aterat | Logs for October

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Logs for October

Who; Caelan and you!
What; Phone troubles, pillow forts, discussions on the weird goings on, and a seal in the tub
Where; Red building, and the docks.
When; End of September / Early October
Warnings; Mentions of nudity (Not descriptive, shape changing just doesn’t work with clothes), references to alcohol abuse (marked in thread with Nida), references to suicide (marked in thread with Nida)

What Do You Mean It’s Not Water Proof?

Caelan was experiencing some very obvious levels of confusion and frustration as he wandered up from the docks post swim that evening. His hair was still dripping and damp as he walked, eyes glued to the tell-phone that was looking rather... Less functional than it was meant to be. He hadn’t even bothered to button his shirt all the way, after the damn thing slipped out of his pockets and into the water when he was getting himself dressed and presentable by human standards.

At first, he’d only been annoyed because he’d had to stop what he was doing to fish it out of the water. Now he was doubly annoyed because the screen wasn’t lighting up. It was like the damn thing didn’t have any life in it...

Weird and very inconvenient if he had anything to say on the matter.

Which he was... At length, muttering under his breath and his accent growing a touch stronger than usual as he forgot himself. “The bleedin’ hell kind of joke is this? Really? Give the man who spends copious amounts of time near the water something that up and dies just because it gets a little wet. Can’t handle your drink at all, can yah? You finicky little box of nonsense.”

Speaking of a drink, he had a feeling he was going to need one very soon. Between that weird energy pulse a while back, the nightmares and now this? He was willing to admit he might need several.

A Fortress Fit for a Princess

Caelan wasn’t asleep when a mist slipped under his doorway, he’d come to expect at least one interruption a night since a few prior when something exploded somewhere and released a shockwave of mysterious energy. It had upset a whole lot of people (him included, for all he said he wasn’t bothered). Holly had become the most frequent guest, especially when the nightmares had begun.

Tonight he was ready though, and hoping to get the kid to talk a little more rather than the sullen insistence that she was completely fine and whatever other absurd excuses she came up with for her visit that night. Because honestly, she wasn’t the only one having nightmares, and he was starting to worry more about what they actually might have meant.

Hard to tell though if there were any connections or similarities if you weren’t talking.

Thus, tonight he was more than prepared for the visit. The living room space in his apartment had been entirely disrupted, cushions and pillows moved to the floor along with some of the chairs from the dining area, the sheets from his room and the pillows for good measure. All because he’d gotten it in his head that he was going to try one of those ‘Pillow Fort’ things that Holly had mentioned once or twice in one of her super-fact-filled-rambles.

When Holly materialized into a solid form again, she would be greeted by the sight of a very large, very chaotic looking fortress of pillows and blankets. If she ate food, there would have been all manner of sweets and snacks. Unfortunately, as happy as he was to make sure she could feed safely, he wasn’t confident in grabbing a random person off the street for her to snack on.

Someone would be bound to ask questions if they saw him lugging an unconscious body up and down the stairs... right?

So... No snacks, only a structure that was only slightly stable, but magnificent to behold (in his personal opinion).

Splish-splash

If there were any human creation that Caelan favoured over any other (aside from motor cars, they were fun) it was most decidedly the bathtub. A place to soak and relax at the end of a long day? A place where you could safely just splash around or doze off for a little nap without worrying about a predator?

It was brilliant. A private bath was practically a requirement when he was staying somewhere on a job. It wasn’t a replacement for the ocean by any means though, it did little to quiet the call in the back of his mind. It was, however, the nicest substitute on days when the call wasn’t loud, and he couldn’t be fussed with sneaking down to the shore.

Even the Lighthouse he’d purchased had a nice one installed, despite the fact that the ocean was just down the cliff side.

So after he’d finished a day busking in the market he hadn’t taken long to run a nice hot bath, grabbed his pelt, and slipped into the water like the delighted seal he was. It wasn’t as though he didn’t have the time, he wasn’t expecting any company for a while yet. Usually his visitors tended to show up slightly later.

Wildcard!
Have something you want the seal boy for in particular? Throw it at me! Also, if anyone wants something specific in a starter they should let me know. I can totally write one. <3

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"Beyond impressive," she replied with a strangely sad little smile. "He pushes the boundaries on everything, for better or worse." Worse in most cases. There was no denying how many problems Adam's push for discovery had caused in her own world. "We can take them off ourselves." She twisted it, causing the marks to glow again and then slid it off briefly before sliding it back on. "Just like that. They react to our unique DNA strand." That was usually something she'd keep to herself, but there didn't seem like any harm in sharing it with him. Hopefully this would be the one time that thought process didn't come back to bite her in the ass. She shrugged at his question. "Rain. Snow. Electrical interference during a storm could be a problem too. Used to be a huge thing with older tech." Who knows what else could be a problem with these things.

"Based on my experience, I think they're hiding," she replied with a frown. "My best guess? They did something that's caused whatever's happening now. Now they're hiding while trying to figure out some way to fix it on their own. People who set themselves up to be worshipped aren't going to want to admit they aren't all they're built up to be." That she had more than enough experience with. Maybe that experience was making her too cynical and paranoid though. Not like she'd directly spoken to either herself to try to get a feel for what they were like.

"You been doing that on your own?" She quirked an eyebrow and tilted her head curiously towards him. Guess there was a lot more than meets the eye about Caelan.

“That’s what science does, from what I’ve seen.” He responded with a shrug, though he could also there were those who used magic in a similar way. The ring was seriously cool though... Then again, the selkie can’t help but tilt his head to the side at her explanation. “DNA? Hm... Don’t know what that is, to be honest?” He only dwells on it for a moment before he realized just how much these silly tell-phones might be weak to. Practically more conditionally vulnerable than he was! “All that? Fuck, what’s the good of something so fragile?” He’d handled some delicate things in his time, but something that was meant to be so frequently used and carried around? It was so impractical!

“You have a lot of experience with people like the aspects where your from?” He asked offhand, folding his arms as he started moving away from the docks. “You’re probably not wrong though, even without what’s going on I can’t say I’d want to make myself easy to approach if I kidnapped a bunch of people to help fix the shit that’s broken.” If they were in another, parallel realm to this one, he hadn’t gotten any sense for where the link was. No paths or obvious doors between that he could feel. Bloody annoying...

Caelan grinned, “You impressed?” He raised his brows a little in return at the bit about his work in the sewers. He knew that look, the look of someone who hadn’t expected him to do something that he’d done. Of course, he shrugged a moment later. “Not really on my own, I work with the Gullwings. So Yuna sometimes joins me, and Nida from the city guard. So most of the time I have some backup, only the foolish would go down there on their own. At least,” he chuckled, knowing full well he was occasionally just that foolish when they others were busy. “not without a proper map to show where the dead ends, and the easy exits are. I’m almost done though.”

"You don't know what DNA is?" That was unexpected. Even people who didn't know the detailed science behind it at least recognized the word. Well, this was a subject she was going to try to quickly steer away from. Long scientific explanations weren't her job and she wasn't exactly good at it. "It was all about the convivence of the item when it first came out. But models like these came out a long time ago." Really made someone wonder why they'd choose to adopt these for communication.

She shrugged at his question and put her hands into her pockets as she moved alongside him. "Got a lot of experience with people that think their power makes them a god." Too much experience. She closed her eyes for a second and shook her head. "Get rid of one and another shows back up. It's like a never ending cycle. The one thing they all have in common though is they don't like being available for questioning." Seemed like they all preferred to hide in the shadows until they decided it was the right time to come out and explain. Or monologue.

"Might be a bit impressed. At least I was until the name. Gullwings?" Definitely an...interesting name to say the least. Then again maybe someone that belonged to a group that called themselves Mutant X shouldn't throw stones. She rolled her shoulders and gave a light chuckle. "Foolish huh? I feel like I should take some offense here." But there was no denying she was foolish.

“No...?” He blinked at the question, “I’m serious when I say science isn’t my thing, Shalimar. I’ve not hung out with many scientists in my day, for all the advancements my world has seen in the last few years it’s still rather primitive by comparison.” And, honestly, a scientist getting their hands on a fae being tended to not go well for the fae involved. He didn’t fancy becoming some experiment, thank you very much.

Glancing at Shalimar again a moment later, he snorted lightly. “They always forget that you need more than power to be a god.” Otherwise he’d be will to wager that there would be a hell of a lot more gods than the ones they all knew of. “Sounds like you’ve got your hands full back in your world though.” He hummed a couple bars of an old song before adding, “Might need your expertise here, if the Aspects get too carried away with all this.”

Whatever this even was.

Now the comment gets an honest laugh out of Caelan, shoulders shaking lightly at the comment. “Listen, I didn’t name the group, and I didn’t have the heart to bring it up with our lovely leader. Bloody annoying birds, gulls. Always screaming at the skies and being nuisances around the beach.” A pause, and then a small grin. “Actually it might not be a bad name now that I think about it, I’m sure at some point at least one of us will be a complete nuisance to this place.” Himself, he means himself. “And Yuna can be a loud sort, at least she was when I met her.”

With another little grin, and a tilt of his head, he shrugged. “And if you take offence I beg your pardon, dear lady!” Does he sound dramatic again? Yes. Yes, he does. He thinks he’s amusing. “I suppose I should have added that you’re a fool if you’re inexperienced with dealing with things like that beforehand and go running in alone.”

"You're not really missing out on much by not knowing," she said with a casual shrug. There were times she wished she knew a bit less about it all. It'd mean she didn't know her childhood had actually just been one big experiment. Couldn't change the past though.

"Not sure if it's that they forget, or that they just don't care," she said with a vaguely bitter sounding scoff. She ran a hand through her hair quickly before sliding it back into her pocket as they walked. "Never a dull moment for us back home, that's for sure." At this point she wondered what she'd even do with a break. Then again, maybe she was figuring that out here. Compared to everything else in her life this was a walk in the park so far.

"Never been much of a bird person myself," she said with a laugh. Cats and birds just never mixed too well. She turned her head to look at him and tilted her head. "That the goal then? Be as annoying as possible?" There was something amusing about picturing him doing his best attempts to be as annoying as possible.

"Can't take offense to the truth," she said with a wide grin. "I'm used to tracking alone. With my team back home I get sent in first a lot." She flashed another quick smile and shrugged her shoulders. "Besides, I'm faster than I look if I do run into trouble."

“Depends on the person, I suppose.” He responded with a wry smile, some people forgot and some people were just arrogant. He couldn’t say one way or the other about Shalimar’s world though, but it sounded like it kept her on her toes as much as his own had for him.

The comment about not being a bird person gets a small chuckle out of him, “I don’t know, they’re not all bad. Some of them are rather lovely, and less prone to shrieking like gulls. Swans are kind of grumpy assholes though.” This is, of course, a small inside joke. A fond one, considering he worked with a swan fae who handed him his ass regularly.

To be as annoying possible was an excellent goal in his opinion, and admittedly he was very good at it sometimes. If it got results, all the better. “I don’t know if it’s the goal so much as a nice bonus for whatever I get up to here.” And knowing he’d pissed off the people who brought him here (while stupid) would be very satisfying. At least as long as he didn’t bring trouble on a few people that he’d gotten more than a little attached to.

“Then you at least have some experience with going in to a dangerous situation alone, I can’t say the same of everyone here.” Caelan certainly couldn’t say how fast the woman was though, after all... Looks were very deceiving, and he wasn’t in the habit of assuming one’s abilities before he’d seen them. “And if you’re used to running, then I would say you’re probably safe.” That said, “If you need a map with the dead ends and easy exits routes, you should stop by and grab a map once I’ve got it finished. I’m guessing in the next week or so, as long as nothing hinders the process.”

"Hm, guess so." There was a dismissive quality to her tone. He probably wasn't wrong, motives changed from person to person, but she couldn't say she really cared that much. It was easier to just write them off as arrogant than to try to figure out the underlying motive.

"Might just not be in my personality type to get along with them," she replied with a laugh. Though she did actually find herself pretty curious about his comments about swans. "You got a grumpy swan story?" She really hoped he did at least.

"My fair share of it. I used to be on my own a lot." She shrugged a shoulder and shook her head. "But I'll be sure to stop by in the next week. It'd be useful to have a map of some kind. Plus, I'd be curious to see what you all have found."

Laughing a little at the question, he shrugged. “Oh, I have many grumpy swan stories, we could be here a long time if I tried to tell them all.” Not that he could really tell them properly to Shalimar, a lot of them would sound very strange and there were so many details that he’d have to leave out. “There’s one that lives near enough to where I did back in my own world, she’s a very temperamental sort. Often decides she has a bone to pick with me specifically, so I’ve been on the receiving end of grumpy-swan strikes often enough. Let me tell you, they pack a hell of a punch when they lash out.”

Caelan grinned though, “See that you do, I’ll make sure to put a copy aside for when you stop by.” He wasn’t always there, of course. Often the selkie found himself bored with the whole ‘office work’ part of having an office and would wander off to busk at the market. “Maybe if I’m there, I’ll even give you the grand tour.” He added a moment later with an amused grin. Office supplies, nice desks, all that exciting, fun stuff. “Joking aside, it’s a pretty well organized space. Jagger keeps it all tidy, anyway.”

"Swan strikes," she laughed and shook her head at the mental image that came along with that. "Gotta wonder what you did to piss that particular swan off." If she ever got the chance to ask the swan, she might have given it a go. There had to be something there and she couldn't help but be a kinda curious about that. "Not surprised that they can pack some sorta punch though. Beaks look like they pack a punch."

She matched his grin with one of her own. "Generous of you, now I feel like the pressure is on to step by. I'm going to hold you to the tour though. Nothing more exciting than seeing office workers in their natural habitat." Her tone took on a more serious edge. "You guys found anything [particularly weird down there?"

“You never can tell? Maybe she didn’t like the look of me, or maybe she thought I was being foolish.” He shrugged lightly, though the answer was definitely the second option. Caelan certainly wished she were here, penchant for getting miffed with him aside. She was very good at keeping him on track and pulling him back when he was getting a little too carried away. “Their beaks are definitely nasty when they get their aim right.” Then again, Sara also had a mean right hook...

“I would hate to disappoint, so maybe I’ll have to spend a little more time around the office next week.” He responded with a cheeky grin, before he considered the question a little more seriously. “I would say most things down there are a kind of weird, but there is an odd door? It leads to the cemetery apparently, Yuna was looking into finding the key. We’re supposed to organize something to get it all sorted out, but... Well, with everything going on, I think it’s being pushed back. At least until whatever has been up around here lately is figured out.”

"Maybe you pissed her off in a past life." Based on her tone she meant it as a joke, but anything was possible. "Sounds like you have some interesting stories." That he wasn't too interested in going into details about. That in itself made her a bit more curious than she'd been before.

"I'll take it as a personal insult if you're not there when I come in," she said with a quick smirk. "Must be where the smell comes from. Something turned my stomach the further down I went." It'd been strong enough to put her off from trying to figure out what it was. She was foolish, but not that damn foolish. At least not for the time being. "Sounds like we're all just finding one mystery after the other."

“If anyone would be up for that challenge, yeah I suppose it would be me.” He laughed a little, but she was only slightly right in her assumption. He’d love to share the details, but he didn’t know her well enough yet to do that... He’d made a promise recently about being a little more careful with his life and unfortunately he was bound to keep it. “Oh, I have lots of stories. Some you wouldn’t even believe, I expect.” He responded with a little shrug, “Maybe one day I’ll share, but for now it’s something for you to look forward to.” Caelan responded, his tone a little more joking.

He liked Shalimar though, and she was very interesting. Maybe one day he could share a little more. Until then, he focused on her comment about the sewers. “I would argue that everything smells awful down there, but if you’ve got a strong sense of smell... yeah, it’d be worse closer to the graveyard. Yuna says there’s something bad in there, creating unrest among the spirits.”

Something bad that was bound to get out, because nothing ever stayed contained for long. That was just an unwritten law as far as anything of an otherworldly nature went. “This place is like one big puzzle, you uncover one thing and find more questions. At least we won’t be bored, yeah?”

"I think you'd be surprised what I can believe," she said with a laugh. There was nothing that could possibly be too fantastic for her at this point. A sly grin tugged at the corners of her lips though. "Guess I'll just have to wait to unwrap the mystery completely. Lucky for you I happen to like when a man gives me something to look forward to." There was clearly a lot he wasn't saying and she liked that. It made her curious and a helluva lot more interested in him than general.

"They're not pleasant smells, but not much different than any sewer. Until you go further down." The fact that she could say that just told her she'd spent way too much time in sewers. Someone had to do the dirty jobs and who was better equipped than someone that could innately track? "You know, ghosts and undead are the one thing I've never dealt with much." People she thought were dead coming back? Sure. She'd dealt with that a lot. But actual ghosts or undead? That'd be new. "This Yuna got any idea what or who the something is?"

She chuckled at his last statement and gave a nod of her head. "Sounds like we'll find plenty of trouble to get into after all."

“Well, I certainly hope the answer doesn’t underwhelm expectations,” He responded with a small chuckle. Really, Caelan was curious himself if she’d be surprised by anything or not. Thus far, the reactions to some of his stories varied greatly, though with the surprise and confused reactions being just a tad more common.

“Sounds like you’ve got a finely tuned sense for things that like.” He responded with a curious little look. Really, there seemed to be all sorts in this place. He hummed a little, thinking back on how Yuna had described the situation with the graveyard. “Well, she called the thing a Lich. It’s been contained in there from what I understand, but probably won’t hold forever. She wants to help the spirits and handle the thing, but we’re trying to build plans to do it safely. I’m planning on trying to manage things in the sewers if it gets bad, which is why I want to get the map done so everyone gets a clear idea of the layout. On her end, she’s looking to put together a team to help out inside once she opens the place up.”

Between the growing problems this month, and then situation in the graveyard when that’s over? Yeah, they definitely had more than enough to get in trouble with.

"Same here, I always hate being disappointed when I've built up an expectation," she said with a grin. She'd definitely built up an expectation when it came to him. There was something about his vagueness that gave off the distinct impression he was keeping a lot to himself. Not that she couldn't say the same on her end, but it definitely left her interested to say the least.

"You could say that," she said with a light chuckle. If she knew him better she might admit the truth or at least hint more at it. The problem was she had no idea how anyone here might react to what she was. It wasn't a risk she wanted to take. "A Lich? I thought those things only existed in fantasy." Then again half the shit here looked like stuff that only existed in fantasy.

"Well, if you need some help in the sewers, feel free to let me know. I can probably offer a hand."

It was true... Lots of things that people thought existed only in stories of fantasy were real, here and in other worlds. His entire world read out like a strange fantasy novel as it was, or at least that’s the impression a few people lead him to believe when he spoke on the subject. “Apparently they’re real enough here, though I can’t say I know much about it myself. Expect we’ll know better once the place is opened up and we’re in the thick of it.”

He did grin though, “I wouldn’t say no to a little help from someone with extensive experience in sewers. It’d be foolish of me to turn the offer down, I think.” Besides that, he had a very bad feeling that the sewers were going to be an over-crowded problem when this went down. There was already a lot to contend with in them, and the potential of escaping spirits riling them up and forcing them to flee out the entrances could get dangerous.

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Logs for October

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