acatalepsy_rpg | ᴏᴏ3 ( ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ ) | ʙᴏʏ, ɪɴᴛᴇʀʀᴜᴘᴛᴇᴅ.

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ᴏᴏ3 ( ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ ) | ʙᴏʏ, ɪɴᴛᴇʀʀᴜᴘᴛᴇᴅ.

[ roy is seated in a secluded area of the temple that many may recognize as maes and barabas’ office. he has a notebook in front of him that a great deal of stuff seems to be written in, but roy himself doesn’t have a pen in hand. those paying careful attention may recognize that the writing in the notebook is, indeed, roy’s handwriting, but it’s certainly not legible.

anyway. roy looks a bit tired, but in relatively good spirits, despite what he suffered on the horologium. he’s been relatively quiet, since coming back to the temple -- focused on recovering, catching up with his closer circle of friends and family, and preparing himself for what he had to do next, which is, incidentally, address the circle.

And so, roy clears his throat. ]

We have a handful of new arrivals . . . welcome to the Circle. To those who don’t know me, my name is Brigadier General Roy Mustang. Roy is sufficient.

[ some people like using the titles, and some people don’t. It doesn’t really make a difference to him -- but that being said, roy certainly does speak in an authoritative tone, for as tired as he looks. some things don’t change. ]

I wanted to bring your attention to what we’ve experienced as a group in the past. A world jump is likely coming soon, and the more prepared we are, the higher likelihood we have to avoid another Akvos, or another version of the Horologium. To that extent --

[There’s not really a noise to announce Maes’s arrival. Just one minute there is empty space behind Roy and the next it’s being occupied by a man in glasses.]

Roy! There you are, I --

[He notices that Roy is speaking to the watch or The Circle and leans in over his friend’s shoulder. Personal space and Maes apparently aren’t acquainted, at least where Roy is concerned.]

Oh, hey, you’re talking to everyone else. Perfect. Let me borrow this for a second.

[Maes plucks up the watch. Roy is no longer visible, but you can definitely hear a “hey, give me that!” protest from the side. ]

Hi everyone. Technically I’m a Brigadier General, but feel free to just refer to me as Maes Hughes. I’m sure Roy already started in on the welcoming address, but I have some important information too -- concerning everyone really. I managed to get some details out of Astoria about our next world. After the past few times, well, one of the biggest issues we’ve had is not knowing a lot about where we’re going and how to prepare. Now I know there are mixed feelings about her, but the last time I asked her for information about a world it did prove to be accurate...so I think we can at least trust this much.

[As he speaks on trusting Astoria, he does glance in the direction Roy was. It’s pretty clear Maes has his own skepticism about the woman that has grown substantially from his months of being here. Now isn’t the time to dwell on that though. He clears his throat.]]

I didn’t get a name, but she called it a city, with taverns and everything. It’s populated by various types of people...different species and magic will be present. It sounded like we’d be going to a place with a lot of avenues to pursue. Astoria seems to want us to help the people there...though she couldn’t really give me specifics as to how. It sounds like it won’t be just fighting though, not this time.

[Maes pauses. Is he done? He knows that wasn’t very helpful and, especially for the new folks, it might not mean a lot. He looks like he’s about to give the watch back to Roy, but quickly pulls it back. Oh, right, the other things.]

If that doesn’t mean much to you, don’t worry. This room that Roy and I are in happens to be a library of sorts that Barb and I have been working on to keep all of the information from different people and worlds. We made it with the idea that those of you who are new might want to come read up on previous places. We’d appreciate any information you may have to add in the future.

All that I ask if that you please don’t touch the picture I’ve pinned to the wall of my precious daughter Elysia!

[The picture in question seems to magically appear in Maes’s hand, though it’s hard to tell if that was slight of hand or his teleporting again. The picture shows a girl, no older than three with twin pigtails sticking on top of her head. She sits proudly on a small tricycle, beaming at the camera. His voice changes from serious to a more gushing tone. Has he...has he forgotten the point of this?]

I know she’s just too cute~ But you’re free to look all you want I know she cheers ---

All right, enough, give me that --

[ and the watch is soon wrested out of maes’ hands, to show a very exasperated roy, frustrated (but clearly not enough to be actually upset, given he allowed maes to prattle on for that long). ]

The point of this is to offer ourselves as resources to the newer members, and to continue supporting one another to the best of our ability. Sharing with one another puts us on an even-playing field, and I intend to continue asking that of you, regardless of what happens on other worlds. Many of us have survived good worlds, and bad. Successes, and failures. This is our opportunity to attempt to plan for what comes next, because we likely have little time before our next jump.

[ and, after roy says that, he turns to maes, exasperated: ]

Do you always need to be the center of attention, or do you have an actual medical condition that forces you to --

[ and then the feed ends. ]

(OOC: If you are interested in looking at what we have in the office and want to read or, even better, contribute. Check it out here! Also, feel free to threadjack in this post! )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He smiles broadly, clearly proud as hell.]

Thank you. It's really hard being away from her, so I'm grateful for the few pictures I managed to have on my person.

[It's hard for other reasons as well, but that isn't something he talks about a lot.]

It's no different than I would have on me any day. I make sure to have a few on me when we world hop, but I keep most of them stored here at the Temple. You never know what might happen out there after all.

[There's a slight frown. She thought of how long Yang must have been here before she arrived and there's sudden pang of guilt. That only grows a larger as she considers how long it's been since she saw her dad.

Leaving home for well over a year with just a note was probably not her best choice.]

I think I know what you mean. You're just going to have to give her the biggest hug when you get a chance to see her next.

[There's a beat then she moves on from this bit.]

These world hops are pretty can be pretty unpredictable, huh? This one's going to be my first. That's probably a smart move.

[He nods. If he has his say...well, that's another problem entirely. He can already see he's made Ruby a little sadder and that certainly hadn't been his intention. Being away from home isn't just hard on him after all. Let's focus on the present then, shall we?]

Very much so. Sometimes we are able to get more information out of Astoria in advanced, but it really can still be unexpected issues. This message was supposed to help everyone prepare as they feel as needed but still know that we're going to all have to rely on each other to make it out on the other side okay.

[She just had to make some big decisions that took her away from home before she even got here. She didn't quite realize how much she missed her dad.

She is fairly happy switch to curent issues thoug,]

Makes sense to me. I just got here but I already feel a bit better knowing that people are willing to let us know what's going on. Even if it's only a little bit, every bit helps!

Good. I really do think that whether we do well on these worlds going further is going to come down to everyone working together and we can't do that if we don't know what is going on or what people can contribute.

We're pretty much all in the same boat now, whether we asked to be or not.

Well I'd say you guys are on the right track. I know I'll do my part to help out here.

I've got a sister to look out for here. Well her and everyone else I've run into here has been pretty swell so far. I don't want to see anything bad happen to any of them.

[He hesitates. This is Yang's sister, so he can't be sure if Yang has spoken up about it, but she may have heard about what happened on the Horologium already. He'll test the waters.]

We'll do our best. I can't say that nothing bad will happen. But if we have each other's backs then getting through it is a great deal easier.

[Ruby doesn't have all the details, but she knows Yang is shaken up about something. They are due for a TALK at some point. About what's happened here and what Yang doesn't seem to know about what's happened at home.

Aside from getting settled this message has been the biggest update she has had.]

That's all of any of us can do, so that's all I would ask of you.

The other Brigadier General guy mentioned Akvos and Horologium. What happened in those places?

[He's put the pictures aside by this point. It's time to get to more serious matters after all. He'd just told Ruby they were sharing information. He tries to stay matter of fact, but the Horologium is still a pretty fresh loss, even if they technically succeeded in their objective.]

Horologium was the place we just returned from, shortly before you all arrived in fact. The Horologium was a ship that sent out an emergency distress call and Astoria sent us to check it out. The investigation turned sour pretty quickly and

[it's here that he hesitates. Still, if she's Yang's sister and hanging around this post she's bound to hear it elsewhere.]

there was a monster on board, a creature. It confronted those of us who went deeper into the ship and it hurt a lot of people. Some...well until a few days ago we were counting our dead. Astoria

[He stops, shaking his head]...or someone else was able to restore them to life. It's why the mood around here has been a little darker than the festival would have you think.

[Maes sighs, suddenly tired. He hadn't even gotten into Akvos yet, but this conversation was already pretty heavy.]

Akvos was the mission prior to that. We didn't lose any Circle members on that one, but it was still a pretty bad mission given we lost the people of Akvos' home. Maybe that wasn't our fault entirely, but it certainly feels that way looking back on it.

[She notices the shift in his tone. She isn't exactly surprised by it though, she knew from her first encounter with Yang that something was off. Now she knew it wasn't just the odd time difference in this place.

She keeps quiet during his description of the events. She's able to put two and two together as he goes on.

A monster. Yang. Counting their dead.

Her head droops and her shoulders sag.

It was like her mom all over again.

It takes her a moment to let all this set in and then she finally speaks up.]

You've all been through a lot here, huh?

You, Yang and... The other general.

[There's no anger in her voice. A hint of hurt. A bit of sadness. Maybe just a little lost.]

[On the one hand, he hates being the one to tell her. He's not a fan of making people sad. It's one of the many reasons he doesn't talk about his own issues very often. However, he's also not going to lie. Ruby wanted the story and he wasn't going to beat around it or try to hide it from her.

She said she wanted to help and wanted to know what happened. Well, this was what had happened.]

Yes. Some more than others, but no one left the Horologium unscathed.

[Dead, physical injuries, and more importantly psychological ones. They were going to be recovering from that last bit long after they were all physically healed. Maes knew that much.]

We're all supporting each other though...that's helped I think or at least it's going to help as we move forward.

[He offers a smile, it's small but warm and reassuring.]

Don't worry about the other general. I've looked out for Roy before and he has more than just my eyes on him. Just like I'm sure you're going to look out for Yang and do what you can for her.

[There's a small nod at that.]

You're right. I'll do everything I can for her.

[She returns that smile of his with one of her own. She feels her own resolve start to burn again. This place had felt more like a vacation for the last couple days, now she knew that wasn't exactly the case.]

Not just for her though. I'll do whatever I can for anyone here. You've all been doing your best here and I'll do the same.

[There's a brief pause as she takes a moment to think things over.]

Can you do your weird pop into existence thing to show up where I am?

[She kind of waves her arm around to give him a better look of her room. It's got two beds. It looks like she's moved in with her sister but there's no sign of her at the moment]

[That's better. He'd rather see her smile. Maes knows she's a nice girl, probably pretty strong too if she makes a habit of throwing herself into battle like her sister.]

I'm pretty sure that's all we can ask of you.

[He blinks at the request.]

What? Teleport to you? Sure, I should be able to, give me a second.

[It doesn't just have to be the location. If he thinks about a person usually he can send himself to them instead of worrying about knowing where they are. It's come in handy a few times now. He's not entirely sure why Ruby is making that request, but he figures there's no harm in it. He forgets to turn his watch off though so there's this moment of him just sitting there with his eyes closed as he concentrates and then the screen goes blank.

And in that next moment he's standing a few steps behind and to the left of Ruby, nearer one of the beds. He belatedly turns off the camera and holds up a hand in greeting.]

You called?

[She watches the camera with interest until the screen goes blank. Then all of a sudden she hears his voice from behind her, there's a yelp and a jump because gosh there is actually no way to be prepared for that.

Once she manages to catch her breath she'll turn around to face him.]

Yes, jeez! That is cool but so weird at the same time.

[Then she's going to close the distance between the two of them wrap her around Maes' waist, pulling him in for a tight hug.]

I just want to say thanks for looking after my sister until I got here. And for being honest about what's going on here.

[Somehow, even with the warning, he'd startled her. He just can't catch a break it seems, but such is the nature of teleporting. He grins sheepishly.]

Sorry about that. If it helps, I've had worse reactions.

[Having a knife pulled on you multiple times leaves you with a healthy appreciation for your teammates reflexes. He's learned to teleport out of stabbing distance.

Of course, he's not the only one with surprises today. Ruby hugs him and that's not what he was expecting at all. It's not like he'd known the girl very long, but maybe she was that kind of person. The kind to open her heart (and in this case her arms) to anyone. He'd already thought of her as a good person, a girl who had probably seen more than she let on but who was also still so young. This confirmed it in so many ways, but it was just nice. After a moment of hesitation, not quite knowing how to respond, he gently puts a hand on her head and one arm over her shoulder.

She seems like she could use a hug too.]

I honestly think Roy kept more of an eye out for her...but you're welcome all the same. Like I said, we look out for each other around here. That included your sister, but you now too.

[He smiles slightly, recalling words Roy had spoken a long time ago about using what little strength they had to protect the one's they loved.]

I can believe that.

[There's a soft sigh when he returns the hug. She wasn't as worried about herself at the moment, she still didn't know exactly where to put this on the scale of weird and dangerous things that had happened in her life. But Maes, Yang and everyone else who had been here longer than her had been through some rough times. She could tell that and just thought this is the best way she could support them now.

...Though she had to admit that now that she was getting a hug it was something she had needed too.

There's a giggle when he says that.]

I mean if you want you can always pass this hug along to it's rightful owner. Just let Roy know that it's from Yang's sister.

But it's for you too, for being honest about what happened. You looked like you needed one.

[She pulls back a hint of a smile on her face.]

We'll all watch out for each other now.

Heh. Roy isn't much for signs of affection like that, but I'll see what I can do for you.

[Two hugs in so short a time period might not be what Roy would like, but sometimes it's not a question of what someone likes. Maes could always lean on the 'passing it along' bit. What could Roy really say then?

The real question in his mind was Ruby that perceptive or was he that obvious about how hard the past few weeks had been.]

I think so, though I probably wouldn't have admitted to it so easily.

I have a teammate who can be like that. She has gotten a lot better for it recently, so I have to give her points there.

Well take it or leave it. He's at least got my thanks for it, too.

[It might have been a little from one column and a little from another. Ruby knew what it was like to put her own pain on hold for the sake of the team, she couldn't be sure but Maes seemed to be the same type. She also had moved in with her sister who hadn't been on the top of her game. The signs were there for her.]

Maybe. It kind of gets pushed to the side when your trying to be strong for everyone else.

It's hard to admit when you need help. I'm just as guilty of that sometimes, but I think I'm finally starting to realize that if I'm going to accomplish certain goals, I'm going to have to rely on others.

[There's a moment where he almost slips and mentions his death and desire to find a new way to live, but decides that isn't the kind of topic he wants to broach right now. His conversation with Shiro and the others before him had helped him come to terms and Maes knew he was in a better space mentally than he was before. The ship had been terrible, but perhaps some good had come out of it.]

That also means I can't keep pushing problems to the side. They're only going to pile up that way and then when I'm really needed it might fall on top of me.

[That part HAD happened on the ship, but luckily he'd had good friends to see him through it.]

My advice? Don't push problems aside just because you think it might be easier for other people. In the short term it might be, but in the long term it's only going to get harder for everyone.

[Ruby considers what Maes is saying and gives a solemn little nod. She had been holding a lot in herself while trying to stay strong for her team back at home. She was doing the same now that he shown up with Yang in a rough spot. She was just as guilty for all this.

It didn't make it any less tough a pill to swallow though. Her chest felt a bit tight thought it over, she was still dreading filling Yang in on the gaps between their memories. She knew how well learning them had gone the actual time around.]

Yeah, you're right. It's just sometimes hard to find the right time to do that.

...Or take your own advice.

[She'll just let out a little frustrated sigh as she sits down on the end of her bed.]

[Maes watches Ruby for a moment, considering his options here. The hug was helpful, but he has a feeling they might need to have a bit of a longer conversation now. He grabs a nearby chair, spinning it around to sit in it backwards.]

The right time, huh?

[He rests his arms on the back of the chair. He may regret doing this, but they'd already made a promise of honesty and support. Why not see where that goes?]

Roy can take care of responding to the people on the Network for a bit and I have nothing else going on. Let's try this out. It may seem strange...but I've actually found that talking to some of the people here in the Circle, who don't know me from back home, can be easier to confide in than some of my closest friends that are here. So, why don't we each share one problem that's bothering us? There might not be solutions, but maybe we'll both feel a little better then.

What do you say? Want to try?

[Ruby blinks and stares for a moment. She didn't know why she was so surprised at the offer, they had been talking about being open and honest. She just hadn't had someone she thought she could lay her problems out on the table for. At least not one that wasn't her one of her own friends.

She plays with the thought for a moment. Letting her feet kick idly against one another.]

...Yeah, That is a little weird. But okay, let's give it a shot.

[She purses her lips briefly considering what to say.]

I guess the biggest and most awkward thing first. I don't really know how this works but I guess I'm from the future? At least compared to Yang. Her last memory of home happened like months ago compared to mine.

[Jeez. She felt a little ridiculous trying to put this into words. She kind of laughs as she sorts her thoughts out.]

So I know a bunch of things that she doesn't know at the moment and she wasn't really thrilled to find out about them the first time around. I wasn't able to talk to her through some of them the first time around and now I have no idea how to approach all of this the second time around without our friends. But she's got all this stuff from here going and I can't not approach her about it because that will just cause more problems.

[She's just going to take a moment to take a breath. Her voice is starting to shake a little. She isn't even being specific but it's a lot to cover.]

I just have no idea how to do this.

[He wouldn't have thought it would work so well either, but here he is six months later willing to share his own darker secrets with Ruby just to help her feel better. Maes had felt that when he'd spoken with Shiro about it, having someone who understood without having the baggage behind that understanding was...well it was nice.

He listens intently as Ruby lays out one of her problems and immediately nods. He lets her finish talking though before adding his two cents to it. He wants Ruby to be able to sort through her thoughts first anyway. She definitely seems shaken and he debates getting up to sit next to her instead. He decides to give her a moment instead.]

Yeah, that can be difficult. Roy and I are actually in a similar situation. Roy is from...well at least two years in the future from my point of view. The same thing has happened with some others that have come from our home that are no longer at the Temple.

[He debates telling her WHY he always seems to be behind, but he'll cross one bridge at a time. He wants to focus on the time difference first.]

A lot of it is going to depend on how Yang usually reacts to things. Does she like everything out at once or would she prefer to be eased into the idea? You could always just tell her you are from the future and then see what questions she asks about it.

I can't really speak from how you can handle things, but I can tell you how I felt when some of the others had to tell me about what I'd missed out on. Not all of it was easy to hear and it's taken me a long time to come to terms with some of it...but the people I cared about were here for me and having time to process it on my own helped too.

Two years?

[Ruby sounds absolutely baffled by that. Her and Yang were definitely separated by a few months but anything over a year just seemed absurd. She let that sit for a moment before she continued. It was actually fairly comforting to know the time difference was a not something limited to her.

She instead decides to focus on the problem with Yang.]

I tried that a little... We caught both caught on quick to the fact that something didn't add up. I know when she's from and well she knows what I'm doing at the moment but I haven't filled in the gaps yet.

I knew something had happened here and she wasn't herself. I tried to ask her about that and she clammed up on me. Now I at least know a bit more but I don't want to make things worse for her if I tell her what I know. I know she doesn't take it well when we hit that point.

[She lets her chin hang softly as she mulls his words over then looks back up in his direction.]

Maybe being here for her is all I can do for now... Until she's ready to hear what I have to say.

[He shrugs a bit helplessly. As far as Roy's told him that's how long it's been since he died. Of course he doesn't want to put it that way for Ruby just yet, he's waiting to see if he needs or wants to put that out there right now. Ruby already seems worried enough about the conversation she has to have with Yang. It's hard to imagine she would have to tell Yang anything that serious, since Ruby hadn't mentioned it.

Then again Yang might have to have that conversation with Ruby after what happened on the ship. But that's Yang's business to tell, not his own. He nods.]

Sometimes that can mean more than you realize. It will probably be better for you both if you let things come out on their own as opposed to forcing the issue. You both seem like smart young women with good intentions...I think you'll both know when you're ready to talk about it in more detail. That patience is what's going to probably be the difficult thing though.

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