Day 270 ♈ Open

[emissaries]

Who: The Emissary and you~
Open: Open
When: Day 270, afternoon to late night
Where: various locations within the Bastion
What: The Emissary runs errands, does crafts, and pesters people. Not necessarily in that order.
Format: starting with prose, will follow
Warnings: talk of death and the departed?


[A. Here and There - afternoon]

Aradia's first stop today had been the Monument. There were a couple of things she'd been meaning to have it make for her for a while, and now that she had enough shards, it was well past time she did. She couldn't just keep Sollux and Tavros's ashes loose in her sylladex indefinitely.

So now she had the urns themselves, and some paints to decorate them. So now all that remained was to find a good place to sit and work on them. Well, she wasn't 100% familiar with all the buildings yet, so this was as good a time as any to go exploring once again. She could be found poking her head in just about anywhere - the Workshop, the Arsenal, the Cannery, the Distillery, and so on - actually, she might stick around a while longer at the Distillery. She could certainly appreciate the value of a good stiff drink now and again.

((Feel free to pick an anywhere, she'll be all over the place. Just let me know where at!))


[B. The Memorial - evening]

By evening, though, she'd found just the place. It was quiet, out of the way... and already devoted to the dead. The seven urns in the center were proof of that if nothing else. She took some time to pay her respects to these, even though it was nobody she knew, and her amulet didn't grant her the ability to read their names. Just the same, they must have been important to somebody.

When she finished with that, she found a spot that seemed sufficiently out of the way, and took a seat on the floor with the first black urn in her lap and the second standing nearby. A grease-stained towel was spread over her legs to protect her skirt, at least from the paint, though nothing protected it from the towel itself, she supposed. Still, it would do. She squeezed a little of the yellow paint onto her brush and got to work.


[C. The Tower Apartment - night, for Psii and Di]

It had been dark for several hours when Aradia returned to the apartment on the top floor, but she doubted she'd be disturbing her blockmates too much, if they were even in. They were every bit as nocturnal as herself, after all.

Whatever decorations the Disciple and Psiioniic had added to the place, Aradia hadn't embellished the space at all, leaving her respiteblock just as spartan as when she'd first arrived. She'd been considering it a temporary lodging, not wanting to impose on their human hosts, but more than three weeks had passed now, and her fellow trolls showed no real intention of going anywhere. And why should they? The other survivors had made them welcome, and they were all three more than capable of pulling their weight. Besides, this was probably the most comfortable settlement that existed, unless there was another Monument out there somewhere.

But ... it had been ages since Aradia stayed in one place for any significant length of time. Even in the three sweeps she'd spent in the Medium, there'd been twelve planets, Prospit and Derse, and the Battlefield to explore, all of them with their own puzzles and ruins and mysteries. They'd been on the move almost constantly, never built a home base, never settled down and joined a community. In fact, she could hardly remember the last time she'd actually joined a community. It was such a commitment.

Yet here she was, a hair's breadth from joining one. Hell, maybe she had already joined it without realizing. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. They were kind enough, and better neighbors than many, but one way or another she knew she would have to leave them eventually, whether she did it by choice or by necessity. Or by simply outliving them. Or dying, which could certainly happen. And what then?

Lost in thought, she reached the top of the stairs and turned the key to enter apartment B.

Comments

B

[superdrowningskills]

[Alucard wanders sometimes in the evenings. Certainly he may have adapted to the mostly diurnal schedule the rest of the Bastion's residents keep - much easier than way - but a bat is still a bat, and thus much more inclined to feel comfortable when daylight is waning. This evening's wanderings just happened to take him by the monument.

Don't mind your audience, stranger. He's just... going to observe from a bit away.]

since B i assume that's memorial? also sorry for late @m@

[emissaries]

[It wasn't long before the Emissary realized she had company. She looked up, noticed him, smiled and waved her fingers.]

Hello there. Are you looking for something?

Yes, memorial is what I meant. And it's all good on taking a bit to get to things.

[superdrowningskills]

[He does not return the smile, although more because he's not terribly prone to emoting than anything else.]

...No. I was simply curious, and did not wish to interrupt your work.

[emissaries]

Oh, that's quite all right. I don't mind company. [It was much better than being alone with her memories.] May I ask what piqued your curiosity? [Since... she could think of several things that might.]

B

[notfell]

[ Moon has finally gotten around to poking about, which is why he quietly pads in and looks about here.

There are a whole bunch of ways groundlings deal with their dead, but this one is actually familiar. Not that he.. knows how to respect these things. But there's someone in here with another urn, and what looks like paint. So...

... Awkwardly heading close-ish. He's still jumpy because, well, its him, so he's not that close. ]

.... did someone die?

sorry for late @m@

[emissaries]

[The Emissary glanced up at him, but smiled sympathetically.]

Oh - yes. You wouldn't have met them, dear, but yes.

s'okay. Life, emails hating dw.

[notfell]

[ That can honestly mean a few different things - not while Moon was here? He was fairly new. Or not here, with all that suddenly waking up somewhere else weirdness. ]

... Other than painted urns, do you need anything else?

[emissaries]

[No worries, she was pretty new herself.]

Not in particular. But I wouldn't mind company, if you feel like sticking around.

A, in the Cannery

[cyan_maid]

[Whenever she could, Jane went to the Cannery.

It was...kind of like a job, she supposed, but instead of pay she got to stay in her (admittedly bare) apartment, was given food, and could use her free time to wander The Bastion. But right now, this was where she was. It didn't matter that the others had already gone on their expedition; there was always canning to be done, and it was an interesting process that she was still working on perfecting. At the very least, it kept her mind off of the situation she was now in.

Jane perks up when she hears the door open, and turns around to greet whoever's come in.] Hello there - oh! Miss Emissary, is that you?

sorry for le late @m@m@

[emissaries]

[Aradia couldn't help but smile broadly when she saw her young friend. The poor girl had been so despondent when she'd found her, but she seemed a little more lively now.]

It is, in fact! [She headed inside properly, taking care to keep her skirts out of the way of anything.] How are you today, Miss Jane? Settling in all right?

it cool it cool

[cyan_maid]

[Jane wipes her hands on a cloth nearby before she approaches. The canning could wait a minute or two.]

As well as one can, I suppose. Oh - I happened to meet some friends of yours after we parted. Your roommates are very...interesting.

[Yeah, that's the word for Psii anyway.]

So what have you been up to?

[emissaries]

That they are, dear, that they are. [Aradia chuckled; it was a bit of an understatement, especially when you actually lived with them.]

Me? Oh, nothing much, just thought I'd get to work on a little project I'd been thinking of. What about yourself? Keeping busy?

A

[kyotoprincess]

[The monument certainly seems to be the place to meet up with people. Bon had actually been going there for another reason entirely, but when he sees the Emissary and the urns, he gets worried.]

Did someone die?

[He thought everyone had made it back from the trip to the Ura camp safely, but was he wrong?]

[emissaries]

[For a second Aradia was surprised by the question, but then she smiled apologetically.]

Well, yes, but - no one you'd have known. They died before getting to meet any of you, I'm afraid.

[kyotoprincess]

[Oh.

Bon feels bad about it, bud he does feel a touch relieved there. He still remembers what happened to Night, and he doesn't want to have to do that again.]

I'm sorry to hear that.

[A pause.]

Were you looking to have rites done for them?

[At least Bon has learned how to do that already.]

[emissaries]

Rites? [The offer's a bit of a surprise. She's never been religious, and it hadn't really crossed her mind.] What sort do you mean?

A - The Workshop

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin's nothing if not predictable. He's sitting back in a chair in the workshop with his eyes closed, puzzling out math and design problems in his head. Occasionally, he opens his eyes to check a pad he's got next to him, seemingly just to verify things are working as they should. If she doesn't say anything, he may not even notice her.]

[emissaries]

[Far be it from Aradia to not say anything. She entered quietly, noticing Colin only once she was already well inside, at which point she waved a little at him (despite his eyes being closed).]

Hello. Are you sleeping?

[freedom_engineer]

Nope, just thinking.

[He cracks an eye open and gives her a quick wave of his fingers.]

Trying to math away how to keep everyone alive out there. You'd think it would be easier...

B

[bedheadstyle]

[Haruka hadn't been in the Bastion long enough to know any of those names either. Not that he could read most of them. One did have Hiragana on it that read as "Yoru" but that was the only one recognizable to him.

Regardless, he still found himself there from time to time, paying respect to those lost with names he didn't know and in some way giving prayers to those from his world whose status was still unknown. Ayano, Shintaro, those from his school, his family, Takane's grandmother...

If they were dead, then at least he could give them well wishes in the afterlife. If they were still out there, somewhere, looking for a way to safety then all he could hope was that they were kept well and alive until they could arrive.

Takane would probably think he was being needlessly sentimental and call it all "pointless" if she knew, which is why he always went alone.

And he so often found the place empty that seeing a live soul in there startled him a bit.]

Ah--! [The noise came out far too loud for such a silent space, and his hand went over his mouth to quiet himself.]

I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was in here.

[emissaries]

[The sudden sound made Aradia jump a little, sending one of her lines askew. She let out a little noise of dismay at it, but bit it back as she took note of Haruka.]

Ah- that's all right, dear. I hope I'm not in the way.

[bedheadstyle]

[Whoops! Now he feels even worse for making that much noise.]

N-no, no not at all! I was just... visiting.

C

[polariity]

Waiting there, as always, is the Helmsman.

This isn't a particular surprise. For the most part, the former slave seems content to stay in the apartment. Unlike Disciple and the Emissary, he's made little to no attempt to really get involved in this community. He merely stays in the apartment for the most part, curled up against the window when Disciple is not around and watching the world from there.

Occasionally, of course, there's something different and his presence can't be found in the little hive- such as when he laid facedown on grass just to experience the sensation again. Yet he always comes back eventually.

Right now, however, he seems to have just spent most of his time in the apartment today and looks away from the window slowly. His face is free of the psionic blockers, just mere pinpricks along his face of scars that healed far too quickly. Recognition earns her a slow wave, psionics still having to pick up his thin and useless arm to make the motion happen.

[emissaries]

The Emissary waved back, shutting the door gently behind her. She was still getting used to his new look, but it was a huge relief to see him without the blinkers... even though without them, he looked so much like Sollux that it startled her sometimes. Some days it took a conscious effort to remember that he wasn't, and today - after she'd spent most of the afternoon and evening reminiscing about him and Tavros - was one of them.

"Evening," she said, heading to the kitchenette at the other end of the room. She'd barely had anything for breakfast, and it was well past time for lunch. "Is Di out?"

[polariity]

y34h 2kyw4y

Even though they don't really talk about it, he knows what she's looking for. Familiar faces, others of their kind... Maybe even something else impossible, like a pair of faces they both haven't seen in a long time.

They all seem to be hurting for that.

wh4t w3r3 y0u d01n9