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Week 1.
WEEK 1. As Cynthia had promised, the sun does indeed rise the next morning. Whether you slept or not (and sleeping inside the Pokémon Center you were in before seems totally fine by the attendant), it seems Cynthia kept her word; she left sometime shortly before sunrise, and you haven't been bothered by Team Galactic and those that work for it in the interim. It isn't advisable to return to the headquarters building, however. At least not for the time being. However, a new day does dawn, and with it comes the knowledge that you're in an unfamiliar city, completely on your own. There are several things to be done before you can leave: gathering supplies and provisions, finding maps, obtaining new clothes... Of course, your new "companions" are still with you, and they don't seem willing to leave your side; they'll follow you dutifully, but they still seem...wrong, horribly so, and it doesn't seem to be wearing off. Maybe if you work with them a little...? Try to talk to them, train them, teach them to do things... Who knows? It might do them some good. POKEMON AVAILABLE: WITHIN CITIES MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY [OOC: Welcome to week one of Azume; feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend. Don't forget that a write-up is due this weekend! Feel free to investigate the city as you see fit this week; we ask only that you try to stagger investigations and be mindful of what's already been checked. If you wish to investigate, notify the mods in your comment subject for your top-level and we'll get on it as soon as possible!] |
no subject
So even though you basically only have one planet, you still get people who want to destroy it? That's horrible.
[The First Order tended to focus on destroying planets that they weren't on at that current moment, and they're the biggest group of maniacs Rey can think of. Just what kind of people did this man have to deal with on his planet?!]
...
[She falls silent for a moment, but for some reason, Rey doesn't feel awkward - there's something about Jake that she finds relaxing. Like she can really talk to him. It's a strange, but welcome feeling.]
...are you finding it odd, being around all these people? I mean, outside of the general circumstances. Maybe it's just me, but...I'm not...
[...okay on second thought let her trail off uselessly, words are hard and feelings are even harder]
no subject
[...you know what, yeah words are fucking hard let him amend that - ]
Not like talking to you, because you actually get it. But everyone's being all...friendship and camaraderie and shit, and that's not something you do before you know you can, you know?
no subject
That's exactly it, though...everyone's out here making friends and getting along and I just...
[Her expression doesn't fall, but her shoulders slump slightly.]
...I wish I found it that easy, but I just...can't. I'm not good at talking to people about...I don't know how to explain it, but you know, normal...stuff, I....
[wwwwwoooorrrdddddssssss-]
...I just never know if I'm saying the right thing.
no subject
[He kind of...stops, then. Shrugs a bit.]
I'm probably not saying the right things either, going on like that.
no subject
[Boy, does she ever. Some of these people are being so...genuinely nice, and she doesn't want to dwell on the fact that it feels so painfully unfamiliar and she doesn't really know how to handle it. She's well aware that her adolescence deprived her of a lot of things, but it's usually a lot easier to come to terms with it when she's not so bluntly reminded of how much she's lacking.
It turns the pain from a dull ache to something sharper, laced with a crippling sadness that makes her want to curl up in a ball and weep.
...]
...you don't have to be afraid of saying something stupid around me. I probably wouldn't recognize it as stupid anyway.
no subject
[Just...saying.
That said, though, he's not concerned about saying something too dumb around her; not because she wouldn't be able to tell, but because, again, she gets it.]
You still there, to your knowledge? On Jakku. Or did you find some way to get out of there?
no subject
I did get off the planet, but it was...
[You know, don't you?
...
Or have you always known?]
...it's a long story. I probably could have gotten off sooner than I did, but...
[They were filthy junk traders, who sold you for drinking money.]
...I thought some people were coming back for me. I was...
[It takes all of her focus, but Rey manages to keep her tears in her eyes.]
...mistaken.
[...she's really quite glad you said you wouldn't mind if she said something stupid because her voice just went all weird and ugh don't. mind her if she just turns away for a moment and scrubs at her eyes just give her a minute-]
no subject
Hey, I'm sorry - we don't have to talk about that shit if you don't want to, I should've known better. I thought it was something like that.
[Not...helping, he knows that's not fucking helping- ]
Not...like there's something about you or anything, just from what you said. To Cynthia.
[There aren't too many reasons why someone who's been a scavenger since they were a kid would find it so urgent to know whether they were just left on some world by people they seem to trust; he didn't know for sure, but he had a guess.]
I... Sorry.
no subject
No no no, i-it's not...it's not you, don't apologize-
[There's a part of her - the part that she does her best to silence whenever it decides to contribute something - already chastising her for getting so emotional so quickly, for potentially driving away another person who seems to care for her. As comforting as Cynthia's presence was, being in Sinnoh is making her feel like she needs to start all over again; she was so comfortable with her Resistance companions, with Be-
-no, not with him, she needs to get him out of her mind because the Ben Solo she thought she knew died right before her eyes-
-and now that she's had a taste of real friendship, of what it feels like...she wants it back. Desperately.]
I only found out recently, that's all, so it's still....a bit raw.
[How about we just...change the subject while she sorts out her appearance.]
What about you? Are you...somewhere good?
[Rey is well aware this topic could backfire spectacularly - as it did for Jake - but for now, she'll take the chance.]
no subject
Well, we stopped the latest crazy person from ending the world, so at least it's back to its usual level of insanity instead of sitting solidly at Terror Level: Bugfuck.
[...]
...I'm doing pretty okay, actually. Looking after a bunch of kids in one of our desert regions right now, I promised 'em I'd make sure nothing was going to fuck with them. I look out for them so they don't have to grow up doing the same shit I did, you know?
no subject
[For a moment, Rey's mind wanders, imagining what her life would have been like if she'd had someone on Jakku looking after her - not necessarily a family member, just...someone. Someone who cared enough to make sure nothing bad happened to her. Someone strong like Jake.
...
...she had promised herself that she was going to stop the tears, not restart them, so she manages to keep her emotions in check. But still...what a nice thought. Maybe she'll return to it later.]
...I can confirm that growing up in the desert is a pretty miserable experience when you're alone, so.
[...that was an attempt at humor, she promises. Look, she'll even smile so you know she's fine! No more tears!
...
why is communicating so hard]
no subject
[...communication...]
You look like you came out pretty okay, though. Your head's still on right, and you've got your priorities figured out. Who cares if they're not everyone else's, you do you.
no subject
what...nice compliments]
...thank you. I...well, I just survived, that's all.
[...]
I feel the same about you. I mean, in regards to priorities and coming out okay after your experiences. You seem like...a very kind person, even though the world has been cruel to you. You actually remind me of a friend from back home - I think you two would get along really well.
[Growing up as a Stormtrooper was probably similar to what Jake went through, after all.]
And at least we're both free from the desert for now. I've never actually been in a city this big.
[...is it obviously she's overwhelmed just by the shopping experience alone? Because she is.]
no subject
thinking he's a nice person and everything
...talk about nothing, apparently, that's what.]
Some of the cities back in Edonia are bigger than this, but they're kind of a mess right now because of everything that's been going on. [You know, the...world-ending attempts and everything.] They'll straighten themselves out, though, they always do.
[...yep.]
Tell me about your friend, though, I'm curious.
no subject
[This is a far better topic than if she had escaped Jakku - well done, Jake!]
He had an awful childhood too; raised from birth to be a mindless soldier. But he managed to escape from the First Order - the organization that trained him - and now he's part of the Resistance fighting against the First Order, like me! He's the one who helped me escape from Jakku, actually. He's...a really good person. I miss him terribly.
[Finn would know what to do about all these clothes. Or at least, he'd pretend to know and they could both laugh about it.
...]
That's why I think you two would get along. Similar stories. There's something...I don't know, sort of...comforting, about talking to someone who really understands.
no subject
He sounds pretty great; it's...good, knowing you've got someone like that. Hopefully you'll get to see him again soon.
no subject
[Since it's pointless, and all. Still...]
What about you? Do you have someone you miss?
no subject
Yeah, kinda. I haven't seen her in a while so it's not like I'm around her all the time, but still. Her name's Sherry, she...sorta saved me.
no subject
come on Jake, you can't say something like that and then not elaborate.]
Saved you how, exactly? Were you in trouble?
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[...How...do we discuss feelings without feeling painfully stupid, we just don't fucking know.]
I was really bad-off before. I hated everybody, didn't trust in anything but money and guns. The sort of guy that's dead before they see thirty because they just don't care enough to keep themselves alive. I did a lot of shit that should have killed me. It didn't matter to me if it did or not, because if it did...well, it's not like it'd be my problem anymore, you know?
She got me to stop doing that shit. To actually kind of give a fuck about my life. I'm still working on that part. But...if my head's on right at all right now, it's because of her, not because of me.
no subject
[There's been plenty of nights where only her thoughts have kept her going - thoughts of parents who loved her returning to take her away. Even if the whole 'parents' thing didn't really work out...just having that hope, that reason...it was enough to stave off hunger for one more night.]
You'll have to make sure you get back to her.
[...]
...thanks for talking to me, by the way. It's been nice.
[Have a soft smile, you.]
Even if you haven't been much help with the clothes.
no subject
[He sounds amused, though.]
Anytime, though. I'm not all that hard to find.