[ 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

[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.

[aeturnus]

[ Watching that, he decides to let his own cool down more. There's anticipation but also trepidation about the idea that he might not like it. He'll put it off just a little bit longer, okay? ]

You've been to others? Different, like this?

[greyjane]

Nothing quite like this. But other worlds, yes. The place I live has a consortium, a collection of planets that have communication and trade.

[It's considerably more complicated than that, but at his question about reading, she's hazarding a guess that whatever education he has may not have even bothered to encompass planets. She's happy to elaborate if he wants, but she's not going to knock him on his rear with information overload, either.]

[aeturnus]

[ It's a good inference because his eyes widen at that. Shoulders tense for a brief moment of just trying to imagine such a gigantic thing. ]

Planets?

[ Because he doesn't quite know how the size or the scale but he knows for a fact that something like that is something that he can't imagine. So large that he'd be unable to grasp it for the scope. More of those all together? ]

[greyjane]

Mm.

[She considers how to explain it, and then finally she opts for a bit of flash after all. Maybe it'll help.]

Give me a moment. I'm going to shut the lights off, no need for alarm.

[Which she does without moving, of course, because at its core, it's just a matter of electricity. With that accomplished, the room is dark enough that she can give a bit of a show. She creates a little impromptu planetarium on the ceiling above them, bright blue sparks glowing as a representation for individual stars. Hovering closer to them, she builds a solar system: star, planets, asteroids for flavour and to break up the monotony. It's not the solar system belonging to earth that she builds - frankly, she wouldn't know it if it bit her - but one she's more familiar with. Janirak. It's the fifth in orbit from a massive white star. She points to it.]

Planets are celestial bodies that may or may not be habitable by intelligent or higher functioning life. They orbit stars, generally - this fellow over here. [Her constructs can't change colour, but she can influence how brightly it shines.] is a star. You might also know it as a sun. If you don't have any form of space travel on your world, odds are the entirety of what you've ever known is on a planet much like this one.

[She's smiling, but it's crooked. A bit wistful. This is as close to existing as Janirak will ever come again.]

[aeturnus]

[ Okay, so maybe he forgets to breathe for a moment. Not too long. Just enough to make a fool of himself but not long enough to cause alarm. It's a mixed bag. The lights going out don't scare him, especially with the warning, but that entire spectacle is really what took his breath away. Those things... the sun? Stars are like the sun? He can't comprehend that part, not really, but regardless of how little is really sinking in (compared to, he's sure, how much she's really showing him), Romulus is trying to memorize as much of it as possible.

Who knows when he'll get another chance to see things so amazing? This amazing thing in particular. He's gaping, staring and looking around at every little thing twinkling within his sight. ]

That's... All of that is... more than everything?

[greyjane]

[She's used her powers to intimidate, to terrify, to bully. She was a mass murderer before she was eighteen, and war is a flimsy excuse for it. So being able to use it in a way that evokes such an honest wonder is-- it's nice.

She sips her tea as she watches him, that smile stays on entirely unbeknownst to her.]

Sort of. If you tell me where you're from - if you know the name of the planet - I could probably show you what yours looks like, too.

[aeturnus]

[ It's esoteric knowledge at best, but now Romulus desperately thinks back to what his own home might be called in the grander scheme of things. His hand fiddles with the cup, thumb brushing over the lip to test again at the heat coming off it, and continues to stare at the lights as if they'll keep him focused rather than so intensely distracted. ]

I'm from... we live on the Etruscan coast, but I believe... [ He pauses, brow furrowing. ] Earth. Maybe?

[greyjane]

Mm.

[Figures. Nearly everyone she's met is from some Earth or other. So, she pulls out her little comms device, fiddles a moment. Gets all the basic information she needs, and then she changes the hovering planets with a wave of her hand. Congrats, Romulus, you're now looking at Earth's solar system. She points to that Little Blue Dot that is conveniently just the right shade of it.]

This is you. Metaphorically.

[aeturnus]

[ He waits, watching her mess with the device as long as she needs and wonders what it's telling her. That pretty much gets shoved out of the way when everything shifts and changes and Shai is able to tell him where he's from. Everyone he knows and will ever know in the future is right... there. Metaphorically. ]

That's home.

[greyjane]

Quaint little place.

[It's half the size of Janirak. Less water. She wonders if it's warm.]

No idea where that coast of yours is, or I could probably give you something more specific.

[aeturnus]

You're already showing me so much.

[ Even if she's taking him for a fool, Romulus finds he doesn't actually care at this point. What he sees now is more than he's even had about the stars, the world, his everything, and it makes about as much sense as anything else around here does. He loves it, he really does, this small piece he can slot into a bigger picture. Maybe someday he'll see the entire thing, know enough to say he's satisfied. Maybe not, and that might even be better. ]

[greyjane]

[She shrugs broadly.]

I'm a helper.

[Ha, ha. Look at how demurely (no) she sips her tea in the aftermath of that statement.]

[aeturnus]

[ Despite that obvious tone, Romulus can't stop smiling when he reaches out for the tea himself. It's cooled enough now after all his wondered gazing to give it a try. It only takes a second for the taste and the other kind of heat to hit his tongue, and he coughs, sputters lightly and rushes a hand to cover his mouth in bewilderment as the cup comes back down to the table.

What?? was that?????? ]

[greyjane]

[lmao oh no. She raises an eyebrow in his general direction.]

Too much?

[At least she sounds a bit sympathetically concerned, oop.]

[aeturnus]

[ At least he's swallowed whatever didn't ungracefully land back in the cup, but he's still sitting bewildered and somewhat offended at the world at large for that surprise. What... ]

Um. Uh—maybe.

[greyjane]

[That reaction is adorable tbh.]

Ah, poor boy. You don't have to drink the rest.

[Instead, she gets up to fetch a second glass and something a bit-- cooler (both heat-wise and spice-wise) and comes back with a glass of cucumber water.]

Try this instead.

[aeturnus]

[ His head ducks because she says sweet things almost without thought, and he realizes it probably isn't for him. Doesn't mean he doesn't like it, though. At her offering, he takes it gratefully but still sniffs at this too. Definitely seems much tamer than before, so he'll sip at this now.

Different than he's used to, unsurprisingly. Much better and helps his mouth return to normal, which is way more important right now. ]

Thank you, Ma'am.