rekindleme | January Intro Log

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January Intro Log

Who: Everyone
Where: The Welcome Center
When: 12th December, early afternoon
Summary: The new arrivals, freshly pulled from their worlds or others, awaken in a strange place...
Warnings: Inbox death may occur. System overload at own risk. NPC responses may be slow.

It's a shuddering breath, a sensation of being pulled to elsewhere and finding oneself pressed against something on the soft and some place cozy. However, before one can fully stir, there is and odd, warm stirring sensation that lifts you up from wherever you've been dropped, when you begin to drift off once more.

'I'm sorry for this... but we need your help.'

Yet the feeling -and the voice - pass quickly, and when you awaken, you begin to realize your surroundings. It's a small room with what some might recognize as something akin to a Far Eastern theme when it comes to decor, from the walls to the sofa (or bed) you find yourself on. Illumination is provided by carefully crafted lamps, and even a red candle flickering on a nearby desk. The doors are made from paper and wood, with a thin frame; through them it's easy to hear other people stirring, talking, or coming to.

You are not alone...

On a small table beside you, there rests a note atop a manilla envelope (that oddly enough is enscribed with your name). Unfolding the note will reveal some answers in the form of a letter addressed to all arrivals.

Inside the manilla envelope , you will find: a ring with a key and apartment number on it, some kind of cash card, a map and informational guide to the city, and a second letter folded neatly on the top.

Odd... Neither were written in your own language, and yet you find it easily understandable. Soon enough, if you don't make an exit on your own, there's a gentle knocking on the door as someone comes from downstairs to usher you along.

"Welcome to Saeng Seong! I know you must be confused or upset as to what's going on, but we promise to explain further once you've had a chance to stretch your legs!"

Whether you go downstairs immediately or linger a little longer, eventually you must come on down to leave the small space, and sooner rather than later would probably be better. You'll find yourself in a well-lit lobby, filled with comfortable-looking couches and chairs. Along one wall are refreshment tables, loaded with all sorts of warm and filling food and drink, including some you probably aren't familiar with. It's just as well they're in good supply, as rain is pouring outside with no sign of relenting. During this time of the year, it's definitely something to leave a chill in the bones. Perhaps picking up a rain coat by the desks on the other side of the room might be a good idea. Who knows? You may just find something suspiciously in your size!

Speaking of those desks, two ladies seem eager to answer any questions you may have, names and positions conveniently written on signs on their desk.

Irene, General Assistance
Andi, Technological Assistance

Outside, and through the heavy rain and translucent glass you can see a banner hanging from the tiled roof of the building across the street. The deep autumnal colors on it match the welcoming (though rather damp) atmosphere as the letters proclaim:

WELCOME TO SAENG SEONG
(ENJOY YOUR STAY!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Mister Rogers..."

Okay, that's not the most enthusiastic response, but he's feeling pretty nervous right now.

"What do you mean, welcome back?"

Steve started to look a little worried at the question. This was the first time he met someone that didn't know they were gone. And Czes still remembered him, so it wasn't like he was from an earlier time period or universe.

"A couple months back, you disappeared. Thought you were sent back home like the others."

"Months?" Well, that's bad. "I thought it had only been one night. I went to bed and woke up here."

The stress he's feeling is apparent in the way he's clutching his welcome packet. He seems to be making an effort not to make a scene, though. The thought of two months unaccounted for has his paranoia turned up to eleven.

Steve didn't really have a good explanation for that, the only thing he could think of was to place a hand on his shoulder in a hopefully comforting gesture.

"We'll figure this out." Or if they couldn't, Steve would do his best to support him anyway. He was a good kid overall from what he knew of him and it was rather obvious that he was deeply troubled by the news. "Nothing was out of the ordinary before you went to bed?"

Czes twitches at the touch and manages to endure it for a whole second before he shuffles a step to get away from the hand. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't mind but right now he's having all sorts of horrible thoughts about what might have happened to him in two months of lost time.

"N-no, I didn't notice anything..."

Steve feels bad for making him uncomfortable and he just lowers his hand after Czes moves out of the way. "Sorry, should've asked first." It's obvious that he's still bothered by the time jump and that's something he can definitely understand.

"Going back to your old apartment might help."

"Yeah, but...it seems like they assigned me a new one."

He lifts up his welcome packet, then shrugs shakily.

"Maybe it would be better...if I didn't go to places anybody would expect me to..."

"Gonna avoid your new apartment as well then?" It was definitely possible, although Steve was worried about where he was going to stay at if he ended up avoiding those apartments.

"Can't run forever though." Not that Steve was going to force him to go anywhere, but he was more than willing to help him if he needed it. Act as support.

Czes jerks at Steve's comment, so caught up in his paranoia that at first he thinks it's a pointed comment. But a half-second later he realizes how unlikely that is, considering how Steve is acting. Not only that, but if someone has experimented on him and figured out his secret it can't hurt to have allies who know the truth.

Czes forces himself to relax a little, though his grip on the welcome packet remains tight.

"Well," he says easily, a tone that clashes pretty horribly with his previous body language, "you'd be surprised at how easily I could do just that."

The boy's increasingly odd behavior only caused Steve to worry more about him. He knew that Czes was a bit jumpy even before this conversation, but he hadn't seen him behave this paranoid. Steve could tell that he was trying to relax a little, but it wasn't really fooling him.

"Might be easier to rely on others instead of just runnin'."

"Like you?" Czes says it almost slyly and regrets that tone immediately. Steve seems the most trustworthy out of all the adults Czes has dealt with here so he really didn't deserve it to be said like that.

"Sorry," he says almost immediately. "I'm just..."

He glances around, then sighs. "Look. You've been really helpful, Mister Rogers, I'm not trying to be ungrateful or anything. There's just more to this situation than you know, and--" he shifts his weight, debating it to himself, then straightens as he makes a decision. "Well, if you want to know, we should talk somewhere more discrete than here."

His voice is still light, the intonation of a child, but a heavy quality enters it as he talks that makes him seem older despite his bearing.

Luckily, Steve didn't take offense to what he said. He's dealt with Tony for over a year now, it would take more than that to push him away. "It's okay."

He never really thought that Czes was being ungrateful, but Steve didn't interrupt him. It was true that he didn't know what was going on with him, but he hoped that he could be someone trustworthy enough to depend on.

"Any place in mind?" The intonation wasn't lost on him.

"Not really. Just...away from here."

Away from the natives manning booths, because Czes certainly doesn't trust them.

"The park? Open area, but usually away from others."

Guess going into an apartment would work, but he wasn't sure if Czes was up to going into a building like that anytime soon. At least the park had fresh air still and there was more room to roam if he wanted to.

"That'll work. Shall we?"

Czes has already shuffled around Steve and is headed for the door when he says it, so it's less of a question and more of a statement.

Steve merely nodded and started to follow him out the door. He wasn't quite sure what the young boy was going to tell him, but he's dealt with a lot of crazy things in the past. Few things still surprise him, but it wouldn't be the first time when something new threw him for a loop.

One stimulating walk later, the two arrived at the park. Czes turned to Steve, a calm expression on his face. The walk had helped to settle him a little, and he always thought this talk went better if he acted like he was in control.

"This is probably going to seem a little far-fetched to you, but just hear me out, okay? I promise I can prove what I'm about to tell you."

"I've been through some unusual situations myself." Steve smiled a little, trying to look encouraging for him. He was about ready to hear the strangest of things and even if the truth was far-fetched, he just needed to remind himself to believe Czes. He put his trust in him and Steve wasn't about to betray that.

Just because he was a kid didn't mean it mattered less. Perhaps, it mattered more.

Looking at the expression on Steve's face, Czes started to feel a little guilty for leading him on before. His usual smarmy speech dried up and Czes found himself feeling tired about it instead. It left an expression on his face that definitely didn't match up with his usual expression.

"To put it simply, I'm immortal. I don't age."

There. Just like ripping off a band-aid.

Well, that was still surprising to hear, no matter how much Steve tried to prepare himself for it. An immortal kid, huh? He wondered how he even gained a power like that, but guess there was a long story behind that one. He wasn't about to ask too many details, not just yet anyway.

Although, his answer did explain some of the mannerisms Czes showed earlier.

"Immortal, huh? I believe you."

Czes twitched a little at that, a clear sign of the mental stumbling he did at Steve's reaction.

"J-just like that, huh?..."

So, after all that Czes didn't have anything to worry about after all. It felt a little anti-climactic.

"You haven't given me a reason to doubt you." And he did say that he was going to take what Czes said seriously.

"...How long have you been alive?" He couldn't really imagine how it felt to live for eternity, stuck in the form of a young boy no less. The thought suddenly made Steve a little sad. If he was fully immortal, then he would be stuck watching the world change and move on, his friends and family pass on as well.

Steve could barely handle it once, when he lost his era and friends.

Czes is of the opinion that keeping his immortality from him in the first place was a pretty good reason to doubt someone, but he kept it to himself. If Steve wasn't going to put up a fight then Czes wasn't going to pursue it, at least right now.

He shrugged, feeling on more familiar ground since Steve was taking it so easy. "About three hundred years."

He definitely couldn't hold back the look of shock when Czes admitted that. Three hundred years... almost three times the amount of time he spent under the ice. He supposed that Czes didn't sleep through all of it, but living through all those years probably wasn't any easier. Harder in its own way.

"Are there others like you?" Steve asked, wondering if maybe there was were people that shared his fate and kept close because of that. Asgardians, from what he could recall, lived for hundreds of years, but that was the norm for them.

Czes is reminded of the first conversation he and Steve had. He graces Steve with a genuine smile, the first of the day.

"In my own world, yes. I think it would be terribly lonely without them."

January Intro Log

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