asgardchrysalis | AUGUST INTRO LOG: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

AUGUST INTRO LOG: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

Who: EVERYONE
What: the August intro log and first god house competition, More Than Meets the Eye
When: August 8
Where: Gladsheim Palace for breakfast, around Asgard for the game/curse
Rating: PG-13; please take anything higher than this to a private log!

morning: a warm invitation

Everyone wakes up to a friendly invitation to breakfast at the castle with the gods. For most of you, this comes as a message on your bracelet, reading:

Join us at the castle today to welcome some new Wanderers into our midst. Breakfast will be served and a lively game will be available to all of our guests, both new and old.

New Wanderers are curious on their own, and this is the first there's ever been mention of a game. Perhaps it's enough for you to make the trek to the castle, to see what all the fuss is about, or maybe even to see if there's someone you know. Perhaps you want to learn more about the game, or maybe you just want the food.

For our new guests, this comes as a bit more of a surprise. Wherever you were before in your world, without even realizing it, you wake up in a strange new place. No time or space inbetween, just an awareness of There and then Here. A matronly figure tries to explain your circumstances with a sympathetic smile, but ultimately invites you meet them all for yourselves: the Gods of Asgard, and the Wanderers that arrived before you.

The sight that greets you on the castle grounds is a rather festive one, regardless of where you're coming from. Colorful streamers and flags are draped above large tables with room for several guests. Natives bustle about, cheerfully offering food and drinks to anyone that wants some. Everyone is welcomed to mingle and greet the new Wanderers on this bright summer morning.

the game: a friendly competition

Among the brightly decorated tables are ones highlighted in a specific color for a specific god house, and most of the gods themselves can be found sitting behind it with a few of their district's natives. They are here to welcome the new Wanderers into Asgard - but they're also here to explain the rules of today's game. There are coins hidden throughout the city and disguised as mundane items, and the god house that returns the most of their coins will win an upgrade to their god housing! No hints will be given, but the natives are excited to help facilitate the activity and happily invite you to wander through their districts to find what you can.

But you don't have to know about the rules to be playing the game! The coins are already hidden throughout the city, and no one knows what they are until they've been picked up. Whether you're banding together with friends to find as many coins as you can or blindly stumbling over an unpleasant surprise, the game and the curse are in full swing!

evening: a fair prize

At sundown, all of the coins in the city disappear at once, whether they're in your pocket or still disguised as a bowl. Points will be tallied and a winner will be announced (OOCly, on August 17) - but Asgardians are keen to celebrate regardless of who wins a rather inconsequential game. The same colorful display of tables and chairs is still spread across the castle grounds, although now they twinkle with fairy lights haphazardly blinking throughout the air. Snacks and drinks are made available, as well as more dinner-shaped meals for those that request it. Mostly the natives simply want to bask in the strangeness of these Wanderers from other worlds for a moment longer - but they're also eagerly listening to any stories from the day's mischievous game. Relax, enjoy yourself, or again, just stock up on some freely served food. Whatever suits your needs today. Welcome to Asgard, dear Wanderers.

[ OOC NOTE: This is the intro log for August, as well as our first god house competition/curse: More Than Meets the Eye. You are free to play with the curse prompts and searching the city in any way you want! If you would like to submit a map to earn points for your god house, please check out the rules to learn what to do. We will accept maps until August 17, at which point a winner will be announced and members of that god house will be allowed to vote for an upgrade to their god housing. As always, please let us know if you have any questions or need any help on the mod contact page. Enjoy, friends! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ It was just a bruise, yet in seeing it he felt reality shifting out from underneath him. Like standing at the edge of the surf in bare feet, as the sand slowly washes away. That unsettling sensation of his very foundations slowly fall apart. Not only did it make sense, but Chloe had been hurt. By Cain. And Lucifer hadn't been there to stop it.

Or so he assumed, having no memory of any of it.

Very gently, he rested his fingers over the bruise in a feather-light touch. Forcing himself to actually breathe. There was nothing he could do. It was too late. Yet an intense rage was threatening to break free. At the men who shot her. At the gods who imprisoned them here. At his father for allowing it all to happen.

He was about to press her for what came next, but there was one single word that finally clicked. Something she'd said. ]

Before he could shoot me?!

He needed to kill you. So you would stop hunting him.

[ Her voice would be like a soft spoken rumble beneath his fingers. And even as she recited the words she remembered Marcus saying to her while holding his gun aimed their way, it still made little sense. It might make less sense to Lucifer, she assumed, and wasn’t expecting any answers. ]

[ That just opened up more questions that he could ask at one time. He hadn't cared about Cain for the last millenia, why would he be hunting the man now? No, there was really only one answer. He'd done something that deserved punishment worse than his curse. Probably to Chloe was his guess, but there could have been others. But there were still so many questions. ]

Did he?

[ There was an urgency to his words, though his tone was still soft. ]

Did he kill me?

[ If Chloe had been there, all it would take was a well placed bullet. ]

I don’t know.

[ Tightening her fingers around the collar, she was ready to pull her it down further to show more of the bruising. To remind him of what had happened to her. Instead she released it to cover the ugly markings up. ]

As far as I know? No. I took the hit for you. After that? I woke up here.

[ If she'd moved to pull the shirt lower, he would have stopped her. The one mark had made him angry enough. But when she covered it up, he returned his hand to her shoulder.

This was all almost too much to hear, and very much needed a drink. But there wasn't a drop to be found. ]

I don't...remember any of that.

[ He sounded distracted. Concerned. And though he would never admit it, afraid. ]

The last thing I remember is getting knocked out, just after we wrapped up that case with Bianca Ruiz. The...butt naked, charred head case...

[ Some how he got through quoting Ella's description with that same grave tone. ]

After you left me that message. You were gone for two days after that had happened. And from my point in time now, you... A bit and some has passed. Weeks, months.

[ That had to be why. ]

[ That shifting sand sensation escalated to the floor simply opening up beneath him. Weeks?! Months?! That wasn't possible. ]

Detective...I left you that message-- [ He wanted to say mere hours before, tops. But he couldn't say how long he'd been out and it was now daylight. ] --just last night.

[ He fumbled for the nearest chair and sat down. Hard. Almost missing it in his haste. This was bad. This was very, very bad. ]

[ Chloe watched him, growing more and more concerned by his reaction. She went to his side, a hand touching his shoulder. ]

Hey, it’s going to be alright. Nothing about this makes sense, we’ll just... We’ll take it one day at a time.

[ He looked up at her, looking as though that hand on his shoulder were the only thing keeping him from falling apart. One day at a time until what? Until they woke up again? Until the loop repeated? If this were really hell, he'd still be able to feel the loop repeating. He wasn't entirely caught in its flow, was he? When he'd seen Uriel, he'd been able to at least make an attempt to fight it. But this. Here. It felt different. He had no idea where the door even was. He couldn't remember walking through it, or even dying.

But he couldn't think of a single way to prove she was real. Because Hell would always feel completely real. That was the point. But he had to try something before he became completely untethered.

Gripping her arm, he looked up at her. He sounded suddenly desperate and demanding. ]

Look me in the eye. Tell me you remember it. Tell me you remember dying.

Lucifer...

[ She grit her teeth as his fingers dug into her arm. Chloe said nothing, even when his grip bit in a little too hard in his show of desperation. He was beginning to lose it, she could see him coming apart right before her. He would need to be calmed before he completely lost it.

Chloe moved to stand directly in front of him, her knee bumping his. This was unsettling to watch, to hear. He was legitimately scaring her but one of them needed to keep a calm head on their shoulders. ]

I’m sorry... I don’t. I don’t remember anything.

[ Even though she didn't say what he thought he needed, he could see it in her eyes. No matter what, Hell couldn't replicate that. Or so he wanted to believe. There would always be details that were off, thinks pulled from his memory rather than reality. And this Chloe was more real than any idea he could ever hold of her.

He dragged her a little closer before his grip loosened. Resting his forehead against her stomach. ]

Then, please...just tell me that you're real.

[ There was no resisting the pull. Chloe stepped in between his legs. Though she did tense when his head lowered forward to rest against her front. She closed her eyes, shoulders dropping, and a hand slid along his nape before moving up to cup the back of his head. ]

I’m real. [ The reassurance was a soft murmur as her fingers gently combed through his hair. He was already rumpled. She would add to the look. ] I’m right here. I don’t plan on going anywhere and leaving you behind.

We’re going to be okay.

[ For a moment, he just lingered there. Breathing in her scent and knowing it was something hell could never get right. Taking comfort in the touch on his neck. The softness of her voice. Comfort. Something hell would never allow. There was a chance, then. A chance that this really was something else.

Slowly, he looked up at her. Now that he wasn't falling apart so completely, the heart of that was plain on his face. He was scared. Gut-wrenchingly terrified. Because if this wasn't hell, he didn't know what it was. And he hadn't faced such a wide expanse of unknown since he'd been cast out.

All he could do was let out an unsteady breath. ]

[ When he tilted his face up to look at her, she looked down and saw the terror. It was as plain as ever. If he was this afraid, him of all people, then something wasn’t right. Chloe swallowed, never broke eye contact. How else could she reassure him?

It came to her easily, the gestures, cupping his jaw with one hand while the other brushed his hair off his brow and smoothed it back. ]

You’re scared... [ The stubble on his cheek rasped gently under her thumb as it brushed along it. ] You aren't the only one.

[ That touch alone seemed to soothe him, visibly. Some of the tension faded from his face. But it was those words. Her admitting she was scared. That did the most. He let out a breath that came dangerously close to sounding like a sob. But the next one was a little more steady. And the one after that started to swing toward a nervous laugh. The faintest hint of a strained smile tried to edge into his expression. ]

And the worst part is...they don't even have any alcohol here.

[ It fell a little flat, but it was an attempt at humor. ]

[ Okay, that attempt at humour? It worked to crack a smile. So it fell a little flat, it did the job. Chloe gently shoved her hand against the side of his face then, closed lipped smile widening some.

All of this was strangely affectionate and might give anyone walking by the wrong impression. No, they weren’t together. But they have in the past been close. And she knew she had feelings for him, deep feelings. But then Marcus had come along and it was because Lucifer wasn’t speaking up that she’d chosen Marcus in the end. Look where that’d gotten her. ]

That should be the least of your problems right now.

[ From where Lucifer stood, and really from any point in his life since he'd known her, he had no issue with people thinking they were together. And while they weren't together, they were something. Enough of something that he wasn't running away anymore. He was willing to run toward her for once. Too bad he didn't know all that had happened to her that could complicate that further. ]

Nonsense. Because what we both need, right now, is a good, stiff drink. But instead we're stranded in what appears to be a completely dry, vegan paradise. Which should be classified as psychological and gastronomical torture.

[ Now that he'd gotten her to smile, it was easier to shove all that terror back into its little box and pretend it wasn't even there. ]

It’s not completely dry. Isn’t most alcohol vegan made? Just find some grapes, go from there.

[ As it seemed he no longer needing to be calmed, Chloe’s hands went to his shoulders to rest there. Though it had been...nice to run her fingers through his hair, to hold her hand at the back of his neck. It had been just nice having him rest against her stomach, seeking out that form of comfort himself. ]

[ With those hands on him, looking up at her in the morning light, he could sit here content until the end of time. And he could truly believe that this could never be hell, more and more with each moment of relief. ]

And in a year, we'll have something that passes roughly as wine. I don't know about you, Detective, but I don't plan on sticking around quite that long.

Lucifer, when you're dead, that's it. You're dead. We aren't going anywhere.

[ Her hands squeezed at his shoulders. It was a harsh truth even she was in denial about. But this wasn't about her. ]

[ Now that he'd recovered, he finally got to his feet. And it was his turn to put his hands on her shoulders, gripping them by the sides. ]

Detective. If this is really what they say it is. "Asgard." Think of what that means!

[ For starters, it was at the very least heaven-adjacent. Which is closer than he wanted to be. ]

[ Because she wasn't wearing her heels and he was now standing at his full height, Chloe felt like she had to tilt her head back to look up at him. Her arms crossed. ]

Think of what it means? It means garden of gods. What now?

[ That was in no way what he was thinking, so he looked at her as if that were utter nonsense. ]

What? No.

[ His hands fell from her shoulders as he stepped back. Mostly so could gesture while he spoke. ]

If we died and ended up in Asgard, the entire system is an absolute lie! If Asgard exists alongside heaven and hell, then what else is out there? Maybe we can choose where we go!

[ That logic was flimsy at best, but with all that he'd been learning lately, anything was possible. But now he's wondering if maybe cutting a hole in reality itself is what landed him here. ]

Edited 2019-08-13 18:12 (UTC)

You’re really starting to sound like one of those people who go on social media and harp on about how the justice system is a lie and judges are crooks.

Lucifer, you can’t just choose where you go when you die. It’s either up or down, there’s no in between.

[ And that made her pause. It was kind of like a little bulb had gone off as if to nudge her to the hope that maybe she wasn’t dead. Ugh. Or maybe he was right and they could choose. God, why was this such a mess? ]

God. Never mind. Are you hungry? Have you eaten anything yet?

[ Each new statement inspired a new tangent he wanted to go on. He still remembered the very first conversation they ever had, and was willing to point out just how corrupt the justice system was--current company excluded. Simply on account of how often he'd bribed and coerced many clerks, judges, beat cops, and other such officers.

The second was less of a rant and more a stating of facts that were now proven false. Based on his actual experience that she would assume was just metaphors.

So he opted to accept her shift in topic, if only because it was also his current frustration. ]

Barely, I'm absolutely starving. For an omelette or a burger or a steak. I'd even go for a bowl of cereal, but it appears we've landed in a vegan paradise. Which is to say, my own personal nightmare. I'd even risk a bit of Rakfisk, over this drivel!

AUGUST INTRO LOG: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

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