[ 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]

[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.

[greyjane]

[She tips her head to one side. Gently,]

While we're on the topic of trying things, how about my name? All this ma'am-ing about has me feeling like you're one of my soldiers.

[aeturnus]

[ His lips purse and he finds himself taking another, longer drink. It's the least he can do, right? Definitely. It makes people uncomfortable for whatever reason, hers being tied to military of some sort apparently, and he just needs to work on that. Figure out what kind of balance he can strike. ]

Shai, then. Since I'm... pretty far from a soldier.

[greyjane]

[Oh, it doesn't make her uncomfortable. Honestly, in a standard setting she's far more used to being called Commander Ebbisaryn than she is by her first name. Trouble is, it just makes her homesick.]

Oh, you'd fit right in with mine, honestly. [Azalmaud would love him, in that quiet way of hers. Winterlace too.] But thank you.

[aeturnus]

I would?

[ There's a surprise. Remus is the strong one, the protective one who helps keep them together. It's a team effort but, really, if one of them was to go off and fight it would be Remus over Romulus. ]

No need to thank me... Shai. I'm glad to.

[greyjane]

Mmhmm. Being a soldier - at least the sort in my company - is as much about working as a unit and - hm - compromise as it is anything else. [She lifts her cup in a little gesture of cheers, to indicate that she's plainly talking about his willingness to drop that particular formality.]

Of course, the corps I'm in isn't exactly your standard army.

[aeturnus]

I wouldn't know much about standard or... nonstandard, I guess. I've never been... [ He pauses, because around much conflict is what he was going to say, but thinking about it, the idea... well, it puts some thoughts in his head and he finds his hands trembling because there is a conflict he's been near. They were young and it was—quick, over far too quick, and those were the first timers they saw go down to nothing and really understood what they saw counting down on the necks of everyone around them.

His gaze lowers down to the cup and it takes him perhaps too long to realize there's something else going on. He swallows. ]

... I'm sorry. I... forgot what I was saying.

[greyjane]

[When you round out your teens on the heels of your planet's destruction, and all there is to stave off the darkness are the other unfortunate souls displaced alongside yours, each with their own traumas, you learn what to look for in those moments. She leans comfortably back in her chair (which she has rocked back on two legs because of course she has) and looks up at the stars still littering the ceiling. Giving him a moment without seeming to.]

Don't you fret. Happens to the best of us.

[aeturnus]

[ He's still halfway in that moment, unsure if he wants to press the memory further (there's more there, behind it, there has to be) or if he should just let it go. The struggle continues until he moves as if to buy himself time, picks up the glass, and it starts to slip away. ]

What were we talking about? Using your name...?

[greyjane]

[She takes a sip of her tea, fingers curled and braced against the side of the mug so she can hold it one-handed. It's a bit too cold for her tastes, but that's an easy thing to fix with a little crackle of energy.

-- And she might as well turn the lights back on while she's at it, so they don't have to sit here in semi-darkness with nothing but the earthshine glow. She has no notion as to whether or not she'll have to talk him down from a ledge, so she keeps her tone easy and soft.]

Yep.

[aeturnus]

[ The lights result in him looking up quickly, a bone cracks in his neck, and he winces. It all happens in succession and he starts to breathe again, takes in the room where they are and breathes deeply. That was... that was new. Old. Familiar and painful and his breath hitches for just a moment. His hand comes up to press palm to his lips, fingers curled and expression like he's fighting something.

Eventually, he exhales. The images are fading and relief floods through his veins. Without Remus here, he's just not brave enough to try. Finds something stealing those memories away to hide them, protect himself. ]

I'm sorry. That... that won't happen again.

[ It's automatic reassurance because that definitely wasn't something he can afford to repeat. No matter that there's been no consequence for freaking out over—nothing. All it was in the end, just a bunch of memories that has nothing to do with the now. ]

[greyjane]

[She lets her chair back down onto all four legs, plants both elbows on the table and leans forward with a nonchalant shrug.]

All right if it does, sweetheart. Sometimes you have hard moments. Breathe, and they'll pass if you give them time.

[aeturnus]

[ He lips at his lips, pulls his bottom lip in to bite at it worriedly. His head is bowed, trying to hide the motion. ]

Is it all right if I... do that here?

[greyjane]

'Course it is.

[She stands after a moment and takes both her (now empty) mug and his (still mostly full one) one to the sink so she can wash them later.]

I was planning on making lunch when I got back. You like nuts in your salad?

[aeturnus]

[ He blinks, thrown off by the apparent change in subject. Things are still a little off-kilter. ]

I... suppose so? It's your salad...

[greyjane]

Yes, but I'm sharing. It's only polite.

[And thus does she give him space to have a moment in relative privacy while she collects ingredients out of the fridge. She's careful about what she uses - nothing with excessive flavour or taste that'll come on too strongly - and when she's done she just uses a simple soft balsamic as a dressing. She divides it between two bowls and brings both to the table.

Eyteri was big on sharing food. The rest of Janirak had varying cultures surrounding it, but she's the only one left from Tangau and even though she hates the responsibility of keeping something as dear and precious as a cultural experience alive alone, this seems a special exception.]

If you want to talk about your troubles, you're more than welcome to do that too. Some people prefer not to.

[aeturnus]

[ There's not much fight in him right now, most of it turned inward, and Romulus is quiet while she prepares the food. He really doesn't know where those memories came from because it had been a long, long time since... well, that life. There's been nothing to help hold on to the memories. He has Remus with him, but Remus has grown alongside him and changed just as much so there's no childhood familiarity left in it. He knew their circumstances, of course, it was one of the bragging points of the two masters they'd had over their lifetime and intellectually he knew it had to have been pretty horrible.

Seeing it for himself, in his mind's eye... Words don't really prepare you for it, after all. Memories of pain and fear and soul-crushing loss filtered through the heart of a small, small child. How was he supposed to deal with it? Much less talk about it? Part of him seizes up at the idea. ]

I don't know how I'd do that. Um—thank you, for the food. Very much.

[greyjane]

I'm not saying you have to - and you're welcome, by the by - only that the option is there. Talking's certainly easier than living a hard thing.

[She's lost track of how many times the sad story of her life has been trodden for the Consortium mediasphere. Every new reporter that crops up wants to ask her about it, talk at length, see if they can prise any new information out of her. Sometimes, she regrets saying yes to Liranya. She'd follow the woman to the ends of any earth, to be certain, but she's tired of being nettled.]

[aeturnus]

[ He plays with the edge of the bowl for a moment before eventually giving that up and trying some of it. There's flavors he isn't used to and he mulls it over before deciding he likes it and continues quietly. Eventually he sighs. ]

You're very kind, Shai.

[greyjane]

[In her younger years, she would have laughed rather bleakly at that. The woman she is now simply smiles.]

Only when it's deserved.

[There was a yawning absence of kindness in her for far too long. Any she has now is something learned, mimicked rather than innate.]