[ 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

quarantine

[hevenly]

[ Despite Angela's protests that she was just as capable a fighter with one arm as with two, she has been relieved of her duties on the perimeter guard for the duration of the chalice's effects. And so she wanders the streets on her own, itching to fight something, or someone.

She can't help the way her hand automatically flies to the hilt of her sword when she is jostled, but when she recognizes Jacob Kane, she lets it go. ]

You need not apologize to me for a mistake.

[ quarantine ]

[dothelokimotion]

[ Loki blinks. That was . . . odd. He peers at Cain skeptically. ]

Obviously, I would assume you did not intend to.

kinda ii, kinda iii

[spellslots]

[The Quarantine is well lit at night, but even the slightly darker streets don't bother Taako, he can see just as easily as he can during the day, so he spots Cain from a block away and decides to head over to say hi, since he's not busy doing anything in particular. There's still the whole portal mess to figure out, but a lot of heads are working on that, and Taako needs a break.

But it's immediate as soon as he approaches that something is different, the way Cain usually holds himself is... off; he's a little too cautious, too nervous. Taako watches Cain bump into someone and flinch, which doesn't seem to fit with what Taako has seen of the man so far.

He hesitates for a second, not sure how this is going to go, but finally decides on just closing the distance.]

Hey, dude, what's the chance of you remembering cha boy Taako?

quarentine!

[scholiast]

(Lucretia is also wandering, lost in thought. The Chalice has pitched her forward into the future a good while, and she's still slowly processing the implications of everything that has happened over the course of her life.

She bumps into him just as much as he into her, shaking her head as he apologises.)

It's alright– I wasn't looking where I was going. (Then, glancing up, her expression softens.) Oh, Cain. It's... it's good to see you.

(Sort of. She has a strange relationship with her future body; on one hand, she finally looks as old as she feels, but on the other hand she knows her appearance may prove shocking to others.)

housing (shows up a few hours late with starbucks)

[yetunburnt]

[So, Letha doesn't actually live on floor six. In fact, she doesn't live in communal housing at all. But she has no idea how to cook, and apparently no idea how to go to a restaurant without getting encouraged to leave, so she's gotten pretty hungry. Instead she's taken to checking the kitchens on each floor, to see if anyone can be bothered into sharing their meal with a cute and harmless little girl who would never try to manipulate them ever she swears.

One moment Romulus is alone in the kitchen, and the next... there is a curly-haired girl in a frilly regency-era dress, heeled boots knocking casually against the legs of the stool she's hopped into.]

What are you making?

i.

[alchemyfreak]

[Ed hasn't really paid any attention to his roommates, aside from Chloe. He just wasn't the kind of person to put himself into someone else's business unless he found a reason, and everyone seemed to kind of do their own thing.

Ed's just lounging on his bed while Romulus putters around. Most days he spends more time in the communal housing than the others, so he takes note when one of them decides to stick around more often. No concept of any obviously different behavior, Ed's not familiar enough with the guy to perceive that he's acting out of sorts for himself. Just that he's suddenly hanging around more often, and that is something Ed will pick up on, being alone far less often, because he does put thought into when he's alone and when it's safe to get a private shower. For as long as he feels the need to keep his automail hidden, at least.]

You must be pretty bored if you're sticking around here, all of a sudden. It's pretty quiet during the day.

[Instead of being out, you know, enjoying the city like people who are not Ed do. While he's too busy sulking about losing yet another place that was never meant to be a permanent home, at least.]

ii

[amelioraate]

[ it is during one of his more regular excursion through the town at night (well he was part of perimeter defence, he just spent a lot more time indoors creating things than he did going around the actual perimeter), that he stumbles across Cain.

or rather, Cain stumbles across him.

not that Tony blames the guy, he is in his armour and it is cloaked at the moment in order for him to not draw too much attention to himself as he tries to get a reading from the console that he is currently partially plugged into. of course, as soon as Cain runs into him and starts sputtering apologies (apparently to nothing), Tony has the suit flicker into view, not into red and gold because that is a bit much right now, but rather into black with the vibrate blue of his tech lighting up the seams between the plates.

Tony is smiling as the face plate flips up, and he holds out a hand to Cain to help right him. hitting the suit is never fun, no matter how fast or slow you are moving.]

Uh huh, don't see why you are apologizing there, Jacob. Kind of hard to see someone who is rendered invisible.

you've activated my wildcard

[metalmenace]

[Doom was walking through the halls of Gramarye to his office, not appreciating the irony of being one of the strongest sorcerers in his world, but yet stuck in a non-magical position at a place of magical research.

He was also not wearing a cape because screw you, other Loki, he doesn't always wear a cape. But he does notice someone walking around that doesn't seem like they belong and he walks over.]

Excuse me, but are you looking for someone?

(ii)

[signifies]

That's all right.

[ Most people who've changed have become children. He doesn't notice there's something different about Cain as yet. ]

How're you doing?

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.

ii.

[leatherdaddy]

[ Gladio grunts when the man steps in his path, would have barreled right over him if he hadn't noticed him flattening himself against the wall in an effort to step out of the way of the crowd. He's acting weird, cagey, way too apologetic. The hell is his problem? ]

Hey. You're in the way.

[ Hang on, this guy... he's familiar. In that strange collision of his memories - the last decade of uninterrupted darkness and memories of living here - they contradict one another but both feel real. Whatever, he recognizes the man. ]

Hm? Don't I know you?

i - apologies for being so late to this!

[couldkillthedevil]

[Chloe's gotten pretty much used to having so many roommates. She's had plenty of practice dealing with Maze before, and while her current living situation was more crowded than she'd necessarily opt for, she doesn't mind the extra company. Her and Edward have even gotten into the swing of researching various things about the city together, which has been helpful. Jacob Kane, while quite peculiar in his own right, has also been more than friendly enough from the moment they first spoke over the network. And quite talkative.

Which is why she finds the newly reticent behavior odd. It's hard not to notice it when they all live in such close quarters together, and while she's got her own matters to take care of, she can't help but watch him putter about with an uncharacteristic demeanor. She tells herself he's probably just having an off few days before she finally notices him in the kitchen attempting to make a meal.

She raises a brow at him, unable to help it.]

Hey, Jacob. You... alright?