[ 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

[greyjane]

Mm. Easy way to keep folks where it's thought they belong. Ignorance is a wealthy person's - or a government's - best friend.

[She shrugs. She doesn't like institutions of any sort, apparently.]

Been here a while?

[aeturnus]

That, and... teachers are expensive.

[ The wealthy hate to spend too much of their money, he's noticed. ]

Um... yes and no? I'm—there's something affecting people here and I believe I'm one of them. It's changing them?

[greyjane]

[Liranya might actually laugh at that. Education should be priceless rather than expensive. But then, she always said teaching was a privilege rather than a fundamental right. To the rest, she nods.]

The comms device should have your info on it, then. There's a text to talk function so's you can still access it.

[aeturnus]

[ He gets the idea of what she's saying and, really, it doesn't sound any more fantastic or crazy than all the insane, amazing things he's already seen here. It just makes him excited, much as he tries to contain himself. ]

I'll have to figure that out, then.

[greyjane]

I can show you how on mine. Might knock a few things into perspective for you.

[She's not really interested in prying into his life. It's his business. If she's not seen a fellow running about on the network calling himself Romulus; A Slave odds are it's not something he'll want other people knowing or acknowledging. Far as she's concerned, if she never meets this chap again it'll be just fine by her, and he can keep his secrets.

They pass by the tea - she's meandering in a check-out sort of direction as they've talked - and she nods to one of the blends. It's a tea with considerable heat, something in the realm of ginger and licorice.]

If you fancy a bit of tea, I recommend that one.

[aeturnus]

[ He moves to continue following her, sets himself closer to the tea as she recommends it. He peers at it, picks it up and turns the box this way and that. Simply settles for sniffing at it instead. ]

Oh... oh, hm. What is it?

[greyjane]

[A faint little smile.]

Redaqar. Something from my home world.

[She's found things - odd bits here and there, and the Kassurat set that was left on her doorstep - all from Janirak. She's an intensely, fiercely private person at the best of times, but sharing things from home - at least when they seem in decent supply, thus necessitating no frugality - isn't beyond her.

Kindness is something learned. She lacked it once. Never again.]

[aeturnus]

[ He considers, hesitates briefly. There's s genuine strike of fear at getting something useless that he doesn't even know what it is, but there's a traitorous part of him excited by the idea instead. It would be just for him. ]

I'll... try this, then. Thank you.

[greyjane]

Don't mention it.

[She points to one of the tellers, now that they've strolled the length of the aisle.]

I'm going to check myself out. Would you rather come with, or meet up later so I can show you how the comm works?

[aeturnus]

[ He sucks in a breath, considering. He's done this before a few times now but... ]

May I come with you?

[greyjane]

Of course. No trouble.

[She ends up in a lane, plucking the contents of her basket out and putting it on the little conveyor belt with purpose enough. She's moving a bit more slowly than she would if she were alone, though she wouldn't admit that it's so he can watch her and get an idea of what she's doing. Once she's rung through and has paid for herself, she stands off to the side to watch his progress and if he seems to need help she'll step in.]

[aeturnus]

[ Romulus has this part, at least. He sees her and watches the whole time, carefully follows the steps she'd done before as if it's his first time all over again. Pulls out the card with his money on it like he'd been shown that day when he'd come here without a single idea how he was supposed to do this and pays. Takes the bag he's given with his few items, just enough to last the rest of the day, and moves next to her.

It's silly but he does seem a lot more content now, head kept tucked down somewhat when he meets her at the other end of the register. ]

[greyjane]

[She gives him a smile she doesn't exactly expect him to see, and since he seems more comfortable following behind her that's exactly what she does. She's always been a leader by nature, and doesn't seem to mind if he wants to walk a step behind her or whatever it is makes him comfortable.]

My place is a few streets over. If you're closer we can drop your groceries off first and take care of it there.

[It's not that she can't explain things on a busy street corner or even duck into a cafe, but it'd be weirdly awkward to do that with an armload of groceries and she thinks he might be more comfortable somewhere away from prying eyes.]

[aeturnus]

[ She's got the nail on the head, and he appreciates that. Shakes his head and nods in the direction of the government housing building assigned to all the newbies. ]

I'm staying that way. It's... not very private.

[greyjane]

My place it is.

[And off she goes. She keeps a brisk pace up and they've arrived at the door to her little brownstone. She fiddles with the keys, unlocks the door and steps inside without preamble. Once he follows, she closes but doesn't bother with a lock. While she's home, she never does. Anything that can bust her door down and contend with a very angry, very dangerous electrokinetic on the other side is probably more interested in murder than robbery, and she'll either win the fight or she won't. Nothing a lock could change, in any case.

Her apartment is... quaint more than anything. Plenty of colours, complementary but not necessarily matching (she likes her purples and yellows, that's for sure) and everything is open and bright and breezy. Her furniture is eclectic, oddly shaped, with lacy throw-pillows to top it all off. Everything is, however, quite spotless. Military thing. Or maybe just a her-thing, she hasn't figured that one out.

Her usual quip of make yourself at home doesn't seem appropriate in this case, and would probably just upset him, so she simply heads into her kitchen with the expectation he'll trail after her.]

Anything perishable you can stash in the fridge for now if you'd like. I'll put on a pot of water, we can have some of that tea. Mine, not yours - I've got plenty.

[One thing about her kitchen: it's probably over-stocked. She doesn't just have one or two containers of something, she has six or seven. The excess is certainly excessive, but then, she's rather determined not to endure anything approaching starvation ever again in her life.]

[aeturnus]

[ Following at that pace is trivial, nothing he hasn't done before. Now he watches where they're going, all these unfamiliar streets and things he doesn't understand replacing the usual paths and memory-worn trails back home whenever he and Remus would be taken down to the market. More of a show than because specifically they were needed to carry things, but it gave them more experience than some and they took what they could get.

At the actual building, he's a bit stunned. It's gorgeous, not quite as humble to his eyes as it might be to most, because it's well-furnished and opulent in the colors and personality. For a brief, insane moment he tries to imagine what he might put in a space like this — and then it's got, a blink and the idea has shattered with his concentration, and he follows her all the way back into the kitchen. He moves around her once she's done to carefully lay his own things in the fridge, because he understands it and knows what it does now but the habit of not getting things they won't be able to use first is strong, and he's only one person. He's been out shopping daily instead.

That done, he steps back and kind of instinctively tucks himself into a corner without paying much mind. ] Water... for tea?

[greyjane]

Mmhmm.

[There's a flower pot on her windowsill, she pauses to water it. She's still a little taken at the idea of growing anything that she's devoted rather a lot of energy to baby's first gardening attempt, but there's still an honest sense of joy at the simple task.

Once that's accomplished, she fills up her (electric, ha) kettle and sets it to boil. Truthfully, she could boil water herself in a bare fraction of time, but she'd rather her abilities not be the focus of whatever conversation they have.

She sets out two cups, sifts loose leaf tea into two little novelty tea-balls and then takes a seat at her kitchen table to give the water a chance to boil. She gestures him into the one across from her.]

Don't have that where you're from?

[aeturnus]

[ He sits when she motions, straight and proper and not fidgeting even if it's odd. He'll take it as it is for now, watching the plant she had watered and the kettle and the cups before turning toward her. Shakes his head. ]

No, nothing like this.

[greyjane]

Well, you don't have to drink it if you don't like it. It's not for everyone.

[Would he tell her if he didn't? Probably not. Always the fear of reprisal. She understands it, even if this is one thing she can't exactly sympathize with.

She crosses her legs, leans back comfortably in her chair. She's not excessively tall, and small-framed besides, but she seems to take up a great deal of space just on account of posture and personality.]

[aeturnus]

[ That, at least, is something familiar to him. Romulus understands how much someone's presence can make them larger than life-sized and it's something he finds himself jealous of sometimes. Small little pinpricks at his chest that make him wish... Sometimes. ]

Is it... strong?

[greyjane]

Fairly. And a bit spicy, too. If you've never had anything like it, it might be overwhelming.

[The kettle whistles, she hops to her feet with a brusque energy to go take it off its little cradle and pour the now-boiling water over those ridiculous tea balls. She brings both cups back to the table, and gestures at the small tray with sugar and honey on its center.]

I don't keep milk in the house, but there's plenty to sweeten it with depending on your palate.

[aeturnus]

[ He watches her in fascination, not quite understanding how this water is going to make tea and what's up with the cups. There's so much to learn here and probably not enough time to learn it (not with the idea that people are hoping to undo this change, whatever's happening to all these people) but he wishes dearly that he could. It all seems impossible and real at the same time.

Her mention of spicy has him a bit worried because he knows spices but will this be different like so many other things? ] Is it normal to sweeten it?

[greyjane]

Depends on your taste. Plenty of folks do. Some don't. For me, depends on how I'm feeling.

[She turns his cup around so the handle's closest to him and nudges it across the table.]

Give it a spell, until it's not about to burn you, then you can try a bit and see how you find it.

[She can't imagine that anyone who calls themselves a slave has had access to a wide variety of flavours, so to demonstrate that it's an okay thing to do she spoons out a dollop of honey into her cup and stirs it about.]

[aeturnus]

[ Huh. Part of Romulus that's survived as long as it has simply takes her actions as things done for herself, things he can observe and build off of because it's the only way to get things done. Being directly taught is not something he has vast swathes of experience in.

The other part of him sees that consideration clearly and his chest tightens up, almost pleasantly so. He takes a hold of the cup by the handle to assess the heat coming off it (intense for how long it was sitting there) and mimics the action. That sugar is tempting but even this is extravagant. This whole thing is. Like he could be wasting away a life's earnings in a single cup.

It's an odd thought, and he hides a smile by tipping his head and bringing the cup closer to see what scent it gives off now that it's heated. Much stronger and a little different than when it had been in the box for sure, and he swallows at nothing instinctively. Talk about foreign. ]

It's unlike anything I've ever smelled, anyway.

[greyjane]

[That gets a bit of a laugh, warm and genuine enough. She blows on the surface of her tea - a bit unnecessary, seeing as how she could stand the heat and then some - before she takes a sip.]

That's the beauty of different worlds. Always something new. This isn't the first of them I've been to.