riverviewlogs | [ open ] #throwbackthursday

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. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

['Questions' is her middle name.]

It's not exactly an ironclad rule. Here.

[She sprinkles some salt on one of the eggs and scoops one sandwich out onto a plate for him, before passing it his way.] Let me know what you think.

[ ?! Him first? He looks a bit startled at the plate, purses his lips, and speaks carefully. ]

Shouldn't you have this?

[She waves him off, not bothered in the least.]

Mm, it's fine. This one will be done in a minute. Go ahead and have a seat.

[ He pauses, then nods and moves to the table to eat, picking it up and holding it carefully before taking a bite. He takes some time to really consider it before he's sure that he definitely likes it. ]

This is really good.

Yeah?

[She soon joins him at the table with her own plate, a small smile turning up the corners of her lips as she regards him.]

Good to hear. I'll have to make it again sometime, then.

Oh... you don't have to.

[ It goes both ways!! ]

Mm, no. But it'd give me a good excuse to make it again. I'm always used to making more than one at a time anyhow.

Are you?

[ Strange, but honestly he's used to making for quite a lot of people at once. Either way, he isn't talking much because he wants to finish this sandwich okok. ]

[Completely okay. She's also paused in the middle of the conversation to take a bite out of her own, chewing and swallowing before she speaks again.]

Yeah. I usually eat them with my daughter.

Right. I suppose she would need you to cook for her?

[ He was doing this kind of stuff when he was about her daughter's age... not that he even knows her daughter's age... but Romulus isn't about to assume by this point. Especially not with Chloe's reaction to his status. ]

Mm. She's too young to cook for herself. Unless you count making scrambled eggs with supervision.

What about smaller tasks?

[ He's curious, because he knows cooking can be dangerous but there's plenty of things one can make that shouldn't need watching... ]

Oh, well, if they don't involve actual cooking like making toast or getting herself a bowl of cereal, then sure. Though even the cereal needs to be supervised for the most part, if only because Maze kept buying her the sugary kinds.

[A pause, realizing the detail she'd dropped without context.]

My roommate back home, I mean.

How old is she?

[ Then he just nods to the detail because he wasn't going to ask on that part. It's personal information that didn't have much place but the assumption was pretty clear. Someone with enough authority to do things that Chloe might not have agreed with for her daughter. ]

Eight. Though she likes to pretend she's older than she is sometimes.

[Romulus might not know what Uber is, but Trixie sure is good at snatching her phone and ordering one to get to the club. She's still harried thinking about that one.]

I'm guessing you don't have kids, do you? Or your brother?

[ Eight, huh? He knows in general how old that means and he nods slowly. ]

I think I was already cooking by then... but we also make things very different than most of what I see here. [ At her question, he shakes his head. ] No, neither of us.

Oh, yeah? How's that?

[An edge of curiosity to her voice as she takes another bite of her sandwich, looking at him intently.]

There's nothing like those.

[ He nods over to the tools in the kitchen. ]

Our ovens use fire, not... [ He realizes he doesn't know what makes the oven go, if not fire like he's used to, and furrows his brows. ] ... magic?

[That earns a soft chuckle out of her before she draws her bottom lip between her teeth to quell it.]

Ah, it's not magic. It's electricity.

[ sounds fake but ok ]

I'm not sure I understand...?

It's... a kind of energy, like fire. But it's a little different. It's what we use to power things like ovens, and the lights that are on right now.

But not magic.

[ Sufficiently advanced technology, etc., etc. Romulus is at the point where he doesn't know how it could be anything else to harness such a power. ]

That's amazing...

Mm, it is. And yeah, not magic. Think of it more like... natural energy that occurs on earth. Like with fire, we just learned to harness it.

[And because she can't help but ask...]

Is magic a thing, where you're from? I mean. Is it real? Common?

Shouldn't it be everywhere?

[ He frowns, thoughtful. ]

I mean... to be honest, I don't know what it's like where I'm from.

Well, yes, but considering all the weird places and other worlds I've been hearing about lately, it seemed best to put a disclaimer in there.

[Ah. Well, now she feels silly.]

Right. Yes, of course. Obviously.

(no subject)

aeturnus - 2017-07-13 03:34 (UTC) - Expand