TDM 007

[etrayamods]

content warnings for this TDM include: violence, potential death, body horror, physical transformation, loss of senses, loss of autonomy ⏵ arrival⏴ Arrival does not happen as Aurora usually plans for it. New characters are introduced to the AI, then informed of a mission that they are required to participate in before they can return to their home base of Etraya. A world called Aphaia is falling apart, and while there is nothing they can do to resolve this broken world, they can participate in the Gamerunner's Stratagem. Their mission is simple: step through the glowing purple portal that Aurora creates once they've had time to listen to her, and survive until a similar portal reopens in front of them, allowing them to return to Etraya. The Gamerunner's Stratagem is something they have been working on building for quite some time. She informs all newcomers that they will not be present on this world that long: their exit will appear to them exactly when it's meant to, allowing them to meet the others who have been recruited to save their worlds. She provides each and every arrival with an earpiece, allowing them to communicate with the other Etrayans. Aurora suggests taking a bag full of supplies along with them, which she will fill with a few generic items as well as any specific items they may need: synthetic blood for vampires, protein bars for those who may burn through calories faster, medication for anyone who requires it. ⏵ aphaia ⏴ Aphaia is a neon-lit, chaotic planet. Cameras are everywhere, every action and inaction is judged by the 'audience'. Towering holograms advertise upcoming events while flashing leader boards track the most "popular" players. Contestants are thrown into challenges, many of which are games of skill, survival, and deception all to keep the viewers entertained. Not participating is an option! However, avoiding playing along and not putting on a show will quickly cause participants' score to go down, and scores that reach zero? Well. Unfortunately, there are only so many resources left on Aphaia. Their wildlife has died off, their planet is falling apart, and most others in this galaxy were either destroyed from the inside out, or warring planets trying to gain control of remaining resources destroyed them to avoid others getting involved. Their natural resources are depleted, and only those who manage to keep their scores up are given the luxury of having any supplies. As soon as one steps foot on Aphaia, as soon as they breathe, they intake nanotechnology which tracks their oxygen consumption, their food, everything they do or need. As soon as their scores reach zero? They disappear. There one moment, and completely gone the next. Their communicators go offline, and while everything they were carrying will be left behind, no one will be able to find them. They are simply--gone, erased from existence. This is a death and counts as a death as outlined in the game FAQ! Please keep this in mind. "Points" that go towards their total score will be assigned to contestants from the moment they drop down on planet. This will be visible using the HUD on their earpiece, and will be randomized at the beginning. For the sake of the TDM, we ask that no one be assigned Paragon initially, but you're free to use other ranks! The possible rankings are: 100: PARAGON 99-80: LUMINARY 79-70: CHAMPION 69-50: CONTENDER 49-30: UNDERLING 30-0: SHADE Ranks may change daily, or even hourly depending on the kind of situation one has found themselves in. Are they having a very public break up in which it comes out that they wronged their ex? They may go from a Champion to a Shade before they can even blink. Did they save a defenseless reporter from the big bad villain of the week? They may find themselves quickly elevated up to Luminary and given all the benefits that comes with being upper class. The world is their oyster, they only need to figure out how they'd like to utilize it! Aphaia is broken up into four districts. The Colosseum is a dynamic battle arena where combatants fight for entertainment, with shifting environments controlled by the audience. Victories earn points, while losses depend on performance. The Symposium is a lavish social hub for top contestants, where alliances and betrayals are made under the audience’s watchful eye. The Agora is the public center of Aphaia, where contestants engage with the audience through polls, interviews, and challenges to maintain popularity. It also houses the contestants in high-rise apartments. And Backalleys provide hidden spaces with intentional blind spots for secret dealings, though the Gamerunner is always aware of what happens there. ⏵ st★rlight soirée ⏴ Something special is happening in the Colosseum. Lights flicker as the arena shifts, rearranging itself into a grand, glittering ballroom - if a ballroom had stadium seating, paparazzi drones, and an ever-changing floor plan designed to disorient those within it. Silver chandeliers pulse with artificial starlight, their glow refracted through the crystalline floors. Music swells, but it sounds - unnatural. It thrums through your veins, setting your blood alight with the urge to dance. Why is the ballroom designed as if intentionally put together to throw off one's balance? Well, it's time for the Panopticon Prom, of course! The Panopticon Prom isn't just an adventure in dancing and impressing your most recent crush. It's a test of endurance, cunning, grace, and charm. The floor beneath your feet moves as if it has a mind of it's own, shifting to the beat like a living creature all of it's own. It tilts, undulates, even vanishing in sections to keep dancers on edge. After all, it's difficult to keep up one's pace if they're falling through a hole in the floor to the foam pit below. Drones zip through the air, catching every stumble, every misstep, and every attempt to throw off others on the dance floor. This is a competition, after all; and what fun is a dance battle without having the freedom to thwart someone else on their road to victory? The rules are simple: You must dance with a partner. This can be an ally, an enemy, or someone you intend on using as a stepping stone to victory. It matters not, as long as you have one hand (or limb) on them at all times. The longer you last, the better your chances. Endurance is the name of the game, meaning one must pace themselves on the dance floor. While epic twirls and impressive moves will garner more attention, it may also hurt your chances in the long run. You may sabotage others by throwing them off balance, but keep in mind: everything is televised, and it won't stay secret for long. The arena adapts to the chaos. Expect sudden obstacles, environmental shifts, and sudden changes in the music's tempo. Gravity may shift, walls may close in, but participants can't let that stop them - they must continue to dance, if they wish to win. The audience is watching. Who will make the final cut and become Prom King and Queen? Everyone is vying for the titles: it doesn't matter what rank you started at when you joined the Panopticon Prom. Whoever wins becomes a Paragon until their points drop. There aren't many opportunities to sail through the rankings, but this is a sure way to do it. As long as they can keep up. ⏵ casino royale ⏴ Out in the Agora, another popular quarterly event is being set up! The Casino Royale has been destroyed countless times, but it seems as if the Gamerunner just can't let it go - every time it gets knocked down, it gets rebuilt. There is one rule. One must take a turn at the revolving wheel just inside the door as their entry fee, and whatever the wheel lands on, they must maintain until they exit the building for the night. Sometimes, this is easier: an effect they have no control over and cannot undo even if they wanted to. Sometimes, this is more difficult: an assigned task they must complete. Failure to abide by the wheel once means receiving a penalty. Twice? Certain death if caught by any employee. The wheel's effects are as follows: 1 You must speak entirely in rhyme. 2 Your body has become unnaturally delicate. The smallest injury hurts like a fatal wound. 3 You must avoid stepping into any sources of light. Doing so causes massive burns to appear on any area of your skin where light has touched. 4 You have been transformed into an animal! You can still think as you had before, but you cannot speak or communicate easily. 5 You have been cursed with supernatural strength, but cannot control it. 6 Time doesn't flow normally for you anymore. Each mistake you make makes you visibly younger, slowly erasing your experiences, skills, or even memories. 7 You can no longer form your own words, but only repeat what others have said to you. 8 You cannot meet another person's gaze. 9 You can no longer turn around, physically or metaphorically. If you try to return where you came from, you'll find that the pathway no longer exists. 10 You are given a specific letter that you must avoid using out loud entirely. "A"? Better hope you know enough words without one. 11 Every time you speak, your words come true - but never in the way you intended. Trying to control this is futile; the monkey's paw curls with every new sentence. 12 Within the casino, you lose the ability to feel anything. No pain, no pleasure, no warmth, and no cold. At first it may feel like a blessing - until you realize you cannot feel hunger, or tell if you're injured. 13 Regardless of if you've drunken anything, you still act inebriated. The effect only gets worse the longer you stay. 14 No one can see you. You are invisible, even if you are still able to reach out and touch or converse with those around you. 15 Any special ability you have is gone. You are reduced down to what an average human being is capable of - regardless of if you are human. 16 Violent impulses become impossible to ignore. You are rage incarnate, and you will be heard. 17 Every time you make a decision - to walk into an area, to start a conversation, anything, a small thread pulls loose from your clothing or your skin. Keep making choices, and you may become entirely undone. 18 You may speak freely, but for every syllable you say, your ability to hear slowly fades. You may want to watch your word count - too many, and you may not be able to hear at all. 19 Perhaps you arrived with a friend, or beside a stranger. It matters not: whoever came in either just before or just after you, you feel a powerful urge to protect them to the point of aggression. 20 Love is in the air - at least it is for you. Every time you meet someone's gaze, you feel the need to try and make them fall in love with you, through whatever means necessary. The casino is alive with the hum of conversation, the clink of glasses, and the steady whirl of the roulette wheels. Golden chandeliers cast a warm glow over velvet-lined tables, where fortunes are made and lost with the flick of a wrist. But something feels. . . off. The dealers never blink. The cards never seem random. And the house always wins - always. Maybe it's just paranoia, or maybe this casino is something more than just a den of chance. Tonight, you're not here just to play; you're here on a mission. You've arrived dressed to kill, blending into the sea of bodies filling the casino's floors. But you're not here to win points or boost your social standing - you're here to win intel. Somewhere in this casino is a single flash drive containing information on just how Aphaia maintains their system. The only problem? The House knows someone is coming for it. After all, they're well-aware of the game: whoever retrieves the flash drive will obtain information on how to flip the script, to change the rules of the game to fit their wants and needs, rather than following the current Gamerunner. After all, this is the Gamerunner's Stratagem that Aurora has sent them out on! Many apply for 'employment' within the Casino Royale in hopes of getting insider information on where the flash drive is hidden and what it looks like. However, it seems that even the employees have no clue where it has been hidden. ⏵ NOTES ⏴ This is an extension of our Aphaia Mission! We have included enough information in this post that catching up to current in game logs isn't necessary to play with it, but you are welcome to use any part of the Aphaia setting in your prompts as you'd like. Current players are also welcome to bring the events from this TDM into their in-game threads. This mission can happen outside of time as needed! Incoming characters will find themselves introduced to Aphaia as they arrive. Current characters may find Aurora calling on them to visit Aphaia after the current mission for the Gamerunner's Stratagem. Characters already in game are welcome to post to the TDM, too! Please mark them as current characters in your header. Threads can be kept as game canon as long as both characters get into the game! Please direct all questions relating to this log to our mod queries comment! All other questions can be directed to our FAQ. ⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Comments

:D

[querulus]

[Ooookay, so the "I've heard of you" doesn't go both ways, apparently. Quentin is choosing to believe Nate is from an earlier point in time, because the alternative is so highly insulting it doesn't merit thinking about. Who doesn't know Quentin Quire???

Well. Probably a lot of people. But everybody should!]

/Whoa, whoa, calm down, buddy. We're all friends here.

I'm Quentin. You're putting out a metric fuckton of psychic noise all over the place, and it's giving me a migraine. Just seeing if you could take it down a couple of notches, that's all./

[Quentin gives him the psychic equivalent of a hands-raised pacifying gesture. He comes in peace, really!]

[overconfidently]

( At least it's understandable and not just some random telepath trying to snoop around in his head. Telepaths are just rude like that. He would know, being one himself. But the explanation is met with a sort of wary psychic eye. Alright. He gets it. Not like he enjoys hearing all the random thoughts of the people around here ricocheting off the walls of his mind.

Taking a moment, he closes his eyes and tries to focus — tries to ground himself to the point where he's no longer feeling unstable within his own mind. )

I don't have any friends.

( He says it after a moment, the pressure of his telepathic presence coming to be something more along the lines of a gentle ebb and flow across the telepathic airways. Someone with as much power as him is a bit difficult to not notice at times, he knows. It's why Xavier came snooping around in the first place.

Regardless, the voices within his head slowly become more of a gentle murmuring he can relatively tune out and he drops his hand away from his face, eye still glowing bright with warm gold for a moment. )

What are you? X-Men?

[querulus]

[Oy vey. Look out, boys and girls, we've got an edgelord over here.

Whatever, the guy's clearly, as the kids say, Goin' Through It, so Quentin will take pity on him. And only partly because Nate being less of a hot mess means less migraines for Quentin. Partly.]

/Yeah, well, now you've got one. Congrats./

[What a nice guy :) ]

/Oh, and yup, X-Men. Look, I'm headed your way, you're not gonna flip out or anything, right?/

[overconfidently]

( There's a soft tch that leaves his lips when the other telepath goes and says he is. Seems no matter where he goes, he can't escape the X-Men. It's not that he has a problem with them per se. His parents are part of the X-Men after all. It's more that Xavier has soured him a little on the team and the fact that everyone he's come in contact with has mostly wanted to use him for some reason or another. It's for that and a few other reasons that he tends to keep to himself now for the most part. Every now and then, well. He finds himself with others. But it never lasts.

With everything gently floating around him, he looks off in the direction of where he feels the other telepath is coming in from and gently pushes a drifting piece of junk away from him with the tip of his finger. )

Not unless you give me reason to.

( Sorry, Quentin. Nate here has trust issues. )

[querulus]

/Duly noted./

[Even without telepathic senses, Quentin's easy to spot. He's covered head to toe in bright pink—yes, down to his pink converse—and what isn't pink is stark black or a loud black-and-white checker print. Quentin Quire does not blend in.

He lands nimbly—walking is for schmucks—and eyes the floating debris with mild trepidation and raised eyebrows. Cool, yeah, Nate seems super stable and normal. This is all fine.]

Ah, well. Hm.

[He lifts a hand and lightly pushes against a nearby floating rock with his own telekinesis. Not enough to (hopefully) provoke any kind of TK arm wrestling competition. He just wants to see how much of this is Nate actively floating shit around and how much is his powers leaking uncontrollably out of every orifice of the dude's body.]

Well, you're not subtle, I'll give you that. Respect, honestly.

[overconfidently]

( Where Quentin is hard to miss with the bright colours he boldly wears, Nate is more muted with the blue, yellow, and black palette he wears. It’s similar enough to his father’s but also his own, especially in style; he lacks any sort of X on his attire for one thing.

He eyes the other telepath the moment he taps down — watches the way he pushes against the floating debris with his own telekinesis. He hasn’t really been around another with a similar power set as his. There’s Jean and there’s Maddie, but. About as close as it gets really.

There’s nothing in the way of resistance when Quentin moves the rock which, is enough to show that this isn’t a case of a TK measuring contest and more that the Grey-Summers mutant is dealing with a case of telekinetic instability currently. Forge and Sinister had both made a point to bring up that, if not careful, his lack of control could lead to his powers controlling him where he was the one at their mercy.

Case in point. )

I wasn’t exactly expecting company.

( Nor did he expect to suddenly get hit with a flood of voices in his head leading to all this. With that said, he lifts a hand and gently begins to set everything down, a careful claim of control over the moment what with Quentin having served as a sort of distraction he could cling to within all the incessant chatter. Maybe he should thank him. )

What do you want? Or are you checking me out like everyone else does?

( For his power, he means. Not anything… else. )

[querulus]

["Checking him out"? Okay, Quentin feels very safe in assuming Nate does not mean that the way most people would.

He notes the lack of resistance to his telekinetic push. So it's a lack of control and not drama for the sake of it. Not surprising considering the... well, everything else, but you never know. Quentin keeps his rock suspended even after Nate lowers the rest of his mess, idly spinning it.]

You know, for a guy who doesn't seem to want attention you sure are bad at keeping a low profile.

[He tosses the rock up and down a few times, gets bored, and lets it drop. Quentin shrugs and casually stuffs his hands in his jacket pockets.]

If you're asking whether I'm here to ogle your powers, in case you haven't noticed I've got my own. And to be perfectly frank it kinda looks like mine are a lot better controlled than yours. No offense. [He says, as though Nate hasn't been prickly at best and clearly has more power than he knows what to do with. What's the worst that could happen?]

I just figured I'd offer to help out. You know, one Omega to another.

[overconfidently]

( No offense and yet his left eye still flashes a bright gold for a moment.

Nate's at that point in his [early] life where he's a tangled mess of overconfidence, impulsive recklessness, and emotional in ways that create unexpected outbursts of power capable of packing insanely strong punches. How else is one supposed to be when they were bred and born to be a weapon against Apocalypse??? Still, he remains altruistic in his attempt at finding where he fits in with a world he's never really known... and now he finds himself on yet another one.

Despite the glowing eye and the way he folds his arms in front of his chest, he doesn't display annoyance with the other's words. If anything, it's more skepticism wrapped up in a bit of disbelief. )

And how do you plan to do that?

( Do you have the means to stop his powers from killing him, Quentin? )

[querulus]

[Nate may be full of (pretty reasonable) doubts, but Quentin? Well, optimism has never been a character trait he's ever been accused of possessing. Confidence, however, he has in spades. Confidence, gumption, and just the right amount of insanity to usually work things out somehow. Usually.

Quentin shrugs with a nonchalance that belies the level of seriousness he's actually giving to Nate and his unique situation. Powers of their calibre are no joke, and someone with as little control as Nate? Doubly so. The guy's a danger to himself and others, and that's just a simple fact. But on the other hand? And more importantly? Quentin's not bored.]

Fuck if I know. But fortunately for you [he taps his temple with one finger, ] I'm a bit of a genius. Don't you worry your pretty little e-boy bangs, I'll figure something out.

[His mouth quirks up in a smirk, and he folds his arms smugly.]

Or, you know, you kill me and all the rest of us, but hey, either way I'm not bored.

[overconfidently]

( He knows how much of a threat he is to not only himself, but to others as well. Cable's had to stop him — stop him from even killing himself when he'd been unable to stop his power from spilling out of him as uncontrollably as it had when he'd lost it. Moira and Xavier seemed to be afraid of him for that reason. How unstable he could become when emotionally compromised. Control is the name of the game when it comes to others like them and the things they can do, but that control should come from him and not at the hands or manipulation of anyone else. He just... needs to get better at it. Think first rather than react in the heat of the moment.

The bored comment gets a roll of his eyes and rather deadpanned Summers sort of look from him. )

Gee, lucky me.

( Within that snark, however, there is the genuine hope he doesn't end up doing that here. He's already on borrowed time as it is. He doesn't want to take anyone else with him. Arms still folded there in front of his chest, he regards the other curiously. )

Is it just you here?

[querulus]

What, already trying to get rid of me? [He tuts, shaking his head in facetious disappointment.] Now is that any way to talk to your only friend? Who just helped you get your shit together? Seriously, you were a hot mess before I got here, and I haven't even done anything except have immaculate vibes. So, you know. You're welcome.

[He shrugs helplessly, as though there's no point in trying to reason with Nate. He's clearly ungrateful! That said, he does drop, well... at least half ot the "quirky asshole" bit and actually answer the question in a tone that isn't overly sarcastic. He's just ribbing Nate a little because the guy's so damn serious, not to actively be unhelpful.]

But no, it's not just me. Hell if I know who you'd actually recognize though. We've got all kinds of time distortion happening here. Different points in the same timeline, different timelines entirely, alternate universes. So, you know, regular Wednesday for you, more of a biannual extravaganza for the rest of us normies. Help me out, what X-Men do you know?

[overconfidently]

I'd only heard about the X-Men where I'm from, but Magneto and Rogue were the ones to lead them.

( As partners, lovers, etc. )

When I fell out of my world and into the one I was in before here, I'd ran into a few of them. ( At that, he folds his arms. ) Xavier was spying on me so I made sure he got the message to leave me alone. I found Rogue and she pointed me in the direction of Moira McTaggart which then led me to The Avengers and back to the X-Men. I recognized Cyclops and Jean. The others I didn't really know.

( At that, there's a quick flash of faces via telepathy. Storm, Wolverine, Canonball, Iceman. Easier to just show them than try and explain because. You know. Telepath and all. )

I was told to stay with X-Force while they went to Muir Island. ( A beat. ) Xavier's bad news.

( Since he's at the point where Onslaught is a thing and all. )

[querulus]

Oh, you're early early. Hmm...

[Quentin thinks for a moment, tapping a finger to his chin.]

Well, pretty sure I'm from that second world you're talking about. Or one timeline from it, at least. That's how I know who you are. I'm just way, way in the future. Shit, my mutation might not have even kicked in yet at your time point.

[Oh, right, roll call.]

Uhhhh, I've heard we've got a couple of Cyclopses dickin' around, and Jean's here somewhere. Plus Storm. Aaaand everyone else is from the future. [He shrugs.] Also for the record, I'm with you on the whole Chuck Hater thing. I'm an X-Man, but I'm not one of his, capiche?

[overconfidently]

( He eyes him when he goes and says he's early early — that he's apparently from the future of the world he's landed himself in outside of this one. Honestly, the sheer fact that he's world hopped accidentally already doesn't make anything Quentin here is saying all that hard for him to believe, but. Still not something he thought would be a thing.

It's the comment regarding Xavier, however, that gets the wariness there within him to settle some and he glances off around them for a moment. )

Did he bother you, too?

( Since the guy seems to have a problem with spying on others. )

[querulus]

[Quentin makes a face.]

"Bother" is a word for it. Ruined my whole damn life.

[Okay, maybe an overstatement. A small one. Quentin has done a more than decent job at ruining his own life on multiple occasions, and Xavier was dead for at least a few of those. But look, when he wasn't dead he was still an asshole. And gave Quentin a whole big bucket of Childhood Trauma. And was very recently a gigantic pain in the ass. So he's salty.]

I did beat the pasty bald fossil in a psychic battle the other day, though. Old coot deserved it.

[He's very proud. And he only cheated a little!]

[overconfidently]

( For the first time in he doesn’t even know how long, there’s the hint of a smile there gently tugging at the corners of his lips, amusement felt at the other’s feelings towards Xavier. Pasty bald fossil is also pretty good. )

He’s not as tough as he likes to think.

( Maybe that’s just the overconfidence in him talking, but. What omega level telepath/telekinetic doesn’t think themselves a little bit better than everyone else they go up against? )

Probably why he hides like he does and spies on everyone else.

[querulus]

[Look, if talking mad shit about Charlie X is what makes Nate cheer up a little? Quentin is more than happy to oblige.]

Oo, you wanna hear what I did?

[Better hope the answer is "yes," because Quentin is not waiting for Nate to respond before barreling on through. He points at his own head with devilish glee.]

I stole a nasty little thoughtform virus made by his psycho twin sister and sprung it on him while he was gloating. Enjoy your Black Bug room, Cueball. Ha!

[overconfidently]

( Not at all what he expected to hear, but. Hearing that Xavier has a sister— a twin sister, likely capable of the same things he is, well. Good to know really. Especially if either of them ever show up here.

The cueball comment gets a soft sound from it. Could almost be taken as a chuckle. )

I'd say maybe it'll teach him to mind his own business but I somehow doubt it.

[querulus]

Taught him not to fuck with me.

[He points at himself emphatically with his thumb.]

Guy ran scared, and now he's off in space.

[He shrugs like this is no big deal. However, it is in fact a very big deal, and he's very smug about it. Nevermind the fact that Xavier was running to get to space. Details.]

So. What'd he try to do to you? Other than be his usual nosy, pompous self?

[overconfidently]

I didn't give him much of a chance to explain. But I know he's afraid of me. Of what I'm capable of. I felt it.

( From both him and Moira when he'd gone to see her. )

I'm not interested in being anyone's weapon or to fight in their battles, but that's all anyone seems to want me for.

[querulus]

[Quentin... can relate, honestly. His situation isn't 1-to-1 with Nate's by any means, but he's been used by more people than he'd care to think about. Omega level telepathy can't help you when you're just too dumb to question what's in front of you. His eyebrows pinch upward sympathetically, but he doesn't elaborate. Nate doesn't seem like the sappy type, and Quentin sure isn't either. Fortunately, they're also both telepaths, which means things like words are strictly optional. Thus far he hasn't felt Nate trying to pry into his brain, so Quentin doesn't feel the need to lock anything down to the exclusion of what he wants the guy to sense. Rather, he just faintly project that "I got you, fam" vibe in Nate's direction. If he's suspicious, he can check Quentin.

Meanwhile, Quentin's going to visibly ponder Nate's statement as though he was asked for advice. Which he wasn't. But hey, he already declared himself Nate's friend, and the dork hasn't corrected him yet. He's feeling a little cheeky, a little presumptuous. Sue him!]

Well, I'd cut the "I don't have friends" crap, first of all. Seriously, dude, if all you do is a) talk about your powers, b) lose control of your powers, and c) be a wet blanket, what can you really expect? Nobody inviting you out for karaoke night, that's for sure.

[He's helping!]

[overconfidently]

( It's the so-called tragedy of being an omega-level mutant, it seems. Someone always wants you for something, if they're not busy fearing you.

But Quentin's words get him to fold his arms in front of his chest and stare. Very Scott Summers, very Cyclops of him. Despite the stoic projection he leans into, he picks up on the feeling there coming from the other telepath — I got you fam — and it has him huff some under his breath as he eyes Quentin there. )

I don't even know what karaoke is.

( A sad truth. Even things like television, lights in refrigerators, or something as seemingly simple as a coffee machine are almost a foreign concept to him still despite the time he's spent in 616 the other world he's fallen into prior to here. Living in the age of Apocalypse was a little more hiding and keeping low as a means to survive rather than going out every night to spend time doing... karaoke. )

[querulus]

Aaand now I'm sad. See what you did? You made your only friend sad. 

[He does not look very sad.

Quentin points at Nate decisively. He's got a Plan now. Is it a good plan? Don't worry about it.]

Okay, look, Slim Jr. I've got a sneaking suspicion introducing you to karaoke is gonna be like one of those "giving a Victorian child a Dorito" things, so we're gonna start small. I'm guessing you've never had pizza, yeah?

[overconfidently]

( The Slim Jr. comment goes over his head but is maybe for the best. The inquiry regarding pizza has him take a second to mull over before he’s eyeing Quentin there curiously. )

I don’t think so, no. Why?

( Would a planet falling apart like this one even have something like pizza? )

[querulus]

You "don't think so"? It's a yes or no—you know what? Whatever. Doesn't matter. 

[He jerks his head in the direction he came from initially.]

You feel the cluster of minds over that way, yeah? Turns out if you shmooze enough you can get pretty much whatever you want. How's your shmoozing?