meet-and-greet | January 2016

[governors]

The Governors do this, sometimes; they hold a meet-and-greet for the new arrivals to help them get acclimated, and also to distract them from destroying their rooms. A message goes out to all the new arrivals informing them of a party with free food. Everyone likes free food, right?

In one of the recreation areas - sadly, not one of the ones accessible by slide - there are some chips, dip, some sodas and Solo cups, several large pizzas, and a surprising amount of Oreos.

Party.

Comments

Daniel Kinney | OTA

[accipiterrible]

This is exceptionally awful.

Daniel slouches in a chair near the door in the same suit he's worn for two days, making a face as he sips the lukewarm Fanta in his Solo cup.

"Would it have killed them to put out a little alcohol?" he asks nobody in particular, soliloquizing to an Oreo in his other hand. "I think not."

[dragonaught]

"Probably don't want people getting tipsy where we're a stone's throw from armories and other dangerous stuff," said Casey. Not to say they were hovering, but the idle musing called out to their own isolation and thoughts of similar nature.

Even so, alcohol in a situation like this would have probably just made the adjustment harder. Casey was secretly glad for that because it kept the temptation away no matter how bad of an idea it was.

[accipiterrible]

"That just makes things interesting," said Daniel, just to be contrary, and took a bite of the Oreo.

"So," he said, gesturing to Casey with the half-eaten Oreo, "I'm gonna hazard a guess that you're Fatemarked."

[dragonaught]

There would have been some self-depreciating remark here. They could have pulled it off, asked if they didn't look the part of lone protector, but they already knew the truth of it by far. Casey wasn't a fighter and likely never would be. In this lifetime, anyway. Showing only some hesitation, Casey held out their upturned palm to show the spare, draconic lines that had appeared on their hand upon arrival to the new, strange place.

"Apparently," they said mildly. Casey still wasn't convinced what it all meant. First a dragonaught, now something even more fantastical than all that? It was like someone was trying to see how long it would take for Casey to go along with it unquestioningly before pulling the rug out. "What about you?"

[accipiterrible]

Daniel peered at the dragon-shaped mark before high-fiving Casey with his own unmarked palm. "Lucky you," he said. "They only kidnapped me for my sparkling conversational skills and my encyclopedic knowledge of MacGyver trivia." Meaning: He's a Sentinel.

[dragonaught]

Valiantly, Casey did not flinch. They stared for a moment but didn't pull away from the high five, merely pulling their hand back when Daniel was done. This one was certainly enthusiastic enough even without alcohol.

"Yeah, because being here until who knows when is way better than only a year," they said, head tilted and brows raised. Someone was obviously not okay with the idea of the different tenures. "MacGyver?"

[accipiterrible]

Daniel blinked. "What, they don't have Richard Dean Anderson where you're from?" Then he shrugged. "It's all the same to me, anyway; I mean, I'm going to miss Jake, and I'm pissed as hell I'm taken from home, but at least you don't have to spend your time going through the same shit I did in high school gym class all day for a solid year."

Daniel, where the hell did you go to school?

[dragonaught]

"No," Casey said slowly, obviously confused by the reference. That was just going to be one of those things, they could already tell, but it was still something that would take getting used to. Just little things everyone took for granted. How much was Casey going to say that no one else understood?

Their head tilted at the comment, brow furrowing. "You mean... the training?"

[accipiterrible]

Daniel nodded. "Yeah, the training. Same old, same old, for me. Most of it, I guess. Though there might be some new stuff. They don't really seem to be keen on sharing the syllabus."

[dragonaught]

"Same old?" Well, that was curious. It was probably for everyone's betterment that Casey wasn't a sentinel — although if they hadn't been "chosen" as one of the marked, likely they wouldn't have anything to do with this at all — because fighting, even in protection of another, was a laughable idea. They weren't the sort. "What did you do before?"

[accipiterrible]

There was a little smirk that played about Daniel's lips. "Nothing too exciting." Lie. "I'm just used to fighting. I've been fighting ever since I was in grade school. So at least now I'm fighting to protect someone, and not over string cheese."

[dragonaught]

Shaking their head, Casey allowed a small, rueful smile. Things were still hard to really understand and make enough sense of, but they knew the type. Who didn't? At least this guy was more into the idea of using it constructively and not rallying against it. "You'll probably be a good sentinel," they said honestly.

[accipiterrible]

That made Daniel actually grin. "Aw, shucks," he said. "I've never been a good anything before. But yeah, maybe I won't totally suck at this, you know?"

[dragonaught]

"Especially not if you do it for whoever you match up with," Casey said, sincere in that belief. That was also what made it hard to imagine pairing up with anyone else. Not that it was impossible for Casey to make friends or be nice and lack their usual anxiety in the comfort of friends, but being so close as to make someone defend Casey... there was only one person Casey could currently think of where it wouldn't feel like making themselves a burden, and Gabriel was nowhere to be found.

"Um. My name is Casey, by the way."

[accipiterrible]

"Daniel," Kinney said. "Here's to hoping you end up with a decent Sentinel. You seem like a good kid. And if we're not assigned together...hell, I'll look out for you, if you want." And he shrugged, almost indifferently. Don't let anyone catch you being kind, Daniel.

[dragonaught]

"Don't worry about it," Casey said easily. Taking care of themself wasn't the issue; they'd been doing that ever since they were fourteen years old. It was the part where their independence seemed to be predicated on having a bodyguard that really irked them. How was that supposed to be any way to live? "But thanks."

[accipiterrible]

"Offer's open," Daniel said easily, and shrugged again. "Seriously, where the hell do you come from that they don't even have MacGyver?"

[dragonaught]

Casey took note of the offer, but gladly let it slide for now. Whether Daniel was sensing their reticence or was actually just that offended that Casey had no idea what he was talking about was up in the air. They shrugged largely in response. "I don't even know what that's supposed to be," they said.

[accipiterrible]

Daniel squinted at them. "Where are you from? Even in the FSU they've heard of MacGyver." That's 'former Soviet Union', for those of you playing at home.

[aquilawful]

Jack was not overly enthused by the idea of a 'party', but it was more interesting than pacing in his room. Plus, it presented an ideal opportunity to meet other people in the facility. When they were all apparently in the same boat (kidnapped for one reason or another to what was ostensibly a different universe), and no one was happy about it, they were more likely to talk to anyone who was willing to listen to their complaints. Information gathering shouldn't be too difficult.

Going to the meetup had an unexpected bonus: a familiar face near the door.

"Figures the first thing you'd complain about is no alcohol," Jack says, interrupting his Oreo-soliloquy. It's lighthearted, but he's very relieved to see Daniel. "At least we got kidnapped together this time."

[accipiterrible]

Daniel's demeanor changes almost instantly. "Jake!" he says, almost gleeful, and leaps to his feet, nearly spilling his soda. "You bastard, when the hell'd you get here?"

[aquilawful]

As aggravating as Daniel could sometimes be, there was nothing like seeing him light up about something. Most people didn't stick around to see how amazing it was, and Jack doesn't mind one bit that it's about him this time.

"Two days ago," he answers. He laughs at the absurdity of the situation, and, avoiding the soda, pulls Daniel into a strong hug. "This place is like an Escher maze. You?"

[accipiterrible]

"About the same," Daniel admits into Jack's shoulder, trying to hug him back just as fiercely with one arm. "You found the room with the slide yet?"

He glances around once he's released. "This party's a bit shit, huh?"

[aquilawful]

"I noticed it," Jack answers vaguely. He hadn't yet taken a slide anywhere; it's edging on too absurd for the moment. "I think there's more than one, actually. At least whoever designed the place has a sense of humor."

Or something like that. Humor was the least concerning option. Jack follows Daniels' gaze around the room, absentmindedly running a thumb along his left palm.

"Not exactly a rager, although the mountain of Oreos means they've got the high school part down." He shrugs. "No one's particularly happy to be here - I doubt five star dining and a professional DJ would make much of a difference to the mood."

[accipiterrible]

"Yeah, nobody seems too happy with this arrangement," Daniel says, looking around the room. "But who cares? You're here!"