open ♔ socialization log (summer pt 2)

[wynn]

WHO || Everyone! [ota]
WHAT || Shenanigans.
WHERE || Anywhere in the castle, surrounding environs, London, Andres, etc!
WHEN || Any time in Summer / continuations of threads from the last post when it hits captcha
HOW || Actionspam

[ The castle can be a happening place, even on more mundane days. This log is for random interactions over the course of these few months. Because not everyone is into parties, ok. Characters participating in the following missions are asked to wait until their missions have concluded before tagging into things that take place chronologically after said missions: Ravenloft, Shadow Bermuda, and City of Blood If you aren't certain if that applies to you, please ask! Characters who are not currently squired in may also post, as their characters are living in the castle awaiting their ceremonies.

You are encouraged to start your own threads and tag around, and feel free to threadjack into any on-going threads that aren't specified as 'closed' in the subject lines since people can enter into rooms even in the middle of what's going on. WE ARE BIG ON THREAD-JACKING HERE. You can also specify 'single thread', meaning you want only one response for all participants, rather than multi-thread, where a number of different scenes/threads can be done as replies to the top prompt.]

On this log:

Lance/Malina/Cora/Kate/David | continued
Abigail/Alice/Amelia/Kali/Sean/Thea/Winter | continued
Gwen/Rose/Kenzi/Sawyer/Avaleen/Frankie | continued
Erica/Natasha/Sara/Wanda | continued
Mars/Sebastian/Doyle/Deryn | continued
Jaime/Killian/Carol/Tdiddle/Han | continued
Myri/Andrew/Faye/Thoster/Clark/Neal | continued
Baal @ training rooms/firing range/movie theater/billiards/bar
Alex/Will/Dante | continued
Lila @ library/firing range/dragon's fire wing/
Astrid @ med center/library/starbucks/front desk
Sarkney | continuedw
Buffael threads | continued
Emma/Skye | continued
Drax @ training room/bar/outdoors
Elena/Sam/Snow/Bo/Dennis/Groot/Miles | continued
Topher @ computer lab/dragon's light/round table room
Sark @ library
Ella @ dragon's fire wing
Christos & Steve | continued
Jeanne d'Arc @ stables/kitchen/training room
Regina/Snow/Emma | continued
Willow @ the library
Henry @ the library / grounds
Paige @ castle ground
Nyna's resurrection @ Dragon's Light wing

Comments

Henry | OTA

[wanttobeahero]

[ After the Barovia mission, Henry doesn't really take any time to relax. There's a lot to be done. There are people he's missed, too, and needs to see, wants to see. So he's messaged his closest family, just to make sure everyone's okay. And also to find out what he's missed while he's been gone.

For the most part, his head is in a stack of books. He's hyper aware after his mission that he could help a lot more if he was better with magic so he's reading up a lot on different types of magic. And vampires. Anything on the shadow world that he can get his hands on. So, most of the time, he's in the library, but when he's sick of being cooped up, he's taking his books outside to read on the castle grounds. But, he can be found elsewhere, too! ]

[impetere]

[Cora bounces around the castle most of the time, but Henry's learned most of her usual haunts at this point. She's on her way from her room to the kitchen to get a snack when she runs into Henry in the hallway and a wide smile crosses her face.]

Hey. You're back.

[wanttobeahero]

[ There's an equally wide smile on his face when he sees her. Wow, it's really good to see her. He'd missed her when he was gone, he just hadn't realized how much until now. And, then he's going in for a hug. ]

Hey. Yeah, it's...really good to be back.

[impetere]

[Ooooh hugs. Cora is definitely not complaining as she returns the hug, sliding her arms around his shoulders and staying close.]

Was it a long mission?

[wanttobeahero]

[ If they had just seen each other recently, he'd probably stick with a normal three-to-five second hug, but in this case, he ends up holding on a little longer, nodding against her shoulder. ]

Yeah. Well, it felt longer than it was. We went through the Veil, Cora.

[impetere]

[She pulls back in surprise, looking at him curiously, because this is not the first time she's heard that statement today.]

You were on the same mission as Willow?

[wanttobeahero]

[ Well, this is a surprise, that she already knows about it a little. ]

Yeah - so she probably gave you most of the details?

[impetere]

[She nods, a look of worry crossing her face.]

She said you guys went through the Veil and there was this crazy vampire?

[wanttobeahero]

A crazy vampire and...these zombie creatures. [ It was pretty hairy there for a while but he doesn't want to scare her. They're all safe now. ]

We almost lost Dovan. He's...why we went in there to begin with.

[impetere]

[It does sound pretty hairy but she's glad that they all made it back in one piece. That's the important thing.]

I'm glad you got him back. That you all made it back okay.

[wanttobeahero]

Me, too. Are you okay? How's everything been going here?

[impetere]

Yeah, I'm fine.

[She makes a face.]

Things have been pretty quiet around here.

[wanttobeahero]

[ He wonders about that face, but takes her at her word. ]

Quiet is good. Sometimes. Though...sometimes it's a little...unnatural, almost. [ It's not that he thinks something terrible is going to happen when things are quiet. No, he tends to be pretty darn optimistic, in fact. But still, he's used to things just not staying quiet for very long. ]

[unhappily]

[ regina has definitely found out some

interesting things while henry's been gone. which explains why she tracks him down when she hears he's returned, but as she makes her way into the library and notices him drawn into a book in a corner, she hesitates in the doorway, half out of sight, watching him. (hide 19)

she's genuinely surprised by rush of emotion that hits her as she studies him, snow's words coming back to her.

Because he was the person that was most important to you.

He loves you.

You raised him, Regina. And he's grown to be a remarkable young man.

she tries to imagine herself raising a child, and raising them well enough to love her the way snow spoke of. but emma's spiteful words on the subject hang just as heavily in her heart, and so she vacillates from approaching for a moment. ]

[wanttobeahero]

[ He's fairly absorbed in his book, even reaching for a small notebook he's brought with him to jot down a few things. When that's done, he puts the notebook aside and turns the page of the book he's reading, glancing up for a moment, just to stretch his neck a little and people watch for a moment. Then, he sees her. (spot 20) His eyes lock onto her face and he just freezes there for a moment.

After everything he's just been through, it's...really good to see her, he just...has to figure out what he's going to say to her. Maybe it doesn't have to be that complicated just yet.

Closing the book, he sets it aside, deciding to make the choice for both of them as he makes his way to her with a little smile on his face. He kind of wants to just hug her but that would be weird, given that they haven't talked in a while. Start small, then. ]

Hey.

[unhappily]

[ with an absolutely abominable will save, her face almost crumples a little bit at that one word, as if she forgot that he might look up and see her, and she has to quickly try to rearrange her features to cover it, which she does passably well. ] Henry.

I was hoping to see you.

[wanttobeahero]

[ It's so like her, which sort of just makes him more emotional. She always worked so much harder to keep up appearances than most. Keep up a front for her emotions. But he knows better. Hearing that she'd been hoping to see him causes his head to tilt slightly, a surprised smile on his face. ]

Really? I was hoping to see you, too. I just got back from a mission, and... [ Yeah. He'll admit it, he wanted to see his mom. Both of them. ] It's just good to see everyone.

[unhappily]

[ she can't just launch into anything, so instead she jumps on something to talk about. ] Oh? What mission was that?

[wanttobeahero]

[ How best to explain... ]

We started out in Romania and...ended up going through the Veil. Then we were stuck in this place called Barovia. There were these sort of...zombie-type creatures and this crazy strong vampire named Strahd.

[unhappily]

I thought they said no one could go back through the Veil.

[wanttobeahero]

I thought so, too. I really wasn't sure we'd actually make it back, but when Dovan went through and disappeared, we had to take a chance, we couldn't just leave him behind. [ It was definitely a risk, but one they'd all been perfectly willing to take. ]

[unhappily]

You could have been killed. [ /mothers abruptly ]

[wanttobeahero]

[ At a certain point in his life, he might have rolled his eyes and insisted he was fine, but he appreciates the mothering at the moment because of her memories. And...that she cares about him like this says a lot. ]

I can handle it. Really. [ He gives her a reassuring smile. ] Learned a lot from my family.

[ Speaking of family... ]

I missed you, actually. [ Which he thinks says more than just mentioning he was hoping to see her. ]

[unhappily]

Did you. [ she's glad to hear it, realizes this is probably as good a moment to confess what she's learned, but she can't help but ask: ]

Why was that?

[wanttobeahero]

Well, um- [ Okay, it's now or never. His grandmother wanted him to wait and he sees the value in that, but there's something about nearly dying or being trapped in Barovia forever that has him wanting to follow his own instincts. He doesn't tolerate lying well in other people, and that's essentially what he's been doing by not being honest with her. They can deal with the fallout later. ]

There's something I haven't told you. And I should have. Right from the start. [ He fidgets a little with his hands, looking much younger than he is for just a moment. ] I'm your son.