ARRIVAL LOG 008

[larkers]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: Night of October 5 to night of October 8
WHAT: The eighth arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Coercion and loss of autonomy, alcohol usage. Further notes at end of log.

> ARRIVAL LOG #008

Awareness comes to you in blurred snatches, cloudy fragments of sound and light, color, sensation. Hazy and difficult to grasp on to, but slowly aligning into focus. A series of regular, rhythmic beeps. A medicinal, astringent smell. The sensation of movement, a low hum and accompanying vibration under you. Your eyes are heavy, hard to keep open, but in the glimpses between slow, dark blinks you see four people in black body armor seated opposite you, as well as a man in dark gray scrubs.

You realize there are others next to you. All of you in blue short sleeve shirts and ill-fitting jeans, hair recently cut but at various stages of growth, restrained by straps across your chests, arms, feet, holding you to the bench under you. To your left, an armored interior door, two more people visible, the movement of streets passing through a windshield. You try to open your mouth to speak, but it's as if your tongue is coated in tar, and you manage nothing more than an empty parting of lips.

The vehicle stops. The guard opposite you stands and comes to unbuckle you from the bench, helping you to your feet. Your limbs feel wooden and heavy, slow to move. One guard opens the back of the vehicle, and false, colored light, illuminating the streets in the distance will first alert your senses of being somewhere else, combined with warm air that's only cooled with the setting of the sun. The nurse moves to stand at the back, checking each passenger over one by one just before they're helped out of the vehicle, quick and methodical. He doesn't climb out after you, moving to sit as the last passenger is unloaded.

The guards keep their heads down. Their actions are quick, firm, but not entirely unkind. Once all the passengers are out, they climb back into the vehicle and close the doors. The engine powers up again, and then the bus is gone.

You're left alone in an alley, with no idea of where you are or why you've been brought here.

Around the corner of the alley, there is the smell of beer and a weird yodel-like sound – no, wait. That is definitely yodeling and beer. Further movement forward will lead to you finding yourself in a busy area filled with multiple people carrying reusable cups full of liquid. You've just shown up at a party with a bunch of people wearing nearly identical clothing. The good thing is that everyone is probably too drunk to notice.

◉ Though entirely capable of independent action and thought, new characters will find themselves completely, unquestioningly compliant to any verbal statement which could be taken as a command or request.

> OKTOBERFEST

The message from El comes the same as usual: insistent, not waiting for any active attempt to open it. Scrolling within your vision as if being written while you're reading it.

I'm starting to think that the arrests last month mean that our friendly delivery men have had to change up what they're doing. Either way - the group waiting for you this time is huge. The get up? Blue shirts, all around. Let's see how long that lasts. Anyway. Arrival #8. You know the deal, don't you? I bet you're all already out there having a good time.

Although New Amsterdam is a mish-mash of world cultures, there are certain traditions that took root in the city as it began to form its identity. Yes, one was Anime Naexpo. Another? Oktoberfest. Hoping to capitalize on the heritage of the region, businesses throughout New Amsterdam pushed for the continued celebration of Oktoberfest. In fact, the only time it wasn't celebrated was during the Xelkoven War, as the fight between humans and AI meant that any celebrations were put by the wayside.

Perhaps even more so than having to work during an anime convention, Oktoberfest is not a fun time for customer service workers. All around, various different cashiers, food truck chefs and drivers, rickshawers, couriers and more find that they don't have a choice but to dress up in Dutch costumes recalling times of the past. These costumes are typically pulled out of some back closest and generally assigned to the employees, so some of them won't fit all that well. The problem is that it isn't cool enough to be dressed in these as the days cool off, and the only saving grace is that they get to work at night rather than the day. The early parts of their shifts are miserably hot, and things don't get better from there. If your character is a customer service employee, they can expect some uncomfortable days ahead.

Somehow, the discomfort of the various workers doesn't come in the way of the loud and festive activities. All around New Amsterdam, various tents go up selling a lot of different wares, many of which are probably second hand junk that people are trying to sell off for a few credits. This is the time when the Black Market stops working underground, instead opening temporary store fronts in tents that are far too nice for the wares they're providing (but at least they're trying to be a less obvious money laundering front). If someone's looking to get in good with the underground or get a sense of how to find these places for some actually illegal goods, Oktoberfest is a prime place to start.

Otherwise? Oktoberfest is likely full of what anyone would expect: a lot of beer, funny looking Bavarian clothing, a lot of live music, and a lot of opportunities for drunken folk to put on a good show. If your character is the type to look for an opening to grab some attention, this is the place to do it.

◉ There will be a lot of beers available in pretty much every single tent. The drinking age in New Amsterdam is 18, but it's equally unlikely that anyone will be checking implants with how busy everything will be. The most popular beer this year? "We're Lucky We're Not Cyborgs," an extremely hoppy IPA made by the most popular brewery in New Amsterdam. All of the beers are available in bottles that you can return for more, as businesses no longer sell alcohol by the can. Think of growlers – but in a far more manageable size! Feel free to come up with the cyberpunk name of your dreams for the beer. Or people can just drink the New Amsterdam River – which is the name of the beer with a picture of the man-made river on it. It's cheap, but reliable. Oh, and for those of you that don't like the taste of beer, there's cider and mead on tap at most places as well.

◉ There will be various stages all over for acts to perform, but the schedules will not be full. Before long, the characters will know that Oktoberfest is where some people plan to get discovered. And … it's also a place where some people become social media sensations, in either good or bad ways. Need to propose to someone? Need to show off your abs? These stages are the place to be. If someone's not up there, take the chance and make it your time to shine. Or … go down in infamy.

◉ Most of the food throughout the festival will harken back to its German heritage, albeit without a whole lot of success. There are sausages, but much like the hot dogs of today, it's likely better that you don't ask what's in them. A safe bet is the large array of potato dishes around. These are delicious – and cheap!

◉ There are some competitions, too! Virtual fencing – albeit in a very, very amateurish way – and virtual crossbow competitions happen throughout the three-day event. And then there's yodeling. One of the stages will be dedicated to this the entire time. Yes, people practice to win big, but that doesn't mean that everyone has to practice.

◉ Like with Oktoberfest of the past, celebrities will have their own VIP tent right in the heart of the financial district. If you have a favorite music, film, or movie star and they have a penchant for partying, this is the place to be. Sneaking in will be hard – but not impossible. Though some will find that they might have to work this tent. These celebrities can't go without their coffee or beer, after all.

> SAFEHOUSE

Access to the safehouse is a hatch hidden behind stacks of empty storage shelves in the back of an abandoned supermarket in an outer district of the city. The immediate area is similarly abandoned, empty stores, flanked by several blocks of dive bars and clubs which cater to more niche tastes. A place where people can come and go unseen, or, if seen, not spoken of. A dark haired woman called Gaby is ready to greet the new arrivals and get them settled in, brusque and no-nonsense – she'll be open for in depth questions later, but will advise everyone to ask the people who brought them in for the beginning bits of information.

◉ The safe house is a large open space, filled with rows of basic cots set up to sleep a large amount of people. Basic, but outfitted with everything necessary for daily life. A few doors lead to back rooms for storage, medical care and a large communal bathroom, and past the long rows of cots there is a communal kitchen, fully stocked, and an eating area. Privacy is at a minimum.

◉ New characters will be asked to pick their beds, and provided with a change of (second-hand, mismatched and somewhat threadbare) clothes and basic toiletries.

◉ While there were previously also NPC occupants of the safehouse, natives to New Amsterdam, these people have now been moved on to somewhere safer. A few of their belongings remain, discarded or accidentally abandoned.

◉ Gaby will make it clear to all new arrivals that if they have any requests or queries, they should contact her or El.

◉ There will be shifts when Gaby isn't present in the safehouse because she's shorthanded following the UNA attacks in our January event. New characters will find that if they try to open the hatch to leave during this time, it'll be sealed shut for anyone without a registered implant.

◉ The drugs making new characters compliant will remain in their systems for a few hours after their arrival at the safehouse before finally beginning to fade. They will be gone entirely after a night's rest. In the meantime, they may want to be careful of what others say to them.

◉ New characters will be given rudimentary access to the network on arrival in the safehouse, but will not have their ID set up yet. They will be able to make posts and replies, but their messages will be anonymous and they do not have inboxes yet.

◉ New characters will not be allowed to leave the safehouse until OCTOBER 9. These 4 days are for them to adjust, learn about the world they've arrived in from their fellows, and for El to speak with them and work on setting up their IDs.

> WHAT DREAMS MAY COME

As everyone goes to sleep, a familiar stomp vibrates through New Tokyo on the other side of the world. The wall outside of the city is stable at first, holding up, but the vibrations continue. The creature this time is twice as large as the one that hit New Amsterdam – 800m high, yet not seen until right around when the vibrations began. It should have been, by all rights: New Tokyo is no less secure than the other cities around the world, with constant surveillance and a dedication toward maintaining an idyllic life for its citizens. Its behavior is similar: it slams its tail against the outer wall of the city before it gives way, the destruction nearly absolute. In a panic, New Tokyo's UNA forces and police force move into action to try to bring down the monster and protect its citizens.

At the same time, whether they're still awake or already asleep, something stirs inside of the displaced. Their chests will glow without anything to bring it about – no power drawn on, either innate or new, and no skin touching. This glow seems to fatigue any of them if they're still awake, and will send anyone already asleep into a deeper one. Once they're under, the stirring within will give way to unrest that foments dreams and visions for many of the displaced. If they had a dream while they slept, characters will wake up with a burning sensation in their chest.

As for New Tokyo: it will be left in ruins by the time the UNA soldiers there manage to take down the monster. Several sections of the city remain intact – almost out of luck – and the governor of New Tokyo reports that they believe this monster came from outside of the city, having been given life by the unsafe conditions outside of the megacity. Within a few hours, this statement will be revised, with the governor admitting that he doesn't know what the monster was or where it came from, only that their surveillance saw that it came from outside.

The three dreams below are what each character will experience, though you can feel free to assume they managed to jar themselves awake before the dream finished. To get a dream, please comment below to get an RNGed number for the dream that they'll be having. Since these are unnatural dreams, you can feel free to have your character remember it in its entirety – or not, if that's what you'd prefer.

If you have multiple characters, we suggest you only have one experience a dream, but it's ultimately up to you!

> DREAM 001

A blue glow illuminates the site – offering light on a foggy morning, with everyone having completed their journey to this final destination. A sense of fatigue and relief that washes over everyone there, but also an inner warmth that seems to radiate from the site itself. Huge rocks rise up on either side of the site, acting as shielding barriers for these followers and what lies ahead of them. Despite the lack of natural light cast through the thick fog, there's still a distant glow, leading them forward.

You find yourself among these people, well aware of the many miles you walked to get here, most of it on an incline. Around you, the clothes that people wear are worn, tattered, made from wool that's begun to wear down. How long have you all been traveling? It's hard to say – hard to guess, only that you know that you were all drawn here. No single story is the same. Some saw symbols: triangles that glowed when they saw them in the periphery, as well as bits of circles coming together. The tree of life. Perfect like nature in its finest form. Others could never put the words to what they experienced.

Each of you feel the draw now. It resonates within you, fills you up. Just ahead, there are structures that seem to float in space, and when you draw closer, a clear, light blue bridge appears. The walk forward requires a leap of faith – and there are some unwilling to take it. Afraid. They wonder if they've wasted their time.

But you haven't. You walk forward, and the bridge carries you forward. You can't tell if you're walking or literally carried, but eventually you come to an alcove where a strange circular structure stands. As you step closer, it comes to life, a mixture of lights and – no, not sounds. But the same resonating warmth.

You walk into it and –

– you find yourself somewhere else. Somewhere new.

> DREAM 002

– this is not where you belong where you've chosen to live – this is not it this is not it this is not it –

Your fingers spread, wrapping around the nearest metal instrument to drag it close. You test the edge against your skin, drawing out a sharp pain. You never asked for this particular experience. But every day, you feel it.

It's time to take back what you can. The walls around you are white, pristine. Somehow, you know that they weren't a day ago. One of the others you know got sick, doubled over after a bad interaction with a medication. You see them now, dark rings under their eyes, a shaved head. How do you know this? Your mind doesn't answer you. You just react. Someone in a coat as white as the room draws closer. Checking your vital signs. Your breathing picks up – your lungs hurt. You lash out with the instrument, cutting deep. A bright red spreads. A sick smile creeps over your lips. You know that color, deep within you. You know it.

And then there's nothing.

And then life moves on (your life moves on). Has time passed? The room is different. The person with the red splotch of color on their lab coat is gone, and your build is different. More gangly, uncontrolled. Deep down, you feel an unabiding frustration. You hear a shout: "Put them down!" It's too late. A fire erupts. The doors seal.

> DREAM 003

You recognize the walls. The building. But there's some barrier between you and it, a constant, subdued fog that lies between you and your surroundings. The lights are bright. Everyone moves in a single file, dressed in the same white scrubs. You're among them. The workers walk alongside you, occasionally checking your vital signs. Sometimes they make you grab each other's hands, noting the shift in reactions or responses.

The air here is cool. Stale. Your head is cold, recently shaven. Like everyone else, sans a few. It looks like it's been a while since they had a haircut. You don't recognize them, not like the others. You're certain that you recognize the others.

Thought is difficult to process. There's an IV into your arm. You try to make out more of your surroundings, but the fog encroaches and takes over. You're missing your chance. Your chance to know where you are – were? Who did this to you?

Distantly, you see a marking on a wall. Letters. P - R - O - PROJECT. You're certain of it. What else is there? Nothing. No. Something, but not another word. It's a symbol of some kind, or – an animal? There's a splotch of yellow, bright and prominent on its breast, with a dark V that cuts down. The fog obscures the rest.

> FINAL OOC NOTES

This arrival log is a little different, as it doubles as a prologue for our monthly event! Everyone's character can have one of the dreams, and it'll hit them anytime within a day of the attack on New Tokyo. This does include anyone new to the game! So, please go ahead and comment below to have your dreaming character assigned a number. All assignments will be random on our part!

Welcome to Meadowlark, newbies! You're now free to post to the network and logs comms. To reiterate, your characters will have no IDs or inboxes, nor be allowed out of the safehouse until OCTOBER 9 (MARCH 17). At that point it's expected they'll have gotten a good idea of their new situation from their fellow characters, and will have discussed their background and job potentials with El in order for their false IDs to be set up.

All arrival logs act as mingles, so older players can please feel free to top level for the festivities described!

If you have any questions or ideas about how you'd like to get your character involved in the world, please head over to the plot engagement post and drop us a comment! For questions specific to this log, there is a thread below.

Please check out our March calendar rundown for a look at things happening this month, as well as some additional notes from the mods.

As a reminder, AC for new characters accepted in March will be 10 comments across 2-4 threads, while current characters will need to provide the full AC of 20 comments across 2-4 threads. AC will be posted on April 1 and close on April 7. If you do not reply to AC, you will be considered idled and dropped from the game. We will not post a warning list.

> NAVIGATION

Comments

[theseuschip]

[ It’s... a little like siphoning energy from the WAU, really, the way things realign and sharpen and the fog clears. Except without the burst of energy, and without feeling weird and gross about it. Not as much like an addictive drug. For robots.

Simon pulls his hand away, takes a breath, and his lungs actually accept it. The pretzel his insides have twisted into starts to right itself. By the time he can focus on his mysterious benefactor, the reaction his own contribution has caused is well-enough hidden that it escapes his notice... so he still thinks that was a one-way transaction and later he’ll feel bad whoops. ]

... Thanks. [ he takes a hand through his hair — he can breathe. good. cool. ] I’m Simon, by the way.

[evasives]

[ he's not good at this!! whatever this even is!! ]

[ he doesn't fidget at her question, but it does sort of make him feel oddly nervous, because he knows what she's thinking. that if she sees it, it'll help. he hadn't intended to let anyone see it, but it's not like jyn would have any questions or uncomfortable thoughts about it. ]

Yes. [ it's long and curls up his entire spine; he's assumed surgery of some kind, but it's not like that sort of thing isn't unfamiliar back home. he's been thinking a fix, or maybe something like bacta. ]

It is not pretty. [ as a warning. he already knows he's going to show her. ]

[realists]

[ war isn't pretty -- unlike the romances the holos tried to portray them as, people went to war and came back either dead or broken -- she's not surprised.

she licks her lips, watching him carefully. ]

Can I see it?

[evasives]

[ he shifts idly. ]

Can we move?

[ jyn's bed is right in the middle of everything!! his own is tucked in the corner, not that she knows this, but he supposes the bathrooms are also an option. just! not here! where anyone can walk by! ]

Somewhere less open. [ that's a yes, she can see it. ]

[realists]

[ she doesn't know but she can guess. in a corner, view of the door, tucked away in shadows. she can feel it in her very soul and she points to a dim corner, bed neat and tidy. practically hospital corners.

a place for everything and everything in its place. ]

Is that bunk yours?

[evasives]

[ he opens his mouth to protest on instinct... ]

[ and finds he cannot. ]

[ with a small sigh, he climbs to his feet. ] It was free when I got here. I took it before anyone else could.

[ he should be surprised she guessed, that she knows him this well, but he just kind of accepts it. ]

[realists]

[ it's such a dumb, simple thing to feel smug about and yet. jyn pushes herself to her own feet, scooping up all her things in one go -- easy when her belongings amount to a change of clothes and the blanket she balls them up in. they may not have known each other very long but he is home and she isn't going to sleep across the room when she knows he is right there.

that's dumb.

so she carries her things with them toward cassian's bunk, smug little smile on her expression as she dumps it on the bed next to his. ]

Is here alright?

[windowsills]

[ Alex doesn't say anything, understanding that the implications are a heavy one. Maybe she'd try and reassure him that it is convenient in a way, once the shock has worn off. But he really doesn't need to hear that. She pays for the clothes in the invisible transaction and waits until he emerges. ]

They... suit you.

[ She gives him an encouraging nod before leading them out into the street. She access the 'app' to call down the air taxi and it sits in front of them once it arrives. As they climb into the car, Alex gives him a side ways glance. ]

They tend to fly a few meters above the ground. If you're afraid of heights you can sit in the middle.

[windowsills]

[ Alex has forgotten about the sewing all together, becoming engrossed in the conversation. This is one of the better things about being Displaced; hearing about whole new concepts to imagine and absorb. A battle that had to have time reset? What would that look like? How did it happen? She can tell there is some hesitation to his voice, some information he doesn't care to share so she doesn't ask. ]

It was successful? That's amazing. Were many things different?

[lighthearted]

Well, we were able to win the second time.

[ It's a big change, obviously, but also a simple one. To just have one thing altered had been enough to turn the tide of battle in their favor. Sora knows it's not something that was easily done, and that he'd been using the Power of Waking in a way it wasn't meant to be used, but he can't imagine having let things play out that way. Not when they'd already worked so hard to save everyone from their fates. ]

All of us believed hard enough, and that power was able to bring us back from the brink.

[evasives]

[ she reclaims a new bed like it's nothing, and he can't deny the part of him that feels a little happier for it. it's just a bed in a safehouse where it literally doesn't matter which bed you take, but he still feels safer knowing she'll be right there now. ]

Yes. [ wait, did she mean sleeping there or to see his scar? either option is fine, really. but he does gesture at his own bed. ] Sit? Back a little.

[ he wants his back, as always, to face the wall, only this time she gets to be in between. ]

[realists]

[ jyn easily moves over to his bed, sitting down and scooting back until her own back is pressed against the wall. she draws her legs up next to her, waiting for him to sit alongside her.

her stuff stays in a heap on her new bed, not bothering to fix it. she doesn't have the time. her eye is on the prize, of... seeing the aftermath of cassian's fall. ]

[evasives]

[ he doesn't quite sit beside her; he leaves more space between his own back and the wall, because there's no point in leaning against it when she's meant to see it. it's very strange and it does strike him as such, because it's not like he willingly exposes himself like this. ]

[ and yet. ]

[ he tugs his shirt up as best he can, exposing his lower back and partially the middle. the scar drops below the waist of his pants. it's healed, there's no danger of the skin breaking open. but it's long, traveling up the length of his entire spine and disappearing under his shirt where it's bunched up at his shoulder blades. it's wider near the bottom and the middle, narrowing as it goes higher from there. it's clean with surgical precision, but it's still fairly noticeable, even against the array of all the other scars across his back. ]

[ it makes him nervous. there's no real fear about it, and he doesn't feel unsafe, it's just strange and uncertain. worried, maybe, about things he can't pinpoint either. ]

[realists]

[ jyn doesn't swear, though she wants to. it's massive, slicing up his entire back and it makes bile rise in her throat just looking at it. she's never been particularly squeamish and she still isn't, it's knowing what caused the scar in the first place that makes her stomach churn violently.

her fingertips ghost up his spine, pushing the shirt the rest of the way to find where the scar ends, lingering a moment before she follows the path back down. she can hear the clang of of his body hitting the durasteel, the crunch pop of his bones as he fell.

she swallows back the lingering fear, the familiar horror. her chest feels tight and her skin feels hot but it's... better. it is better to be able to see the scar. it happened, but it's over. maybe she's only trying to convince herself it's over.

her hand splays flat against the base of cassian's spine, eyes closing as she tips forward to rest her forehead between his shoulder blades. force, what the fuck. ]

[evasives]

[ honestly, cassian probably hasn't even seen the entire thing, given how awkward it is to try and angle himself a good view in the mirror when nobody else is around. he doesn't want questions about it, or staring. ]

[ his nerves flare up when she touches his skin, swallowing against the feel of her fingers moving over his back. fear. horror. it's almost what she forced on him before, only it seems to flay out when her hand does. she doesn't quite settle, but he can tell how much it really does help her to see, physically, that he's all right. even if the proof of it is something awful. ]

[ he's still a little anxious about it all, and he hates that she can tell simply because she's still touching him, even if his posture is outwardly calm. there's surprise too, when she rests her head against him. ]

[ quietly, a mumble: ] I told you it was not nice to look at.

[realists]

[ she doesn't move, taking comfort in the way his shoulders rise and fall as he breathes. the longer she stays curled against him the easier it becomes to differentiate her own feelings from his, but they're both a jumbled mess of stress and comfort, confusion and surety. ]

It's better than what I keep seeing.

[ maybe now the image of him falling will be replaced by a healed scar. maybe the memory of both their broken bodies on the beach will be replaced by the feel of his warm skin alive under her fingers. maybe.

she can hope.

there's something familiar, impossibly, about all this. there wasn't time before to triage any injuries, much less explore the aftermath of them. there wasn't time before for anything, not really. and yet as unfamiliar, as strange, as impossible as this world and them being alive in is, it feels natural to have cassian by her side. ]

I'd still thought... that you'd smell like bacta. [ he'd showered and she'd hugged him already, but she'd expected the sweet-sharp antiseptic scent anyway. instead he only smells of soap. ]

[thwipandrelease]

[he's mercifully not afraid of heights, but trying to explain that to someone without also bringing up swinging from high rise buildings is something a little more concerning. in the end peter chuckles, shaking his head and plays it off with an ounce of truth mixed in with some maybe not so artful dodging.]

I've never been in a flying car before, but ought to be okay. Besides, this seems like a good height to get a view of the city.

[and a good view it is, all bright lights and tall buildings. as far as cities go, it's not all that bizarre — a little sci-fi flick of the week meets the jetsons with some post-modern architecture thrown in the mix. before long they're stopping at the preprogrammed coordinates and exiting their air taxi. he takes one last look at at new amsterdam and crosses his arms. yeah, it's not home but peter thinks that he'll be just fine.] Thanks again for the rescue.

[evasives]

[ the longer she stays there, the more his nerves seem to mellow. she's comforted by... him, and even if it confuses him, knowing that is settling him too. it's like he's already adapting to figuring out where her feelings end and his start, however similar they are. ]

[ he can't apologize for falling, for the image of it she keeps seeing. it enabled her to reach the top, to finish the mission. he always knew he'd do whatever it took for a mission. he's just not used to having someone... worry and fret so much about him. in some ways it makes sense, like the natural follow up they shouldn't have had after the beach. of course she is here, of course she is worried. he would be too. ]

I do not think they have bacta here. [ but he doesn't have any answers as to what it actually was. ] But I hate the smell. I would have tried to wash it away anyway.

[realists]

[ jyn sucks in a shuddering breath and releases it slowly as her hand leaves his back and she tugs his shirt back down, smoothing it down with too much careful consideration.

instead of pulling away however, she curls her arms around him from behind, resting her cheek against his back. ]

I'm glad you're not dead.

[ that's putting it mildly, but jyn can't parse her own feelings much less put them into words. she is glad cassian isn't dead, that is a close as she's going to get. ]

[evasives]

[ he finds he misses her touch when it's gone, another very strange thing especially when you consider it had meant their feelings were shared. but she's so careful about his shirt, almost more careful than he probably deserves, that it's a good substitute. ]

[ she does, however, continue to surprise him, with the neat wrap of her arms around him. he's so startled that he doesn't know what to do with it at first. slowly, gently, he lifts his hands up and settles them neatly over hers, keeping her where she is. there's no hesitation in it, he's just willingly throwing himself at it and the glow in his chest. ]

[ relief is the biggest feeling now, and it's going both ways. ] Same to you. And I am glad you are here. [ with him. both alive, both safe, both here. maybe it really is another chance. ]

[realists]

[ there is a strange comfort in being able to read cassian. she had caught glimpses of it before, times he let the mask slip, when he'd let it fall in front of her, asking her to give him a chance, to give them all a chance, to make amends for their sins. ]

Maybe... let's not do all that again.

[ asking two child soldiers turned rebels to sit it out when it comes to oppression and tyranny is laughable, especially when one of them is a hopeful idealist who only wants to make the world a better place, even if he doesn't get to see what grows from the seeds he planted.

that doesn't mean she can't try.

it is more than jyn not wanting to die again -- and that is an event she will not easily get over; already she will move a certain way and fabric will catch against her arm and it feels like the heat of the death star licking at her skin all over again. she has lost so much in such a short life, the idea of growing attached to cassian only to lose him again is unbearable. isn't it enough to be the only two left when everyone who loves them has died? ]

[windowsills]

[ Alex is quiet, pointedly not looking out the window (it still unnerves her, the comment a bit of self projection, perhaps) but she stares into space for a moment. The memories of her first night here far away and distant. ]

When I first arrived one of the first things I asked was to see a view of the city.

[ Full understanding there. It felt a little more like she was in control seeing it spread out. She snaps back as he crosses his arms. A relaxed or unimpressed pose? She has to keep reminding herself that this may be quaint compared to what others have seen. ]

It's no trouble. There are a lot of us here. It's... it won't be so bad. I promise.

[ The car descends smoothly to the ground in a much more dingey and beaten down area. Home sweet home. ]

It's right there.

[ Pointing to the doorway that is very well disguised for what it is. ]

Will you be okay? You feel well enough?

[evasives]

[ it's not like he's getting used to it. it's more like he's just already getting comfortable with it, with jyn having this sense of what he's feeling. she'd already proven she can read him for filth without a magic empathy bond. maybe it's because she's opening herself up that same way. ]

[ he puffs out a laugh. ] It would be nice to avoid a repeat, yes.

[ he's not necessarily thinking of the fight so much as their last mission. he doesn't have any regrets, it had to be done, they transmitted the plans the best they could - and now they're here, no death star, no beach, just alive again, and he doesn't really want to squander whatever that means. not with her. ] It is not like we can leave this place any time soon regardless.

[ cassian will definitely read as much as he can, but they don't have to actually... do anything. he's not sure he's ready for that, but he supposes he'll find out. jyn here makes it seem less intimidating. ]

[realists]

[ jyn nods against his back, lacing the fingers of one hand with his. ]

I'm not sure I know how to... There's always been a fight.

[ she's never had to learn to just live. even on lah'mu, even on skhul, she was hiding, preparing, always ready to run away again. she doesn't know how to exist without the specter of the empire looming over her. it isn't even that there has always been a fight, she's always had to fight. she isn't sure she knows how to rest. ]

[windowsills]

[ The fact something happened, something good, just because it was believed is something even more outlandish than the thought of magic, time travel and worlds to Alex. Things like that never occurred in her experience and it is in a way shocking. She opens her mouth to respond just as an alert reminder scrolls across her vision. ]

Oh! I’m sorry, Sora. My alarm for work just went off.

[ Completely anti climatic and mundane compared to the subject matter at hand but it brought the conversation back around to his initial question. Alex quickly added the last few stitches in his clothes before holding them up for approval. ]

There you go. When I return I’ll mend a few more, but I think that should be all right for now.

[ Alex stands up nodding in his direction as she heads to the door. ]

I will see you later, okay?