event } was there somethin' that made you come back again?

[seeingyou]

WHO: Everyone!
WHAT: Missing passengers return to Navi, trauma recovery begins (or not).
WHERE: Anywhere on Navi.
WHEN: March 21 until the next event (date TBD)
WARNINGS: Add these to your comment subject lines as needed! And if you end up getting lovingly strangled by another passenger, please record it on the death page.

There’s no fanfare to signal the return of passengers who’ve been missing for the past few weeks, just a sudden influx of familiar faces, returned to their respective cabins like they never left. Anything that was on their person at the time when the shift occurred came along for the ride, so those bellbottoms from the magic closet? Yeah, you’re stuck with them now.

Another thing the returning passengers will be stuck with is their memories of their time in Xanadu. Add those to the memories of their time on Navi, before their “death,” which have all now been restored. Ain’t the multiverse a wacky little thing?

Have fun getting to know your new neighbors and reuniting with old friends! Oh, and watch out for goose droppings - the feathered menace’s reign of terror hasn’t entirely been cleaned up yet.

Comments

Murmur | OTA | CW: Blood, religious imagery, spookiness??

[albatrossomen]

A shudder. A trembling within the walls as energy crackles like thunder laden clouds on the cusp of unleashing an unbridled storm of alarming proportions. The lights go out only to be replaced by a blinding blood-red radiance, the ship trembles as it swells threatening to breach and...

Recedes.

There is no war here.

Normal lights flicker on one by one, the bloody radiance recedes back to its origin within the observatory. Rings of gilded light filled with wings and eyes and a primal eminence dissipate leaving behind Murmur standing with wings outstretched. His once pale blue-gray feathers now dripped with blood, his halo still burned too brightly to look upon but that too was beginning to fade.

There is no war here.

A beat, a final pulse and the last vestiges of vengeful light finally fade away as Murmur gets to work tucking that city crushing power of his back into a tiny speck where it belonged. Quiet and placid, no holy abominations here. Except for all the blood.

If he was back here then... Jack? Where had she gone? He did hope she was okay.

[abstrusus]

Now that is a power one does not mistake. Violent, wrathful, terrifying, and positively exhilarating. Truth be told, of all the beings that Omega would figure may be pulled into a place like this, one such as Murmur was not one of them. Then again, stranger things. Given that Aether, too, was here. How delightful! Oh, it made their toes curl. Head rolling and body flickering to and fro until, there he is.

"Well, well, well." Slow in speech, their body appeared with one foot dragging along the floor until it clicks flush with the other. Hands fold and drop before them; head canted. "Don't you just look stunning in red."

[albatrossomen]

Truth be told Murmur would have said the exact same about Aether had he been the one to stumble upon the other. This gravitational well of fate that was tying them all together was certainly growing more interesting every moment. Murmur didn't have to look physically to see Aether coming, the eyes were always there watching unblinking in every direction at all times. Their intrigued focus easily drawn to the familiar old presence.

Fascinating.

Although he did have to admit that being caught in the middle of having lost his temper was somewhat embarrassing, out of all the beings that could have caught him he certainly might have had worse luck. This one, at least, did not judge. His wings flicked as if trying to shake off the offending substance, and, indeed, the blood that did not spatter did begin to dissipate. "Oh? I always fancied my color to be green." Like those eyes. The countless unblinking eyes. Finally composed enough to coalesce the mess he'd made of himself into a singular point he turned to regard Aether.

"I see we are not yet short on surprises."

That is a fond hello, as far as Murmur does those.

[abstrusus]

It's nearly impossible to have a shorter fuse than Alpha, sometimes. Needless to say, they were ever used to the lick of those flames and found such oddly comforting. Who were they to deny such an indulgence when the lingering taste of destruction was so delightful? No, it was very true that Spirit was not one to judge. Nor was Aether ever particularly interested in judging another. Which may or may not have gotten they and their kind in the predicament they once were, but this is -- Aether decides -- presently irrelevant.

"Luck would have it they're complimentary colors," spoken with a flattening tug of their pressed uniform -- their other hand unfolding and horns dipping in a shallow bow. Creatures of old, they were. Made of incomprehensible matter all tucked away into an understandable shell, but you could say that's what most life was. The universe shaped into various designs. Trying to experience things. The ever curious being that they were. "Had a bit of fun, did you?"

[sisterswitch]

Jack went nowhere except down a rabbit hole of brooding brought on by the disappearance of her best and only friend. Sure, the goose was annoying, but the emptiness left behind by Murmur’s absence was much harder for Jack to weather than the honking and mayhem. Feelings are a huge hassle and Jack would like to opt out, thanks.

The turbulence and flickering lights are mildly alarming - Jack arrived when Navi was getting shot at, and she remembers how harrowing that experience was - but a quick glyphlink check-in with Navi confirms the ship is safe. Oh, but there are suddenly a lot more people on board, so Navi says, and Jack knows she shouldn’t hope that these new arrivals aren’t so new after all, but she hopes all the same.

She ventures out of her cabin and carefully makes her way through the corridors, poking her head into the common rooms to see if she recognizes anyone within. When her search finally does bring her to Murmur, she freezes on the spot and gasps loudly. Is it really him? Is it the same him she knows? Does he remember her?

[albatrossomen]

Jack no. Feelings are important, even though they're so hard and make everything stupidly complicated. Murmur can confirm, he tore his out for the better part of centuries. It's been hell trying to readjust.

Aside from the distress of, well, everything Murmur was glad to be back on the ship. He was just also quite involved in shaking the last of the blood magic out of his feathers so he could tuck himself back to normal and try to not think too hard about what happened on Xanadu. And, most importantly, to find Jack.

Fortunately he didn't have to go far for that, as Jack was quick to find him. He felt her presence, mid feather flicking as he was, glancing up startled to be caught in the act and yet far more glad to see her than he was embarrassed.

"Jack!" Yes, of course he recognizes her! Sorry about the... well he doesn't actually leave behind a physical mess but it does look messy while he's still working out the kinks. He sounds delighted, and relieved to see her.

[sisterswitch]

Feelings SUCK. Case in point - Jack bursts into tears when Murmur says her name, confirming he's the same friend she's known since Dualis. She's not even sad this time - she's relieved, and happy, and the anxiety of not knowing what happened to him has lifted. Why is she crying?

Quickly, she moves toward him and catches him in a tight hug. "You were gone," she says, voice unsteady, as her explanation for her actions.

[red6l99d]

Being nocturnal meant that he had a few disadvantages when it came to light. That being seeing bright lights was more blinding than anything else for him. Well before the light overtook his senses, he had his eyes closed, his sweater over his eyes and his hand over his sweater. The last thing he wanted to do was go blind. It was in his best interest to slink off as fast as he could and hide out until whatever that was went away and his sight returned to him in full.

It wasn't until a little while later that he realized he could go to the one person who had treated him kindly and with understanding this whole time: Murmur. He let the link guide him and knocked softly on his door. "Murmur? If you're there, I'd like to come in with any haste made available."

[albatrossomen]

A shame that being blinding light was something of a default state for Murmur. One he didn't particularly enjoy, nor intend to maintain over long.

With no war to fight and no enemies at the gates that blinding, overwhelming rage he'd arrived with faded like a dimming light bulb. A thread of worry breaking through, he'd not initially been in his room but he could be there quickly yes.

Of course, Kankri, he remembered the way things worked here now.

You're distressed. I will make haste. But first he had to get the light under control. Easy enough, though the bloody wings would take longer. He'll just have to deal with that.

[red6l99d]

This damned link through their head made it hard to hide that he was, in fact, not having a good time of it. Between being 'dead' and not dead at all, after being alive again in some confounding and yet profusely usual twist of events, he really wanted out of the general area.

"Yes, please." he replied less verbally and with more clarity of how he should be replying. It made sense murmur wasn't in his room and yet at least things could be safer than with complete strangers who had no notion of propriety.

Alex | OTA| CW: blood, death, violence

[11calls]

When Alex had been cut down by the killer robot, she had barely had a chance to get a scream out before she'd died. It's something now that she can't help but to make as she wakes up in her cabin with all of the memories pressing over her like a weight. The scream comes again as Alex looks down at the center of the terrible polyester shirt she was wearing (not that it wasn't worth screaming at the ugliness in and of itself) no, the problem is the blood stained hole over her heart. With hesitant hands, Alex runs her fingers over it because she remembers the searing pain and sharp coldness that had enveloped her body before she'd hit the ground.

But there's no sign of it. Alex's pale and lightly freckled chest looks as it always has done, even if the blood on her shirt is still tacky and hasn't yet dried into that brick brownish color as it oxidizes. Normally Alex isn't a screamer by any means unless it's her nightmares (the times where someone else might have screamed: the discovery of Maddie Franks' body hanging and when Brother Edward had been killed in a few seconds of missing footage) but dying and then coming back to life is definitely an event that Alex finds worthy of doing it.

With trembling fingers, Alex tries to unbutton her blouse, but she can't seem to get a hold on herself to make the faux pearl buttons go through the fabric. And she can't seem to make herself touch the blood stain again.

And she also can't seem to catch her breath through the hold the panic has on her lungs which is why she opens the door and spills herself into the hallway.

[bilocates]

Still recovering from his own near-death adventure in punching way above his weight class Simon almost didn't recognize that scream. It woke him up, something about it uncomfortably familiar. Maybe just screaming in general... Even still he figured he might as well go and check that the hell goose hadn't returned for revenge. If it did he might have to leave it for someone else to handle this time. Simon's in no shape for another fight.

Lacking the energy to bilocate Simon simply made his way down the hallways, following where he thought he might have heard it come from. As luck would have it he made a turn right as Alex stumbled gasping out of her room, looking in no better condition than Simon did. He, at least, was bandaged, though his own clothes were still the bloody torn shreds they were given he was at a distinct lack for a fresh change. Of course what he didn't know was that Alex hadn't scraped out of her situation whole. He's going to be very upset once he realizes the full extent of her situation.

"Hello, Alex." He called, tone more tired than he could hide as he made his way gingerly toward her, expression betraying a faint sense of worry. She sure didn't look good, but maybe some Simon brand weirdness will be pleasantly familiar in this wholly weird situation.

[11calls]

When she reached the hallway, Alex just slid down the wall and dragged her knees up to her chest before she wrapped her arms around them. This position is probably a familiar one to Simon: it's what she does when she wakes up in the middle of the night from a nightmare even if in the case of that, she'd have stayed in her bed. Dr. Bernier, for all of her faults (of which there are many, and her creeping Alex out is only one of them out of the myriad that she could name) one of the helpful things that she did do was teach Alex how to ground herself when she was having a panic attack and that's what this is on a grand scale.

Because it feels so big, Alex just combines two of the different techniques in hopes of them working quickly. So while she's square breathing Alex just uses the sensory list. Five things that she can see: the floor of the ship, the door to her cabin, the horrible orange pink of her bell bottoms, the stripped socks that she'd been wearing under the roller-skates that she'd taken off, and her shirt with the blood stain in the middle. Best not to think about that. So instead Alex starts to count out four things that she can hear but only gets to the first one as she stares up at Simon Reese.

"Simon?" It's stupid to ask, especially in that panicky breathy voice that she's trying to get under control. The frown of shock shifts to a frown of concern as she takes in the way he looks. "When did you get here? Did you die too from those stupid robots?"

[bilocates]

Yep, that's Alex alright. And for a moment Simon might have thought this was just a matter of a nightmare. The bloody shirt was concerning but she didn't actually look injured at present. Just terrified. Normal for the timeframe he knows her from.

He did have questions about the clothes, the bloody shirt, why she was panicking in the hallway... but all of those faded when she asked her question.

"You died?" He blurted, more alarm in his tone than he'd displayed in any of their conversations thus far. Any other topics for conversation fell immediately by the wayside in favor of this. Explain yourself, Alex!

[aparticularlyhollowlaugh]

Jon's own experience on Xanadu was a good deal less horrifying, so he's resting calmly in his cabin while mentally processing everything that happened over the last few weeks. However, it's difficult to miss Alex's screams echoing inside of his head courtesy of the glyphlink, so he's quickly upright and alert and very, very concerned.

Alex? What's wrong? Where are you?

[11calls]

Panic still vibrates through the mental link, but it lessens slightly at the sound of a familiar voice. Well, thought whatever the hell it was. It's ground if nothing else and Alex is relieved for it. She's shivering so hard that her teeth clack together, but at least that's not something that would interfere with her talking back.

I'm outside my cabin. I... I died back there. A robot killed me but the only sign it happened is the blood on me. I don't understand. I know I died. I felt myself die.

[aparticularlyhollowlaugh]

Good lord ...
Jon is in a unique position to sympathize, given his own mental state when he'd arrived, and that sympathy radiates from the mental link. Waking up to the remnants of a bloodbath, however ... that's an different sort of horrifying than what he'd experienced.

Are you planning to stay at your cabin for the moment? I could bring some tea by, if you'd like.
Jon isn't great at the comforting thing but tea is always a good fallback.

Re: Alex | OTA| CW: blood, death, violence

[imarealistnotacynic]

Richard has been preoccupied. Trying to read and refusing to acknowledge his dreams but there is one thing he can do. One thing that maybe he accepts and that's that he senses pain.

Perhaps he always did, his mother, his sister, Charlie, Coralee, but this pain is very sharp and it's Alex and so moving from the course he was taking to the cafeteria he runs, looking for that familiar feeling of pain but also something that feels like her.

Turning corner and spotting her he moves forward, "...You are hurt."

[11calls]

Alex doesn't know what's been happening on the ship. She doesn't know about the goose or Simon showing up or the fight that had followed. Instead, she feels like she's still operating with one foot in the world where the robots were and one foot on the ship that she's called home for the last several months. It's an odd dichotomy that shatters into small pieces when she hears Strand's voice--it's not that Alex had forgotten that he was there (even if it hadn't crossed her mind when there was the split second of waking up) but because it seemed like he had come looking for her for some reason.

Had she screamed that loud?

Taking a deep breath, Alex just tries to do what she does most often when it comes to something like this (even if there's never been anything like this honestly, how could there have been back home?): make a bad joke. "Well, I got better?" Monty Python humor? Check. But it's surface, all smiles that are masks that she's trying to use not to let him know how bad it was. While it was something that Alex had been doing consciously back home around her sleep and how bad she was doing, here it's not--she doesn't even realize she's done it until after she's said it. "Sorry. I'm okay." Downplay, soften and not show the damage. It's just easier when she's dealing with Strand.

[imarealistnotacynic]

"You're obviously not." and it's not because I can tell "You're breathing heavy and staggering." and bleeding, and bleeding, "And you're shaking." And bleeding. He's trying to remain calm but his eyes are focused on her chest, on that stain over her heart, his features breaking.

There is something wrong with all of this and he moves forward, a hand out, "...Let me get you to a place where you can sit down and I can look you over."

IT would go better than with Simon surely. Surely, "It's fine. IT will be fine."

mello } open.

[piacularis]

It’s embarrassing enough just being Mello (look at how he dresses himself) but it’s worse coming from ... whatever the fuck that was, back to this reality and the knowledge that he’d unwittingly revealed a very important secret that needed to be kept. In a nutshell: fuck his life entirely.

He’ll be avoiding most people until further notice, thanks. Of course, the ship may be fairly spacious, but it’s still a closed environment. He figures no one will think to look for him in the garden, so he spends most of waking hours there, focused on tending to the plants to keep his mind from settling into a downward spiral of every mistake he’s ever made. And he still has to walk from his cabin to get there, so he might be encountered in a hallway. Food is of course a necessary if inconvenient thing, so while Mello avoids the kitchen during peak usage times, he can still be found there from time to time.

closed to murmur.

[piacularis]

Mello doesn’t like being on the owing end of anything if he can help it, and since he’s acquired a jacket of his own - not one particularly to his liking, but serviceable all the same - he’s quick to return the one he was loaned after arriving back on the ship. Having such a keen mind for collecting details, he remembers the correct cabin and makes his way there shortly after re-orienting himself in this reality.

Mello stops at Murmur’s door and knocks to announce his arrival, borrowed jacket carefully folded over his arm while he waits. He’d rather get this over with quickly, before he’s spotted by anyone he wants to avoid.

[albatrossomen]

Fortunately Murmur was in. He'd had a little time to put his feathers back to normal and sweep that rage back into the dark little corner of his being it belonged in. There was a lot to sort out post-Xanadu, a task Murmur was none too eager to address.

Thus, a distracting knock was welcome.

The door slid open, Mello was of course remembered both for the coat and being on Xanadu... a part of Murmur hoped he hadn't actually seen who was responsible for the uh... blood glaciers. And lightning. Basically the apocalypse.

"Hello," He offered friendly enough, before recognizing the coat. "Ah, of course. Thank you." That's what he's here for right?

Kitchen

[smokingguns]

Maybe Mello didn't keep conventional times but Matt didn't either and the awkward look on his face when he walked in to said kitchen spoke enough that they had and were at odds on a lot of things. At least to him. "Uhhh..." he started, eloquently. "Won't be long I'm just—" There to get food, duh.

He pointed at one of the cupboards and knelt down to rummage through it.

[piacularis]

Silence can be worse than an explosion of anger, and that’s part of why Mello had walked away without another word the last time he’d been with Matt, back in that fake paradise full of robots. He’d been vulnerable and open with Matt, and his - friend? Are they still friends? - took the opening to shove a knife hilt-deep into his heart, or at least that’s how Mello saw it. That’s how he still sees it, back on the ship with his memories restored, full of horror at having given up his secret and just as angry at how he and Matt had left things.

He considers remaining silent again this time, as he leans back into the counter, arms folded tightly across his chest, and watches Matt rummage through a cabinet. He could keep up the silent act, really make Matt sweat, but after that moment of consideration, Mello decides he doesn’t want to keep quiet any longer?

“Is that really all you have to say to me?”