aterat | Intro Logs

Entry tags:

Intro Logs

Who; Ivy + Open to anyone
What; Arrival and wandering around. If you'd prefer bracket spam action, feel free to do that rather than prose!
Where; Heading to the buildings + Wandering around at night
When; 5/04 in the morning and night.
Warnings; None at the moment, will update if any come up
A. Arrival at the residential area and the Green building.

Ivy arrived in a bad mood. Due to that sour mood she headed straight to the residential area without even the slightest desire to look around. It was morning, way too early for a vampire, and she'd somehow just been abducted from one alternate dimension into another. What kind of shit luck was that? Her shoulders were hunched forward and her expression was dark as she walked with purpose to the area with the colored urban buildings.

"You have to be kidding me," she muttered as she looked up at each building. They looked like the type of city apartments Rachel had lived in before they'd moved in together. Which meant they were shared apartments. Shared apartments. At least in the last place she'd had her own place where she could try to avoid other people as much as she wanted to. This? This made it seem like avoiding people would be a lot more difficult.

After a few seconds more of just glaring at the building, as if that would somehow change what they looked like, she opened the door to the green building and went inside. She took a look around the common room and adjusted the blood red silk scarf around her neck as she sighed.

"A common room. Quaint..." she said with obvious irritation leaking into her voice. "B-10. Third floor then? These look so...small." Well, this was going to be an adjustment. A decidedly unpleasant adjustment.

B. Night and wandering around.

A little bit of sleep and the familiarity that night brought put Ivy in a slightly better mood. There were positives to this situation. So far from what she'd gathered on this place's network the place didn't seem quite as bleak as the underwater domes she'd just come from. They weren't underwater so it was a lot less claustrophobic. People seemed to know a lot more about who had brought them here and why. It even seemed like it might be possible to speak to some of the people in charge, which could lead to more information. It wasn't all bad. The living quarters were crap but at least she wasn't rooming with anyone. Try to focus on the positives, Ivy. That's what she kept telling herself over and over again. Maybe it'd actually convince her that this wasn't that bad.

The network could only tell her so much though. What she really needed to do was look around. Of course she waited until night to do that. Everything was easier (and more familiar) at night. She started with the market just as the sun was beginning to go down. Periodically as she walked through she stopped to write things down in a small notebook she'd brought with her. If anyone noticed her they might be able to pick up on the fact that she was sketching out a small map as well as taking note of any major businesses. They might also notice she was completely absorbed in her note taking. Which, unfortunately for anyone else walking around, meant she wasn't paying attention to people in the slightest. Maybe she's still a bit more tired and out of it than she thought...

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“Mm… I get the sense that Harry is the sort to care a lot? So that doesn’t surprise me.” He responded, smiling a little. Harry had arrived in the last world during a bit of a crisis, and rather than sitting back and fending for himself, he’d actively tried to pitch in and help, both with the mundane tasks and with the more serious investigating.

All in all, an impressive thing considering the stress that they’d all in under.

The fact that she’d gone on to share was a small surprise to him as well, but… not a bad one. It was good to be trusted. More than that, it was good for Ivy to have others she could trust in these situations. Going it alone wasn’t easy… He’d tried that for a while, and it never went well. “On the subject of whether he should have or not, I’m not sure Harry has it in him to not. It was the effects of a nightmare, after all. In my experience you can’t control what they do, there was no fighting them. So we all sort of… came to understand that.” If anything, Harry seemed like he might’ve been the best equipped to help in that situation.

Llewellyn had to shake his head a little, “That’s one of the things I expect we’ll have to work out… It might be worth having a conversation with the ‘Aspects,’ I’ve heard they sometimes make appearances… Which is more than we had in the last place.” Rubbing the back of his neck, he considered the idea. A warning sounded right, “That could be it? Magic definitely seems to be far more common in this world, rather than the heavier focus on advanced technologies of the last world.” He’d still be a bit of a fish out of water on that front, it would be something he’d have to learn more about. Instead of trying to learn more about technology, he’d have to shift his focus to magic… He wanted to at least if there were anything major that he and the others would have to contend with regularly.

"It sounds like Harry is the type to care too much," she said with a sigh that betrayed her confusion. After what she'd done it really made no sense to her that he'd been so understanding. It made even less sense that he'd been so strangely comforting. Llewellyn's next statements only made her frown even more despite the words obviously being meant to be comforting.

"It was too close to something that will happen." She was saying way too much though and there was no need for that. The last thing someone else deserved was having her issues put onto them. She could barely handle her own emotions, how could someone else handle her shit? "Maybe he should learn to. It sounds like something all of you should learn. It doesn't matter if you can't control it, it doesn't change what you've done." Maybe that was a bit too personal of a sentiment for her to have voiced though. The idea made sense all things considered. The problem was that thinking like that might lead to her having some sort of sympathy for her soulless master. After all, was it actually his fault he had no soul and had long since forgotten what right or wrong even was? No. that was not a line of thinking she could afford to go down. Thinking about him at all was a dangerous thing.

Instead, she chose to throw all of her focus into their discussion about this place and the Aspects. "Have you heard if there's anyway to actually contact them besides just hoping for an appearance?" This was a pretty good start to information though and it seemed a lot more promising than where they'd previously been. "I should have paid more attention to Rachel's magical ramblings." There was always Harry for that though, he might be able to figure out more than either of them could when it came to the magical side of things. It was entirely possible there were others here that had more knowledge of magic than them too, it wasn't like she'd paid much attention to other non-natives yet. "At least you won't have to be worried about breaking anymore laptops."

“You sound very sure of that?” He responded with a softer tone, not wanting to push his friend too hard. It wasn’t as though he knew much about the kind of vampire she was, but outside the influence of the nightmare she had seemed hardly the sort to attack people at random.

Llewellyn let her speak, not interrupting as she commented on Harry caring too much and going on to say that both of them should learn better than that. It was oddly familiar, if only because he’d heard such things before and perhaps said as much one time or another himself… “You’re right. It doesn’t change what we’ve done, but the circumstances of why we did what we did still matter. It doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t understand or want to help.” He responded finally, tone still soft but a little firmer. “It’s not as though you sought out to be infected by the effects of that nightmare, and they couldn’t be fought. I tried the odd time I was in the middle of one, and it didn’t work like that.” He rubbed fussed with the strap of his bag, “I know that the um… its something that will still haunt the mind though.” And for that he was sorry, living with the memory of something you’d done or had a hand in wasn’t easy sometimes.

Shifting to the matter of the Aspects, Llewellyn hummed a little and glanced around absentmindedly. “I believe you can petition to speak to them…? I’m not sure how likely they are to be available, that’s something I may attempt myself if they don’t make any appearances in the next little while.” Once he’d gotten things around here figured out properly, that was. Llewellyn hoped to get to see them out and among people too, curious about how they interacted and how open to communication they might be.

A small chuckle escaped as Ivy commented about wishing she’d paid more attention to her friend, he could relate to that… “I admit, I wish I had more actual experience with things like magic. It might as well be an advanced technology sometimes with how little I know. Lucky for both of us we do have a professional wizard to refer to until we catch up, hm?” Yes, he knew she’d probably thought of that herself.

Llewellyn paused, a comically awkward expression crossed his face, brows knitting lightly as she mentioned the laptop. Would he never be free of that? Ever live down his crime against technology? No. No, he probably wouldn’t. Clearing his throat a little, he nodded with a clumsy dip of his head. “Yup… Definitely won’t have to worry about that.” He pulled his tellphone out of his pocket though, “Now this? Uh— probably doomed at some point.” He added wryly.

It took a few seconds for Ivy to work up a response and when she did her voice was pretty low. "When I die, I won't die like a human would. We come back to life as undead. Vampires without a soul." She'd been trying to find a way to prevent that, but none of her research had come up with anything. So, yes, she was pretty sure it was something that would eventually happen on it's own one day.

"It's not a good memory. I'd hoped I'd have a few more years before I had to experience that." He had more than a few points that she couldn't exactly argue with. That didn't mean she wouldn't argue with him despite that though. Self-loathing ran much more deep within her than he'd been shown so far. "Even if I couldn't fight it that doesn't mean I should get off without any consequences. Did you all really just write off those things that happen like they were nothing?"

It seemed like that's what they ended up doing there and that was pretty weird to her. Even if none of them had chosen to have those things happen, how could they just let it go like that? It didn't invalidate what someone else might have felt about what had happened. Then again, maybe most people there were as stupidly understanding as Harry had been. Considering Watts it wasn't too surprising to think that might actually be the case.

At least he'd changed the subject, which she was extremely thankful for. "If you do make an attempt at a petition, let me know. I'd like a chance to speak to them, or at least suggest some questions." Though, she hoped they might just appear at some point. That'd make things easier. "I have experience, just not the full knowledge. Rachel talked took me to a few of her shops here and there but magic just isn't my thing. I guess we'll just have to leave it to Harry." Something told her they wouldn't have to tell Harry to look into it.

No, no he definitely would never be free of that. He probably shouldn't have told her about it if he didn't want her to eventually bring it up. Not that she'd really expected to get comfortable enough with him to tease like this, but here they were. It was kind of nice. "Oh, no. Yeah, that's definitely doomed not too long from now. I should see if Harry wants to make a bet..."

“Oh…” He responded, tone more than a little concerned at that. Vampires, or the sort from Ivy’s world, were more complicated than he expected… No wonder Ivy was so upset, knowing what was in store for you after death like that wasn’t particularly comforting. Humming a little, he shook his head finally. “Doesn’t change who you are now to us though, Ivy.” There was that part of him that wanted to fix bad situations that wondered if in any of these other worlds that an answer to help his friend might be found. That was simply his instinct though, and he knew how foolish it might seem to voice it now.

He had to shake his head a little, “Are you really getting off without any consequences if you have to carry the memory of what happened? If it didn’t bother you, or weigh you down, I would say perhaps you did but…” Llewellyn shrugged a little, “Walking around with the memory of something you did isn’t an easy thing, Ivy.” Seemed made all the worse that it was something that had been forced on her by the sphere’s ‘nightmares,’ long before it should have ever been something she had to worry about. Uncontrollable situations, not something you should always feel responsible for but… you always did, in his experience.

Llewellyn nodded quickly though as she latched onto the other topic, “I certainly can, it wouldn’t be bad for us all to get together at some point and compile a list of things we need to address and figure out. Even if I know they may not be entirely honest, at least seeing how they respond might be useful.” Getting a feel for their general personalities, and watching for inconsistencies or tells would at least give them some idea of how to proceed in future conversations. He chuckled a little, “I somehow expect he realizes that already, sending on how your conversations about magic with him have gone. I think my clumsy questions on the subject might have already given him an idea.” At least Harry was generally good about answering, and patient, always a good thing where he was concerned.

Tucking his tellphone back in his pocket, a small embarrassed huff escaped him. “I’d caution against betting, but even I have to admit it’s probably one of the safer ones you could make.” They should expand their bets to include him losing it, because even now he’d put it in an entirely different pocket and would likely forget that he had. So, at some point, the phone would either be broken or misplaced entirely.

Maybe both if he forgot where he put it down and dropped something particularly heavy on it.

"I shouldn't have said so much," she said with a little sigh. It felt like she'd suddenly made things a bit awkward by explaining, maybe she should have kept things to herself more than she had. Perhaps she just shouldn't have said anything at all. She shook her head. "Thank you for the sentiment." It was the most polite response she could come up with. He meant well clearly, but she wasn't sure if he really understood what he was saying. A part of her even wondered if he really knew enough about her to make that kind of statement. It wasn't like he knew about the the really horrible things she'd done in the past. She really didn't deserve this kind of understanding from him or anyone.

"I'm well aware of that," she said with frustration oozing in his voice. "I walk around with a lot of memories of shitty things I've done." She almost went on to say more, but she stopped herself. She'd said more than enough, that much was clear and she really didn't want to say anything more. "Forget it. This is a bad topic." She was more curt than she had been previously, back to her usual neutral and borderline cold tone. That was definitely a textbook example of a defense mechanism.

"That's a good idea, I can already think of a lot to add to a list like that," she said quickly. "The way the respond on it's own would tell us a lot." If they were open it could give them an idea of whether or not they should trust them. If they were more defensive it'd also tell them a lot about what sort of situation they were in. It was nice to feel like there were plans and organization to be made though. At the very least it'd give her something that would distract her. "Somehow I think he may like it that way." Harry seemed like the type to like getting involved and when people didn't know things he could get involved easier.

"At least you can admit it," she said with a chuckle she was trying pretty hard to hide. She was definitely going to mention this to Harry the next chance she got.

Llewellyn could feel the shift in her tone, and it would be a lie to say it didn’t leave him feeling a little sad and distressed to realize that perhaps he’d pushed too hard on a subject again… It was hard for him to not, of course, it was just who he was. He’d lost too many people in his life to not worry about the friends and loved ones he’d acquired, and even if he hadn’t known Ivy as long as some of the others, he still had thought of her as a friend and gotten attached.

Perhaps it was their conversations, or how she understood some things, but here they were now… And he didn’t like it, the frustration and the upset. The fact that he couldn’t help. Not in any way that would make things better for her. “Then—” He broke off, about to reiterate the point that she knew she wasn’t getting off without the consequences she seemed to think she deserved for what happened. But he thought better of it as she ended the topic, not wanting to push her away or into a worse state of mind. “Alright, I’m… sorry for pushing.” He responded in a quieter tone instead, fussing with the ring on his finger to distract himself from saying more.

Clearing his throat as the conversation switched gears, he glanced over again. “That’s what I was thinking, and these Aspects have their own physical form compared to our last host. We’ll be able to watch them properly and get a feel for their personalities. It would be good to have a list of topics and questions to pose when we have one or both of their attention. I’m not sure what building everyone was assigned to… could make an attempt to meet at the historium though.” He added absentmindedly.

The chuckle, as much as she attempted to hide it, was actually good to hear all things aside… Especially considering how the conversation had been going. So he smiled a little, despite the embarrassment he had invited on himself with the confession. “I figure that I might as well be honest about it. I prefer to reserve lying for when it’s important.” Mostly because lying got stressful, and nothing stayed hidden forever.

Nobody could help. That would be exactly what she would tell him or anyone that tried to comfort her with a subject like this. The sad thing was, that was exactly how she felt at this point. Most of the hope she'd had for finding a way to circumvent her future had long since started to fade. The last remaining bit she had was mostly tied up with Rachel and the potential her magic might have. After recent events with Piscary though even that had pretty much evaporated. He'd taken that hope from her when he'd done what he'd done. There was a part of her that was actually afraid that there was no going back from that. It wasn't something she was gong to tell Watts about though. It probably wasn't something she would tell anyone about.

She shook her head at his apology and waved a hand dismissively. "Don't." There was sadness in her eyes and a hint of vulnerability in her voice. That needed to go immediately, she wasn't going to show weakness to people. Instead she was going to going to focus on the conversation about the Aspects and research.

"Do they? I hadn't heard that yet. That's quite the difference." Quite a nice difference and from the sound of it he agreed with her there. "I'm in green. Yourself?" That was actually a good question to ask him about that she hadn't thought of yet. "Meeting in the historium makes the most sense though." Unless they were all magically in the same building. After the luck of them all arriving at the same time she wouldn't exactly be surprised if something like that happened.

When your life had as many downward turns as Ivy's one became fairly okay at recovering quickly. At the very least you became better at pretending you recovered quickly. "Nobody likes liars." Though she did her fair share of lying herself, mostly about her own mental wellbeing. That didn't harm anyone else but herself. "Maybe we could even add in break or misplace it."

Llewellyn nodded a little, slouching a little as he noted the vulnerability in her expression and voice. Ducking his head in a small nod, he decided this was one of those things he’d keep an eye out for in the future, if she needed to talk at some point. Not that he expected her to want to, but sometimes things had a way of happening. He just hoped she found someone she could trust enough with it all, because carrying that much alone was difficult.

But they could focus on the Aspects, and the world itself. After all, he had gotten the sense at the sphere that she found it easier to focus on other things as much as he did when something was wrong. “They do, and I’m rather glad for that. I’m not fond of beings wearing the form of, or using the voice of a dead friend. It was a tactless attempt at making someone more receptive to its words.” He responded with a frown, he was glad that much was over. It had bothered him on several occasions. “So I’m rather looking forward to talking to them, instead of something hiding behind a mask.”

Not that he wasn’t going to consider the fact that they might not even be as they were seen, paranoid things like that slipped into the mind now and then.

Frowning a little, drat… It seemed like they were all in different buildings, though he hadn’t asked Harry where he was. “I’m in the blue building, and Rhy is in red.” Yes, his tone is a little sour at that. Being separated from your husband after living with them was rather annoying. Not that they weren’t going to share the apartments, but he was just slightly grumpy about the fact that they’d been separated to begin with. “I’m not sure where Harry is… But given we all seem to be divided, the Historium is the best option, it’s not as far from the coloured buildings as other possible meeting places.”

Llewellyn nodded a little, “No, I know I don’t… Too often the lies are unnecessary.” Like his sister’s had been. As much as the truth had hurt on that subject, it would have still hurt less if honesty had come first. Instead, it only felt like she’d written him off as too stupid to understand, or not worth her time to try to explain things. Llewellyn raised a brow, “You could, or maybe a combination of the two. It’s rather small, after all.” All jokes aside, he tilted his head slightly. “Have to wonder if there’s a place to get them fixed if that happens.” Otherwise it’d get broken once and then he’d be rather stuck.

She was grateful for the fact that he seemed to take her hint and just go with it. There was nothing intended against him or whether or not she thought he was trustworthy or a good potential friend. Ivy didn't talk to anyone. Even her fellow living vampire Kist that she'd grown up with found himself frustrated with how icy she could be. It'd probably been what had ruined their relationship. One of the things in a list of many at least. The healthy thing to do was to talk about ones feelings, but she never chose the healthy route.

The Aspects though, she could focus on that. It was a distraction of sorts, but distractions weren't bad, were they? Back home she had plenty of them, from work to...well, other things. Her expression twisted for a second, "That's how it spoke to you?" Suddenly she was glad the thing never tried to speak to her. That was unsettling and also much more manipulative than it seemed to pretend to be. "I hope we're not disappointed by these people then." She was more than prepared to be disappointed thought. That was always how it went with powerful people in charge, at least in her own experience. Maybe it was cynical of her, but she was fully under the assumption that the Aspects weren't going to be helpful or generous. Maybe they'd pretend to be, but she wasn't sure if that could be trusted. Piscary was good at pretending to not be a monster after all. If these were old beings then they'd have had a lot of time to practice.

"I've had enough of masks for a lifetime back home. Undead enjoy using them in their night to night encounters."

She tilted her head curiously. "I wonder if they mean something." Or if it was just some random system. There was nothing she could really think of about what the colors might mean off the top of her head, but that didn't mean much.

"You'd do badly in vampire society." He'd be eaten up. Literally. It'd be like dealing with Rachel in a lot of ways, someone who didn't know when lying and bowing down to something more powerful really was necessary. For his sake she really hoped he'd never end up in a situation like that. She really didn't want to imagine what it'd be like if he ever met her Master. "That's a much better idea. I'll have to suggestion a combination to him. What should our prize me?" Maybe he'd like to suggestion something since it was him they were betting on. "Hmm...perhaps the little gnome that gave it to us has something to do with them?"

Llewellyn nodded a little, his mood dipping a bit at this particular line of conversation. “It did, yes… It was known to use the voice of the person you trust the most. I suppose even though he’s long gone, I still trusted him more than other people from my world when I arrived there.” And that the entity had used Jackson’s voice had upset him greatly. It was only more frustrating when you factored in how vague it was when the man himself had always been an earnest and straightforward fellow. “So I would agree, I’ll be glad if there are no masks involved myself this go around.” At least it didn’t seem like there were…

“We can only hope that the Aspects will be more pleasant to deal with.” He finally added with a small sigh, he couldn’t help but feel a little impatient with wanting to figure as much out as possible in such a new place. Llewellyn was so constantly on the move during a normal day, it was worse when he had things on his mind.

This counted for as a lot of things.

“Hm?” He looked over at Ivy a moment later as she posed an interesting idea. “I had thought about that when I arrived. It seemed strange to be in a different building from Rhy, and the colours were an odd way to indicate where we were to go. Building numbers or an address would’ve worked just as well.” Not that Llewellyn was fond of the fact that they’d been assigned a specific place to live here or even in the last world, though they’d been allowed to move as desired in the latter… On the one hand, it was nice that they had a roof over their heads provided for them, on the other it always seemed like a way to keep track of the people not of this world.

Llewellyn couldn’t help but agree with her on that point, he probably would. He wasn’t particularly good at backing down if he thought someone else was in the wrong, which was why there’d been so much friction in his life in his own world. Vampires would make short work of him, “I um— don’t doubt you on that. Though I’m not particularly good at fitting in with society in my world either, so it’s not a surprise.” But he fit in with the people he’d gotten to know in these other worlds, felt like had a family again in a way with Rhy… That was good enough for him.

Now the question of a prize gets a rather curious pause, glancing around the market while he gave it some definite thought. It was Harry and Ivy betting on his clumsiness after all, “A good question…” He hummed a little, tucking his hands in his pockets as he glanced back down at Ivy with a smile. “I would say currency is a poor choice given how important it is here compared to our last world… How about the person who makes the wrong bet has to buy the person who’s right dinner?”

Llewellyn had to admit, that was a good possibility… “It would make sense where he gave them to us, I’ve heard he’s particularly good at acquiring things as well… I’ll have to see when the time comes.” When, not if. If he were confident in anything, it was his penchant for clumsiness.

"I'm sorry." Both for bringing the subject up and for it having happened in the first place. The more he said about it the more certain she became that it'd never been truthful when it spoke. So many things about it made her think of an undead vampire trying to convince it's toys that it didn't really mean them any harm. The only reason she could think of for it to use tactics like that was manipulation. Maybe she'd been lucky that she'd never gotten the chance to interact with it.

"It sounds like they can't be worse." The statement was made without thinking about how stupid it really was. Whenever someone said something couldn't get worse, it always got worse. At least that was how her life worked.

"They're also less..." she trailed off for a moment as she tried to think of how to describe it. "old looking." They looked more urban and less like something out of a fantasy. What he'd mentioned earlier about the sphere taking on the appearance of someone they trusted made her wonder if this place hadn't done something similar. Had it made housing that it thought would fit the people coming in better? "But they chose colors. So it has to mean something." Maybe a trait they all shared? It was too early to make any sort of hypothesis about that. It'd take getting to know people to be able to make connections like that, which just seemed frustrating. The more paranoid and pessimistic side also couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't a more sinister reason for it. Maybe it would end up having to do with something that they were intended to be used for later. That was too paranoid of a thought for her to actually voice though. She'd brought the mood of the conversation down enough.

"It's hard to imagine you not fitting in," she said as she shook her head and chuckled. He seemed better at conversation than she was at the very least. Ivy couldn't help but wonder what it was exactly that made him think he didn't fit in with society. The topic seemed like one that should be left up to him to decide on sharing or not.

"Dinner might be a fair bet." Her chuckle turned to something of a laugh, which was almost a miracle for her. "Don't worry, I doubt either of us would actually make a bet at your expense like that." They might actually. "Maybe you should check on that before the time comes." Better to know and be prepared to get a replacement before it breaks rather than scrambling around after. "I'd say you could just learn to be more careful, but working with Rachel has taught me some people can't do that." It wasn't meant as a jab, she was more amused than anything. Some people just seemed to have a natural talent for losing things.

“Don’t be… It’s not as though you were responsible.” He responded with a sad attempt at a smile, it wasn’t as though it had only happened to him. He was sure other people around the sphere had found it spoke in a voice they hadn’t expected that left them feeling more than a little upset. “And while we don’t really know what to expect here yet, at least we’re away from there and it doesn’t seem like we’ll see a repeat of it here.” At least not like that specifically. He wasn’t so hopeful that he was blind to the possibility of other unpleasant similarities that might crop up.

Llewellyn winced visibly at her next words, “Oof… We can only hope not, though I’ll be refraining from saying such a thing lest we invite disaster on our heads.” He couldn’t imagine much worse than the last world, especially during the time when everything was shutting down and they thought they were all going to die… But that didn’t mean the world wouldn’t take up that challenge to surprise them.

“Mm… You make a good point. The simple appliances in them are a surprise as well, considering the rest of this world looks like it’s in between Rhy’s and mine, era wise… Well— with the addition of rather strange creatures, like those very large yellow birds.” So it was an odd shift to go from the city and then into the apartment building, so it might have been for the comfort of those who were from more modern times… Though if he hadn’t already been experienced with things from the future, he might have been rather confused by it all when he got here. “We’ll have to see if anything can be found on the subject of the colours, just in case there is something to it.” He added thoughtfully, because even if it was something simple… Not knowing was going to bother him.

“You would be surprised.” He responded, shaking his head a little at her statement. “I find that I’ve fit in better with you and the others I met at the Sphere, makes me wonder if it was simply how society was in my world and era compared to other places and times.” And that wasn’t to say that he didn’t fit at all. He had felt like he had a place for a while. It was just that he’d simply realized more recently that it was inevitable that his time would expire. He’d put himself on thin ice for the sake of justice, and then he’d also witnessed what his inspector thought of people like himself first hand. His secret might not have been safe, the man probably would have given him the boot for that alone.

He shrugged a little with a smile, “Well, it isn’t as though I condemn the idea of a friendly wager just because I don’t gamble anymore. It doesn’t mean others shouldn’t have their fun.” If anything, he was more curious how a bet like that would play out. It seemed to him like Ivy could stand to have a little more fun, and he was sure Harry would be amused by it himself. “But you’re right, I should at least stop in and see if Raimon can do anything or offer a suggestion before I find myself without a phone.”

"I meant more for bringing the subject up." It seemed to bother him and she hadn't really intended to do that, especially when they'd just arrived in another world with an abundance of new questions to think about. "Refraining is probably for the best, at least for now." She didn't want to be the cause for them somehow jinxing themselves.

"Have you noticed you can't see where their power comes from?" That was another weird aspect of the entire thing. "Chocobos. Someone told me they were called chocobos." And of course she'd made note of that and everything else she'd come across. "The list for things we need to find out is getting longer and longer." Though she didn't sound bothered by that, the opposite actually. It gave her plenty of things to work on to distract herself from any other thoughts she might have.

"I guess I would. Maybe you were just born in the wrong era." She'd heard some people say that before and maybe he was a case of that. She couldn't really imagine what it was like in his time or in his world for that matter. There was probably quite a lot of things she didn't really get.

"Mmm, why did you stop gambling?" She shook her head and chuckled. Maybe she'd mention it to Harry when they ran into each other again. Maybe not. For some reason she wasn't entirely sure how to interact with Harry. "Let me know how that goes. I'd be interested in knowing what he says."

“Ah… Well, it’s still not as though you knew before you did.” He responded with a little shake of his head. Llewellyn wasn’t fond of being apologized to, for all that he could be quick to apologize himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate it so much as he didn’t feel like he was owed one most of the time. He knew Ivy hadn’t meant to bring up a sensitive subject. It wasn’t to be malicious in any way, she simply hadn’t known.

“I did, and I can’t help but wonder why that is…? They function just fine, but it seems to me that they shouldn’t. I’m pretty sure they would confound the detective I used to work with in my world.” He responded with a little smile. Honestly, he’s pretty sure most things about this world would have confused Murdoch if he were here. It would almost be amusing to watch. “I suppose ‘magic’ could be the answer, but I really wouldn’t know what sort or how…” He murmured with a hum as he couldn’t help but think that there should still be some sort of source even if that were the case.

Chocobos… yes, that’s right. That’s what someone had called them, he’d remember one of these times… Probably. “Mm, Indeed it has.” He responded a moment later, thinking on the list. “We’re certainly going to be kept busy, I think.” Llewellyn only hoped that it was the sort of busy that eventually lead to making some progress on figuring things out.

Llewellyn rubbed the back of his neck lightly, seeming to consider her words a little seriously. “Perhaps, I suppose, given what I’ve learned is possible… Maybe some people are born in the wrong times or world. But! I’m here now, and it seems I’m not going back to my world any time soon if the last year and my arrival here is anything to go by.” He added with a light gesture. It was strange to think of, but he was sometimes thankful for what he had found in his time away from his world.

Llewellyn’s brows rose a little. No one ever really asked, though some had tried to push him to take it up again. Which he hadn’t appreciated, but it was clear that they hadn’t understood at the time. “Oh… Well, call it a combination of not being good at bluffing and bad luck. The slope gets rather slippery if you aren’t careful.” He smiled wryly. “So I decided it was better if I didn’t, and focused on my responsibilities instead.” So he tried very hard to not fall into it again. It was an unhealthy vice that he’d at least managed to give up compared to some of the others.

“I’ll keep that in mind for once I find out, another good reason for us all to eventually meet again. To uh— keep ourselves updated on what we’ve learned versus what we still need to figure out… Or look into further.” Llewellyn realized that he was going to need more than a few notebooks at this rate…

"Yeah, true enough." He wasn't wrong and she could see the logic in that, but it didn't change that she felt bad. Or perhaps not bad, just a bit awkward about it all. The ship had sailed though and there wasn't much she could do other than try to move on from the subject. She rolled her shoulders in an attempt to lessen her own tension and shook her head.

"They smell like magic," she confirmed. "Not earth magic, that smells more...pungent." She'd never really liked the smells that came with earth magic. Beyond ruling earth magic out she couldn't really say too much though. Maybe Harry would know something. "Magic meant to replicate what some of us are more used to...?" But again the topic came back to why. It really always circled back to that, didn't it? She could think of two possibilities: to give them some sort of false sense of security or that this place was only capable of replicating things based on their knowledge.

"You don't seem to bothered by that." If he didn't fit in as much as he claimed then she could understand why he'd be content to not go back. In all honesty, if she found a partner like he had and maybe solutions to her soul problem, then maybe she'd be happy to stay somewhere other than her home. It wasn't like her future there was appealing.

"You, not good at bluffing?" that wasn't hard to believe at all for some reason. It was an amusing thought to try to picture him making attempts though. She smiled. "Maybe we can arrange a time for a community meeting." It was a joke and her tone made that clear enough.

Llewellyn paused at that, trying to think of if he’d ever heard her mention that magic smelled before… When he comes up blank, the first thing that popped out of his mouth was, of course, to ask about it. “Uh— I never realized magic smelled before, if I’m being honest.” It must have been a vampire thing, given some of what she’d explained, it made sense… But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be curious about that particular detail.

Ivy’s comment made Llewellyn stop for a moment, feeling a little awkward about that… He tried to not bring it up, because he knew how crazy it sounded. He should want to go back to his world, he didn’t belong in these places anymore than the others did… Which was why he still actively tried to help find answers that might help people go home, but Llewellyn would be lying if he said he wanted to go back. As he said earlier, he didn’t like to lie unless it was for a good reason. “I admit that I’m not entirely concerned with going back to my word… As bad as some of the things that have happened are, I’ve still found more happiness than I’ve known in my world.”

Frowning a little, his voice a little quieter as he shook his head. “I know that sounds strange… But I’ve had to hide so much in my world. I never would have been allowed to marry if I fell in love. Wouldn’t be able to build a life for us like we could here… We wouldn’t even be allowed to just be seen together in public without keeping up some sort of act to suggest were weren’t what we were.” That wasn’t even counting about how he’d never be allowed to advance in his career if he ever tried to push forward. Toronto was just as narrow minded as much of the world, for all it acted as though it wasn’t. Llewellyn was fairly certain if they dug into his own background and found out about his family and his beliefs that they’d put a stop to any possible promotions based on that alone considering how Murdoch was treated, even if they didn’t dig further and find out about his sexual preferences.

Or if he didn’t get fired before that for going against orders as he was prone to do when he felt like the victims were being pushed aside or when his inspector’s personal biases were jeopardizing a case. “So in these worlds… I’m simply free to be as I am, and even if I know I need to help everyone figure out how to get back… I can’t help but appreciate what I have while I have it.” He ended with a small shrug, fussing with the ring on his finger absentmindedly.

“Nope… Not at all.” Llewellyn responded with a wry smile, he tended to wear a lot of his thoughts and feelings on his face, after all. He’d never been particularly good at hiding them either if the right buttons were pressed. So gambling had definitely been a poor choice on his part, but he’d at least learned better than to take that particularly foolish risk.

A smaller, warmer chuckle escaped “A community meeting… That’s not a bad thing to call it, we are a community of sorts. Mm… united under the strange circumstances that we’ve all found ourselves in.”

"You're not missing much. Earth magic just tends to smell musky." There were times where Ivy wished she didn't know magic had a scent. "Some of the ingredients they use in spells smell horrible." She didn't hate the outdoors, but the smells from some of the spells that Rachel did were just something else.

Ivy fell silent for a few seconds and a frown touched the corners of her mouth. There were times it was easy to forget he didn't just come from a different world but also a different time and a different culture. People didn't care who took who on as a lover for the most part in her world. Maybe humans cared more, but vampires? They took both equally and there had never been anything different than that. She shifted her weight from side to side awkwardly and shook her head.

"That never occurred to me." It was embarrassing to admit. The fact that he had a husband had never seemed weird to her or even worth a comment. She'd never thought to second guess it or to make the connections about why he might be happier in worlds beyond his own. Now that she was thinking about it, she felt like it should have been obvious and she was stupid for not connecting it. Suddenly a lot of his comments made a lot more sense and she felt even more guilty for having brought up subjects like this at all. "Vampires don't care. I don't know if they've ever cared. Piscary has had me and Kisten and countless others with him in bed over the years. If you want someone, you want them regardless of gender." That wasn't how it was for humans though, was it? Maybe it was more so now, but once upon a time it'd been an idea that was shunned.

"I'll never understand why humans enjoy judging each other so much." And always for the dumbest things. "Or why they think that people's private lives are open for it." Private lives were supposed to be just that: private. Why precisely people cared about what went on in other people's lives was beyond her. People really had no lives of their own to get so caught up in judging other people's lives. "I'm sorry. I don't think it sounds stupid of you to prefer it somewhere else. Hiding things that are a part of you..." she trailed off and her eyes lowered down to the large silver cross around her neck. "It weighs on you eventually." She knew that from her own experiences with the many secrets she kept from everyone around her. Having to hide such a huge part of yourself though? That had to be suffocating. "You shouldn't have to hide it."

In a weird way his explanation almost made her glad he was here. "Everyone should get the chance to be free to be who they are." Or at least a chance to figure that out. "If you could..." she trailed off again as she contemplated just not proceeding with the question. "would you stay?" Curiosity managed to get the best of her in the end. She wouldn't blame him if the answer was yes.

“I see…” He wondered to himself at that, even if he wasn’t missing anything… it was interesting. “What does the magic smell like here, then?” It was still information, even if it didn’t necessarily mean much now… It could be noteworthy later. At least Llewellyn tended to like to file things away, collecting as many details as he could to review when the time came. Adding to the growing amount of papers he already had, an unfortunate mess around his apartment currently.

That it hadn’t occurred to her wasn’t surprising. Llewellyn had gotten a pretty good idea of how things were different in other worlds and times. It did help a little to know that it got better eventually, even if it was a long way beyond his own era. So he shook his head a little at her tone. “I know, not many think about it… Even in Rhy’s world, it’s not nearly as frowned upon.” It seemed to depend more on the person there, from what he had said. His husband had been horrified to hear that it was even considered against the law. “But that’s not a bad thing— at least I don’t think so… I’m glad that it’s not such an issue in other places and times, because it shouldn’t be and that means others don’t have to be afraid or hide.” He smiled a little sadly, though. “People wanting to judge other people for being who they are is something I’ve never understood, which is why I tend to clash in my world compared to here, I think. There’s always something. Sexual preferences, race, religion, social class… It’s frustrating.”

Her expression, and the way her tone trailed off, wasn’t lost on him. Given their earlier conversation, even a few from before that day… He was sure there was plenty that she had to hide herself, and she was right… “It certainly does weigh, especially if you have multiple secrets to balance… Eventually it catches up to you.” And based on his experience, it got messy rather quickly…

The question does make him fall silent for a moment. The answer was both simple and complicated. There were factors involved, and it wasn’t just about him. As much as he wanted to be selfish on the matter, “I… Suppose I would if I had the choice. I have no one waiting for me at home aside from a couple of colleagues. My family is all gone and going back to hiding isn’t exactly appealing…” He let out an awkward breath before adding. “But I know Rhy has a life to go back to one day, and it’s probably not fair to ask him to choose between.”

They had occasionally mused over the idea of what it might be like if he could go back with Rhy, but it had never been particularly serious conversation… So he was trying to focus on what they had now, and appreciating it for however long they had it. Thinking about the future only led him down an unfortunate spiral.

"Nothing distinctive. There's a hint of something familiar..." she shook her head. "it smells more fresh." It was definitely hard to describe the smell, especially to a human, but maybe that would help some.

"It's hard to imagine people still caring." A sad smile touched her lips and she looked down. "That's a nice way to look at it." Though it made her even more sad to think about from his point of view. He cared more about other people even after all that. "It's stupid. But there's no changing people like that." Which was probably the most frustrating part of it. It wasn't like you could convince someone like that to change their mind. "Sounds like a good thing you clash with the people in your own world." It meant he had a less close minded outlook and that was definitely better.

"Eventually. Usually in the worst way," she responded with a frown. "It sounds like you have experience with that though." And she wasn't going to ask anything more about it. There was no way it would result in a pleasant story and it felt like she'd already dragged everything out too badly. She bit down on her lower lip and the feline-like fangs could be seen for just a second.

"Love can make your choose the more unexpected choice." She didn't know Rhy, but she knew how things like that worked. There was no denying she'd made unexpected choices because of love. "In the end, it'd be his choice whether you asked or not." It was a gentle reminder meant to be vaguely encouraging. Unfortunately, she really wasn't the best at being encouraging.

“Familiar…?” Hm… He wondered how it was familiar. “Fresh, like it’s newer magic, perhaps?” It did seem like the appliances in the building were rather out of place, as they’d discussed… Especially compared to some of the older fashioned parts of the city, and the buildings that were decidedly older and in a state of disrepair. Maybe even the magic that created these electronics was a newer variety to the world itself, “Mm… Something to mention to Harry, maybe.” The wizard might be able to do more with the information than he could with his own random scattered musings.

“And it was hard for me to understand that people didn’t care about it when I arrived in the last world.” He responded, mirroring her sad smile a little. What seemed normal for some was so different for others. He’d been terribly awkward about it and even knowing that it wasn’t going to get him in trouble there hadn’t stopped the anxiety and nerves from cropping up now and again. It had almost been retraining his brain to not be so cautious all the time. Rhy had been very patient with him about that... “It took a while for it to sink in. So I’m… fortunate that I had the chance to get used to it.”

A small chuckle escaped at that, he liked to think that she was right on that… As much as he desperately wanted to fit in sometimes, to not end up alone again, he didn’t have it in him to be agreeable on some matters. “Its gotten me in trouble more than once, but I’d rather speak out against their behaviour and narrow-minded opinions than stay silent.” Llewellyn wasn’t one to start fights, but he also wasn’t afraid to speak his mind when it mattered… And speaking up against certain people, especially those trying to ruin or speak ill of someone else, had become a bit of a habit of his. It got him fired from one station house, and he wasn’t exactly on the best of terms with his current boss either.

“Sounds like an experience we both know?” He responded in a quiet tone, shaking his head a little. He wasn’t going to volunteer the specifics, either. Somehow that was more difficult than what he’d already offered about his life, and that was saying something. They’d both shared more than either of them expected to, he was sure. “But we find ourselves with something of a reprieve from the sort of things that would result in secrets being dragged from us against our will, which is something worth noting.” He said, not exactly changing the subject so much as shifting it carefully. He hadn’t seen evidence of memory shares at all, which probably had to do with them not having a device implanted in their heads anymore. Llewellyn was relieved, to say the least.

Even if she wasn’t the best at encouraging people, the attempt wasn’t lost on him. It was appreciated in a way, No, it didn’t say one way or the other if the outcome would be desirable… But the point was that he wouldn’t know until he approached the subject with his husband or until such a time came that the choice might be put in their hands. “You make a lot of good points, Ivy.” He finally responded with a small smile in thanks. Even if it was still a complicated matter… maybe one day he could work up to it.

"Just the familiar scent of magic having been preformed," she said with a shrug. That was about as specific as she felt like she could get. She did nod at his question though. "Yeah, I think that could be it. Maybe Harry would know more." It vaguely annoyed her to default to that for some reason. Maybe because she liked figuring things out on her own so much, or maybe just because she didn't want to rely on anyone at all. There wasn't much denying that Harry would probably know more though. Or at least he had the potential to know more.

"I see. That must have been confusing and...nice?" A relief at the very least she guessed. It made sense to her that it would take him time to adjust though. It must have been hard to not be paranoid about if and when someone might turn on him for it. A hint of a smile touched her lips at his statement.

"You'd like Rachel then. She's always believed in speaking out against behavior she doesn't agree with. Gets her in trouble every single day. Sometimes twice a day. Then the rest of us get in trouble because of her." Despite the harshness of her words she sounded more amused than annoyed. She'd never been brave enough to stand up to much of anything in her life, let alone Piscary and the order that vampires lived by. In a strange way she admired that Llewellyn did. "It takes a strong person to speak out."

She shrugged and gave a halfhearted nod. "Hopefully this place doesn't decide we should share." That was one thing she was very grateful for. She'd been told about the memory sharing in the last place but somehow had gotten lucky enough that nothing from her life had been shared. The things she'd gone through? There were only a few people she'd wish experiences like that on. Besides that, she didn't want to deal with fake sympathy or people trying to understand.

"Thank you. I don't hear people admitting that often enough."

As much as Llewellyn liked to figure out things, he’d learned that there was value in consulting those who knew more than you did on a subject. So while it bothered him to be in another place where magic was going to be an ongoing complication when he knew so little about it? He tried to keep in mind that he had time to learn and they had someone they could theorize with who knew better. “Something to make a note of for next time one of us talks to him.” He responded with a wry smile. It almost felt like they’d have two lists to make. One full of things to address the aspects with, and one full of things they needed to work out themselves.

Humming a little, he nodded. “Confusing certainly described it… The instincts I’d built up tended to be at war with the knowledge that I didn’t need to be on guard on that matter.” He shook his head a little, it had been a bit exhausting at first, but… “But you’re right, it was nice once I adjusted.” It had just taken almost a year and one very patient person to get him to that point.

Ivy’s friend honestly sounded like exactly the kind of person he’d get along with, and he couldn’t help but smile at the amused tone in her voice, conflicting with her choice of words. “I would like to meet her one day, if I ever had the chance.” Although he supposed that meant the potential for twice as much trouble, but sometimes trouble was worth it if someone else benefited from those brave enough to speak out. “Or one who doesn’t think before they speak.” He added, tone almost joking a little. Llewellyn appreciated the compliment, of course, but he wasn’t the best at taking them.

Plus, it would be a lie to that say he always thought before he spoke. Especially if someone said or did something that was both annoying and wrong.

“I’m trying to remain hopeful that it won’t… I’ve asked around and it doesn’t seem as though it’s been a problem here before now. At least not for as long as anyone has been here.” He responded, tucking his hands in his coat pockets with a glance at the dwindling people around the area as the evening started to grow. “It’s definitely a world with its own complications, and we’ll have to be mindful until we figure more out...” For now, anyway. Llewellyn was rather hopeful that it stayed that way, having been through it a few times… It wasn’t fun, especially if it wasn’t something he was ready to talk about. “But it at least feels somewhat better than where we were— but perhaps that’s just the fact that we’re in a world where we can go outdoors again.” He added with a small grin, though wouldn’t exactly rule that out. Llewellyn had never liked feeling contained, and spent most of is time in his own world outside.

“You don’t? Mm… Unfortunate, because you do… Or at least I’ve appreciated the points you’ve made.” Llewellyn could at least relate to the feeling, sometimes it was a bit annoying when you said or suggested something and others ignored or dismissed it in favour of something they came up with themselves only to discover he’d been right all along.

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