EVENT | SETTLING IN

[historiadores]

SETTLING IN

Initial quarantine period is over, but the newest arrivals in Llave, known colloquially as “Los Aparecidos” (The Appeared), remain largely restricted to the shelter for two primary reasons: one, as they are currently stateless, meaning they have no rights to citizenship anywhere, what to do with them continues to be debated; and two, it has become rapidly obvious that many have zero knowledge not just of the nation they find themselves in, but of the wider world around them.

The former has been explained to them via the lawyers who have taken their collective case, and further clarified by the prime minister, Rosario Alonzo de León, when she and several members of her government return to speak again with the arrivals. A highly intelligent and capable woman in her late forties, she makes a point of sitting with each newcomer to Llave to converse about their experiences thus far and what concerns they have.

As for the lagoons in characters’ knowledge, steps are being taken to address these.

Classes are being held now, in order to prepare the arrivals for whatever happens next. Characters will be taught a variety of skills, including but not limited to communication methods such as mail, phones, television, radio and the Internet; use of appliances, including basic lessons on modern utilities; and general safety rules both inside and outside the home. Characters can request specific classes or volunteer to help teach their companions. (And for anyone learning or helping to teach how to read and write, a reminder that the Spanish alphabet consists of 27 letters: ‘ñ’ has its place after ‘n’. And ‘ll’ and ‘rr’ have their own sounds.)

The woman organizing the classes has become well-known to the arrivals: Evelyn Burgos Peña was a clinical social worker before leaving her previous work to assume the duties of First Lady when her wife was elected. Aside from spearheading the new education efforts for the arrivals, she has also been working diligently with the Bajari Bara to establish the second change in the daily routine.

Due to the generally acceptable behavior during the Day of Heroes, characters are now sometimes permitted to leave the shelter to visit Old Nona. These group excursions are not every day, and last only a few hours. One of these excursions is tied to a class to which all are invited. Rather than make learning more about Llave itself a tedious lecture, on the week of November 22nd, the museum characters arrived at has opened its doors to them for a special exhibit on the island's early history. Characters are accompanied as they were during the Day of Heroes by a guide and an escort of Bajari Bara.

Characters are reminded being permitted outside is a privilege. Until the matter of their legal status is resolved, they have few rights and fewer legal protections. Behavior and curfew are both strictly enforced, and violations will result in the loss of this privilege.

Otherwise, the routine in the shelter remains the same. Caseworkers still check in daily and will refer those who present a need or who request it to the appropriate mental health professionals. Hot meals continue to be provided three times a day along with snacks. A projector was brought in and a different movie is aired every night (General Audiences only—remember, there are children present), with the shelter staff providing snacks to make it a movie theater experience. Entertainment items—books, games, sports equipment, art supplies, etc.—are available and can also be requested (though no promises are made that characters will get exactly what they want, especially if the item can double as a weapon).

Possession of weapons remains strictly prohibited and any visible weapons will be confiscated. Any who attempts to flout this rule, starts fights in the shelter or in Nona or attempts to break out will be swiftly separated from the rest by the Bajari Bara. Further violence will result in consequences according to their actions.

---

THE MONTH'S HEADLINES

• Red chickcharney seen celebrating during the Day of Heroes.
• Tombs found disturbed in Nona's Old Cemetery.
• Santa Cecilia cattle farmers on high alert after cows, sheep found mauled.
• Unidentified flying object spotted off the coast of Bimini.

OOC PLANNING POST • NAVIGATION

Comments

[heeroism]

﹙ he's always been a good judge of character, even when he's kept his sense of empathy hammered down into the substrata of his being. people give themselves away. looks, gestures, the uptick of their breath, the pound of a pulse. he knows when people are afraid more than when they're lying.

this boy talks about the dead like they're something precious. like they meant something. like they mattered.

how many names did treize memorize, before his death?

(how many does he know now?)

he would have pressed the resource. that makes his companion the better man. ﹚

No one that had answers.

﹙ he's silent a moment, then: ﹚

I asked the Prime Minister if she planned on using us as weapons. There's more than one soldier here, and I'm sure there are a few reasons the head of a nation would be keen on someone like you. For what it's worth, she didn't seem interested.

[lordofdarkness]

[He nods at the offered information, unsurprised and letting out a tiny snort.]

She's a mortal, I don't think she wanted any of this. [He doesn't quite catch the admission or the implications of the words. They remain true anyway.]

But I don't exactly freelance anyway. [He frowns, remembering the way she'd addressed him after his questions.] And she seemed nice. I think she really is just trying to figure out what to make of all this.

[heeroism]

We don't get to choose what we're caught up in. She'll have to make her peace with that.

﹙ this task falls to her. heero is trying to have... faith in people these days. relena gave him that. so did mariemaia, in a twisted way.

heero studies the phone that the boy had put down. then, looking away: ﹚

My name's Heero Yuy.

﹙ he didn't bother with it earlier, and didn't exactly introduce himself for the class. it never bothered him, to carry the codename of a dead man and all those old hopes for peace on his shoulders. but he's finding now, more and more, it feels like it fits. ﹚

[lordofdarkness]

[He raises his eyes to Heero and there's something searching in his gaze. He's better now, of course. Well, better, then worse again, but still better than before. He talks to people now, has friends—there's a thought that sends a bolt of pain straight into his chest, but he's used to that—he has friends and some of them are even alive.

The campers don't avoid him anymore, he doesn't sit alone. He has Reyna and Hazel. He has Will. So. he's better.

Bu he's still...him. Still learning how to not be the kid everyone is afraid of, the one no one wants to stand near. There are wounds that are healing even now. He's not used to people reaching out to him, even if he isn't sure that's exactly what Heero is doing but...but it's nice. He likes it.

His lips turn up in the shadow of a smile and he nods.]

I'm Nico. [The sulk from before has vanished into something quieter, though not exactly shy. Nico hasn't looked away and he seems at a loss of what he's supposed to do now. After an awkward pause, he nods again.]

Yeah. Guess she'll have to. [Now that he's looking at Heero, really looking, he sees the way death clings to his aura, like with Jory. It isn't the cold creeping black of potential death, but it's death all the same. Like he's soaked in it. What was that he'd said about soldiers?]

Are you a soldier?

[heeroism]

﹙ he'd been vague on purpose, but maybe he should have left off the reference all together. his answer is immediate, automatic, a little cold: ﹚

No.

﹙ but he doesn't like the way the word cuts the air. he'd resolved to simply never bother bringing it up, but he hadn't accounted for what it might mean to lie directly when asked. it costs him more than he'd anticipated.

relena had found him out on the first day. she saw his face. learned his name. put herself in harm's way again and again and again, to protect him, to speak to him, to bring him that letter from marshal noventa's wife.

yet despite all that... knowing what he knows now, if he could go back in time and change that... he doesn't think he would. relena became, somehow, a pillar of his life, and he wants to be a person worthy of her regard.

what does he have to gain by lying? if the truth comes out later, it will erode any trust he's garnered. and given the close quarters here, he'll be watched so closely, so constantly that he'll have to pay more mind than he likes to ensuring he doesn't give it away. the second anyone sees just how many scars he has, the speculation will start.

lying by omission is easier. simple. survivable.

but he doesn't think he wants to be the sort of person who lies on purpose just because the truth is painful.

his jaw works faintly off to one side, clenches briefly, and then: ﹚

Not anymore.

﹙ trust is a choice he's making. but it's still thrown him up against the razor's edge to make it. ﹚

[lordofdarkness]

[He can see it, the struggle, Heero clawing his way to an answer he's chosen to give even if he doesn't want to. He feels guilt then, unreasonable he knows, but it was a personal question and he hadn't thought about how personal. It would be rude to apologize now after Heero worked so hard to answer, so he responds the only way he knows how, offering honesty for honesty.]

I'm not in the military, but I've fought in two wars. [Pause.]

I'm a half-blood, a demigod. Half mortal, half god. [And then, quieter.] My father is Hades.

You don't have to believe me, in my world, mortals don't know about us, but it's the truth. [He shrugs, like it doesn't matter. The truth is, he's less concerned that Heero won't believe him, and more concerned that he will and that he'll shun him for it. As if Hades was the god worth scorning. As if he wasn't more honorable than most of the other Olympians put together.]

[heeroism]

﹙ just because someone lacks the hallmarks of lying doesn't necessarily mean they're telling the truth. but at the end of the day, he's still here. if 'here' isn't just the synaptic firing of nerves as he dies from something he never saw coming, then he has to accept that there can be more to the universe than he was ever aware.

heero shrugs. if it's a lie, he'll learn more from going along with it anyway. if it's true, then he's lost nothing but time. heero has realized he's got a window of opportunity here, gained by being honest when he hadn't wanted to be, and so he cants his head, chin tipped up, and gives nico a level look. ﹚

The thing you're carrying. Is it a weapon?

[lordofdarkness]

[Nico glance at him with a surprised look.]

You saw my sword? [He reaches out to his belt then, and for just a moment, something that looks a lot like black steel flickers into view, there and gone again.]

Yeah, the mist usually hides it from people, but sometimes it acts up. That's how I've kept it with the restrictions. Most people can't see it. Their eyes trick them into thinking it's something else.

[His hand rests on top of his belt again and this time the flickering image solidifies to reveal a pitch black sword hanging from his belt and dangling over the floor.]

[heeroism]

﹙ the gun he dropped in mariemaia's bunker was supposed to be the last weapon he ever touched. he doesn't want to hurt people any more, doesn't want to take any more lives. let those soldiers he fought there be the last of them. he's done. the cost outweighs the benefit for him now.

but he still grew up around weapons. trained with them. odin made sure he knew how to use a rocket launcher just as effectively as a sword. and this sword draws the eye for more reasons than it simply being invisible until — touched? is there intent behind it? he's always believed in science over anything magic, but then how do you explain quatre and his uncanny ability to know what others are feeling thousands of miles away? the look he gives it is equal parts wary and assessing of the weight, the balance, the edge.

no one fights in a war because they wanted to, unless they saw it as a pathway to glory and soon learned it meant anything but that. the one he fought, long as it was, was filled with people on all sides trying to take advantage of the gundams.

someone claiming to be the child of a god of death would probably be in the same position. treated like a pawn. used.

he folds his arms and looks pointedly away from the weapon. it is interesting, but he's not going to use that as an excuse to pursue information that's probably been sought after enough. ﹚

So how would it work? Talking to the gods from another culture.

[lordofdarkness]

[Nico stares at him for a moment and the sword vanishes again, still in his grip. So not touch then. He opens his mouth and then closes it, his brow furrowing.]

Well, I want to learn as much as I can about them first. Their customs and beliefs. So that I can show them proper respect. Then I would just...talk to them I guess. If they'll hear me out.

[Talking to gods is easier than talking to people, honestly, pay them the proper respect and expect to be talked down to, at least they made sense. People though. Ugh.]

I'll ask them if they know anything about what happened, or what's behind it. They might not answer or maybe I'll have to jump through some hoops or complete some quest for them first. That's usually how gods work.

[heeroism]

Just sounds like being human with extra steps. Guess we had to get it from somewhere.

﹙ treize had been playing at god, after all. manipulating things behind the scenes, bending people to his will. it's hard to believe after all that time that he wanted peace as much as any of them.

he shakes his head. ﹚

I'll help you. If it happens.

[lordofdarkness]

[That startles a laugh out of him because Heero, that is exactly what dealing with gods is like. The same as people, but pettier.]

Thanks, I'll keep you updated if I find anything out. [Gone is the sulk from earlier, instead in its place a shy friendliness that shows a little more of his fifteen years of age.]

...guess I'll have to learn how to use this stupid thing then. [He gestures at the phone and sighs dramatically, though it lacks the ire from before.]

[heeroism]

﹙ it's an alliance, and he's learned — those are never nothing. he nods, accepting that, and then leans back in over the cellphone. ﹚

What are you having trouble with specifically?

﹙ and just as there's something shy and friendlier in nico's behaviour, so too has his shifted. there's a... softness that wasn't quite there before. a little of the kindness that he's so long buried brought out into the light, ready to disappear at a moment's notice. but present, for now. ﹚