open | in a race to make ends meet

[abeautifulgame]

Who: Damien Brenks and YOU.
What: Prompts below!
Where: The Merlaut Apartments, among other places.
When: After the second wave of imprints.
Content Warnings: None.

Comments

around mt. silver

[abeautifulgame]

[the last few days have seen Damien trying to find things to do, to occupy his time, so he doesn't end up losing his mind, the loss of sleep as a means of passing time and the sense of ennui that keeps creeping in, without his electronics, an honest blow. once upon a time, he would have killed, possibly literally, to not have to sleep, there so many things at home he could be doing, but here? well, despite how obsessive he can get, there's only so many times he can review the facts he's managed to dig up about this place, thus far, so he's taken to wandering around]

[he can't get too far, all things considered, and he usually ends his 'day', for as little meaning as any marker of time has, here, at Heavenly Blanc, the city boy in him eventually needing a return to the comforts of civilization, but someone get him a medal for being outside, touching grass. feel free to interrupt his stroll from one side of the mountain to the other, taking the easy path back and forth, every time]

mortis lake

[abeautifulgame]

[he's on the Mortis Lake side of Mt. Silver when he spots it, the hotel up on the cliffside in the distance, and it's enough to make him freeze mid-limping step. so far, he hasn't seen anything familiar, warped from how it would be at home or otherwise, but that's -- ] My God. [ -- definitely familiar. it's the Meralut, the building where it all started, back home, from his bum leg to his former partner and him ending up at odds, and it definitely wasn't there the last time he was out this way]

[he wonders, then, as thought starts to filter back into him beyond the shock, if Lucky Quinn's penthouse is still on the top floor, and if it is, for as little good as it might do him at the moment, with nothing having power, if everything still intact, inside. he might want to claim it, he thinks, if it is, for any number of reasons, and so finally, he starts forward again, going as fast as he can manage, trying to find a way up to the damn thing that he won't regret, later. it takes some time, but eventually he'll get there, with or without help, and when he does, he'll head immediately for the top floor]

[imagine his upset when he learns that, despite how it looks outside, there are only three floors]

[crystaltower]

[Given exactly where the Merlaut Apartments are - in the approximate position of where Syrcus Tower and the Crystarium would be, if the lakeside woodland is taken to be Lakeland - the appearance of the building quickly caught the Exarch’s attention as well. Damien will find him en route, seated upon a fallen log and facing the building, hand to his chin in thought.

...Syrcus Tower would have been a far more welcome sight.

A feline ear flicks back towards the limping footsteps, and he turns his head to see who it is.]

Ah... hello. I hadn’t expected to see anyone out here.

[abeautifulgame]

Neither had I.

[never mind the fact that he probably should have, given how abruptly it must have appeared. still, the fact that someone might have beat him to the punch does potentially put a damper on things. he nods to the 'hotel', that in mind, and carefully, asks:] Have you been up there?

[crystaltower]

No, not yet.

In truth, I am a little wary. That style of architecture is unfamiliar to me, yet it appears to have taken the place of the Crystal Tower in Lakeland... Lakeland being the territory inspiring our current surrounds.

I intend to look deeper into it nonetheless, but I find its appearance puzzling.

[abeautifulgame]

[the architecture is very familiar to him, and he may or may not admit that, in time, but -- not yet. for now, he just glances up at the Merlaut, relieved that he hasn't been in there yet, and then returns his attentions to him]

Puzzling, how? For how abruptly it showed up? Or the way it looks? [there are plenty of people here who have never seen a skyscraper. it could go either way]

[crystaltower]

The latter... but also its position.

[He tilts his head, with a small smile.]

The Crystal Tower appeared just as abruptly. I would like to say in that very same location, though as similar in appearance this place might be to Lakeland, it’s not an exact copy. ‘tis a close enough thing to warrant the comparison, however.

[abeautifulgame]

[he glances back to the Merlaut, though this time, his gaze lingers, his expression thoughtful -- and maybe a little wistful, for all that the Merlaut was really the beginning of the end. it's still a piece of Chicago, of home]

Well -- [he starts after a long moment] -- I can almost guarantee that that and your Crystal Tower have no relation. [a beat] There's no such thing, where I'm from, and that hotel ... it's mine, in a manner of speaking.

[crystaltower]

I see... ‘twould seem all of us have brought something with us, though not quite as they should be. Just as this forest should not wilt as it does...

[His feline ears lower, and he looks again to the unfamiliar building. The structure might be familiar to this man, but surely there is something different...]

I believe there might be something ‘wrong’ with that building.

[starshower]

[The apartments are one of the first new things she checks out, especially with the building being so near the bar. It's tall enough that from the patio, she can see it stretching over the tops of the purple trees, and of course curiosity gets the better of her. Leaving the bar closed for a bit, she treks out to the other side of the lake to take a look around, well after Damien has already wandered inside.

She checks the first few rooms on the main floor, unhappy with the mess she finds within them. Then, the second floor, followed by the third. All of them are the same, right down to the weird liquid in the sinks? Gross...

However, the further up she goes, the emptier it seems, until she rounds the corner of stairs to the top floor, only to be startled by a silhouette standing there. Her stomach drops for a moment before she realizes that it's a human and not... something else.]

Oh—! Sorry, is this yours?

[She's yet to recognize Damien in the darkness of the hall...]

[abeautifulgame]

[Damien, on the other hand -- well, maybe his eyes have adjusted better or maybe she just has a more recognizable silhouette than he does. either way, when he hears footsteps headed in her direction and glances back, he recognizes, thinks he recognizes her. her voice in the dark confirms it, and he turns to face her, shaking his head faintly]

Depends on how you define 'mine.'

[starshower]

[Ah, she recognizes that voice.]

Damien... [she says, with another layer of relief to hers. She laughs as she comes up behind him, her steps quiet, as if there are people around that she wants to leave undisturbed.

He has a point. Looking around, there isn't much here at all, besides the rooms on the first three floors. Tifa isn't sure what she's implying to be his besides... well...]

This floor, I guess? [She offers an apologetic smile.] I dunno. You were the first person I found here. This just came up recently, didn't it?

[abeautifulgame]

[he nods]

I just noticed it this ... [this morning? never mind the fact that there's still no concept of time, here. he makes a small, sour face at that, and then makes a vague gesture. hopefully, she gets the point, that he's agreeing with her]

... but no. [a beat] I'm not laying claim to a whole floor. [he might, if the floor Lucky's penthouse was on existed, if it were defensible, but it's pointless and implausible, so]

[starshower]

[She does get the point.

Swaying with hands behind her back, she takes a look around the empty floor. She's never quite seen something so empty, especially in a building that calls itself an apartment. Not even a Shinra warehouse or an empty house in the slums has this little character.

The rooms, however, are a different story.]

How about one of the apartments on the lower floors, then? They're, uh... something, aren't they?

[abeautifulgame]

I was thinking of laying claim to one of those. [something on the ground floor would probably be best, since the elevators aren't working. he might have been willing to do fifty-some flights of stairs, if what he wanted was on the top floor, but -- no. no, he's not going to bother with any stairs, if he doesn't have to] Though, 'something' isn't quite the word I'd use.

[a beat]

What is that, in all the sinks? [beyond the mold, he means. he knows what that is]

[starshower]

[Tifa lurches, nose wrinkling when she recalls the smell that filled her head when she stood over the sink.]

No idea. Never seen anything like it.

[She always kept her own apartment and bar sinks sparkling clean, but even if she forgot to clean every week or two weeks, there's nothing quite like what's in the sinks here.]

I'm worried it's something harmful, like... acid or something? You didn't touch it, did you?

merlaut apartments

[abeautifulgame]

[finally, at the end of all of this, Damien ends up back on the ground floor, in one of the rooms, the door left open behind him. from what he could tell, all the rooms he actually bothered to look in were identical -- that's interesting. as is the fact that there's a laptop in every one of them, even if they don't work. he might be able to strip them for parts, if he could find something to work as a makeshift screwdriver, and build -- something. something capable of generating power, maybe, like a handcrank generator. for as many computers and phones he's taken apart in his time, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out, right? he understands the concept, at least]

[and then there's the green whatever in the sink. he's not going to try drinking it or anything equally ridiculous, but it's still fascinating in an odd sort of way. what is it, he wonders. and then there are the empty books. and -- well, the list goes on. don't mind him tossing what will potentially end up being his room, wishing he had a toolkit. or his evidence collection kit]

[yinception]

[Wuxian is still investigating every corner of this world, little by little. The buildings, while clearly buildings, hold no other shred of recognition for him at all - his own world is very different - but that's something he can live with. A healthy amount of curiosity keeps things interesting, and holds at bay most of the worries about how to get back home. As long as nobody's thought of a way to do that, there's no point in freaking out about not being able to do it, is there?

Walking through the building, Wuxian hears noise in one of the apartments, so of course he peeks inside. That's definitely a person... probably! Could have been worse. He's used to fighting monsters, but with no powers to help him do so - and without his sword, even! - it's a lot harder than he's used to.

Lingering in the doorway (the rummager may look like a person, but Wuxian is not taking unnecessary chances!), he's entirely too cheerful about the question he asks.]

Lost something~?

[abeautifulgame]

[Damien pauses at the voice, glancing over his shoulder. after a beat, he turns to face him, and -- well, he's definitely a person. have no fear] Not entirely. Call it more ... taking stock.

[and he's just going to pick up and wave one of the blank books at him]

[yinception]

[Bold of you to assume a monster can't look like a person! But the talking makes it less likely, and Wuxian will err on the human(oid) side of interpretation for now.]

Anything interesting?

[Those books, though... After finding them empty in another room or two, he's kind of given up hope. Nevertheless, he walks on over, hoping to investigate this one.]

You know, I've yet to find any paper that's been written on. A strange thing that is, too, especially when there's writing on some buildings.

[abeautifulgame]

The laptop would be -- [he gestures to the laptop, to indicate it] -- if the power was actually on. It looks cheap, but. [well, some computer would be better than no computer, and doctoring it wouldn't be difficult, particularly if he scavenged another laptop in another room for parts]

But I'd noticed that, too. [the problem with the books] And out of everything here, I think that bothers me the most. [he can't say why, exactly, but the fact that there's no text in any of the books is fucking disturbing]

[yinception]

[Wuxian nods at the comment about the laptop, wisely agreeing. Not that he has any idea what a laptop does, or what separates a cheap one from an expensive one, but there's no point in emphasizing what he doesn't know, surely?]

Are we meant to fill them with our own knowledge, I wonder? [He's only used paper for silly scribbling so far, but that doesn't mean he hasn't thought about other options. He's just too lazy to rehash everything he knows, and besides:] But then, if that were the case, our own books could have come here with us.

[abeautifulgame]

That would make more sense. And even if we were meant to fill up the empty books, keeping diary has never really been my cup of tea. [that's a lie. he just usually records his thoughts on his phone, if and when he needs to empty his head a little, and there's no one around to listen]

[ ... he also doesn't want to record his knowledge in a book, because his main area of expertise is hacking, and he really doesn't want to tip that hand, just yet. as far as anyone here knows, so far, he's just a guy, not one of the bad guys, and he wants to keep it that way for awhile]

It doesn't help that I haven't seen any pens around, either. [have you, Wuxian?]

[yinception]

[On the bright side, for if and when it comes out: Wuxian isn't one to judge - not that he knows what hacking is in the first place, but he could form a decent image of it with some minor explanation. It being morally and legally okay or not is less important to him than the intentions behind it, and those targeted.

At that unspoken question, he raises a hand, a little too enthusiastically.]

I have! [And let's say someone told them their name, since.] There were a lot of them in one of the shops.

wildcard

[abeautifulgame]

[something else? leave me a starter]