[ open ] #throwbackthursday

[aeturnus]

who: Cain (now Romulus), Anyone
what: During the effects of the Temporal Chalice, Cain gets to explore some of his much, much earlier years. He's in his early twenties, not immortal, shy and gentle, and goes by his birth name: Romulus. Oops.
when: 15th until the event ends.
where: Housing during the day (floor six + around), and out in the Quarantine at night mostly. Specific starters upon request.
warnings: Romulus at this point in his life is a slave. Mentioned of free vs not, expectations of having lesser value, and possible other related subjects are very likely. More will be edited in if necessary.

i. Housing. Floor six.
[ He's not sure what to do with himself here. One of the first things Romulus did when he came to was familiarize himself with the device he carries around with him, because he remembers that being important, and notices that the job he only vaguely recalls sent a message to not show up if you couldn't do the work citing distraction to the other workers who were still in their right minds. He supposes that means he should stay away from the place and he intends to. It just doesn't leave him a whole lot to do aside from putter around the floor he knows he belongs in, even if most of his belongings feel foreign and familiar at the same time. Sparse, too. Some technology to work, small knickknacks here and there, and nothing that really speaks to who he is. All except for a plain lantern hanging from the bedpost with scenery drawn on it that makes him feel more at home. It's familiar to him, only a breath away, if he were back home at all. That lantern is lit every night to help him sleep.

Either way, Romulus putters. Messes around in the kitchen to try and make food but plenty of the products are foreign and confusing and he sticks with what he knows, basic fruits and vegetables and puts together simpler things with simpler tools and methods. He's not going for anything fancy, just subsiding on what he can until he figures out what he's doing here anymore. What he doesn't do is actively bother anyone. Finds his own supplies and makes sure whatever he uses is communal and doesn't belong to anyone in particular, shops with the money he's found for himself to buy things he can't find.

It's probably easier to ignore the guy who's suddenly turned wallflower around floor six, or even in the rest of the building where he comes and goes quite often out to explore the city. Except... he didn't used to be like this, not at all, entire demeanor changed. Not that he's the only one but it's pretty radical and noticeable. Kinda sad, really. ]

ii. Quarantine.
[ Mostly, he goes out at night. Lots of people don't notice the nervous ones at night because crime still exists but Quarantine is better protected and managed than most cities in other universes, apparently, and a lot of the older residents expect the nervous ones to calm down eventually. Romulus isn't nervous because of crime, but instead because it feels like a lie. He shouldn't be out here without a cause or an order or a reason given to him to explain if anyone catches him out — but he's not doing anything wrong. There's no master here, no one holding him in their hands and certainly no one to say he can't explore or shop or live.

It's freedom, and it has his heart constantly in his throat. What do you do with freedom?

Either way, he stumbles into people because he's not paying attention, lost in thought. Flinches back and swerves to press nearer to the walls or almost walks into the street sometimes and has to get fished out of the way. It's all very nerve-wracking, but again, people expect it more in the darkness for whatever reason. Sometimes he does go out in the day, too, but this is easier for him. ]

I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to run into you—forgive me.

[ He doesn't meet many peoples' eyes in the dark of the night, either. ]

iii. Wild Card.
[ Romulus gets places he shouldn't. Curiosity is certainly his vice and that's never gotten him anyplace good. It's usually up to Remus to keep him from wandering and Remus isn't here. He doesn't go into dangerous-looking places, but stores or odd streets or stopping to watch something odd? There's no reason not to. ]

[ Make something up, and I'll work a response in! Contact at plurk or at biomagnet#1925 @ disco to discuss more if necessary. ]

Comments

wildcard;

[greyjane]

[She is - perhaps blissfully - unaffected by all the nonsense in the air. But, a woman's got to eat, and so she's shopping for herself. She lives alone, and cooks the same, but she prefers to stock up on things for the long run just in case.

There's a tin of fruit on the top shelf with a name she recognizes - her stomach drops, Kveth's salty tits it's something from home, not just the Lattice but Janirak - and without even thinking about it she holds out her basket to the nearest person (sorry, Romulus) without even looking at them.

Not that she'd recognize him if she did. The wonders of text-only communication, that once.]

Here, sweetheart, hold this a moment?

[And this is the story of how she makes a little light-construct step-ladder (it's living energy, essentially, that she shapes to her will) so she can grab that can off the top shelf just to marvel at it. She breathes out something that definitely sounds like a foreign curse under her breath and smooths the label where it's crinkled in one corner. The tactile sensation seems to snap her out of a reverie, and then she's turning back to her helper with a grin that pulls at the ugly scars across her face.]

Thanks. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack you unawares. Name's Shai.

[aeturnus]

[ The epithet stops him up more than the request does, and he takes the basket without a single word or complaint. He's mulling over the sound of being called sweetheart by anyone but the older servants in the household who seem to think all the younger ones need someone to show a little kindness (it's unnecessary, they're fine without it, but it's... nice) and almost misses the light show with his eyes downcast.

It gets his attention, though, and he glances up sharply to watch in awe. More magic, this one different than the others he's seen but no less amazing. He does stare at the scarring on her face but not overly long, catching himself quickly and turns his gaze back to the ground. ]

That's quite all right, Ma'am. My name is Romulus. That was... amazing, actually.

[greyjane]

[Well that's adorable, what the heckie. Shai just sort of raises an eyebrow at that... particular species of deference and opts to just bowl right over it.]

Romulus. Nice to meet you, son.

[Does this kid do handshakes? She's about to find out. She reaches out to reclaim her basket with one hand, and offers the other for a shake.]

The little light show? [A bit of a laugh.] I can do better. But thank you, that's sweet of you to say.

[aeturnus]

[ He hands over the basket without a fight, but his face screws up at the hand being offered. It doesn't quite occur to him what she wants because yeah, handshakes are a thing, but certainly not for greeting. It's so weird. Doesn't quite click and he just bows his head more for not understanding. ]

It's my honor to meet you, Ma'am. If that was only a small measure of your ability, you must be incredibly gifted.

[ Pouring it on? Yeah, but it's how you do, the way he knows to give good regard. It helps that he's genuinely impressed. ]

[greyjane]

[She's about to laugh - actually, outright laugh - at that weird, over-the-top sycophantic gong-show when something occurs to her.

Plenty of people acted like that in Evichta. Either to curry favour or to garner special treatment, and whatever amusement or merriment she'd been on the verge of expressing flatlines like a corpse. She could be wrong, she knows. It's like hearing a single note and thinking you know the song. One twang does not the span of human experience make. He could just be a weaselly sort of person, or she might have scared him and this is whatever passes as a defense mechanism. Whatever it is, or could be, it puts her instantly on guard.

Her hand remains extended a moment longer, and then her fingers tip towards the floor and she drops her arm to her side. Mildly,]

Honour's all mine, doll. And I am, yes, [Ego, thy name is...] but I don't think a grocery store is the time for self-aggrandizing showboating. [There's a playful wink that follows.]

[aeturnus]

[ He turns his gaze up, doesn't go all the way but enough to show he's listening. He has a basket of his own on his elbow and he shifts, arm curling around it more as if remembering it's there. ]

Oh, right. You're not done shopping.

[ As if he was the one who interrupted her, and not the other way around. ]

[greyjane]

Ah, it's no trouble. I was finishing up.

[The fruit is still on her mind. Kveth, it'll have been seventeen years since she tasted it. She's not even sure she'll be able to bring herself to try it, might just put it on a shelf on the off-chance that it would be a disappointment to her. Sometimes, nothing lives up to the ghost of a memory.

She gives him a nod and turns as if she's going to leave-- and then pauses and looks back.]

You really don't know what a handshake is? Here I thought it was one of those universal greetings.

[aeturnus]

[ He looks confused for her turning back. ]

That... Mm, it's not for people like me. Making agreements and the like. Not where I'm from.

[greyjane]

'People like you'?

[She's just blunt enough to ask that question outright, yep.]

[aeturnus]

Slaves.

[ Blunt for blunt. ]

[greyjane]

[Ah.]

Don't think anybody here keeps slaves.

[Her tone stays mild. Generally speaking, Shai takes more amusement than a healthy person probably should in terrifying people with what she can do and - just as often - with her devil-may-care public persona, but the thing of it is, she'd never turn the full scope of either on someone who doesn't understand or wouldn't dare defending themselves from it.]

[aeturnus]

So everyone says. [ His lips quirk just the bit. This stringent insistence is just not the thing he's ready to deal with. ] Doesn't mean I'm not one without a master here, though.

[greyjane]

S'pose not.

[She supposes she could get righteously indignant, but the funny thing of it is - she's been to too many places, seen too many worlds and engaged with too many cultures to think that her way is the only one that exists. She disagrees with it, of course - on principle and on a rather deeper more intrinsic level, but that's her universe, her experiences. One of these days she'll burn Iraphos to the ground and smile for the cameras that catch her doing it, but that's a very far away thing.]

Not an institution I'm all that interested in, honestly. [She says that very flippantly, reaching to face one of the bottles of hot-sauce beside them in the aisle.] Nor one you should feel the need to talk about if you're not up for it.

[aeturnus]

[ His attention is split by her action and he lets that carry him. By the way his shoulders slump, it's obvious Romulus didn't expect her to drop it, or at least not take it so... well? Disinterestedly? He appreciates it nonetheless. ]

It's not something I expected to be met so... strongly about. Ah, but that would be why—the gesture, the handshake? That's why.

[greyjane]

[She nods. Perhaps not in understanding, but certainly in sympathy.]

Folks are vocal when there's disagreement to be had.

[She's seething herself, but she has decades of experience now in hiding what she feels. Being a media liaison is not for the faint of heart when war and the like are involved.]

Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable on that account.

[aeturnus]

Yeah, there's that. If it... I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable.

[ People not understanding his position is frustrating, but he's not especially worried about it in the long run. Either they'll get it or they won't, or maybe someone will change his mind and he'll have to stop thinking about going back home to it again and really, that last one isn't going to happen. ]

[greyjane]

[He gets a sidelong glance. She's noticed that he seems uncomfortable with eye contact, so her gaze doesn't linger long. Hmm, look at this marvelously weird, rainbow coloured pasta over here instead. Shai's a staunch vegetarian, and this place is strange enough that she's taken to examining the ingredients of everything just in case. So she's idly glancing over the list on the back of the bag when she speaks again,]

I appreciate that, but it ain't on you to regulate my emotions just the same. You don't have to apologize for what you are no matter how it makes folks feel.

[aeturnus]

[ It definitely helps. Speaking at him, to him, without having to put the focus on him. Romulus relaxes while he watches her reading something on the box, and his brow furrows at that. What's so interesting about it? ]

It's one of the few things I can do, though.

[greyjane]

[It's interesting enough that she drops the bag into her basket, where it joins other ridiculously healthy choices. There's a big emphasis on fresh produce. She loves her ship in a way that's bone-deep, but Kveth does she miss all the food you can pull out of a garden.]

Do you think it helps?

[aeturnus]

[ Well, okay then. Whatever was on there was apparently the right thing. He's still puzzling that out (it's just colorful pasta, isn't it? Everything is colorful here) when she continues. ]

It's... what you do. [ Does it help? ] It's respect.

[greyjane]

I earn yours already? [Both eyebrows go up, she smiles a bit.] Goodness, I'm busy.

[Little bit of humour there for you, but her meaning is clear: she hasn't, and doesn't expect to be treated that way as if by rote. She's not exactly trying to get him to change what he does - she meant what she said on that count - but she's not shy about making her stance clear, either.]

[aeturnus]

Well, you're not in my position so that's pretty worthy of respect.

[ Oho? That's odd. Romulus understands where he is in the world and accepts it, knows that just leaving somehow wouldn't actually solve a deeper problem but... that's certainly an interesting way to put it. ]

[greyjane]

How do you know I'm not?

[She's not, obviously, but once upon a time she was something very similar. Forced labour in a POW camp is certainly no freedom she can name. She shrugs mildly, and heads off down the aisle with a gesture for him to follow her.]

[aeturnus]

You can read?

[ That seems like a pretty solid one. He follows along at the gesture, not bothered at all. Besides the obvious, they're talking. Of course he'll go. ]

[greyjane]

Anybody explained to you how multiple universes work to bring us all together here?

[Seems a silly quantifier to her, but then Janirak has no Rome, or even an equivalent thereof in its antiquity. If it did, she probably wouldn't know. Never was one for history, her.]