INTRO LOG - APRIL/MAY 18

[phantasmods]

Eventually, Charm starts herding people towards the parked exploratory drone, a few at a time, mostly people who have finished their noodles or other business. "It's almost nightfall at the Station," he says, "and with this many new arrivals, we're going to have to make multiple trips."

(For those who might ask, he also explains that they've chosen not to stabilize the noodle shop for the time being, as the other androids will almost certainly want to speak to Viella, and have no other way of doing so, due to the fact that they don't dream. Aside from that small region, the Fissure is largely stable.)

It in fact takes four trips total to get everyone to the Station. Those of you who don't fall asleep on the way there - the minute you hit stable reality, the inability to sleep vanishes, and most will be hit with a wave of exhaustion - will find that the Station Annex, a building off to the side of the main station, has been finished, at least outwardly.

By the time the first group arrives, the sun is dipping towards the horizon; by the time the last gets there, it's set, leaving a few pink-tinted clouds in the sky. The drones drop everyone off (and that is everyone, even though of you who have fallen asleep) on the observation deck, where those of you who didn't get your fill of noodles will find several buffet-style tables set up with...

...Pizza? Yeah, pizza, in damn near every variety you can think of, including a few things that only loosely fall under the heading of "pizza." Half a table is full of calzones of various varieties; another significant chunk is things that are just desserts in the general shape of pizza, including a couple of iced cinnamon pastries, a pair of brightly-colored "pizzas" made of canned fruit over cream cheese, and a two-layer cake that's just decorated to look like a pizza, with strawberry jam and round slices of strawberry 'pepperoni' sandwiching yellow icing. Finally, the last third of the third table is just three baskets of breadsticks with varying amounts of cheese and garlic, accompanied by two turrens of dipping sauce (one white, one red) and a tower of little plastic dipping cups.

(Those who opt to head directly to bed will find that the banquet gets packed up and moved back to the kitchens around midnight, though it stays warm under a stasis enchantment for roughly the next day before someone packs the remainder into the fridge.)

In the common room, meanwhile, the usual boxes of clothes and trading post sign are set up. Unclaimed rooms can be claimed by writing your name in on a list set up next to the boxes, on what seems to be a broken music stand with a large ROOMS AVAILABLE sign hanging from it. There is also a rather hastily assembled, hand-poked Braille version of the sheet (with the paper punched through in one or two places).

Those who go looking will find that the androids are somewhat more absent than they usually are after an expedition; save obviously for Charm, and Strange who arrives on the deck as usual not long after, you'll have to go looking. Considering the amount of the station you have available, they could be just about anywhere... But perhaps it'd be worth checking over in that new building...?

[Mod note: Strange is the only NPC with a top-level this round, but others may respond to your top-levels, especially in the Annex areas! Consider it a fun surprise. c:]

Comments

[founderinglight]

Immediate aftermath

[Izunia returns to the Station on the second load of transports, and perhaps predictably, he immediately summons a familiar chair from his Armiger and falls asleep in it, snoozing the entire ten-minute flight. And once he's been awakened and gently shoved off the drone, he...

Immediately goes for one of the lounge chairs, pulls the blanket and pillow out of his Armiger, and goes to sleep again. Zzzz. Goodnight everyone.]

Later

[When he wakes up, it's mostly to shuffle in the direction of the food that's still set out on the deck, three or four hours later. He looks kind of out of it as he sips a mug of hot chocolate - coffee is pointless, he's eating and going back to bed - and munches on a blue-iced heart cookie Cori left behind while looking over the pizza.

Please help him, he's not awake enough to make toppings-related decisions.]

Much Later

[And some nearly fourteen hours after that, in the early afternoon, does he finally shuffle his way to the Annex and wander around the library for a while, before...

You guessed it. Napping again, in one of the chairs in the central area, Managing Quadrants for Imbeciles sticking out from under his elbow.]

later

[burninglight]

[He really was trying very hard to ignore you for a while, little brother.]

[But ardyn just sort of...glanced from Izunia to the cookie in his hand and turned a little pale, looking as if he half-expected something to happen.]

Re: later

[founderinglight]

...Mmnn?

[He sees your hovering but can't manage more than a vague questioning sound for verbs now, Ardyn.]

[burninglight]

[That’s okay, because Ardyn was roughly the shade of paper and quickly looking over Izunia for lack of any ability to speak.]

[founderinglight]

[That's concerning enough to make him actually attempt words.]

What is it?

[burninglight]

N-...nothing.

[Ardyn quickly folded his arms, looking away and trying to brush the whole thing off.]

Forget about it.

[founderinglight]

...I know it's not nothing, Ardyn. But I'm too tired to bother.

[He's not going to push, he's just gonna drink his hot chocolate now.]

[burninglight]

Good, because I'm in no mood to keep explaining 'I've seen some shit' in far more words. Just drop the subject and forget about it.

[founderinglight]

Mmm. Won't forget. You worry me.

[That seems to be all the long sentences he had in him at this stage of tired. He finishes the cookie and grabs for the nearest piece of pizza, which is pineapple.]

much later;

[promittere]

[Exploration of the station is...Well. It's going. It's a slow process, but he's thankful for the androids insisting on replacing the walking cane he'd had before. Adjusting to it will take some time, he's sure, but he's made it to the library with no incident. (Not that he knew where he was heading, but he didn't trip down any stairs or anything, so it's fine.)

Still, he's letting it guide him, and unfortunately a certain sleepy king's legs are just there as he passes by the chairs.]

Oh. [That...that wasn't a light tap, either.] My apologies-

[founderinglight]

[The body in the chair jerks awake with a small noise of alarm; it's probably possible to pin it as deep enough that it belongs to one of two people.]

What - oh, Ignis.

[There's a small sound of shifting as he sits up to rub at the section of his leg that just got soundly whacked.]

No great harm done... Izunia, by the way.

[Before this turns into a comedy routine of some sort.]

[promittere]

[He pulls the cane back at the noise, startled, before relaxing.]

Were you...asleep?

[He remembers him mentioning napping all the time, but...Geez.]

And thank you for the clarification.

[founderinglight]

...Yes?

[It's slightly sheepish.]

I think I've not entirely recovered from the expedition. Care for a coffee?

[On the other hand, now that he's awake, he may as well stay awake.]

[promittere]

That's terrible for your back.

[He folds his hands over the top of the cane, humming.]

Please. I tried finding the coffee machine earlier, to...limited success.

[founderinglight]

I didn't have a problem with my back even after nearly forty years of sitting on a throne, I'm not that worried about it. Give me a moment - there's another chair about two feet beyond me, if you'd like to sit.

[No reason to stand on ceremony, right?]

[promittere]

Nap on the throne often, then?

[His movements are careful, but he's glad to be sitting.

He's still so tired, after getting back from the forest.]

Much Later

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Jesus Lucian Christ, this place is going to take forever to investigate.

Junpei decides to be strategic about it, for his own sanity. ("Sanity.") He starts with the central area, taking down books from each shelf--politely keeping them in order, he's not an animal--and feeling around the space for buttons, switches, cameras, or bugs. None of his searches have turned up anything so far, of course, but there's no reason not to be thorough.

It's boring work, though, and there's Uncle Shitweasel, snoozing away like he hasn't a care in the world. After replacing everything on the shelf he was working on, Junpei dusts himself off, considers the man, and then gives in to his base urges.

He takes some books from the TO BE SORTED box and, carefully, begins to stack them one by one on top of Izunia.]

[founderinglight]

[It's five or six books in that Izunia stirs with a sleepy sound - ]

Mmmnn?

[What's going on, why are there books.]

[misanthropicprinciple]

Shhh. Don't move. I'm sorting.

[No he isn't. He's trying to build a card house out of books. A book house.]

[founderinglight]

...There's a table.

[That isn't flying even when he's just waking up, sorry Junpei.]

[misanthropicprinciple]

It's more fun this way.

[The way where he gets to be an asshole.]

I think you're a lighter sleeper than Dad, actually. I usually get farther with him.

[founderinglight]

Mmm.

[Sorry What was that he was pulling coffee out of the armiger.]

He still does dead to the world, then.

[misanthropicprinciple]

...To an extent.

[His hands have stopped trying to steady the books, so toppling down they go. Junpei picks one back up, considers the title for a moment, and then starts tossing it idly in his hands.]

That or he's used to me. Mixture of both, probably.

Much later

[cyclicalconcept]

Oh...

[He's asleep.]

He sleeps a lot, doesn't he...is he sick?

[It's still loud enough that the other can probably hear.

[founderinglight]

Mmm?

[Someone has heard you, Kana, and is kind of sleepily blinking awake.]