even. And don't worry, no sneezing. Even if someone has a dog around, I took my allergy medication this morning.
[He does get a few steps before he asks the question really on his mind, though.]
So Behemoths really exist on your world? What about dragons? I had a guy tell me, last place like this I was kidnapped to, that most worlds he'd gone to either had bears or dragons, and dragons were way more common. But on my world bears were wiped out by monsters a long time ago, and dragons are still absolutely a thing. Figure if you're a guy from a world with Behemoths, you might have dragons too.
[Allergic to dogs. Unfortunate. Still, it's interesting to know someone seems to not be averse to taking whatever medication was prescribed here. Personally? He'll pass.
As it starts to walk, it occurs to him that he should certainly ask for Nida's name, but his question takes precedence. So. He answers.]
Both exist. Dragons are creatures that tend to be more comfortable in the darkness.
[As for bears... Gladio? The thought makes him smile, and swiftly hold his hand to his lower face to hide it. This man, of course, isn't part of the joke. So it's best left alone.]
Damn, dragons and bears. That means you don't get a point for my side. But I mean, there's still the fact that someone else here can hear the word dragon and sigh because fuck those, right?
[Nida really, really hates dragons.]
Though we didn't have nocturnal ones. Now... you going to tell me what's got you smiling so much?
[No bears on his world, Ignis. He wouldn't get the joke.]
[As Ignis makes his way into the shared room, it's very much a matter of pure willpower forcing eventual can be prevalence. Finding his way around an unfamiliar environment wasn't that hard- not when there's a lot to go on. Smell, touch, feeling, for instance. It's really not that hard.
It's just significantly more difficult when every floor of this place feels, smells, and feels the same. Brutalism, most would call it. The architecture of the building certainly leaves little to the imagination, and he's fairly sure that even with sight- there's not all that much detail that could be added.
Yet. Just being able to make out the numbers on the doors would be a distinct advantage.
[Now this was something which was sad indeed. As he stands in the dormitory complexes kitchen, there's a distinct form of misery prevalent in the air.
Misery that can only come from standing in a cramped, confined space, with the bare minimum of equipment, something that smelled vaguely like the beginnings of mould- and just the general sadness that can only come along with shared facilities.
But what was he, if not a miracle worker? He'd dealt with worse. Caravan facilities, for a start. The first thing everything requires is a good bleach. After that, descaling. Then...
...A sledgehammer.
The latter is tempting. But for now, a good clean should suffice. As he turns to leave the room, he'll become aware of someone else's presence.]
[Someone entering with a plastic tub of cleaning supplies and scrub brushes and sponges, all of which have clearly been used from the smells of lingering cleaning fluids. All sorts of things for cleaning. He's been so busy with the new job that his cycle of cleaning kitchens here has sort of fallen off. Oops. And David almost winces as he sees the condition.
It's only after he reacts with a distasteful nose that he verbally acknowledges the other man. And he does it comfortably. No hesitation in his tone, nothing to imply that he's staring and processing the situation. Helps to have gone to school with a blind young woman who tended to get around better than he did.]
Don't let me get in your way. Just... Ugh, this place really could use a deep scrub.
[He's on his way out, but as David enters with his assortment of things, he's quite capable of standing at the side of the doorway to allow him to pass. As he does, he lingers.]
[David heads over to a counter and starts taking out cleaning supplies.]
No, not at all. If there's something you wanted to be doing, I can remove myself for a while. Just thought since I have the day off, I'd start some cleaning. But cooking with the smell of cleaning supplies can really kill the ability to season.
[Naminé takes a step back to give Ignis room to step around her. She isn't a skilled cook. In fact, she doesn't know how to cook but now that she has a body she has to eat. Aqua has taught her some things but she wanted to learn more and the cookbook she'd found had step by step instructions.
She hadn't anticipated the kitchen being in such a sad state.]
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dualislogs2019-10-06 08:30 pm
Arrival - OPEN
...Whatever this was.
This was not scripted. This was not the course they were all on, it was not the ending point, this was not supposed to happen.
He hadn't laid eyes on the Head, alike the others. Yet he hadn't had to. There was enough about the encounter- be it the synthetic voice that greeted him, the lack of discernible smell the speaker emitted, even the complete absence of warmth, that'd tipped him off. That, of course, and what it said. That'd helped clarify.
Arguing the point that yes, it could run whatever trials it wanted- later- was irrelevant. It was a machine. Machines didn't reason. Asking where the mechanism had even heard of him was just as irrelevant. In a sense, it was just like a MT. It followed a specific course. That was it.
It's as he's making his way to the dormitories that he truly starts to discover what the city is like. He's being followed, he's sure. The surroundings are unfamiliar, roads seem to lead to nowhere, and there's a steady sound- footsteps- behind him.
They know he's blind. They see him as a target. He's quite sure of the former. The latter is more than likely. What was this? Some mugging? Chance would be a fine thing. He's not weak.
As he makes his way around a corner, he hangs close to the edge. The footsteps follow. He's quick- latching onto an extended arm, keeping hold of it as he uses the wall to take a few steps up it- twisting the arm over the would-be mugger's shoulder as he turns mid-air, over him.]
Leave, or I'll break it.
[It's a small growl, into his would-be assailant's ear. Then he lets go. And the man runs. He straightens his collar, as he steps out of the alley.
Someone else?]
no subject
Well, except the blind guy was a) quick, b) doing something Nida can't see around that corner, and c) completely and totally changed in Nida's eyes to a very dangerous and very cool guy. So he stays back while the mugger runs, and stays definitely out of reach as the sharply dressed man comes out of the alley.]
Gotta say, don't know what you did to scare the guy off, but I'm definitely impressed. Wish you'd held him, though. Know a guy in the police here. Two of them, actually. Could have stood to lock the asshole up.
no subject
The first is smell. Whatever fragrance he's wearing, it indicates taste. The second, the timbre of his voice. He's young. Not obnoxiously so, if he were to be associated with the failed assailant, he's not too young to experience the same treatment. But he's some years younger than him, he's reasonably sure.
Fortunately for the both of them, what he says means it's not going to come to that.]
An error of judgement, perhaps.
[His own voice is calm, measured.]
Yet where I'm from, people seldomly do unbecoming things without reason.
[Who was this man? He's unsure. But from what the Head had dictated toward him, he's not a native.]
How long have you been here?
no subject
Yeah, people do that stuff here for a reason too. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't be punished. We've all got to live through crazy robot overlords together.
[Still, Nida considers the question carefully. Too long is not a fair answer, and if he says 'forever' that might not come through enough in tone to say he's joking, what with the guy not being able to get the body language to back it up.]
This is the start of my fifth month here. Almost halfway done with the mandatory sentence.
[And his tone... it's unsure. He doesn't say 'halfway home' because he doesn't know that there is a home for him anymore. There might not be a place to go at all. So he's just under halfway to having to make a decision. And if he's lucky, they'll deal with the Head and he can just choose to stay here without worrying about some evil shit.]
no subject
[Slight(?) sarcasm? Yes. Very slight. This man, whomever he is, doesn't seem a bad sort. But he'll admit, he's not exactly in the finest of spirits to be here.
Why should he be? At one moment, he's fighting a six-damned (literally) Astral and facing the end of days, the next, it's insinuated that his life is no longer important and he's participating in the most ethically dubious medical trial he's heard of, on a star which, by all accounts, even before the apocalypse, wasn't even known.
Still. His snark is only passing. Of course, it wasn't this man's fault. So. He listens, indicating slight dismay at the answer.]
Five. Goodness-
[That was putting it lightly.]
no subject
[Those he doesn't believe in as much, mostly because now the Head seems... more dubious and less righteous than it had been. But there's no point in worrying a new arrival with that information. Instead Nida just swings the metal bo he'd taken from his back as he approached the situation back into the holster he had on his back. No reason to be ready for a fight now.]
How new? Like, we talking fresh off the airship here, around the block once or twice, or something in between? Figured you were somewhat new, there would always be a chance that by now you might have traded in for some cyber eyes or a spell to heighten your awareness of your surroundings. Though it looks to me that you're more capable at handling yourself. Especially since you're only dealing with people and not something like a Behemoth.
[The reference is more for himself. So far his experience had given him only three worlds out there with behemoth's. His own, Cloud's, and the place that Vanille, a sweet girl from the last world, had come from.]
no subject
He's just barely brought himself to accept Noctis' fate. So this? Unthinkable, for him. Quite unthinkable. So, the question.]
Fresh. Were we lambs to the slaughter, I'd envision myself as fresh enough to still be bleating. [His tone, of course, is dry.] Anyway, I've yet to find the dormitories. I was given a location a few hours ago.
[The comment about the behemoth doesn't cause any reaction. Why should it? This is his first rodeo. It stands to sense that behemoths should be on all worlds.]
Rest assured, that's of little concern. [He's confident in himself. Even without the others.] I'd rather not while unaided, however.
no subject
Either you don't know what a behemoth really is, or you're cocky as all hell. Because I've never managed to take one down myself, and I'm not exactly a slouch in the combat department.
[Actually, he... Ouch, now that he's thinking about it, trying to find the dormitories in the guy's condition might be rough. It's not easy if it's not visually apparent, because the guy wouldn't even have the phone yet. Okay, time to consider that.]
They really should have offered you an Iteration as a guide, given you don't have a device with a nav program yet. Tell you what, I'll help get you in the general direction of the dorms if you promise not to use your apparent combat genius to kick my ass for offering.
no subject
Yet. It's best not to think on better times. Even if Gods- fighting behemoths even qualifying as 'better times' is something else. The next statement is a better option than thinking on it.
Even if the next statement appears to be... a joke, hopefully. So he'll return it with one of his own.]
I should hope you're intimidating enough.
no subject
No offense, you don't look very intimidating yourself. That doesn't mean you're not capable of defending yourself in a pinch. And, unlike you, I'm armed in multiple ways. Not that people around here always take a staff as a weapon. But it's not my fault my brother hasn't gotten past his sword infatuation to make me a weapon yet.
[One day, there will be a naginata with his name on it. For now, he's content with the staff.]
Anything I should keep in mind for walking with you? Don't want to find out that I was doing something like stepping heavily and having that throw off your ability to tell when other people are nearby.
[Because this guy? Nida's certain he can get around without his vision. Doesn't know how, but he doesn't want to mess that up.]
no subject
[Difficult, as well. And dissimilar, but not too dissimilar, from the polearm. That's certainly enough to make him interested. At the next statement, he laughs. He might be warming to this gentleman already, even with all considered.]
Only that you needn't compensate. I assure you, I'll not walk into a wall should you sneeze abruptly.
[And.]
Shall we?
no subject
[Seifer is spoken for, of course. He's got a lot of work to do and Nida REALLY wants something with a cutting edge already. But mostly he's just walking now, confident the man will keep up. If he perhaps takes a little less effort in masking his steps than he normally does, well, that's his won business.]
Indeed we shall. We do even. And don't worry, no sneezing. Even if someone has a dog around, I took my allergy medication this morning.
[He does get a few steps before he asks the question really on his mind, though.]
So Behemoths really exist on your world? What about dragons? I had a guy tell me, last place like this I was kidnapped to, that most worlds he'd gone to either had bears or dragons, and dragons were way more common. But on my world bears were wiped out by monsters a long time ago, and dragons are still absolutely a thing. Figure if you're a guy from a world with Behemoths, you might have dragons too.
no subject
[Allergic to dogs. Unfortunate. Still, it's interesting to know someone seems to not be averse to taking whatever medication was prescribed here. Personally? He'll pass.
As it starts to walk, it occurs to him that he should certainly ask for Nida's name, but his question takes precedence. So. He answers.]
Both exist. Dragons are creatures that tend to be more comfortable in the darkness.
[As for bears... Gladio? The thought makes him smile, and swiftly hold his hand to his lower face to hide it. This man, of course, isn't part of the joke. So it's best left alone.]
no subject
[Nida really, really hates dragons.]
Though we didn't have nocturnal ones. Now... you going to tell me what's got you smiling so much?
[No bears on his world, Ignis. He wouldn't get the joke.]
Roommates - closed to Drifter.
It's just significantly more difficult when every floor of this place feels, smells, and feels the same. Brutalism, most would call it. The architecture of the building certainly leaves little to the imagination, and he's fairly sure that even with sight- there's not all that much detail that could be added.
Yet. Just being able to make out the numbers on the doors would be a distinct advantage.
As he enters the room, he sounds almost tired.]
....Drifter, might I assume?
Dormitory kitchens - OPEN
[Now this was something which was sad indeed. As he stands in the dormitory complexes kitchen, there's a distinct form of misery prevalent in the air.
Misery that can only come from standing in a cramped, confined space, with the bare minimum of equipment, something that smelled vaguely like the beginnings of mould- and just the general sadness that can only come along with shared facilities.
But what was he, if not a miracle worker? He'd dealt with worse. Caravan facilities, for a start. The first thing everything requires is a good bleach. After that, descaling. Then...
...A sledgehammer.
The latter is tempting. But for now, a good clean should suffice. As he turns to leave the room, he'll become aware of someone else's presence.]
Excuse me.
no subject
It's only after he reacts with a distasteful nose that he verbally acknowledges the other man. And he does it comfortably. No hesitation in his tone, nothing to imply that he's staring and processing the situation. Helps to have gone to school with a blind young woman who tended to get around better than he did.]
Don't let me get in your way. Just... Ugh, this place really could use a deep scrub.
no subject
[He's on his way out, but as David enters with his assortment of things, he's quite capable of standing at the side of the doorway to allow him to pass. As he does, he lingers.]
Would you prefer I left?
no subject
No, not at all. If there's something you wanted to be doing, I can remove myself for a while. Just thought since I have the day off, I'd start some cleaning. But cooking with the smell of cleaning supplies can really kill the ability to season.
I hope late is okay!
[Naminé takes a step back to give Ignis room to step around her. She isn't a skilled cook. In fact, she doesn't know how to cook but now that she has a body she has to eat. Aqua has taught her some things but she wanted to learn more and the cookbook she'd found had step by step instructions.
She hadn't anticipated the kitchen being in such a sad state.]
Or... maybe I can help you clean?