larkers: (pic#12386241)
MEADOWLARK MODS ([personal profile] larkers) wrote in [community profile] meadowlarklogs2020-06-13 11:25 am

ARRIVAL LOG 22

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: May 7 - 11
WHAT: The twenty-second arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Coercion and loss of autonomy, references to rebellion and world upheaval. Further notes at the end of log.

> ARRIVAL LOG #022

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 two people in front of you: one dressed in a thick set of armor, while the other wears medical garb. Out the windshield in front, there are many tall buildings—all reaching up beyond a normal city skyline, all entirely too close to the vehicle itself. But more than that, many of those buildings are covered in green.

You realize there are others next to you: all dressed the same way as you, you'll come to realize: in overalls of varying colors, all with heavy-duty gloves on. To your left there's an armored interior door, two more people visible, and 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 eventually lowers to the ground and turns off with a low whirr. 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 the air outside feels full of moisture. Soon enough, you realize it's lightly raining. The guard says nothing, head bowed as he lines you up with the rest. The nurse helps the others out, checking over each passenger one by one.

The main guard turns to address your entire group, and something about her bearing makes it clear she's done this before. "I'll be quick. Listen up." Your body will come to attention, immediately homing in on the words that follow, as if compelled to hang on every word. "You see those tents set up over there? You're going to head over there and help out with the work they're doing. Don't hurt anyone, don't look for any assistance from any police officers, and don't run off. Wait until people come and find you, and when they do, ask them to show you the glow."

The guard will hop back into the van, which will rise off of the ground and head back the way it came, turning the corner of a building that you now realize is covered in winding plants and vines. Once it's gone, you'll find your legs moving almost without your permission, guiding you to follow the steps the guard laid out.

Once you get to the tents, you'll see that there is a congregation of people, all dressed in clothes that they're ready to work in. Many of them are covered in grass stains, their faces bearing that sheen that comes with manual labor. The ones that are under the shade of the tents seem to be taking a break, but many others are in the area, hard to work. They assume that you're here to help pitch in with cutting back the sheer number of plants that have overgrown and consumed the city, and they hand you a pair of shears and a bucket so that you can get to work. Time to get pruning!

◉ 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 – and that includes the message passed on from the mysterious patron.

> HEDGE-CLIPPING

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.

Here we go again. We've got another batch of newbies, who've been dropped off at one of the landscaping work stations for getting all these plants under control. Follow the coordinates and you should find them in that general area. They're wearing overalls, if that narrows it down. I don't think many people wear overalls in 2512.

The coordinates will lead the current Displaced to the heart of New Amsterdam, near to one of the many green spaces in the city. Unsurprisingly, this is an area where the overabundance of plants growing at a massive rate has caused the most issue. Businesses, especially smaller ones like restaurants and boutiques, have been impacted by the plants. It's not just the outsides of buildings that are overgrown, either; inside, plumbing is completely clogged up as the foliage spills out of sinks, toilets, and anywhere else it can find a way in.

Green Thumbs, which is a local landscaping company that's seen an influx of business in the last six months thanks to the strange overgrowth of plant life in the city, has stepped up to help with this problem and has recruited the newly arrived Displaced to their cause, if unwittingly. Anyone who comes by one of their stations (including the veteran Displaced coming to collect the newbies) is likely to get roped into helping, as this is quite the undertaking and they need all the hands they can get. Don't worry—as long as you have a registered ID, you can get paid today.

The work itself isn't too complicated. Cut away plants, yank them out of drains, and put all everything that's harvested into buckets to return to the tents to drop off for later use in composting. While most of what's growing are flowers and weeds, there are areas where vegetables have sprouted too. Those will obviously want to be saved, and there will be crates set out to collect all of it. At the tents they'll also be offering some snacks and plenty of water to keep people energized and hydrated during the work. Everything from parks to bakeries to gift shops are going to need help here, and while the amount of work feels like it's neverending, it is important. Life can't return to normal until this is done.

While there will be time for both new arrivals and the rest of the Displaced to pitch in, eventually the newcomers will be escorted back to the safehouse for processing.

> AROUND THE CITY

MEDIA COVERAGE AND ONLINE CHATTER
New Amsterdam has come to life again following Judas' simulation, but the energy of the city has changed. After so many tragedies and disasters, it’s as though everyone is half-expecting the next one to strike while still reeling from the last. Some are dealing with this by throwing themselves into charity work or laying low, but others have been radicalized into thoughts of taking down the United Nations altogether. Morningstar is garnering more and more support, and though it’s technically illegal, their symbol is being grafitti’d and pasted all over town. The overworked police can’t manage to keep up, so some of them stay, a clear sign of the shifting opinions of the people.

The focus of every nearly source of news, from serious mainstream media to pop culture commentary, is still the simulation that recently overtook New Amsterdam. New characters won’t be able to access this information until their IDs are set up, but once they can, it’s a deluge of news reports, opinion pieces, and conspiracy theory websites.

There are solemn specials memorializing those who died in the simulation, or pieces discussing the long term effects on survivors and the city as a whole, focusing on New Amsterdam’s charity efforts. Talking heads, from pundits to scientists to various authority figures, are brought on panels to discuss and sometimes heatedly debate what happened and why it all seemed to go so wrong. Of particular focus and concern is New Amsterdam Governor Lydia Gill-Jade's choice to step down, electoral candidate Jovavich’s death, and the upcoming emergency election. Now that so many UNA soldiers have been decommissioned and weapons contracts dropped, economic concerns are rearing their head, too.

It might be a breath of fresh air for some citizens when they realize that this time, the mainstream media’s reaction to the United Nations' involvement is decidedly negative. There isn’t so much undue praise, and both interviewers and interviewees are starting to ask hard questions about how, exactly, the United Nations screwed this up so badly. More than a few are blaming the current situation on the United Nations completely.

And, of course, the AI Judas is still missing. The fear over this is palpable, and no news channel or website is going to let anyone forget it, or go long without mentioning it. It’s clear the United Nations is in the middle of a damage control campaign, sending their most media-ready members to explain why they didn’t do more and why their hands were tied. It’s all very polished and precise.

On social media, the shift towards criticizing the United Nations is much more open and less measured. It isn’t hard to find discussions tearing apart the UN’s excuses and even mocking them. With UNA soldiers returning home, there are more than a few stories of friends or family members noticing a huge shift in the former soldiers’ personalities, and their clear struggle to reintegrate into a civilian lifestyle. People are getting angry, and admitting you still support the United Nations is a great way to start a very long argument.

As for Morningstar, now that they’re in the odd position of being considered by most to be a political party opposing the UNA, they’re getting more media attention than ever before. The shift is clear—Morningstar’s opinions and ideas have value now, and they aren’t shy about challenging the United Nations' official position on what happened in New Amsterdam.

Another source of constant gossip is the Displaced. Now that they’ve been partially outed, everyone is trying to figure out just what their deal is. Some people clearly view them as heroes, while others aren’t so sure. Are they rogue UNA experiments? Dimension hoppers? Superheroes? Aliens? No one knows the truth, and so theories abound, some of them utterly ridiculous. There are more measured articles and reports too, but the tabloids are the ones running the scoops that are more out there (and, honestly, more fun).

MEDIA COMMUNITY RESPONSE
While talk is all well and good following such a widespread event as the simulation, taking action is far more important. While efforts to handle the overgrowth of plant life continues, there are other needs that need to be met too. Everyone came out of the simulation feeling malnourished, so all throughout the city food drives are being set up to make sure that the less fortunate and destitute get the sustenance they need to get back on their feet.

On top of that, there will also be an emphasis on redistributing all of the food which grew in excess while everyone was in the sim, to make sure that it's spread around to everyone who needs it.

Displaced will be encouraged to participate and help out with this (whether it's through cooking, plating/serving food, etc.) by the people they know through their community -- whether it's coworkers, members of Morningstar (including Gaby), or any other non-Displaced acquaintances that they have.

As public opinion toward the UNA is souring, there is a belief that people need to learn how to be self-sufficient, which is something that Morningstar in particular decides to capitalize on. If they can't rely on the UNA or on the corporations which are known to be corrupt and incetuous, and if the upcoming emergency election is likely to just give everyone more of the same, then they'll just have to figure things out on their own.

Therefore, Morningstar heads up a number of community events, classes, and drives to move toward this goal. This is a less direct form of rebellion than targeting the UNA or any of the big corporations directly, and while Morningstar has plans for that in the works too, they have always been a group that knows how to engage with the common people and make them feel seen and heard. Want to know how to grow and cook your own food? Have you heard what composting is, but don't really know what it's about? There's classes for all that, and more, including how to give haircuts and mend your own clothing. Those who are practiced in these things will also be offering these services to anyone who needs them.

Whether the Displaced are curious to learn, want to offer a class of their own (or at least help teach one), or want to take advantage of any of the services being offered, they'll be welcome. Morningstar agents will find them at the safehouse or Red Wings and encourage them to participate.

> SAFEHOUSE

Located under an abandoned hover-bike garage, access to the safehouse is a hatch in the floor beside a rusted set of metal shelves that used to hold tools and supplies. The immediate area is similarly abandoned: full of rundown and dilapidated warehouses and forgotten businesses, where numerous people squat in hopes of having some stability because they can't afford a place themselves. Gaby will be around, ready to greet as many of the new arrivals as she can and get them settled in. Brusque and no-nonsense, she'll be open to questions, but will advise the newcomers to ask the people who brought them in for the beginning bits of information. Newbies can also contact El through zeir inbox, if needed.

The safehouse is a large space with multiple rooms for storage, with the largest of the rooms filled with rows of basic cots set up to sleep a large number 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. For anyone in need of them, Gaby will offer up partitions that will come out of storage. Tucked away in a corner is a VR system, though newcomers won't be able to access this until their ID has been set up. Even with the newly erected partitions in the sleeping areas, 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.

◉ There is a mini-bar set up in the kitchen. The quality of the alcohol inside is akin to what someone might get from the well at a bar, but it's well-stocked.

◉ While the kitchen has basic foods and necessities, anyone looking for a jolt of caffeine from coffee or tea will find themselves sorely lacking. The only tea present is herbal in nature, and caffeine appears to be almost nonexistent in most of the beverages lying around.

◉ Gaby will make it clear to all new arrivals that if they have any requests or queries, they should contact her or El. Either she or El will explain that they've been given a modest stipend of credits to help them get by until they can find a job. This will be enough to cover their living expenses for about a month while they hang out in the safehouse, if they're careful with budgeting.

◉ 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 do not have access to the internet until their ID is setup. They only have limited access because they're present in the safehouse, but they can't surf the rest of the internet, check out Cooltalk, or watch the equivalent of Netflix until their ID is made.

◉ New characters cannot leave the safehouse at this time. The hatch is locked tight for them, making it impossible for them to get out for the next four days while they're locked inside. There won't be any immediately obvious ways to cut their way out through turning off the power.

New characters will not be allowed to leave the safehouse until MAY 11 (JUNE 21). 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.

> FINAL OOC NOTES

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 MAY 11 (JUNE 21). 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.

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 June calendar rundown for a look at things happening this month, as well as some additional notes from the mods.

AC remains halved this month due to the state of the world right now. New players will only need to provide at least five comments across two-four (2-4) threads, while older players will only need to provide ten comments across two-four (2-4) threads. Please let us know if you have any questions about this!

filloryfanatic: (laughter)

WAHHHHHHH 1.

[personal profile] filloryfanatic 2020-06-14 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
[Q hesitates when he gets the generic message from El; his recent losses making him feel a little exhausted about being the welcome wagon yet again for people. But he knows it's inevitable. Ever since he showed up with Toni, lost and confused, he's tried to be the cavalry for others. He can't stop that now just because everything sucks. He looks for the overalls first, as it's more identifying than anything else.

He's not looking for Eliot, so it's the overalls that catch his eye first, but the moment he glances over the familiar long and lanky build he goes from walking to running.]


Eliot. [He manages to croak out of an emotionally full throat and it's the only warning before Quentin makes it to him, immediately throwing his arms around him into a brutal and desperate hug. There are already tears in his eyes, for so many reasons, when Quentin tilts his head back to look at him.]

Hi. [Breathy, emotional.] Hey. It's you, right? [A part of him weirdly thinks he'd even be glad if it was the monster, since he'd just have to find a way to get El out of him again. Either way, he's here.]
endlessflask: (328)

[personal profile] endlessflask 2020-06-14 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ Eliot hears his name. It's so familiar that it twists something inside him, and at first, he doesn't think to pay it any attention. The last time something sounded like that when it said his name, it had attacked him. He decides he's going to try and keep his head down and ignore it.

Until he can't ignore it, because there are arms around him, squeezing him tightly, unmistakably Quentin in every way. Which makes sense because it is Quentin. Or something Quentin shaped. Eliot wonders suddenly if he's been tripping hard this whole time or if he's died and gone to some part of the Underworld.

How else could Quentin be here? Eliot's just told him goodbye.
]

I think this is the part where I ask you if I'm hallucinating and you wonder how me asking you would help.
filloryfanatic: (talking at u)

[personal profile] filloryfanatic 2020-06-14 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
I'm so predictable, but yeah, that.

[Quentin takes a longer look at him; the hair won't actually give him any clues because it gets cut, but the hallucination and general sense of shock gives him a good guess. Which means he has to be careful about this so he doesn't blow his mind too much, but all he feels is a dizzying sense of relief.]

It's actually, um, more like a multiverse kidnapping? Some powers that be grab people from different worlds and times and we sort of are stuck here, which is, you know, not the worst thing for some people.

[He's rambling, he's always rambling, but he's especially rambling at the moment. Excitement mingled with anxiety can get him stumbling over words before too long.]

There's like ... a whole lot of information, but um, it's really me. I promise.

[Quentin has no intention of letting go of him, so there's that.]

I would totally kiss you to prove it, but so, if we do we kind of glow and that's super conspicuous here.
endlessflask: (377)

[personal profile] endlessflask 2020-06-14 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
You would?

[ Everything else Quentin said is momentarily forgotten, because how much has Eliot wanted just one more chance to kiss him? He's more than certain now that this must just be a fever dream, but he'd still happily kiss a dream Quentin.

Even if they glow because of it.

Which reminds him -
]

What exactly is the glowing thing?
filloryfanatic: (simple)

[personal profile] filloryfanatic 2020-06-14 02:44 am (UTC)(link)
[He grins up at Eliot, because of course despite the situation they're in and all the confusion, El would focus on the kissing part. Fuck, Quentin loves him so much, it's absolutely ridiculous how much he does. He's been sleepwalking through the days, miserable and numb, and now everything is made up of details again. Of the why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near variety.]

Well. [He starts and stops, remembering where they are. They probably will start drawing attention before too long. Quentin reluctantly steps back, tugging on Eliot's shirt. He's being careful about no skin contact, yet.] Too public.

[He sticks glued to Eliot's side as he leads him away, knowing the area well enough to get them to a less populated area.]

Okay, so first problem, we don't have any magic. Just going to rip that band-aid off now.
endlessflask: (350)

[personal profile] endlessflask 2020-06-14 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ Under any other circumstance, Eliot would tease Quentin. He'd say something about Quentin taking him somewhere private and he'd maybe smirk. But not now. Hell, he's not even sure he could play it that cool and careless if they were back home and he came face to face with Quentin again.

As they walk, he glances at the other man out of the corner of his eyes. No magic is a shitty deal. Eliot is pretty sure it's a price he'd pay for Quentin, though.
]

Just to clarify - This is all actually real. You're actually you.

[ Look, it's not too bizarre to not be reasonable. Eliot's aware that there are plenty of worlds, he's seen the fountains that go to them, he's heard people talk about them. The only thing he can't quite get over just yet is how someone who's supposed to be dead is here, but, you know, Eliot usually can't wrap his head around most things.

Of all the times to reunite with the love of his life and he's wearing overalls.
]
filloryfanatic: (we did it!)

[personal profile] filloryfanatic 2020-06-14 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Quentin has been miserable without his magic, and complaining about it non-stop to most people. They put a lot of work in to get magic back, okay? And he still hasn't figured out his new power which is driving him crazy. None of it really matters though, for the same reason. Of course he'd trade magic for being alive and having Eliot with him.

They're enough out of the way that he can pause their walk and turn to face him, eyes moving over the face he thought he might never see again. So he understands partially that type of pain.]


It's me. Whoever took me out of the multiverse did it right before I died.

[He might as well rip off that band-aid too, since they're dancing around what they both know. Quentin's dead. A fact he's been mostly not coping with, or not had the time to cope with.]

Okay so I'm going to touch you in a second, but I'm warning you that we're going to glow and also, um, there's an empathy bond? I've had like a super shitty few weeks so I normally wouldn't want to share. [Q hates putting his pain and misery on anyone else.] But like ... it's honestly the best way for you to know I'm real. [Also he just wants to touch him, it's difficult holding back.]
endlessflask: (145)

[personal profile] endlessflask 2020-06-14 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
Quentin, I'm going to be honest with you. I was stabbed with an axe, then you died, then on top of that, Fillory keeps shooting us three hundred years in the future where some guy called The Dark King has overthrown our rule. I'd say my last few weeks have been pretty shitty, too.

[ He can't say it's been more or less than what Quentin's been going through, but it hasn't been easy. Not even a little bit. So what's a little more sadness on top of it all, right?

If anything, Eliot's just worried that Quentin will feel all the guilt and regret that he's had lately. Or maybe only things that happen here affect the empathy thing, and, wow, Eliot really hates being slapped in the face with feelings. He has a lot of those when it comes to Quentin Coldwater.


Touching you sounds really nice right now. Even with all that other shit.
filloryfanatic: (kissing eliot)

[personal profile] filloryfanatic 2020-06-14 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
Three hundred years in the future of Fillory? What the fuck? Why does ---- [Okay, no, he can ask those questions in a moment.] Circling back to that later. [And he has to try and explain the hell he's been through, in a way that doesn't make Eliot immediately wish he wasn't here, because then he'd feel guilty that he wanted him to be here, and they're both such messes when it comes to feelings.

He looks up at him and honestly thinks to hell with it. The warning's been given. He's not going to refuse to kiss Eliot on the basis of feelings being hard and painful. He cups Eliot's face in his bare hands, the empathy bond starting right away as they start to glow, and he goes up onto his toes to kiss him with all his misery focused into passion instead.

As warned, Q is a mess of all kinds of problems on the inside. His anxiety, depression, grief, and guilt are very high at the moment, but the moment their lips touch he's also lighting up with better emotions. Joy, need, relief, and love; love so strong no one (Eliot) could possibly deny it existed.]
endlessflask: (238)

[personal profile] endlessflask 2020-06-14 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
[ Quentin is a mess, but, really, so is Eliot. And part of the reason that Eliot had run away in the first place was because he didn't think he was equipped to deal with all the things that come from being in love, mess included, and knowing that their reality was a whole lot more complicated than the life they'd carved out in Fillory together.

But he promised to be brave, didn't he? And he fought his way through the monster to try and get back to Quentin, and maybe Eliot's learned that he'd rather have something difficult than nothing at all.

So, sure, the initial feeling when Quentin's lips are on his is like a punch to the gut. Eliot can feel his insides twisting with it, but it's not all bad. He feels that warmth, too. It's sort of like the first time that Quentin had kissed him on the mosaic but better. He kisses back, of course he does. He kisses Quentin until he feels his lungs starting to burn, hand pressed to the back of Quentin's neck.
]

Maybe this isn't the appropriate time but I'm sorry I fucked it up for us.
filloryfanatic: (why the fuck not?)

[personal profile] filloryfanatic 2020-06-14 04:57 am (UTC)(link)
[In retrospect, once Quentin could push past the pain of rejection, he saw fairly clearly why Eliot backpedaled away from him. At the time, all of Eliot's words were excellent at stabbing him repeatedly, pulling on his insecurities perfectly, but he also should have known better. They've always shared talent for self-hate and low self-worth. But he's longed for a love that he can rely on his entire life, so of course he couldn't let it go either.

The closer they are, the more at ease he feels. There's clarity in being able to feel what the other person does. He takes in Eliot's grief and his worry grows, only wanting to soothe it better. He's flushed from the kiss and nods to the apology, still staying close, his arms moving around Eliot's neck.]


Look at me.

[Quentin locks eyes with him. A little fear swirls around him, but he can be so very sure when it comes to these things.]

I'm in love with you. [The in love part is essential, since they both know they love one another, in a general way, but this is specific to romance.] And if you try to push me away again, I am going to be super pissed off.
endlessflask: (278)

[personal profile] endlessflask 2020-06-17 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ Well, Eliot is pretty certain that, given this whole weird glowing empathy thing, that there's no denying he's very much in love with Quentin, too. And maybe one day they'll have to sit down and talk about all of that, and Eliot can get everything off his chest that he let build up and wrote in that letter he never sent.

Right now, though, he's happy for the tight pain in his chest that isn't entirely unpleasant. Most of it is from good feelings, and Eliot thinks that this place can't be entirely shitty if it's bringing Quentin back to him.
]

You're cute when you're pissed off, though.
filloryfanatic: (why the fuck not?)

[personal profile] filloryfanatic 2020-06-17 12:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Shut up, people aren't supposed to be cute when they're pissed off.

[Quentin chuckles though, mostly because he's generally relieved and happy and everything feels light at the moment. It won't last forever but it lasts for now. He doesn't want to talk about everything they need to talk about, or to bring Eliot to the safehouse where he'll be stuck for days, he wants to stay here.

He sighs, a rush of anxiety coming back, and goes back down on his heels. His hands move down to Eliot's arms but keeps a hold of him anyway.]


I have to tell you ... a whole fucking lot, but first, um. [Wow how to say this.] This isn't the first time you've been here. A version, I guess, of you was here before and then disappeared. He was from right after my funeral, that's as much as he knew, so um, none of this Dark King stuff. [Here's hoping all Eliots are fine with the idea of Q loving him as many times as it takes.] I've been a disaster without you.
endlessflask: (131)

[personal profile] endlessflask 2020-06-24 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ Eliot wants to lean forward and rest their foreheads together and just take a breath or two. He wants to soak in the moment before things get inevitably weird. But he's mindful of this weird glowing thing now, and Quentin keeps talking, which is probably for the best. ]

I promise you that I've sort of been a disaster without you, too.

[ They all have.

He's not sure what it means, having apparently been here before from another point in his timeline. Eliot hopes it doesn't mean something extra shitty.
]

Now we can be disasters together.
filloryfanatic: (huh what)

[personal profile] filloryfanatic 2020-06-24 02:58 pm (UTC)(link)
I feel like that's the foundation of our friendship. Mutual disasters.

[Quentin had Julia growing up but really no other friends. He couldn't help but internalize that as not deserving friends or being too weird to really connect with other people. Then he got to Brakebills and Eliot and Margo adopted him immediately, which felt to him like some kind of teen movie fantasy where the coolest people in the school randomly decide this awkward nerd is cool enough to be with them. He's felt lucky since that first moment when Eliot looked him up and down and chose him, somehow.

So much time has passed since then but it's still how he feels. He is torn, reaching up to run his fingers through Eliot's now very short hair, careful not to have too much skin touch in case.]


Fuck, I just want to like ... run away with you. [Maybe they can later.] But I have to take you to the safehouse. People have to stay there a few days while they're given new identities here. [Quentin sighs and as is often with them, he's of the size to simply put his forehead down into Eliot's shoulder instead, breathe him in. Feel him warm and real.]

We don't have to yet. [He should but ... well it can wait. Once they're in there they have no privacy. Quentin will be selfish as long as he reasonably can.] This isn't the worst futuristic post-apocalyptic world to be in, but it, um, has some issues. I wish it was better if you're going to be stuck here. [Quentin is only alive here, so he has to see the good, but he feels bad wishing so desperately to have Eliot.]