lifeaftr | Ruins Mingle Log!

Entry tags:

Ruins Mingle Log!

Who: Newt Geiszler

ohnehalfte and EVERYONE
What: So a bunch of people headed up towards the ruins, so they've got to all run into each other and start to congregate, right???
When: Evening of the mingle log and onwardish.
Where: The Ruins
Warnings: Um...same as the mingle log?

The beach curves up a gentle slope until it meets forest, some manner of building visible through the trees. Further exploration of this area will reveal a dilapidated building of sorts; the architecture is indiscernible to even the most skilled eye. Despite looking as if it has seen better days, there are areas that offer some form of shelter...and who knows what else. Just because it appears uninhabited doesn’t mean you won’t wind up pleasantly, or unpleasantly, surprised.

[ooc: Hey y'all! I thought this might be a good place to start getting larger groups of characters together to do some exploring, settling down, banding together and figuring out rations, etc. Feel free to throw up any threads of your own for specific things like exploration groups, a gathering in the entrance hall, whatever strikes your fancy or that you think your character would organize. Have a party!

Edit: Additionally, there is now an OOC Post for those that want to handwave their character signing up for ruin exploration]

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Newt says it's not them but it sounds like that's doing fuckall in terms of Taako's comfort levels, he still won't shut up about the continued aliveness of their customer like that's not a certainty and she quickly glances around to see if they've raised any undue attention. "Yeah, we'll be here, don't forget to rate us on fantasy Yelp!" she makes a last ditch effort at distracting from all those words that are pouring out of Taako before Newt is out of sight and she can start handling this side of the emotional trainwreck.

"Listen, I can go check on him if he doesn't come back, but the ice cream is fine, okay?" she says with as much conviction as she can put in a hushed voice because this isn't a great place to be having this conversation? Actually she's gonna tug Taako back a little towards a nook in the closest wall, still keeping a tight hold on him, they're just having a company meeting, don't mind them. "You've done this a million times, the water was fine too, you haven't done anything wrong." It's kinda breaking her heart to even have to reassure him on this, to get another first-hand demonstration of what her absence did to him. "I don't know what the fuck his problem is, we don't know any of these people, but that's nothing to do with us." And it's 'us' now, no matter what.

Newt barely makes it out the door and manages to duck into an alcove just outside as his knees give, as he leans heavily on the wall and slides down slowly, trying to swallow noises that claw their way up his throat and batter against the backs of his teeth. It feels like everything in him is screaming for Hermann...Hermann...Hermann...repeating in his head like the pounding of a drum, like the beat of his heart. And it hurts so much, that grief, that loss that he won't think about. That he can't think about, not now. Not while everything is still so unknown and there's no communication and they don't know why they're here or what is in store for them.

There are spots flickering at the backs of his eyelids as Newt presses the heels of his palms into them, counting his breaths--in for four, hold for seven, out for eight, tongue against your hard pallet. Repeat. Don't think about it, don't delve into it, think of something else, the tasks to do, things to accomplish--explore the ruins, check available tech, gather firewood, find some sort of rationing system. Organize, fight, learn, discover, there's no time for grief, for any of that. There's just too much to do. And Newt chokes back another noise, swallows, clears his throat against the tightness and sucks in another breath, slowly feeling his control start to come back to him. He's never had much of that to begin with, but this...compartmentalizing. Putting it away for later. It's something so foreign to him, and yet feels so familiar. A strong part of him wants to follow that, explore why it feels natural even though it's something he's never done, but he pushes it away. He knows why. He can't think of it now, though, not when there's still so much to do.

A few more breaths. Five more. Ten. Then Newt drops his hands from his face, scrubbing at the wetness there. The tightness still lingers in his chest, but he's got this under control, for now. He has no idea how long he's been out here, but it really doesn't matter. Part of him flinches at the idea of going back in there, of facing Lup and Taako again after that, but...what is he going to do? Stay out here?

No, that's out of the question. So slowly, cautiously, he pushes back to his feet, sniffs heavily, wipes at his nose and eyes, and moves to walk back inside.

Taako really wishes he felt like Lup was making good points, he feels like they probably ARE good points, they might be? Somewhere in objective not-freaking-out land. Somewhere Taako isn't. It's not even really about that, at this point. He's just reacting to the feeling, something bad happening around his having handed out food, both dreaded and unexpected at the same time. Logically it's fine. Technically, peanuts and shellfish aren't poisonous! Try telling your immune system that when you're in shock, though.

"Yeah. No, I know. I know it's fine." Forcing all that reactionary fear down is an act of will, as is opening his free hand from its fidgety clutch, as is stopping his teeth from gnawing the inside of his cheek til it's ragged. "Just, really bad timing, for whatever that was." He sounds like he's trying this out as a possibility, out loud, to see how it sounds. It turns out to sound pretty believable, actually. "...Shit. Maybe he won't ask, if we don't."

Yeah, she's not buying that he really knows it's fine, or at least she can tell he's tryna convince himself more than her. She keeps rubbing steady circles into the back of his hand with her thumb and really wishes she could wreck somebody's shit to fix all this, this... heart-hammering panic visible in every pinched line of his quaking ears, in every nervous tic and painfully controlled breath. For all his worrying and vigilance this isn't something he was all that prone to before their separation, she'd have to go pretty far back in her memory of their childhood to find something comparable and, shit, she's just gonna sidestep thinking about his fake childhood entirely at this point. Though she really wants to know how his cooking could have gone so horribly off the rails, but now isn't the time to drag it out any more than it was last night. She wasn't there for him when she should've been, but now she is.

"Pumpkin, he was so far up his own trauma I don't think he picked up on yours. It's not gonna be weird if we don't let it." And who's the best at owning the stage, setting the scene? That's right, it's them. "The best way out is through - fantasy Robert Frost, now Lup." And it looks like they're about to get a chance at proving that, because here comes Newt, still looking pretty rough but slightly more manageable than before. She smiles encouragingly at Taako, much softer than her irreverent banter was, and then steps forward with him still in tow. She's gonna juggle these two like beautiful fragile Faberge eggs. "Just can't get enough of that sweet elven charm, huh?" she calls out to Newt with a disarming grin like nothing was ever horribly wrong, though one ear remains canted watchfully towards her brother. "It's cool, we get it."

There's a low twist in Newt's stomach when Lup calls out to him, a fission of--of something that has to do with panic. Please don't bring it up, please don't bring it up--but what comes out of her mouth just pulls a startled laugh out of him, and he can't help but grin back, feeling some of that tension in his shoulders ease. He manages a quirk at the corner of his mouth, and finds it far easier to fall into banter than focus on anything that just happened in the last ten-fifteen minutes.

"Yeah, you totally got me. Do elves in your world have their own gravitational pull? Is that a thing? What's the science behind that?"

Lup is the real MVP, as always. He even laughs a little, at her quote-thievery, her nerd-haranging, though he doesn't much care for hearing the word 'trauma' applied so close to himself, denies it with a little flick. Things feel a little less fear-warped already, with just the one application of humour, however shaky.

Newt seems fine, if a little, hmm, evasive? Is Taako this bad at it when he does it? Yikes(tm). He's still glad he didn't burn a slot on the dude. Annnnd also that he didn't die or whatever. Didn't even have his breakdown directly in front of them, very politely, what a champ. So that's all basically the best it could be, considering. He seems to be very good at the Not Talking About It Ever game, so he's gold, in Taako's book.

"Oh no, no no. If it's science nerd comedy hour, Taako's taking a nap." It's weak humour, but it's probably a start. "Finally, a tropical island vacay, and you losers are gonna ruin it." Give him food science or get the fuck out the club.

Turns out she doesn't even have to do any more juggling, because these two are trucking along now like good little dorks, phew. She allows herself to relax too, this time in the real way and not the forcing herself to be cool way, finally letting go of Taako's hand to put it on her hip and respond to his nearly normal levels of griping with a long-suffering roll of her eyes.

"Okay, one," she holds up a finger and points it at Taako, "you know we're runnin low on nerds and if he'd asked for the science behind like, dairy transmutation or some shit he'd be your new best friend right now, and two," accusingly pointing at Newt, "Did you just call us fat, homie?" It's a very intense finger point, but her eyes are shining with mirth.

"Wh--me?" Newt can't help but grin a bit. "I would never. And besides, nothing wrong with a little pudge, anyway. Better than the alternative." He should know. He's starved one too many times in this life to be upset about some fat around his gut. Which, granted, he hasn't gotten back yet fully, but details.

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Ruins Mingle Log!

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sdlfhs I'M SORRY THIS IS SO LATE YOU GUYS

YOU'RE sorry this is late? hold my beer 'n watch this

IT'S NOT A COMPETITION GUYS

deadass stares at u both in the eyes and does a backflip of an emotionally stunted pier

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holds up a sign 8/10

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