open ♔ socialization log (april through july)

[wynn]

WHO || Everyone! [ota]
WHAT || Shenanigans.
WHERE || Anywhere in the castle, surrounding environs, London, Andres, etc!
WHEN || Any time in April/May/June/July
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:  Dead of Winter, Curse of the Homo Magi, 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:

Wynn/Section Heads @ Various
Cheryl @ Front Desk
Myri @ her room & various
Skye @ Various
Buffy & Rafael @ the Kitchen
Peter @ Rec Rooms, Bowling Alley, Etc.
Liam @ Rec Room
Baal @ Various
Malina @ Dragon's Fire Wing/outside/kitchen/bar/library/Rec Room
Sweets @ Dragon's Light wing/Rec room/music room
Kali @ training room / firing range / outside / etc
Elena @ firing range / gym / kitchen / common rooms
Vi @ firing range / garden / rec room
Dean @ firing range / billiards room / library / kitchen
Jaina @ garage / training room / roof / computer room / bar
Lazarus & Vi | closed
Nick @ training room / firing range / rec rooms / computer room / bar / various
Des (& Zarad) @ NYC / firing range / training room
Elena @ 21st birthday party!
Alex @ garage / airfield / London / firing range / rec room / etc
Dante @ training room / old man bar / library
Andrew @ his room / computer lab / rec room
Alcide @ bars / grounds
Faye @ Gold's room / her room / various
Thoster @ hallways
Ollie @ training room / Dragon's Hoard wing
Mars @ library / room / gardens
Doyle @ the bar
Sebastian @ training room / his room
Neal @ various
Klaus @ rec room / kitchen / bedrooms
Adam @ Dragon's Light wing / various
Aedan @ training room / Dragon's Light wing / outdoors / rec room
Thea @ training room / grounds / bar / rec room / pool / various
Carol @ training room / grounds / roof
Kate @ training room / library / grounds / London
Ric @ Dragon's Hoard labs / bars / homeschooling kids
Jo @ lobby / various
Abigail @ firing range / gym / grounds / library / Dragon's Fire wing
Steve @ training room / various
David @ training room / library / grounds / kitchen
Emma S @ the pond / library / firing range
Amy @ library / kitchen / etc
Clark @ various
Erica @ grounds / training area / library / etc
Natasha @ firing range / training room / gym / bar / billiards / rec room
Sara @ bars / training room / gym / various
Hook @ bar / kitchen
Taradiddle @ Dragon's Light wing / grounds / places she shouldn't be
Sam @ library  / shooting range / castle grounds
Alice @ Dragon Light's wing / rec room / kitchen / training room / outside
Cora @ her room / grounds / training room / library / kitchen / TV room / computer lab
Will @ pond / firing range / castle grounds

Comments

[littledhampir]

[Her eyes flicker towards Des but she keeps her features schooled to neutral, eyebrows rising and falling in acknowledgement of his words. (WS 27)]

Really? [Something close to surprise in her tone.] How much do you know about Dean, exactly?

[nothingsodivine]

Rumors and hearsay, mostly. I was a detective before this gig. You hear shit, but it didn't take much talking to him to know not all of what people said about him was bullshit.

[he adds, before she has a chance to be defensive:] The bad and the good.

[littledhampir]

[Rose's default mode is defensive when it comes to Dean but she stops herself this time (WS 25), allowing herself a moment to absorb what Des is saying rather than shoot (her mouth off) first, ask questions later.]

Took me almost two years to figure that out so... Guess I gotta give you credit there. [Mustering up a wry half grin.

Granted... In Rose's case? She was the one saying most of the bad things but, semantics.]

[nothingsodivine]

Well, I'm good at reading people. [and just because he defaults to angry and violent about people he doesn't like doesn't mean he doesn't get them. the two things are not mutually exclusive.] Kinda goes with the job.

[littledhampir]

Good thing nobody keeps me around for my ability to read people. [The comment is a flippant one but there may be something more behind those words but with a Bluff of 29 its, pretty deeply hidden.]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des rolled a... 32 sense motive, which pretty much proves his point.]

Yeah, well... some people surprise everyone. It's not always a bad thing.

[littledhampir]

Yeah, not always. [Girls got some issues. Of course Des would be the one to pick up on that.]

Though if the bad guys could quit surprising us, I'd be a lot happier. [Pushing those issues back down and making it into a pointed joke.]

[nothingsodivine]

Yeah. Those definitely qualify as the bad kind of surprise.

[grim as fuck.] But they're psions, mostly. They're cheating.

[littledhampir]

[I'm a little sad she owned that Will Save. /Deliberately fails.

Smirking lightly.] You're right... you do have things in common with Dean.

[nothingsodivine]

[meanwhile des bombs his wisdom check because racism was not one of the things he's supposed to have in common with Dean.]

What?

[littledhampir]

They're cheating.... Cause they're Psions.

[Still with the ghost of a smile.]

[nothingsodivine]

Yeah... If they read minds, they have an advantage in surprising people.

[????]

[littledhampir]

Elaborating helps clear things up. [A beat.] It sounded bad.

[Which, was basically Dean's problem 90% of the time. The other ten was straight up racism.]

[nothingsodivine]

[he runs a hand over his face, muttering, more to himself than to her.] There's a life lesson for you. Almost nothing's ever as bad as it sounds at first.

[littledhampir]

I've had a few lessons in that. [Grin widening as Des recovers from that one.] I don't think there's much we can do about the cheating though. [Moving along with a touch of light teasing.] I've spent two years trying to figure out how to keep people out of my head and it's gotten me nowhere.

[That's because it's not the same thing Rose, but semantics as far as she's concerned.]

[nothingsodivine]

Some people just have a knack for keeping people out, but not everyone can manage it. [he eyes her for a moment.] Who fucked you up so bad you're that obsessed with it?

[littledhampir]

[She pulls in a deep breath, exhaling on a heavy sigh and while she's not shooting for dramatic, it doesn't take much of a sense motive to see that this is something that weighs heavily on her.]

I have a - [As if reciting from a book.] 'One-way Psionic bond'. My head is tuned into Radio Lissa twenty-four hours a day.

[nothingsodivine]

So it's you reading her thoughts and feelings and not the other way around.

[Slowly, as if he's trying to grasp it.] Guess it's better than the alternative. I'd have to like someone a lot before I'd be happy letting 'em have a one-way radio into my head.

[He runs a hand through his hair.] Still sounds like it sucks, though.

[littledhampir]

[She nods her head in confirmation but his next reasoning makes her look at Des dead on, silent for a long moment.]

Better than the alternative? [She knows what he means, she's just... doesn't agree and she um... Crit Failed her Will Save so. Good times.]

Sure, ya know. Until you can't figure out if you like somebody because you like them or because it's what the other person is feeling. Or, you spend your birthday fighting to shut them out while they screw their boyfriend or - my personal favorite - [So much sarcasm.] Getting pulled inside their head whenever they're overly emotional so you get to see and feel everything like you're actually them and you don't know how to control it or make it stop. [She pauses a moment to let that sink in.] Yes. Even that.

[She slumps back onto her chair, perhaps the smallest hint of embarrassment coming on the end of that epic rant, like she's painfully aware of the overshare and attempts to soften somewhat as she settles down.]

Trust me. There is no good alternative.

[nothingsodivine]

[oh. that is... not at all what he thought it was and his expression softens quite a bit.]

That's a hell of a lot more complex than I was expecting. [He glances away.] Sorry. I don't know a damn thing about... anything like that, but I do know a few things about people assuming something is as simple as it sounds.

[he stares at his hands for a moment.] I had my own curse once. Spent every waking moment I had for ages trying to break it, too.

[littledhampir]

[Rose pulls in another deep breath and exhales a heavy sigh, a grim, not quite smile touching her lips as her gaze slides back towards Des.]

Thanks. [It's a little gruff but mostly due to residual embarrassment than because she's harboring a grudge.] Wanna hear the kicker? Only time I've had her out of my head? Was when I had Keijen in it instead.

[About the only situation where Rose would agree that the bond was the better alternative. Well... other than death.]

And did you? [The tiniest sliver of hope in her voice.] Break it, I mean or did you just, give up after a while?

[Curious of course as to what the curse was but sometimes she's smart enough to wait to be told rather than pry. (Wis 18)]

[nothingsodivine]

I'd definitely consider that the worse alternative. [a shudder.

he pokes his tongue inside his cheek.] Yeah, I broke it. It wasn't what I expected when I did. The thing is, you go so long having something that you don't want that you get used to it, and when it's gone, it's like a piece of who you are goes with it.

I'm not saying it'd be the same for you, but word of warning? Be careful. Cursebreaking sucks all around.

[littledhampir]

[At least her expression and bob of head suggests she agrees on that point.

The hope that had glimmered before appears to intensify, Rose straightening, sitting forward, hanging on his words but it quickly turns to confusion as she tries to wrap her head around the idea that she'd actually miss the bond.]

I don't know if you can miss something that's driving you nuts... [Doubting that this could somehow apply to her and her situation.] But I guess, breaking could be worse than having it. [For so, so many reasons that go far beyond what Des is telling her.]

Would you still break it? Knowing what you do now?

[nothingsodivine]

Immortality drove me nuts. I don't think that anyone realizes how bad. Being actively suicidal for longer than any human can fathom being alive... You don't come out of that the better side of sane.

[it's still not the same. he knows this but there's many sides of insanity.] That's the funny thing. The moment I stopped trying to break it is the moment it broke.

[littledhampir]

You were cursed with immortality? [Something in her tone suggesting she too thinks that's a bit of an oxymoron.]

Though I guess, after a while... [Watching everyone you know and love die while you're forced to carry on.] You'd see too much.

And if there were a way to get it back?