etraya | video | un: plushiesidequest (in which she talks about an NPC visitor)

( Oh look! It's that same person who melted a radio tower about two weeks ago? Alex waves to the camera, flashes a smile, then sits down on a plush chair in her apartment and leans forward, planting her elbows on her knees. )

Hey, everyone. I know more of you look at stuff here than comment, but think about doing some commenting this time, you know?

( She breathes in, then out in a sigh. )

So I sent out that signal a few weeks ago. I heard back this morning from a guy outside the barrier that goes by Scylla. He confirmed the multiverse is unraveling. He wasn't happy about it.

( Her hands lay over each other, one holding the other at her wrist. )

He also confirmed this pocket dimension of Echo's we're in has a lot of bubble cities trying to solve the problem through point based reality television style game-show setups. But Echo isn't the only one working to try and save the concept of existence. There are other people out there with other ideas. Scylla didn't know if any of them show any more promise than Echo's way, because no one's had confirmed results or failures based on attempts.

( She opens her hands, staring at the camera. )

He said he'll help us figure out how to close the tear after it's open, because that's when he can get in here. Shout out to Aurora for her work keeping us safe until Echo demands otherwise.

( Sitting back, she frowns at the camera. )

I can sum up what else we talked about if people ask, but this seemed important to get out first. He said I probably won't see him for a bit when he arrives, but anyone who does run into him, he's a guy... fairly handsome? Taller than I am, shorter than Gorgug. Paler than me too. Reddish-brown hair with waves that he wears neatly cut but not close shaven. He was scruffy. Had one of those friendly faces you know likes to tease people until he was getting more serious. I don't know, ( she sighs ) it's been a surreal morning.

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[Clive very much enjoys Alex's hugs. She is really good at them. She gives hugs like Joshua does, firm, warm, and soothing. He returns the gentle gesture, thumb rubbing lightly against her shoulder. She was here, safe for now, and they could figure out a way to make sure she stayed that way.]

Okay. [He takes a deep breath.] Okay.

[Clive can't help the laugh that rumbles through him. He pulls back enough to look down at her, but not enough to let go completely.]

A slipper, Alex? Really?

( Hugs are good, and the world would be better off with more good hugs in it. Or so she opines, and since she feels correct about this, she wins that argument she's had with no one at all.

When he pulls back, she tips herself back too, snorting at his disbelief. )

Yeah, a slipper. Do you want to get beat around the head with a slipper? I promise, it is not fun.

( Do not mess with slipper armaments. They might not be deadly, but they sure are instructive. )

Seriously though, I'm not sure I'd have been able to do much other than try to resonate with myself to throw him out of my head fast if I'd felt threatened. I didn't, but that's more because he wasn't doing anything, just standing there. Though I did not appreciate the sudden appearance right after getting up out of bed.

[Hugs are very good, and Clive is working on getting more comfortable with full-on hugs outside of very stressful situations. It's difficult, but not because he doesn't want them.]

I have never been beat about the head with a slipper. I trust your wisdom and experience in this field.

[Getting hit in the head with anything wasn't fun and, while a slipper didn't sound threatening, he wasn't keen to give it a try.]

Will that change when you see him later during the mission? Have you figured out how you are going to approach him? You're not going alone, are you?

[He's gonna mother hen you, Alex.]

( Take your time, Clive. Alex at least understands how that goes... even if she's touchy with the people she gets close to. Who wouldn't be? Human contact is one of the more reaffirming things in her life, historically speaking. )

Yikes, now I feel like that's saying I've had one too many slipper encounters... I have dodged a slipper to the head before. You don't mess with Aunties. They're powerful.

( She cants her head to the side, looking off over his shoulder. Alex is actively thinking, based on the way her brow furrows. It's a moment before she can reply to the source of mother henning concern. )

He said he's probably not going to see me first. My guess is whatever his agenda is will keep him busy, but at some point either he'll talk to enough of us, or he'll be useful instead of only self-serving.

( None of this sounds upbeat, but Alex is being realistic. At least she thinks she is. Her gaze shifts back to Clive's face. )

I'm not planning on going to find him alone. I just won't promise that it can't happen, with us not knowing how this stupid nebula radiation will mess with us. Though there's a non-zero chance I might just tackle him to the ground, I guess.

( Recreational violence is great? But also, ways to keep people from running. )

[It was easy with Alex, the contact. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she had already seen him in vulnerable positions of multiple kinds, wounded in both body and mind, or maybe she just had that air about her. Either way, he didn’t feel the same hesitation with Alex that he did so many others.]

Aunties? I’ve never had an aunt, and I am certain that if I called any I may have had ‘auntie’ I would be worrying about a whole lot more than a slipper to the head.

[That kind of familiarity? Amongst nobility? Never.]

I’m going to beat the dead horse here and say that I don’t trust him. That doesn’t change the fact that he is going to be here and anyone might run into him. Just, be careful.

[Clive sighs.]

I want to be with you, but I…

[Clive closes his eyes, but opens them again quickly, a slight shudder running through his body. Smoke, fire, burnt hair, cracking skin, sloughing flesh, skin cracking under the lightest pressure, blood pouring over his hands, his lap, cradled to his chest, pain pain pain. He shakes his head, trying to dislodge it all, the shudder going from brief to a steady tremor.]

I might hurt you. If I – Alex, if I –

[Finally, he extricates himself from her hold stepping backwards to lean against the nearest sturdy surface, breathing slowly, hands shaking as he clenches and unclenches them at his sides.]

If I hurt you, I don’t think I could ever forgive myself.

[His voice is hoarse and quiet, haunted.]

( Trauma is a lived reality for so many of them. Alex has seen it, here and there and everywhere. Sees it now in Clive, and watches him, letting him work through what he needs to. Lets go when he moves back, because you can't hold people away from what they need to do. She's learned that. She's taught that to those around her.

Some things are solved by proximity. Others are solved in distance. Most are solved by patience. Or, at times, the lack thereof. )

Clive, you'd have to. Just like I'd have to get past hurting you, or anyone else here. We can't control everything around us, we can just do our best and learn how to apologize when that's not enough.

( She moves around the counter, collecting a glass off the drying pad and filling it up with water. She slides it across the counter toward him, if he wants it. )

Plus, give me some credit. I've taken down guys and Wanderers bigger than you, and that's without my Evol. I'm not the one you need to worry about hurting here. Isn't that more the kids?

( And it hurts, knowing how there are kids here. Like Julie. Like more, she's seen them in passing. What kind of reality television show pulls in children? )

[Traumatic experiences are something that Clive has been well acquainted with from a young age. While not all of them clung to him like this, they all had a lasting impact. A hateful mother, a largely absentee father, a sword in his hand young enough to be a force to be reckoned with by the age of 12, watching the slow ruin of his world as Blight crept ever closer, and all of that before the Night of Flames.

No, Clive was no stranger to pain, but this? It was so fresh and it had already ruined so much.]

I’m supposed to protect people, not hurt them.

[He accepts the glass of water, but doesn’t drink, not yet. Instead, he turns to face the wall, hands gripping the counter so tight his knuckles go white and he feels the steady digging of the edge of the countertop on his palms.]

I’ve already done terrible things here. In Etraya. I – [Clive closes his eyes, forcing back the burning that usually came before tears.]

In San Francisco. If something were to happen so close to the tail end of that?

[He shakes his head. Killing Vander had already broken something in him, between them, something he didn’t think he could ever truly fix. They could grow, change, but he didn’t think he would ever have that easy companionship again. He had already lost the man in so many ways, the thought of losing another so important to him is gutting.]

I’ll be staying away from any children and doing what I can to stay away from people who are generally non-combatants.

[His voice is quiet. He’s thought about this, maybe too much.]

I don’t doubt your strength, Alex. I doubt mine.

video | un: plushiesidequest (in which she talks about an NPC visitor)

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TW: Graphic descriptions of burned bodies, blood

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