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.
[Honestly, it's a good thing that they've already had this discussion about different times--apparently things happened different ways, too. It's on the tip of his tongue to tell Eddie how he remembers things happening, but it can wait until Eddie's done explaining.
Richie adjusts his glasses and stares at Eddie with a vacant expression as he tries to grasp this.]
...Yeah? He chased me down and snapped it for throwing rocks at him.
(Not one of Eddie's favorite memories, truth be told. That entire day had taken its toll on Eddie in many, many ways. His hand skims over said arm, which still hurts some days.
It's embarrassing to talk about, Eddie realizes, and he quickly looks down at his feet.)
That's the crazy part, I guess. (He twists his shoe back and forth slowly to try and ease his jitters.)
My mom's been telling me I'm sick for so long it was just easy to believe her. Because why...would I think anything else, you know? So I guess I just...I don't know how it works. I'm trying to stop though.
What the fuck. [The phrase is murmured, and he shakes his head.] He must be even crazier back then.
[Which... if he is, it's only slightly. Even more troubling is Eddie's mom. Richie's known that she's always been... overbearing, to put it nicely, but this simply boggles his mind.]
She fucking wanted you to be sick? [If he sees her again he s2g he will let her have it.]
Bowers is completely batshit. That's why he's in Juniper now.
(The crazy son of a bitch killed Mike's poor dog, for Christ's sake. Among several other things that Eddie preferred to not think about if it could be helped.
Eddie's jaw works back and forth and he shrugs a little bit, feeling impossibly awkward.)
I don't...(He didn't understand it all that well himself. He winds up sitting down back next to Richie.)
It's hard to understand. (That's all he can really say. To this day, he still struggled with it. Most of the time, he felt grateful to be away from her, like he had won somehow. Other times though, he felt horrible for leaving his mother all alone. His father had left her on her own too. And she technically had only ever wanted to the best for Eddie. Had wanted him to have a good life, a healthy life, and sure she was overbearing, but no one could say that she didn't love her son.
Eddie was too young to understand how there was such a thing as bad love, loving too much, loving in the wrong way. "Love" was a good word, and mothers loved their children in ways children didn't always understand. How could something so positive have such a negative outcome?
And he loved his mom, was the thing, he loved her a whole lot. Just like he was frightened of her a whole lot. He wants to tell Richie all of this, tell him about how he understood why, but truthfully? He doesn't understand why. Because despite getting that she cared, he also felt like he'd been robbed of so much. He'd spent so many days laying in hospital beds, taking medicine that he never needed- and God, he worried nonstop about getting sick still. And for what?
His mindmother wails in his head, Eddie! You can't leave your mother. You don't know how sick the world is. You'll never make it!)
I don't think she wanted me to leave. And maybe, if she could keep me sick, and fragile, then I'd always think that leaving was dangerous.
Shit, he didn't die? I'm starting to think my time is better.
[It's not completely a fair statement to say. He really doesn't know anything about Eddie's time. His is just going to default be the best because it's the one he lived.
He watches Eddie as he tries to explain all of this and Richie... he doesn't get it. He's never grasped the concept of parents having a hands-on approach to child-rearing to begin with, because it's never something he experienced.]
That's fucked up.
[He's not sure what else he can say, other than acknowledge it for what it is.] What are you going to do about it?
(He's curious, because a timeline where Henry died sounded a little bit like heaven. Richie very well might be right. After all, Eddie's timeline left a lot more to be desired.
It's not a very satisfying answer, but the most important thing is that Richie seems to believe him. Eddie just gives a weak nod, followed by a partial shrug.)
I don't know. Hope there's a shrink somewhere on this station? I'm trying not to take my medicine anymore, but sometimes, when I get scared...It's really hard not to.
Yeah. Henry Bowers didn't break your arm. It happened the first time we went inside Neibolt. [He decides not to mention how Sonia reacted, or how he got into a fight with Bill over it, or how much the weeks following sucked.]
Henry tried to kill Mike, when we went back the last time. But he wound up cracking his head on the well and fell down to the bottom, so I'm pretty sure he's a goner.
[He doesn't know what other differences there might be, but those are the ones that have become obvious through their talking.]
I don't know, but don't let them hypnotize you. Weird stuff might happen. [It is totally a valid concern.] Think there's something you can do instead of taking your medicine, when you feel like you need to?
The Neibolt...Oh...(Well that makes Eddie go a little pale. He can still practically smell the leper.)
Shit, the werewolf? (Because that was different too, but Eddie doesn't know that. He just knows that that was what Richie had saw when Bill and him went exploring. But if Eddie wasn't there..maybe things were different overall.)
That's so weird.
(Maybe one day they would have to sit down to lay out the differences, but Eddie realized that it didn't really matter. Not when they were the same in the end.)
Richie. (He sighs, but doesn't argue that yeah, that is a valid concerned. He might as well have already been hypnotized by his own mom.
Eddie gives a bony shrug. Then he reaches over for that worn red scarf laying on the pillow and drags it over into his lap.)
Not be a baby for one thing, but that'll never happen probably. I have a friend here named Sans who gave me this. It's really special, so make sure you never lose it or rip it or anything- (He says this with a rare reverence, holding the scarf out for Richie to touch.)
But Sans was my first real friend here. He's- a skeleton, which is kind of weird, but mostly cool. And he's important. But he gave that to me to try and help me calm down. It helps sometimes. Just touching it, I mean, but otherwise I don't really know what to do when it feels like my lungs are closing up, you know? I don't know if it'll always work.
[So many things must be different, it's almost a miracle that they're still themselves. He could explain if Eddie really wanted, but it seems like there's more important things to focus on.
Like this scarf, which is really soft to the touch and--
Scratch that. That's not even the most important thing. Sorry, Eddie, he really did hear everything you just said and he'll get back to it in a moment, but--]
(Well there's another mental check mark for their list of growing differences.
The scarf is more important than Eddie could put words too. When he had been given it by Sans, and after he later figured out its real importance, Eddie wasn't so sure if he'd ever be able to do what Sans did. If he had something of Richie's or Bill's, he didn't know if he'd be able to give it to someone else to borrow.
It isn't at all a shocking reaction, though Eddie does lean back and roll his eyes.)
Oh my God, Richie, yes. There's like a bazillion weird people at this place. Sans is the coolest too. He's been like, my best bud since getting here. He's technically an adult, but he totally doesn't seem like one.
[Richie's absentmindedly touched the scarf a few times, but now he's got his hands clutched together as he leans forward.]
I have two important questions: does he rattle when he moves? Does he sound all chattery when he talks? Is he like, all put together or are some of the bones missing?
(Eddie's got the other end of the scarf in his lap, and he himself is touching it too. It's kind of instinctive at this point. He stares at Richie, mouth pinched into a thin line.)
No. It's like magic. You dipshit. Don't ask dumb questions about him.
He's a talking, moving skeleton. Why would he be anything else but magical?
(He is yanking his scarf back now, thank you very much. Honestly. He folds it up carefully and sets it in his lap. Richie was totally missing the point, and for that, Eddie felt, as Richie himself would put it, 'bitchy'.)
It isn't normal. But like, none of this is normal.
(It was as simple as Eddie just being frustrated with Richie being Richie. They were best friends, but they were best friends that chopped together pretty often. But at least his annoyance is subsiding and he's realizing maybe it wasn't totally fair to expect Richie to just roll with it. So he bumps his shoulder against Richie's and gives him a bit of a meek look.)
Okay, okay. Sorry. I don't really get it either, is the thing. I just know that he's a skeleton. I haven't asked about the technicalities.
[He might've been able to stay mad at some of their friends for weeks at a time, but that generally wasn't the case with Eddie. This is hardly a big deal, and after that nudge, they're cool now.]
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thisavrou_ooc2017-11-17 07:40 pm
no subject
[Honestly, it's a good thing that they've already had this discussion about different times--apparently things happened different ways, too. It's on the tip of his tongue to tell Eddie how he remembers things happening, but it can wait until Eddie's done explaining.
Richie adjusts his glasses and stares at Eddie with a vacant expression as he tries to grasp this.]
Then why are you taking medicine?
no subject
(Not one of Eddie's favorite memories, truth be told. That entire day had taken its toll on Eddie in many, many ways. His hand skims over said arm, which still hurts some days.
It's embarrassing to talk about, Eddie realizes, and he quickly looks down at his feet.)
That's the crazy part, I guess. (He twists his shoe back and forth slowly to try and ease his jitters.)
My mom's been telling me I'm sick for so long it was just easy to believe her. Because why...would I think anything else, you know? So I guess I just...I don't know how it works. I'm trying to stop though.
no subject
[Which... if he is, it's only slightly. Even more troubling is Eddie's mom. Richie's known that she's always been... overbearing, to put it nicely, but this simply boggles his mind.]
She fucking wanted you to be sick? [If he sees her again he s2g he will let her have it.]
no subject
(The crazy son of a bitch killed Mike's poor dog, for Christ's sake. Among several other things that Eddie preferred to not think about if it could be helped.
Eddie's jaw works back and forth and he shrugs a little bit, feeling impossibly awkward.)
I don't...(He didn't understand it all that well himself. He winds up sitting down back next to Richie.)
It's hard to understand. (That's all he can really say. To this day, he still struggled with it. Most of the time, he felt grateful to be away from her, like he had won somehow. Other times though, he felt horrible for leaving his mother all alone. His father had left her on her own too. And she technically had only ever wanted to the best for Eddie. Had wanted him to have a good life, a healthy life, and sure she was overbearing, but no one could say that she didn't love her son.
Eddie was too young to understand how there was such a thing as bad love, loving too much, loving in the wrong way. "Love" was a good word, and mothers loved their children in ways children didn't always understand. How could something so positive have such a negative outcome?
And he loved his mom, was the thing, he loved her a whole lot. Just like he was frightened of her a whole lot. He wants to tell Richie all of this, tell him about how he understood why, but truthfully? He doesn't understand why. Because despite getting that she cared, he also felt like he'd been robbed of so much. He'd spent so many days laying in hospital beds, taking medicine that he never needed- and God, he worried nonstop about getting sick still. And for what?
His mindmother wails in his head, Eddie! You can't leave your mother. You don't know how sick the world is. You'll never make it!)
I don't think she wanted me to leave. And maybe, if she could keep me sick, and fragile, then I'd always think that leaving was dangerous.
(Which...he still kind of did.)
no subject
[It's not completely a fair statement to say. He really doesn't know anything about Eddie's time. His is just going to default be the best because it's the one he lived.
He watches Eddie as he tries to explain all of this and Richie... he doesn't get it. He's never grasped the concept of parents having a hands-on approach to child-rearing to begin with, because it's never something he experienced.]
That's fucked up.
[He's not sure what else he can say, other than acknowledge it for what it is.] What are you going to do about it?
no subject
(He's curious, because a timeline where Henry died sounded a little bit like heaven. Richie very well might be right. After all, Eddie's timeline left a lot more to be desired.
It's not a very satisfying answer, but the most important thing is that Richie seems to believe him. Eddie just gives a weak nod, followed by a partial shrug.)
I don't know. Hope there's a shrink somewhere on this station? I'm trying not to take my medicine anymore, but sometimes, when I get scared...It's really hard not to.
no subject
Henry tried to kill Mike, when we went back the last time. But he wound up cracking his head on the well and fell down to the bottom, so I'm pretty sure he's a goner.
[He doesn't know what other differences there might be, but those are the ones that have become obvious through their talking.]
I don't know, but don't let them hypnotize you. Weird stuff might happen. [It is totally a valid concern.] Think there's something you can do instead of taking your medicine, when you feel like you need to?
no subject
Shit, the werewolf? (Because that was different too, but Eddie doesn't know that. He just knows that that was what Richie had saw when Bill and him went exploring. But if Eddie wasn't there..maybe things were different overall.)
That's so weird.
(Maybe one day they would have to sit down to lay out the differences, but Eddie realized that it didn't really matter. Not when they were the same in the end.)
Richie. (He sighs, but doesn't argue that yeah, that is a valid concerned. He might as well have already been hypnotized by his own mom.
Eddie gives a bony shrug. Then he reaches over for that worn red scarf laying on the pillow and drags it over into his lap.)
Not be a baby for one thing, but that'll never happen probably. I have a friend here named Sans who gave me this. It's really special, so make sure you never lose it or rip it or anything- (He says this with a rare reverence, holding the scarf out for Richie to touch.)
But Sans was my first real friend here. He's- a skeleton, which is kind of weird, but mostly cool. And he's important. But he gave that to me to try and help me calm down. It helps sometimes. Just touching it, I mean, but otherwise I don't really know what to do when it feels like my lungs are closing up, you know? I don't know if it'll always work.
no subject
[So many things must be different, it's almost a miracle that they're still themselves. He could explain if Eddie really wanted, but it seems like there's more important things to focus on.
Like this scarf, which is really soft to the touch and--
Scratch that. That's not even the most important thing. Sorry, Eddie, he really did hear everything you just said and he'll get back to it in a moment, but--]
YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH A SKELETON?!
no subject
The scarf is more important than Eddie could put words too. When he had been given it by Sans, and after he later figured out its real importance, Eddie wasn't so sure if he'd ever be able to do what Sans did. If he had something of Richie's or Bill's, he didn't know if he'd be able to give it to someone else to borrow.
It isn't at all a shocking reaction, though Eddie does lean back and roll his eyes.)
Oh my God, Richie, yes. There's like a bazillion weird people at this place. Sans is the coolest too. He's been like, my best bud since getting here. He's technically an adult, but he totally doesn't seem like one.
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I have two important questions: does he rattle when he moves? Does he sound all chattery when he talks? Is he like, all put together or are some of the bones missing?
[That's three questions, but whatever.]
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No. It's like magic. You dipshit. Don't ask dumb questions about him.
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[He asks plenty of dumb questions but gdi he is standing by this.] You can't act like magical skeletons is normal.
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(He is yanking his scarf back now, thank you very much. Honestly. He folds it up carefully and sets it in his lap. Richie was totally missing the point, and for that, Eddie felt, as Richie himself would put it, 'bitchy'.)
It isn't normal. But like, none of this is normal.
no subject
[That's how he feels about that, but he follows it up with a shrug.] I. Don't. Know. Which is why I asked.
[It's one of those moments where he's not understanding why Eddie's getting frustrated with him but that's nothing new.]
no subject
Okay, okay. Sorry. I don't really get it either, is the thing. I just know that he's a skeleton. I haven't asked about the technicalities.
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[He might've been able to stay mad at some of their friends for weeks at a time, but that generally wasn't the case with Eddie. This is hardly a big deal, and after that nudge, they're cool now.]
I'm glad he's been a good friend for you.
no subject
Yeah, but he's not you guys.
(Which was absolutely no offense to Sans, but the man in question would understand what Eddie meant by that. No one could replace the Losers.)