OPEN MINGLE.

[ex_broach530]

Who: Anyone!
When: Day 22 - Day 26 (Dec 7)
Where: Around the city.
What: Digging Boney out, checking on the injured, observing caused by the Overseer Drone including the time shenanigans and the new wildlife, and any other daily life threads you'd like to have before new arrivals.

Here, have some prompts!


DIG AND DIG AND DIGGITY DIG
The Dust seems to be settling on the city, quite literally. The result of massive cave-ins is that the city now looks like a poorly-managed construction zone, and the seekers of the Atlas who have been brought to this place might have to get their hands dirty in order to dig out the tunnels.

In case you need an incentive, access to some of the Monoliths has probably been prevented, not to mention the fact that nobody knows what happened to the strange boney creature calling itself The Last. The group consensus seems to be that they're going to dig him out. And was he the only one buried? A headcount goes round, but nobody is sure who exactly was in the caves. Probably time for a buddy system in case the next person buried is you.

Of course, hard work leaves little time for the other necessities of life. Why not bring by some food or water and strike up a conversation?


IT MEANS NO WORRIES
Manual labor isn't your thing? No problem! Several lush oasises seem to have popped up, complete with grass and water and wildlife.

There's one near the entrance to the city that is currently home to a couple of naughty tree-climbing mammals. Despite monkeying around, they look more like a gecko had a baby with a sloth than any kind of primate, but don't accuse these guys of being slow! They're fast, mischievous, and will steal anything they can get their hands on, carrying it somewhere high and leaving it there. But maybe if you can find out what they like to eat they can be tamed? Or at least convinced to brings your stuff back...

There's another denser patch of vegetation that definitely has something large and loud tromping around in it, but nobody's seen it yet... just be careful while foraging, okay? Or maybe it's a chance to finally have some meat for once.

Finally, there's definitely a decent sized pond with a shimmering reflection just begging for someone to cannonball in. And it turns out taking off the suit has no adverse effect writhing the oasis. Skinny dipping anyone?


TALE AS OLD AS TIME
Be careful around the sudden appearance of plants; they're time distortions that will zap in and out, the bubbles bursting before you can work out how to break that coconut-like plant open. And you don't want to end up stranded in the desert without your suit on, either. Not to mention some pretty weird time distortions seem to be happening. Careful you aren't stuck in a Groundhog Day loop, forced to relive the last few minutes of your gruesome death over and over...

On the plus side, you can give yourself a high five?

And only a high five, nobody wants to see you taking self love to an entirely new level.*



* Iron Bull wants to see.

Comments

[anewhope]

[ Clark briefly wonders how that feels. He's the product of hope. Of a divergence in an entire civilisation's thinking. It's heavy. ]

How do you feel about that?

[winscenario]

[ Jim gives that question a bit of thought, eyebrows knitting together before he just shrugs it off. ]

Alright, I guess. It was weird, at first. But according to that friend of mine, we're not that much different when it comes down to it.

[ He debates leaving it at that, his eyes flickering up to Clark's face for a moment, then he adds as casually as he can manage, considering the topic. ]

My dad didn't die when I was born, in that prime reality. I guess that was the hardest part to accept, at first. But I worked through it over the years.

[anewhope]

[ He thinks about Kara's reality. Krypton is still gone. Nothing has changed for Clark. Except, of course, the existence of Kara. His last link to a culture he can barely recall. His eyes flicker to the space away from Jim. ]

I had two fathers. One died to give me a better life on another planet, away from everything they ever knew. The other died because he was afraid for me - afraid of how people would treat me if they knew what I was.

My life will never do them justice.

[winscenario]

[ It's hard to swallow the bitter taste in his tongue when Clark shares a little of his story. Not that the situations are that close to draw parallels, but the lingering sentiment in the last words? That touches a still sore spot for Jim.

Doing his father justice, living up to whatever expectations people had of him, being George Kirk's son— living to the very expectations he didn't even know he had for himself... for so long Jim tried to be like his father that he nearly forgot how to be himself. He realizes now it's a pointless struggle, and meaningless too. It's not by being like his father that he'll really do his memory justice, he knows that now. ]

Know the feeling.

[ Drawing his shoulders square and pressing his lips, he relaxes again, looking at Clark. ]

I think... if you strive to be a good person, to do good by people, then that's all they'd want. That's what'll do them justice in the end.

[anewhope]

[ Sadly it's not that simple for Clark. His kind of good shakes mountains. It unsettles the world. To assume his good is a universal goodness is a mistaken belief and a dangerous one. It's the slope Bruce had found himself in. The one Clark scrambles upon, trying to climb up.

It's not simple to be good or do good. And it shouldn't be. ]

I have to do justice for myself first before I prove myself to ghosts.

[winscenario]

[ Of course it's not simple. Being good is never simple or easy, it always comes with compromise, sacrifice— even if to most people that might not translate into making the ground literally shake. It's still complicated.

But nothing good ever comes easy, does it. Even if Jim's gotten very good at making it look like it does. ]

Sounds good to me too, if you ask me. [ Jim smiles, familiar with that sentiment too. He feels like he's gotten closer to that, closer to proving himself to himself before anyone else, or the memory of a dead man he never even knew. Maybe even closer than Clark himself, by the sound of things.

Backtracking a little, though, ] Why would people be afraid of what you are?

[anewhope]

[ Clark falls silent at that. He doesn't like to lie about his powers, but he feels the need to downplay them or avoid giving full descriptions to people. ]

Being an alien with certain powers tends to make people on Earth uncomfortable.

[winscenario]

Your Earth, maybe.

[ Of course Jim doesn't know the full extent of Clark's powers, but he knows his own Earth, and he knows 23rd century humans well enough to be sure that Clark wouldn't make them feel uncomfortable, nor afraid. People fear people for their actions, not a whole species solely based on what they're capable of. (An exception may be opened for Romulans because they're all assholes. Possibly Klingons too.) ]

What year are you from? No— let me guess. Late 20th century?

[anewhope]

[ He nods curiously. ]

I was one of the first aliens they ever knew. Earth was also invaded so public reaction has been mixed.

[ He's putting it mildly, but Clark wouldn't cast blame on anyone for feeling that way. ]

[winscenario]

Mine was too, couple of times. Well, almost invaded. But then Earth's not just inhabited by humans anymore, where I come from.

[ And Vulcans were a very nice and reasonable race to establish first contact with, so they never really had that initial unpleasantness and dread that other people on other Earths might have experienced. ]

[anewhope]

Ours still is, as far as I know.

[ Bruce had mentioned the appearance of sorcerers and magic but Clark doesn't know what to make of that. ]

It didn't make for a good first impression.

[winscenario]

I can imagine.

[ Things probably wouldn't have gone quite as well for his Earth either if their first contact had been an invasion. ]

You'll probably get there eventually. I mean— either humans learn to live with aliens or... well, the option isn't very nice. And I like to bet on the former. [ If it can happen in one universe then it can happen in all the others, too. At least Jim believes that. ]

[anewhope]

[ "Bet" is an interesting word choice there. Usually the one Clark hears the most is "hope". His brow crinkles at that before he shakes his head. ]

Maybe beyond my lifetime.