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.

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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

[lordofdarkness]

[Against his will, his lips twitch into a slight smile, eyes fixed to Cerberus with a warm gaze. He moves towards the dog but stops short of entering his space, just in case.]

Hi Cerberus. I'm used to you being a lot bigger.

[But a dog that doesn't run away from him is a good dog and he continues to smile at the canine before rising to face his-to face...Hades.]

...he came here with you?

[aionc]

[ for a moment, a brief moment, hades fears his dog will start to snarl and cause a scene. it wouldn't exactly surprise him, considering how protective cerberus is when it comes to hades. but he doesn't growl, doesn't snarl, only leans forward to sniff at the boy tail immediately wagging in approval. ]

Well, he can become much larger if he wants. [ immediately hades shoots a look at the dog whose head suddenly shifts into three though his size remains 'normal'. ] And he can do that, but we aren't going to be making any scenes in the shelter, are we?

[ immediately the three heads return to being one and gatekeeper of the underworld acts as innocent as a creature such as he could be. hades exhales, shaking his head, gaze turning to face nico properly. ]

Looks that way, yeah.

[lordofdarkness]

[He listens and nods in the right places, smile twitching again at the sight of three heads, and then he goes silent for a moment, struggling with how he wants to do this. Well, he supposes first things first.

Nico gets down on one knee and bows his head in reverence.]

I apologize for being rude the first time we talked. I was...confused. [And he's just going to stay that way kneeling on the ground in front of his not dad until Hades says he can get up.]

[aionc]

[ uh...

the reaction is immediate, confusion that immediately turns into something incredibly uncomfortable. he stands up suddenly, reaching out to grab nico's arm but pausing mid-air. sweet olympus, he doesn't want this! no one kneels in front of him, not even his own staff! ]

Don't kneel─ [ it's said through gritted teeth, torn between dragging nico back onto his feet himself or letting the boy stand on his own. ] ─look, it's fine. It's not your fault for being rude, trust me you're not the first person to be nor the last. Please stand up.

[lordofdarkness]

[Look not!dad, Nico just wants to make sure he doesn't get smited for their last encounter. Smote? Obliterated. He stands immediately, looking like that was a perfectly normal thing for him to have just done.]

You don't want me to kneel in front of you? [Huh. Weird. I mean he's not complaining.]

Do you smite people? [He stares hard at Hades, watching him closely for his answer, his eyes narrowed just the faintest bit, half expecting a trick answer. This isn't his Hades though, and it isn't his pantheon, so he supposes the rules might be different.]

Because Zeus—the one I know—would have killed me on the spot if I'd talked to him the way I talked to you. [Granted, Zeus would be happy to kill him for existing so that's not the best example but still. Also Zeus is a dick.]

[aionc]

Of course, I don't!

[ there is something about being compared to zeus that makes him bristle, not that what the boy says isn't wrong but still. exhaling heavily he runs a hand through his hair, looking around at the other people in the shelter before back to nico. ]

Yes, well, my brother can be a bit like that too. [ even more so these days. ] But let's get one thing straight, I'm not Zeus. I might be the King of the Underworld but that doesn't mean you have to bow or kneel or any of that.

[lordofdarkness]

[That gets an eyebrow raise.]

It's not just Zeus who wants us to kneel where I'm from, but I'll keep that in mind. [And "my brother can be a bit like that" is one way of describing Zeus, Nico supposes. Another is a selfish piece of shit but he hasn't quite figured out yet if Zeus can hear him speaking here so he doesn't risk it.]

So...you're Hades, but you aren't my dad. [Which is weird. Not the weirdest, he supposes.]

That's...[He lifts a hand to run through his hair and then he sighs deeply.]

I don't know what I'm supposed to do here. What do you expect from me?

[aionc]

I...

[ the question throws a spanner into the gears of his mind, stopping all thought on kneeling and bowing that sparked a small fire in his veins. none of it mattered now, not when faced with a question he does not know the answer of. hades sighs running a hand through his hair and absently reaching for cerberus, the dog responds quickly by nudging his hand with the top of his head. ]

Honestly? Nothing. [ without thinking he scratches behind cerberus' ears, red rings forming around the pupils of his eyes. ] I need you to understand, I can't have children so when you said Hades was your father I was shocked. It didn't help that you weren't the first person to say that either.

I don't expect anything from you and I don't know what I am supposed to do either. I never thought I would have children and suddenly here are two that are both mine and not at the same time.

[ he needs a drink. a lot of drinks. ]

[lordofdarkness]

[It's a far more honest answer than he was expecting and it shows in the furrow of his brow, the way Nico doesn't quite know what to do with an answer like that. He shifts his weight, trying to hide his discomfort.]

I'm not expecting a dad. [Because it feels like that's the question Hades is trying to answer and it leaves him feeling a little bit like his stomach has just shadow traveled.]

Do—aren't there demigods in your world? The gods don't actually...[Guilt stings him and he winces, trying again.]

Most of the gods don't act like parents to demigods. They don't raise us or live with us or anything like that. We're meant to serve the gods. [He doesn't bother trying to keep the sharp bitterness from his words and he continues before he can stop himself, familiar anger and grief taking root in him.] We fight their battles and die for them.

My dad is...better than most of the other Olympians. But I'm not asking about you as a father. I'm asking as a demigod. If I don't—[He stops and starts again.] If me and Mal—[That's not right either and he glares at the floor.]

If you need a demigod, I'll do what I have to. Leave Mal out of it.

[aionc]

[ 'we fight their battles and die for them.'

something snaps and the red rings around the iris of his eyes grows, fingers curling into tight fists. cerberus tilts his head, looking from nico to hades, growing twice his current size in blink of an eye. 'we fight their battles and die for them.' a part of him wishes he could be surprised by the revelation, that he felt shocked by it, but he can't. it is, in essence, a very olympian thing to do. even so, the words do not sit well on his shoulders and leave something bitter in his mouth. ]

I won't. [ as if responding to the storm coursing through his mind, his bident materializes before them. ] You are a child, not a weapon. I do not expect you or Mal to fight for me, or die for me. I fight my own battles.

As a god I except you to be mortal, to be the children you are.

[lordofdarkness]

[The sudden fight in Nico goes out of him as quickly as it had come on him, and he seems to sag under Hades' words and his reaction, suddenly feeling very tired. A child, he says, but Nico knows better. Demigods don't get to be children. He watches Cerberus react to his master's emotion, sees the changes in him. It's enough to convince him that he means it, though it brings that discomfort back. People have been angry on his behalf before, but gods haven't. Not like this. Not for something he'd come to accept as his lot in life.

At least it seems here he'll have respite and he won't have to worry about Hades trying to get Mal wrapped up in anything. His sister has been through a lot, that much he can tell, but he doesn't think she's been in a war before. If he has a say in it, she never will.]

...your world really is different. [And then] Okay.

[He should probably go now that he knows where they stand as god and demigod, but something keeps him there, a reluctance he doesn't want to put a name to.]

If you need help though, that's. I mean, that's different. If something comes up. [His eyes find the ground and he lets the statement hang there.]

[aionc]

[ calm down.

hades breathes in, then out, closing his eyes as the bident vanishes from view and cerberus edges closer to him. the hound nudges hades' hand until it rests comfortably on the top of his head, ground him to the moment, to the place, to the boy standing in front of him. when his eyes open again the red has gone, the steel fading from his expression replaced with something more tired and uncertain.

too much is uncertain, too many questions spin about his thoughts. ]

Oh, that's yeah. That's different. [ that is something he can accept, something he can give them in return. ] The same goes for you if you ever need it. Mal too. Just knock the ground twice.

[ cerberus' form shifts then, returning to something more 'normal' for a large black dog and he lays down. better. ]

[lordofdarkness]

[He was almost expecting Hades to reject the offer with as much vehemence as he'd had a moment ago, so he's a little surprised by the acceptance. And more surprised still by the returned offer. It startles a smile out of him, faint and shy, but there nonetheless. In his smile, his age becomes more apparent. Despite the weariness in his eyes, when he smiles like this he doesn't look any older than his fifteen years, still gangly, young, and awkward.]

Okay. If you need me—uh. Well, tapping the ground won't work so I guess come and find me.

So. What should I call you?

[aionc]

[ it's a welcome comfort when the moment passes, his offer accepted, and all the tension bleeds from his limbs. hades exhales, running a hand through his hair, leaning down to give cerberus another scratch behind the ear absently. okay, this is better, the basis of a healthy relationship even. no one is using children as weapons to fight their battles, and if nico ever needs anything he can simply summon him. good. ]

I'll do that, or Cerberus might in my stead. He can be useful sometimes.

[ a small jab, affectionate, though the creature in question does little to react. ]

You could just call me Hades, or is that too weird?

[lordofdarkness]

No, that's not weird. Well, it's weird but normal weird. [He shrugs. "Father" would be weirder. This might feel informal but at least it didn't make him cringe.]

Okay then, uh, Hades. Thanks for hearing me out. [He pauses and then adds—] and for not smiting me. I'm not really a fan of being smited. [The smile on his lips tugs up into something reminiscent of a smirk. Was that a joke? Is he making a joke? Who knows.]

Anyway, I'll be around then. [He offers him a nod and then turns around, probably to go find Mal and tell her how weird this conversation was.]

[aionc]

Of course. [ hades smiles, awkward, hand raising to rub the back of his neck slightly. the laughter that follows is only a little awkward though on par for the mood the conversation has had as a whole. ] Can't say I have ever encountered anyone who has been a fan of being smited.

[ good gods, he is internally cringing at himself right now. ]

Good, good, well I will see you around then. [ a beat. ] Bye.

[ he watches nico turn, giving the boy a wave as he starts to head off, waiting until he can't see him before groaning and burying his face in his hands. ]

I'm horrible at this.