Multiversal travel can be disorienting, but there’s no need to worry! All side effects are temporary and lessen with each trip. Your body may experience several sensations at once: being pushed forward as if a hand is resting on your back, momentary and startling blindness, a gentle ringing in your head. You may have difficulty discerning whether it is hot or cold, but where you have been prodded is noticeably warmer than the rest of you. Some may suffer dizziness while others are perfectly fine. You notice that the area you are in is filled with a soft cerulean light and feels slightly humid and dark despite the glow around you. Regardless of your current state, however, the stress of transit forces your body into unconsciousness.
Waking up is another story. Or maybe it isn’t.
You find yourself in a nondescript room; sometimes with others who have found themselves in the same situation, sometimes alone. Welcome to Avagi Station, your new home.
Avagi
That First Step, it is a Doozy:
There are always risks to exploring new environments and Avagi is rich with new nooks and crannies to explore. You’re checking out a new corridor that’s been opened, though there have been signs warning that there are areas where structural stability has been weakened by neglect and the passage of time. But maybe things have been going well, you’ve found a few interesting things of note and you’re ready to head back to your bunk for the day.
Except when you turn to leave, the floor is giving way without a screech of metal. Hopefully you’ve got some good reflexes and can catch yourself before you topple down a shaft that seems to go down at least thirty or forty feet. Do you call for help or struggle to handle it on your own? And more importantly, how are you getting around this giant hole in the floor now that it’s there?
The Buddy System:
In order to help new arrivals find their bearings the more experienced residents on board have decided to try out the buddy system in order until the new arrivals get their space legs. The guide is responsible for answering any questions, showing them all the important facilities and making sure their new friend doesn’t wander anywhere too dangerous. And what better way to get to know your buddy than to try and help them find all the supplies they need to be comfortable in their new home? Hopefully the barter blocks have some clothes in your size or else it could get a little bit awkward come laundry day.
Shining Bright:
The Observation Station is the best place on Avagi to get a look at the storm that rages all around. However today when you stop by there’s something strange and new to look upon. It’s not clear if it’s a change in the environment or perhaps an effect of the living energy that opens the portals but the entire room is filled with softly glowing floating lights. If you venture into the room and dare to touch one of the lights you’ll find that you find a song playing in your mind that fills you with a deep and abiding sense of peace. What you do with that feeling is up to you but it seems that these lights aren’t going to cause any harm then why not let yourself relax in a beautiful space for a little while?
Kaittos
This month there is a portal to the planet Kaittos, a peaceful world containing one large land mass and a scattering of lived-on islands across a clear blue ocean. On the mainland, a large city-state occupies the central region and southern coast and resembles what some travelers from some versions of Earth might know of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Bustling and lively, the city is clean and well provided-for due to the temperate climate and the bountiful natural resources found on its northern side; orchards, farms and forests extend into the distance, butting up against a small mountain range. The technology level is low compared to Avagi, with carriages and candles in place rather than cars and electric lights, but the craftsmen of the world have managed some very impressive mechanical feats.
Kaittans, the local residents of the world appear somewhat humanoid, but the bipedal race has hooves rather than feet, silvery skin and three eyes with vertical pupils. Although there is no sign of any other sentient species in the world, the locals are nonetheless excited to meet their guests, rather than suspicious or afraid; for some reason, they are not surprised that aliens exist, merely that they are here.
Visitors are encouraged to explore the city and partake in an exchange of goods and ideas, to share their culture and stories with the locals. Perhaps there’s a merchant willing to trade a bauble for a story or you want to try something entirely unknown to your palette in the culinary quarter. The possibilities, while not quite limitless, are enough to keep the curious busy for quite a while.
(Eddie Kaspbrak hadn't been doing so hot lately. The kid honestly just looked exhausted, and a little bit rattled, like he kept seeing the shapes of evil crawling around after him. Wasn't too far off from the truth, really, and even though he had friends at the station, they weren't the Losers. And having his memories back? It made Eddie ache pretty fiercely for his friends from Derry.
So when he hears a painfully (and God, he does mean painful) familiar voice, it jars him right on off his axis. Was that...? No way.
He brakes his bike hard and whips his head over his shoulder.)
Pleeeease don't be going crazy- (He mumbles to himself. Then he catches sight of him. Stan the fucking Man Uris. That ache in his chest opens up into something light and good. His bike lands with a careless crash and Eddie takes off through the crowd, rudely shoving his way between two bartering adults.)
Stan! Staaan! It's me! (He shrieks with wild delight because between the memories and it being an actual month- God. It's felt like ages. He doesn't give a shit either. Eddie just plows on ahead until he's grabbing Stan into a tight hug, his face shoved hard into Stan's chest. He wasn't going crazy at all.)
[ Stan would have liked to have forgotten everything but he hadn't and then he hears that voice. He's been missing that voice and all the other voices since he got here so he turns toward the shrieking (and Eddie, if he knew you just threw your bike down when you have a perfectly good kickstand...).
He doesn't have time to say anything, because he's already grabbed and somehow the snarky comment he was going to make gets knocked out of him like the wind if he fell on his back. Instead, Stan hugs Eddie back, squeezing tightly and he forgets everything else for this moment of joy and relief.
Then, the tell-tale teenage embarrassment kicks in and he extracts himself from the hug. ]
(God, he really can't believe he forgot any of them. Seeing one in person, knowing that they're here, away from Derry, and more importantly away from It, makes Eddie so God damn relieved it nearly stops his heart. His personal embarrassment doesn't kick in quite as soon, mostly because for him, the distance has been wider and dug deeper.
He wants to hold on a fraction longer, but accepts that the hug is over. Instead, he grabs at Stan's arms. A part of him is a little nervous that if he let go, Stan would vanish like a mirage.)
At least I didn't kill Christ. (He responds with equal affection, complete with toothy grin.)
You're telling me. I've been here for a month and I've been completely alone.
(Not literally, but oh, no one was a Loser. No one really understood what it was like. Eddie wobbles for a second, in the eyes, the voice, and then he's hugging Stan again. It doesn't last too long though, and he's fully breaking away.)
I live on my own and everything. (Poorly, might he add. The kid was still just barely learning his way around cooking. Most of the time he just ate out or ate with someone who could cook.)
[ Not long ago, maybe Stan would have found a way to extricate himself from the other's hold on his arms but he allows it. He hasn't been here very long by himself but he's been here long enough to know how it feels and he doesn't want to pull away the comfort of being together again. It's not complete with not everyone there but neither of them are alone and that's what matters.
He rolls his eyes but doesn't rise to the bait of the vaguely anti-Semitic joke and instead he looks surprised at the length of time that Eddie's been here alone.
And then, embarrassment or not, he isn't going to pull away from Eddie's hugging again until the other boy is read. He hugs him back, lighter this time and he thinks it's a good thing he let it happen when Eddie pulls away on his own. He probably needed that if he'd been alone that long. That's an eternity! ]
And you haven't died from any diseases yet? Amazing.
(No, it wasn't complete, but it was closer to complete than Eddie's felt in a while now. There was no way he'd be looking a gift horse in the mouth. There had always been a sort of magic in their group, and with Stan here, Eddie felt a little more bigger, better than he was.
It had been an eternity. He's glad for Stan not making fun of him for the second hug, for just letting him have it. No doubt that Eddie may be a little touchier than usual over the next couple of days.
Eddie places a hand over his chest, mouth opening and face dissolving into an expression of mock-offense.)
I'll have you know that I live in a very sanitary place, Stan! And unlike some savages, I know how to wash my hands.
(.......He glances away from Stan, clearing his throat lightly.)
I also asked around. Apparently there's not any weird space diseases that exist that anyone's really discovered yet.
(There it is. Eddie's hands go straight to his hips and his lip curls up in a familiar expression of distaste. If Stan listened hard enough, he could probably already hear Eddie's endless stream of conscious thought listing off every single reason why someone should clean their hands.
He lifts a hand and points.)
Don't even try me, Uris. Henry Bowers regularly neglected cleaning his hands and you know that's true. Jesus, Richie usually doesn't either.
(To which Eddie shudders. Richie actually really only ever did that to bother Eddie, grabbing at his face after. Such a pain in his ass.)
Don't say it like that! (Great, now you got him wailing a little. Problem is Eddie totally has been paranoid about that sort of thing. After all, this world was new, so that meant anything else could be new to them later down the road.)
[ Stan stifles a small smile. Sometimes it really was too easy to rile Eddie up, that he didn't even really realize that that's what he intended to do until he did it and the other was going off about something or other. ]
(That question warrants a bit of a dead-eye stare. Or what some people might refer to as the thousand-yard stare, something he's hardly conscious of doing. Then he just kind of erupts with a startled laugh.)
What, are you serious? Do you want the condensed version or the encyclopedia version?
A joke? Is that some kind of over-the-counter drug?
(Eddie says this feigning absolute stupidity, even widening his eyes for effect.
He swipes a smack at Stan's arm. Not only does he pull the strength from his hit, it's Eddie, so it's pretty much guaranteed to not hurt even slightly.)
Oh see, now, Eddie knows somewhere that Stan is joking with him, but the statement is enough to make Eddie go a little pink. He even looks taken aback.)
What! (He squawks this, flailing his arm uselessly.) No! I mean. I mean sort of? But.
(Actually, he was, but he'd only just started. It was mostly training on ways to use stuff as weapons or defend himself with his hands. There's no way it had made a difference.)
Chlamydia also exists, Stan. Pneumonia, cancer, strokes, seizures, narcolepsy...(Eddie was getting off on a tangent now, his voice winding up for the big pull. You might want to stop this Stan before he starts going alphabetically.)
Oh. (If depression had a face, it would be that of Eddie Kaspbrak being told there was no difference in his body from all that work he's been putting in. Destroy his fragile masculinity, why don't you.
His fragile everything, actually.)
Okay, I wasn't making a list of stuff I've had. Just stuff I know exists. Also my dad had cancer so I'm predisposed to having cancer too. Everyone knows that's how that works.
[ Stan feels a little bad at the sight of that face... okay, a lot bad, but this one he's not sure how to fix quickly. It's kind of a weird territory to tread and so he ends up just moving on from it. Eddie shall recover, Stan has faith. ]
Well, with that attitude, I guess you are. [ Eddie he doesn't know what to do with your fatalistic hypochondria sometimes! ]
(Sometimes there's no quick fixing things. Thankfully, Eddie will recover, albeit with a bruised ego, but it'd be fine. He knows better than to take everything Stan says to heart, even if it does sometimes suck to hear.)
Stan, are you suggesting that cancer can be beaten with positive attitude?
(And people think he's naive.
Really though- did anyone know what to do with his hypochondria? Thankfully, Eddie's changing the subject with a wide smile and suddenly grabbing Stan's wrist.)
Hey, listen, there's this weird food here that is sort of like ice cream but isn't? It's really good. Do you have your bike?
(Eddie's head whips around so fast that it was a genuine shock he didn't wind up giving himself whiplash.)
Good. Go grab it. (He gives Stan's wrist an enthusiastic shake before letting go.) Yeah, yeah, hold on fatass.
(He darts off over to where he had dropped his own bike and picks it back up. He swings his leg up and over, popping himself back up onto the seat. He looks towards Stan, waiting with some semblance of patience.)
[ Stan wants to say yes very badly. Maybe the other would stop being so negative but then again it could just lead to a lot more fretting and so, Stan settles for a shrug in answer instead of an actual answer. Sorry Eddie.
He goes to grab his back, carefully pushing the kickstand back up in his deliberate way and climbing onto his bike after walking it near to Eddie. ]
(He says this with some flourish, pulling his bike up under him, kicking back onto his feet to wag the bike back and forth between his legs. It's a dumb thing to do, but it's fun because of how the rubber of his wheel bounces out and it reminds him a little bit of hero action-poses seen on some comics and movie posters.
He pops the bike back down and climbs right on back up, pushing off. He rides effortlessly on the path to the ice cream stand Rogue had shown him. Kid had a compass built into his head, not a lick of confusion or doubt as he tracked his way along. They arrive soon enough and Eddie climbs off his bike.)
It's blue and tastes kinda like fruit. Not totally ice cream, but it's a lot like it.
[ There's really nothing else that needs to be said and Stan follows Eddie toward the ice cream stand. He's rather excited. He likes ice cream after all and it seems like the other knows exactly what he's doing so Stan doesn't really question it. Luckily, the trek wasn't even that long and he dismounts his bike, again deliberately putting the kickstand down. ]
That sounds weird but cool. [ He's not sure how that works at all but if Eddie's into it then he doesn't have much reason to doubt it... probably. ]
(Now that Eddie wasn't having a partial meltdown over seeing a good friend, he thinks to put his own kickstand down. See, Stan, he can be responsible too. Then again, the two of them got on real well most of the time.)
It's only a little bit cool.
(Definitely not. At least Stan knows it won't kill him. Eddie is eager to show off this new treat though, and he's got some things to trade in, so he heads right on up. He's been getting the ice cream for a couple days now (on his birthday, he had eaten way too much, but he had been alone- so no one could blame him) and knew the order by now. He holds up two fingers, ordering a dish of blue, almost frozen yogurt looking stuff but not quite, and finally turns around to hold out Stan's portion.)
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thisavrou_ooc2017-11-17 07:40 pm
no subject
So when he hears a painfully (and God, he does mean painful) familiar voice, it jars him right on off his axis. Was that...? No way.
He brakes his bike hard and whips his head over his shoulder.)
Pleeeease don't be going crazy- (He mumbles to himself. Then he catches sight of him. Stan the fucking Man Uris. That ache in his chest opens up into something light and good. His bike lands with a careless crash and Eddie takes off through the crowd, rudely shoving his way between two bartering adults.)
Stan! Staaan! It's me! (He shrieks with wild delight because between the memories and it being an actual month- God. It's felt like ages. He doesn't give a shit either. Eddie just plows on ahead until he's grabbing Stan into a tight hug, his face shoved hard into Stan's chest. He wasn't going crazy at all.)
Oh, Jesus Christ, it's you. Holy shit.
no subject
He doesn't have time to say anything, because he's already grabbed and somehow the snarky comment he was going to make gets knocked out of him like the wind if he fell on his back. Instead, Stan hugs Eddie back, squeezing tightly and he forgets everything else for this moment of joy and relief.
Then, the tell-tale teenage embarrassment kicks in and he extracts himself from the hug. ]
You little shit. [ Affectionate, of course. ]
I didn't think I knew anyone here.
[ Please let this not be a dream. ]
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He wants to hold on a fraction longer, but accepts that the hug is over. Instead, he grabs at Stan's arms. A part of him is a little nervous that if he let go, Stan would vanish like a mirage.)
At least I didn't kill Christ. (He responds with equal affection, complete with toothy grin.)
You're telling me. I've been here for a month and I've been completely alone.
(Not literally, but oh, no one was a Loser. No one really understood what it was like. Eddie wobbles for a second, in the eyes, the voice, and then he's hugging Stan again. It doesn't last too long though, and he's fully breaking away.)
I live on my own and everything. (Poorly, might he add. The kid was still just barely learning his way around cooking. Most of the time he just ate out or ate with someone who could cook.)
no subject
He rolls his eyes but doesn't rise to the bait of the vaguely anti-Semitic joke and instead he looks surprised at the length of time that Eddie's been here alone.
And then, embarrassment or not, he isn't going to pull away from Eddie's hugging again until the other boy is read. He hugs him back, lighter this time and he thinks it's a good thing he let it happen when Eddie pulls away on his own. He probably needed that if he'd been alone that long. That's an eternity! ]
And you haven't died from any diseases yet? Amazing.
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It had been an eternity. He's glad for Stan not making fun of him for the second hug, for just letting him have it. No doubt that Eddie may be a little touchier than usual over the next couple of days.
Eddie places a hand over his chest, mouth opening and face dissolving into an expression of mock-offense.)
I'll have you know that I live in a very sanitary place, Stan! And unlike some savages, I know how to wash my hands.
(.......He glances away from Stan, clearing his throat lightly.)
I also asked around. Apparently there's not any weird space diseases that exist that anyone's really discovered yet.
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Yes, the savages that don't know how to wash their hands. Are you sure those people ever existed, though?
[ Of course, they did but what does that really matter just now. He's just further teasing Eddie because it felt good to be able to again. ]
We're lucky then. [ A pause for dramatic effect: ] For now.
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He lifts a hand and points.)
Don't even try me, Uris. Henry Bowers regularly neglected cleaning his hands and you know that's true. Jesus, Richie usually doesn't either.
(To which Eddie shudders. Richie actually really only ever did that to bother Eddie, grabbing at his face after. Such a pain in his ass.)
Don't say it like that! (Great, now you got him wailing a little. Problem is Eddie totally has been paranoid about that sort of thing. After all, this world was new, so that meant anything else could be new to them later down the road.)
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We'll be fine. When have you ever not been fine?
[ Eventually, anyway. ]
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What, are you serious? Do you want the condensed version or the encyclopedia version?
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Do you know what a joke is? And please, I don't need a reminder of your list of ills imagined and otherwise.
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(Eddie says this feigning absolute stupidity, even widening his eyes for effect.
He swipes a smack at Stan's arm. Not only does he pull the strength from his hit, it's Eddie, so it's pretty much guaranteed to not hurt even slightly.)
They're not imaginary. Bronchitis exists.
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[ Perhaps then they could just medicate hypochondria away and any number of other things. ]
Hey. [ He shakes his arm out playfully. ] Have you been working out?
Okay, that's one.
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Oh see, now, Eddie knows somewhere that Stan is joking with him, but the statement is enough to make Eddie go a little pink. He even looks taken aback.)
What! (He squawks this, flailing his arm uselessly.) No! I mean. I mean sort of? But.
(Actually, he was, but he'd only just started. It was mostly training on ways to use stuff as weapons or defend himself with his hands. There's no way it had made a difference.)
Chlamydia also exists, Stan. Pneumonia, cancer, strokes, seizures, narcolepsy...(Eddie was getting off on a tangent now, his voice winding up for the big pull. You might want to stop this Stan before he starts going alphabetically.)
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Okay... Eddie, how many of those have you had? I know you definitely haven't gotten Chlamydia.
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His fragile everything, actually.)
Okay, I wasn't making a list of stuff I've had. Just stuff I know exists. Also my dad had cancer so I'm predisposed to having cancer too. Everyone knows that's how that works.
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Well, with that attitude, I guess you are. [ Eddie he doesn't know what to do with your fatalistic hypochondria sometimes! ]
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Stan, are you suggesting that cancer can be beaten with positive attitude?
(And people think he's naive.
Really though- did anyone know what to do with his hypochondria? Thankfully, Eddie's changing the subject with a wide smile and suddenly grabbing Stan's wrist.)
Hey, listen, there's this weird food here that is sort of like ice cream but isn't? It's really good. Do you have your bike?
no subject
[ Stan retorts under his breath. He's partly serious and part just irritated a little tiny bit okay. ]
Yeah, it's over there. [ A vague nod in the direction of his properly parked bike. ] Where is this food? [ His attention is immediately taken over! ]
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(Eddie's head whips around so fast that it was a genuine shock he didn't wind up giving himself whiplash.)
Good. Go grab it. (He gives Stan's wrist an enthusiastic shake before letting go.) Yeah, yeah, hold on fatass.
(He darts off over to where he had dropped his own bike and picks it back up. He swings his leg up and over, popping himself back up onto the seat. He looks towards Stan, waiting with some semblance of patience.)
You good to go?
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He goes to grab his back, carefully pushing the kickstand back up in his deliberate way and climbing onto his bike after walking it near to Eddie. ]
Are you?
no subject
(He says this with some flourish, pulling his bike up under him, kicking back onto his feet to wag the bike back and forth between his legs. It's a dumb thing to do, but it's fun because of how the rubber of his wheel bounces out and it reminds him a little bit of hero action-poses seen on some comics and movie posters.
He pops the bike back down and climbs right on back up, pushing off. He rides effortlessly on the path to the ice cream stand Rogue had shown him. Kid had a compass built into his head, not a lick of confusion or doubt as he tracked his way along. They arrive soon enough and Eddie climbs off his bike.)
It's blue and tastes kinda like fruit. Not totally ice cream, but it's a lot like it.
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That sounds weird but cool. [ He's not sure how that works at all but if Eddie's into it then he doesn't have much reason to doubt it... probably. ]
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It's only a little bit cool.
(Definitely not. At least Stan knows it won't kill him. Eddie is eager to show off this new treat though, and he's got some things to trade in, so he heads right on up. He's been getting the ice cream for a couple days now (on his birthday, he had eaten way too much, but he had been alone- so no one could blame him) and knew the order by now. He holds up two fingers, ordering a dish of blue, almost frozen yogurt looking stuff but not quite, and finally turns around to hold out Stan's portion.)
Careful. It can stain your mouth.
(Ask him how he knows.)