etrayamemes | TDM 001

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!tdm

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⏴

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( alright, on some level yeah, it's a measure of relief to know that octavia hadn't come out of the hospital having freshly murdered one of their fellow interdimensional kidnap victims. erases the immediate need to look around for victims to help, or look over her shoulder for any vengeful mobs chasing down a murderer straight out of a slasher film.

but. but. that vague brush off also ignites a fire of follow-up questions, because if not here then where? the last she'd seen of the other girl, octavia had been safe and secure in the bunker as their new joint leader. bellamy blake would have never left his sister if it hadn't been for the assurance she was as safe as could be at the end of the world, same as he wouldn't have left clarke to burn if it hadn't been absolutely necessary in the moment.

so what the absolute fuck happened since? )

Well, I'm worried about everything right about now. ( it's been a long time since she'd been back home, and despite knowing a few tidbits of future knowledge, there are so many knowledge gaps feeding into the void of anxiety that's constantly swirling in her ribcage. clarke regrips octavia's shoulders, fingers digging into blood and leather with pressing concern. ) Octavia, what happened to you?

[ being in the bunker as wonkru from her own decision to share the bunker did guarantee them safety from praimfaya but the rest of it, the part that fell solely on her shoulders to lead, to maintain the peace and ensure they could make the food they had last for the next five years, that was another thing entirely.

it was almost ironic to hear clarke's question. what happened to her, really? she could ask her the same question based on the unusual outfit she's wearing and despite not knowing the context, it should be obvious what happened to her all things considered because it's not like everyone magically got along the moment they stepped foot in the bunker. she was just about to turn this around on clarke but when she grips at her shoulders, octavia rolls her eyes and starts to just push her away] Oh, I don't know— aside from you assaulting me with a water bottle?

[she knows she's being difficult and that isn't what clarke is referring to but honestly she's getting a little irritated from the other girl demanding answers from her]

( nothing like potentially being shaken off and ignored when she has so many questions rocketing around the inside of her skull like bulletspray to make one dig their heels in and push the issue. octavia rolls her eyes directly in clarke's face, and that thread of concern draws taught enough that if it's plucked one more time, she's going to snap.

her voice picks up, pitches up. she's halfway to yelling and so wildly incredulous in the face of the dismissive attitude she's getting back in turn. when octavia seeks to push her away, clarke grapples to retain her hold on the other girl's shoulders, 0.5 seconds away from shaking her a bit like that'd dislodge the answers she wants. )

Yes, aside from the goddamn water bottle! ( that hadn't been personal :c she was just trying her hand at this new game. ) What was this? Was it in the bunker? My mother was down there, Octavia, you have to tell me.

[maybe it was the high pitched shift in clarke's voice along with the concern in her expression wanting to know what happened to abby, that octavia relents in giving her blatant attitude for her questions.

this time she doesn't push her away or make any snide remarks when clarke's grip remains firm on her shoulders. she doesn't want to talk about it but in offering a watered down version of the truth, it might be enough for clarke to calm down] Alright— I'll tell you.

Yes, it happened in the bunker— unsurprisingly people still aren't thrilled with sharing— some were even stealing from our rations.

I ended up in some fights with some of them before arriving here. As for your mother? She's alive and well.

( honestly on some level it's refreshing to be around people who acquiesce to her shrieking. see: a clarke griffin who will never admit the sway of power went to her head, suddenly moored in a previous realm where she'd had nothing and slowly spiraling because of it. but whatever, it's fine, today is a new day and the first news she'd gotten about her mother since gal friday had let slip some specifics about a particularly morbid future event...

and yeah, later she might realize the question was self serving, a desperate grab at the first person with knowledge that might soothe her poorly healed emotional wounds. but it's always better to know than to worry endlessly, right? she doesn't think octavia would have any reason to lie here, and if her mother's fine then at least for now, they could move on.

all that to say, clarke is a rigid, immovable force right until octavia concludes her (still rather lacking) recap on bunker life. there is still the dig of her fingers into the other girl's arms that would likely bruise after the gore is eventually washed off. she still doesn't let go, but she does force herself to exhale the breath she hadn't even realized had been stuck inside her lungs, stagnant and well past dioxide. ) Really? She's really okay? ( she manages to ask, then her shoulders drop as if the marionette string had been cut.

and her voice grows thick with the threat of tears. )

It's been two years for me. I had no idea what happened to any of you back there, but I — I —

( always worried. now, pull it together, griffin. )

I guess it was always too much to ask for that things would have gone smoothly, right?

[octavia can understand the worry in that she similarly wondered what happened outside of the bunker, with her brother and the others and if they even made it to back to the ring like he had told her. did he hear what she last said to him? did they all make it up there safely? the only hope she really had right now was seeing that clarke was alive.

the last couple months had its own challenges for her down in the bunker and while she wasn't quite ready to voice that to clarke, she wasn't about to withhold the information about her mother. it seemed like it was enough to get her to ease up a little at least a she finally releases her grip] It's barely just been two months so I'm already expecting it's not going to get any easier— but yes really, she's okay. We're all safe down there despite everything else.

Can you tell me about Bell? Is he okay— he told me the plan to go to the ring. Did it work? [she quickly she jumps to asking about her brother while she has the chance so it only belatedly hits her that clarke had said two years at first instead of months] ...And did you just say it's been two years for you?

( clarke is still weathering the waves of emotion that swell up and crash over each other in conflict. she's relieved to hear her mother's okay, but she also still knows at some point in the distant future she manages to kill something that's wearing her mothers face. the facts are set in their respective spots in the timeline but the in-between never grows clearer no matter how hard she tries to squint and extrapolate. what happens to their people obviously features hardship and blood, the shroud of gore over octavia speaking to that as much as the words actually coming out of her mouth. but how does it always go so wrong, and why?

it has admittedly been... a long time since she'd had the spare moment to fret and concern herself over those she'd unintentionally left behind. if the word on the ship was to be believed, she was still just a copy and her original remained planet-side — not in space, not underground, but miraculously survived. that clarke was handling things on earth and thus this clarke could turn her attention towards thwarting an evil djinn and dying on repeat; this clarke got accustomed to never getting a full answer, only to be bodily slammed back into her early days of anxiety. )

...Bellamy?

( and of course it tracks that where her first concern is her mother, octavia's would be her brother. time and distance and new friends means clarke has a bit of a better understanding of what their bond had been like, and belatedly kicks herself for not offering up the news of him first and foremost. )

Bellamy's fine, ( she offers in an apologetic rush. ) He and the others made it out in time, they got to the Go-Sci ring and got the air and an algae farm going. They're alive, they're safe.

( and maybe on the heels of that good news, she can dodge the two year question because... look, it's a lot. let them just soak in this moment of relief together first. )

[there was only so much octavia could speculate while in the bunker to the point where she had to forcibly not dwell on it or even think about the alternative if bellamy wasn't alive. she had hoped her brother made it so hearing the news he actually did, there's a wave of relief that floods through her.

luckily for clarke in this case, the two year question does temporarily takes a backseat in her questioning as she processes the information] Good. I'm glad that it worked out— that he's alive and that you all are too. [it doesn't occur to her even with how clarke phrases it, that she is left out of the equation in this]

( at some point in this conversation of who lived and who died, did my most important person perish and i was too far away to do anything about it? clarke's heart had seized. felt like it stopped beating despite shoving wave after wave of cacophonous blood flow against her eardrums, somehow skyrocketed into the back of her throat. and only really settles when some of octavia's anxiety seems to abate on the tail end of good news about her brother.

there is room to correct the other girl's assumption, the stretch of silence and space between them. but gods, she doesn't want to. so instead of correcting (actually, i stayed behind and burnt, only to wake up on a cruise liner and spend two years of my life fighting against magical beings in an underhanded manner, really thought i'd died in the apocalypse but found out later that i actually lived because i pissed off the faceless golem enough for her to try to piss me off back) clarke just draws in a short, rattling breath.

and she nods. )

We're all still breathing. So far as the second end of the world goes, everything worked out as well as it could have.

[ octavia is still completely unaware how her assumption wasn't correct but overall the part about it working out though is debatable. they were safe in the bunker but she knew they were pretty much trapped under there indefinitely even with the five year estimate of earth being habitable or even seeing anyone else outside of that for a while] Yeah— sure it still sucks though.

( some of her people are safe deep underground, a scant handful are safe up in deep space, and she... still doesn't entirely know. just understands she survives that newest hurdle in the form of an impenetrable wall of fire sweeping over the land. the nightblood supposedly works, but would telling octavia that just rub salt in the wounds? we could have saved everyone, but we didn't have enough time... story of their lives, isn't it? )

It really does still suck.

( it should be commended that clarke griffin doesn't feel the burn of tears behind her eyes until this exact moment. but once that sharp, hot prickle is noticed, it's really hard to choke back down again. at the edges of her waterline she can feel them collect in a fat little wet glob, and sniffs very hard to try and prevent them from falling. )

I'm really, really happy to see you, Octavia. For a while there, I thought I never would...

( she doesn't try to bundle the other girl into another firm hug again, but god does she visibly want to. )

[it wasn't that surprising when octavia notices the inevitable shift in clarke's demeanor, the raw emotion emanating from her as she starts sniffling while tears well up in her eyes. it was a lot of emotion directed at her that she wasn't sure how to deal with.

she would have preferred to see her brother but all things considered with having arrived here, it was a relief to see clarke even if she wasn't exactly her favourite person. it is all too obvious from the other girl's expression that she is seconds away from hugging her so octavia meets her halfway on that as she moves forward to take hold of clarke's hand, squeezing lightly in an attempt at reassurance] Yeah, I know— five years of waiting is a long time. I didn't think we'd see each other for a while either but I'm glad to see you too.

Edited 2024-04-16 04:55 (UTC)

( a bit of an apocalypse, a bit of distance, a healthy helping of grief, and a whole lot of time and... after a while, it wouldn't even matter if it was the last person she'd ever wanted to see from home, at least it's someone. but this isn't just anyone, even if the blood and the set of her shoulders shroud her in unfamiliarity, this is still octavia. they've been in some sort of mess together since the other girl had been the first of the sky people to step foot on earth, and in questionable new circumstances — in trying times — there's very few else clarke would like to have alongside her.

she doesn't get her hug here. but octavia reaches for her hand and squeezes in that profound way that just reinforces that she's here, she's solid, she's real. turns out this does absolutely nothing for strengthening clarke's resolve — actually the exact opposite as her vision suddenly blurs with unshed tears, even as she tries to ratchet back her shoulders and keep her tone modulated, calm. )

I'm sorry I threw water at you.

( a tight squeeze is returned, all gun callouses and need. )

[ octavia might have been initially annoyed with how the water had splashed over her earlier into their conversation but she is long over it by now. she doesn't pull away when clarke tightly squeezes her hand in return figuring that she does need a minute at least judging from her expression]

It's fine— it was just water anyway. [ out of all things that could have been thrown her way, water was pretty tame on that scale so she isn't too bothered by it] Who were you even aiming that towards anyway?

Edited 2024-04-23 06:00 (UTC)

( ...

some of the open grief has to be curtained away to make room for a flash of embarrassment. clarke's already mentioned that it's been two years for her, but for the entirety of those two years she's kept it close to her chest that, with time, the memories of her friend's faces has slowly started to fade. she can't remember how many freckles bellamy blake had splashed across his face, the exact shade of raven's eyes, the correct shape of her father's nose — every time she'd tried to draw them, to make herself remember, it'd come out wrong lately.

and then octavia's shown up like a prom queen out of a scary movie and — )

...I didn't recognize you at first. ( so, you is the answer here. a random stranger the follow up implication, and with her free hand clarke pulls out her bingo card by way of explanation. ) You got one of these, right?

[from all things considered like the fact she was covered in blood, she can't exactly fault clarke for not recognizing her right away. it is when the other girl pulls out the bingo card that it does shed some light on what the real cause of it was]

Oh— [she had pocketed her own in the aftermath of the water bottle incident and recognized clarke as the person who threw it towards her. she just nods and retreives hers to similarly show the other girl] Yeah, I got one— so that bingo card was the reason behind all that?

( clarke feels the heat in her own face, knows that a vaguely purple flush is rising up across her neck and takes a deep breath as if faux composure could counter bone deep embarrassment. she ducks her head a little, but mutters: )

I couldn't figure out the point of this game, so I figured I might as well —... ( play along?

she's done this once or twice, on grander scales. like buying into the safety of mount weather, which allowed her to figure out how to get back into the infirmary and thus into the ducts and out of the mountain entirely. it feels dirty to admit, especially with such an unforeseen outcome as having accidentally pelted on of her own people with aforementioned water bottle, but...

it's the truth. )

[ if octavia notices clarke looking a little embarrassed, she doesn't comment on it. she looks over her own bingo card once more as she listens to clarke, she does understand what the other girl was trying do ] Have you had any luck with that since playing along?

I'd say finding you was pretty lucky.

( one thing you can count on clarke griffin for is piling on the sentimental endearments between bouts of going full feral or full warlord. this had been one of those moments, but almost immediately after the words exit her mouth she realizes the moment has passed and re-stitches her heart where the seams had split wide. there's residual bleed, in the various glances she'll keep casting octavia's way — like she can't believe the other girl is real, like she's scared every time she looks away she'd vanish — but she manages a smile only slightly tinged with self deprecation. )

But otherwise... not really.

( ... 💡💡💡 )

Do you want to help me rob someone?

Of course it was— [octavia can't really dispute that and while she knows that clarke means that more on an emotional level, she acknowledges it in way that translates to agreement in her own way.

she pulls her hand back and from hearing the question, she realizes it is another bingo task] Rob someone? Yeah, alright. I think I saw something like that on my card too.

Perfect. Two birds, one stone, two points — or something.

( and maybe she just wants to tick off the challenges, despite the fact the prize at the end hasn't been thoroughly explained, just in case. but maybe, deep down, clarke also just itches for the opportunity to slot herself alongside octavia and for things to return how they used to be; working alongside each other, for better or for worse. wants to see if the ways she's grown in the absence of her friends makes her more amenable and complimentary, or less so. wants to know if she can fit back into the roles she filled out when they'd still be back on earth.

maybe she just missed her friend. and doesn't want to give the other girl the opportunity to split off from her, even if it's just to take a desperately needed shower. and so she invents a reason, and commits to it, already scanning the courtyard of the apartment buildings for a target. )

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TDM 001

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