etrayamemes | TDM 001

⏵ arrival⏴
Arrival goes as anticipated. Characters awaken in the pristine, new hospital, greeted by Aurora and potentially getting a rundown of what's happening depending on their approach to being dropped somewhere new. The door to their room opens, and new arrivals are left free to explore their new environment.

Or what exists of it anyway. Exiting the hospital will show that there isn't much of anything just yet. Generally, Echo can build new facilities before new arrivals awaken, but it appears that this time… well, it didn't happen. The apartment complex exists, standing just beside the hospital, and there are a few facilities that are half constructed, companion bots carrying around rebar and other necessary bits and pieces, but they're not quite ready. Oops. But maybe, just maybe, one of those half-built facilities is familiar - a childhood home, a favorite supermarket, the run-down garage they worked at as a youth, a grounded spaceship in the middle of one of the massive bridges connecting land over rivers.

The companion bots will offer quiet apologies if approached; they were expecting new arrivals to touch down, but not quite this early. They'll be ready soon! A few more days at most, they promise. In the meantime, do not stray too far from the hospital. While most of Etraya looks habitable, they have not finished verifying that it's safe for its new inhabitants.

The apartment building and hospital are safe, and the land directly around them is fine, but beyond that? Stay away. But hey, the hospital's cafeteria is fully stocked with cuisine from across the multiverse! Please feel free to settle in, choose an apartment, and get to know your new friends.

⏵ water you doing?⏴
Decide not to listen? Well, the companion bots had offered their warnings.

Etraya is a new establishment, one that received newcomers before it was ready. And as such, the land has not quite been prepared for their arrival. Wandering off the land the apartment building and hospital are settled on comes with very, very poor results. Take a step down into the river below, and you'll find yourself uncomfortably hot. Or cold. Or hot and cold, because whatever that 'water' is, it wasn't meant to be played in. The only way to resolve the temperature regulation issue, as Aurora informs, is finding a buddy to cuddle up with. Those who are lucky may have a nearby friend they're familiar with and don't mind leaning a shoulder against. Those that don't? Well. . . have fun having a very uncomfortable conversation with a stranger, asking them if it's alright if you lean into them or hold their hand for a bit. Any physical contact will do, as long as it's directly skin-to-skin.

Except that's not where the contact stops. Characters will find that, for the next several hours, they'll feel everything that their companion feels. Frustration, anger, amusement, homesickness that comes from being so far away from their families and friends - all those feelings? They're not your feelings, they're our feelings now.

No explanation is given for how the empathy bond and the temperature regulation are related, but it may have to do with how since they had decided not to listen, it was time to test how well they could cohabitate with their new friends.

⏵ bonding bingo ⏴

Maybe it feels a little too much like Obi-Wan had when receiving Leia's message, but all new arrivals are their universe's only hope. Except they're not the only ones arriving, and not the only ones who are trying to keep their worlds safe. Instead, they've arrived with several others who carry the same weight on their shoulders. And they aren't meant to go through this alone. The people they've arrived with are both their new companions and their competition. Both comrades to fight beside and enemies to battle against, depending on what the specific mission of the month is. But currently?

They're here to bond. It's important to get to know those who they'll be spending the next unspecified but lengthy amount of time with, isn't it? To that extent, Aurora's hologram waits just inside the hospital's front doors, offering bonding bingo cards to those willing to participate. It's not necessary, but she does specify that this is one way to get ahead: cooperation is important, especially given what they're going to face together. Bingo cards are three long and three across, and offer a multitude of activities you can do to check each box off.

Some examples include:

Learn someone's biggest secret

Get into a fight

Tell someone something that you've never admitted out loud to

Throw a drink on someone

Win a game of pool in the apartment building's recreation room

Cheat on a card game without getting caught

Hug a new friend

Get stabbed

Steal something important to someone

Pull off an elaborate prank on a stranger

⏵ matchmaker ⏴

When the earpiece is put on, a nice green HUD(head-up display) lights up in front of new arrivals. It asks them for their name, which is fairly standard for these.

Except it seems it wants them to put together a profile to help pair them off with other new arrivals. For some, this information may autofill with what Aurora was able to discern about them from watching them in their home worlds. But some lucky individuals may catch their profiles before they're posted live, and have the opportunity to edit out information included in fields, even if they're not able to clear it out entirely.

Welcome to Aurora's idea of matchmaking. Have fun getting paired off with a buddy or four, with your profiles exchanged between one another. Maybe they're the perfect match. Maybe this is a nightmare in the making.

⏵ OOC ⏴
Welcome to our first TDM! We're excited to have you here. For more information on character arrivals, click here. For any questions relating to the TDM please reply below. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Xiao Xingchen is soft and sweet. Better than candy or any dessert. Xue Yang gazes at him hesitantly and yet there is an undeniable tenderness to his focus too. The silky hair under his fingers, the soft skin are all he wants. If he could undo his mistakes, he would! In a heartbeat. But he can't and even if he did, Xingchen knows each of his sins far too well.

He holds his breath when the hands are offered to him. He shakes as he sets his hands - including his busted one - on Xingchen's. Then he arches forward and presses their foreheads together, tears running down his cheeks.

"You... You won't leave?"

Xingchen knows he's naïve and oblivious too. Too trusting. Perhaps he's letting himself be tricked again in agreeing to this.

...So be it. If he can help even one person not be harmed by Xue Yang, he'll decide it's worth it.

And those hands are still trembling as they take his. As if Xue Yang can't believe it either. His breath hitches as he feels the other man press their foreheads together and he shakes his head just a little.

"No. I'm here. You know I don't know how to lie." And he'd tried to leave before.

Only to wind up here. With Xue Yang anyway. Not even death could part them.

"Daozhang..." Xue Yang's fingers curl, gripping onto Xingchen's hands and he bows his head, kissing the inner skin of the other man's wrists. His tears fall then, hot against his Daozhang's perfect skin.

He's alive! He is agreeing to be with him!

"Y-You..." he licks his lips and tries again, "You need to eat. Come on, I'll help you to the Cafeteria." he frowns, stubbornly, "I'll carry you if you need it. I...bet you feel weak, huh?"

Hot drips fall to chilled skin and he gasps in surprise. Does he dare believe they're tears? Actual tears?

And maybe he doesn't understand all that he's agreed to. He will, eventually.

Xingchen can't help but reach up to wipe at those wet cheeks. Eat...? How can he possibly eat anything? His stomach rolls angrily at him.

But he does feel painfully weak. Still. This isn't about him. He doesn't matter. He remembers then that Xue Yang had collapsed and that has his brow furrow as he slowly shakes his head.

"You fell rather hard. I can carry you, if you direct me where to go." He forces himself up, then gently encourages Xue Yang to stand before turning his back in obvious indication for the other to hop on.

He leans into the hands that attempt to wipe his tears away. How can Xingchen be sweet...even now? He really is one of a kind - an absolute gem of a man - and Xue Yang can't let him go.

"I'm fine." he argues immediately, flushing the moment Xingchen turns his back to him. Setting his jaw, he stands and bends down, gathering his Daozhang into his arms, encouraging him to stand.

"I'm alright, really. Its...been a long time." he keeps an arm around the other man, "Let me take care of you for once."

Xue Yang has spent his life being selfish. If he is going to keep his Daozhang, he has to do better.

Edited 2024-03-10 03:17 (UTC)

Oh. No one has ever leaned into his touch before. Not like this. It brings a faint flush to his cheeks, which only darkens as Xue Yang argues...

Then insists on helping him instead! He doesn't have any defense against that, finding himself straightening and pulled close again. And a supporting arm stays curled around him.

As if he were someone precious.

And the words Xue Yang choses! It makes his sense of the world spin rather dizzyingly. He could easily believe this was back before he'd learned just who he'd saved. Who he'd been living so peacefully beside for so long.

This is something to be encouraged. Even if he doesn't feel he deserves it.

"Will you let me take a look at your hip later? I might be able to do a little more for it now." Now he knows sharing qi will help rather than do nothing.

Xiao Xingchen deserves the world! Any world! The universe and all the stars in the sky! Xue Yang knows he isn't worthy to have him, but like hell is he going to let go without a fight. In this case, showing Xingchen his best self is his defense. But it also comes naturally. His poor Daozhang deserves to be loved.

"Careful." he rubs over Xingchen's back as if he senses the dizziness, "With a little food in you, you'll feel better, I promise. Your body doesn't have what it needs, that's all."

And he remembers some of Xingchen's favorite foods. He'll order them for him.

"What do you mean? You helped me plenty before. I..." now it's his turn to flush, "I know I deserve what happened to me, Daozhang. I tried to...argue away my guilt, but..." he grits his teeth, "I'm covered in blood. I'm a bad person. But I think loving you makes me better."

The gentle rubbing and caution sends a shiver through him and somehow, it eases the dizziness. How foolish he must be! And yet...

It would be nice if this were real. If Xue Yang has finally learned how to be better, that's a good thing, right?

"I could have done more. I didn't think to tend to your core to help your healing before."

Xingchen sighs a little and shakes his head a little. Not in denial, really. "It sounds like you're trying. That means...a great deal." Even if he is somehow the reason behind it. 'Loving you makes me better.' That brings another faint flush to his pale cheeks!

"Just hold onto me, Daozhang." Xue Yang keeps an arm around Xingchen and even grasps one of the man's hands too. His Daozhang won't fall or trip on his watch! Nor will he let any strangers get close to him.

"You didn't know I had a core." he chooses a safe path for them, moving slowly to help fend off poor Xingchen's dizziness.

The encouragement makes his cheeks red and he smiles suddenly, a few more tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I... I want to try." he gazes at Xingchen adoringly, "You don't have to be scared. I will protect you."

TDM 001

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