Arrival Log & A Network Transmission

[theirondragon]

WHO: The Iron Bull (theirondragon) and you
WHERE: The Fountain
WHAT: Arrival
WHEN: Saturday - Afternoon
WARNINGS: Bull is Bull, will warn as necessary.


The disorientation wore off faster than he would have thought possible. Looking around the place, it was kind of a shit hole, truth be told, but a vaguely familiar one. He couldn't quite put his finger on it as he stood, casting an intimidating shadow of muscles and horns, but the place just felt like he'd seen it before. It was like a dream, though, fleeting and dodgy any time he tried to focus on it. Instead, he followed his gut, which was telling him to touch that shiny thing over there. It was a weird dichotomy, honestly. His gut said to touch it, and his instinct told him it was probably magic or some other technological weird crap and that it would probably do something to him.

He touched it. His instincts were right. Agrii sounded familiar, too, and in that weird, half-dream sense as much as what the orb shoved into his head. That wasn't weird. That had happened a lot, he was pretty sure of it, but the big guy still shook his head, a hand on his forehead.

"Shit."

It was a lot, alright?


\\NETWORK - later\\

[The video feed comes on to show a grey-skinned man with sharp features, dark stubble, a scarred face with a fetching leather eyepatch (well, it at fetching according to at least one person who mattered), and what looked to be some hefty horns coming off his head. It was hard to tell their size from the feed, but they were definitely there.

He grins at the feed before he speaks, but it's a casual, good-natured thing. His voice is deep, too, earthy and rough. He speaks slowly like he has all the time in the world.]

Hey, folks. I just showed up, but I get the idea that's happened to a lot of you guys. I'm The Iron Bull. Any tips for the new guy? I'm open to all of it. Why don't we start with where to get a drink?

((OOC: For those of you continuing his TDM threads, responses are below from the latest tag!))

Comments

For Reeve

[theirondragon]

((Continued from here))

There's no cocoa here? That's the worst news I've got since I showed up.

[That does get a chuckle from him, though.]

At my service, huh? So, no hot chocolate, but I hear there's a bar.

[plate_builder]

Alien planet, doesn't always mean that there's the things you'd want from back home. Chocolate included. But the replicator can be asked to provide.

[Yes, he expected that chuckle.]

There is indeed. The Deep End. I believe Cayde maintains it. It isn't too far of a walk, I could meet you there.

[theirondragon]

Alien planet. [He repeated the words. Sure, the shiny ball data point filled in a bit of that, but it touched something older, too, something half-remembered. He shook his head to clear it, it wasn't important right now.]

Sure, I'm good for a walk.

[plate_builder]

Alright then. I must presume you are still near the fountain. If that is correct I could offer you directions.

[He's already heading out of his own office, after picking up Mini of course. The complications of his magic on this world meant he couldn't be as far as he might need from the construct without pain.]

[theirondragon]

If you must. [There's a playful tone to the response.] And yeah, that's still correct.

For Lauri-Ell

[theirondragon]

((Continued from here))

"Yeah, okay. Ell still works, though." He follows the movement of that hammer, appreciative, and nods. "You're a girl who knows her way around a shaft. I like that."

He's already pretty sure that's going to go right over her head. "You see a lot of action?" Around here is implied.

[kree_soldieress]

"Lauri," she corrects. "Or Lauri-Ell. Or the Accuser if you wish a title."

The idea of going by a name she had never earned, even if it had been given, bothered her. His other comment, though, did not. Poor thing still didn't understand innuendo well.

"It would be a problem for my abilities in combat were I not capable with my weapon. And no, not lately. There are dangerous beasts though, and there have been instances of attacks upon this place, therefore I do my best to manage patrols when I am not managing the fitness facility."

Or protecting the Prince, but he didn't need to know that.

[theirondragon]

"The Accuser. Now that's a name."

The Bull, it appeared, had an iridescent shaft strapped to his back when he hauled himself out of the fountain. It was topped with a diamond-shaped stone and looked like it might be some sort of mace.

"Yeah, okay. We'll work on that." That being her receptiveness to innuendo. they had time, though. "And if there are beasts around, know that the Bull is with you." He motioned to her hammer. "Or if you want to swing that thing at something that isn't trying to kill you."

[kree_soldieress]

"A title. It is my role," Lauri answered, but she did smile. It was nice to know that she might be appreciated Of course he didn't know what the title meant so he might not approve. She did look at the mace and considered it.

Yes, he was definitely a warrior.

"I do not think I require additional work at combat, merely a sparring partner that is strong enough. I wonder if you are durable."

[theirondragon]

Her words connected with a deeply ingrained part of him, and the word "role" came off as capitalized to him. He may have been wrong, it may (and most likely wasn't) not have been the same, but it was similar enough to feel right. He wouldn't be calling her Accusor.

"Yeah, okay." He grinned at her comment, though. This was something he could handle, and something simple he could embrace with all the crazy crap around them. "There's always room for improvement, Lauri, but the world hasn't killed me yet. I can take a hit."

For Trashmouth

[theirondragon]

((Continued from here))

Comedian, eh? What's that? [He shook his head after they cleared the threshold and didn't even threaten to hit anyone with those horns. That was skill.] Bah, humans and your "appropriateness".

[Still chuckling, he follows the orders given.] Sure thing, Captain. Make it three.

Arrivalish

[doubled_speed]

"Understatement."

The thing about Tommy Shepherd was that there was often two states of interaction with him. The first was there was no Tommy Shepherd around. The second was that there was absolutely a Tommy Shepherd around. The problem was that while this is also true of most people, for them it's not as extreme of a binary state. Most people take time to arrive. They don't just appear. Tommy? A switch. One second he isn't there, the next nanosecond, he was.

This was one of those times. One second nothing, the next a lean young man with snow white hair and a basket on his hip filled to almost overflowing with tubers nearly the size of his head, each with a pale brown skin and grayish stripes on them. Listen, he wasn't the most creative at naming plants, okay? But the weight of that many things of that size should absolutely be impossible for someone his size to carry, and he was basically holding it like it was nothing. And he was staring at the Iron Bull.

"Welcome to a Temba. As the X-Men say, hope you survive the experience."

[theirondragon]

Bull didn't respond immediately, partially because he wasn't sure what to say, partially because there wasn't near enough hat on top of that silver head to be the one person he'd ever known to just appear somewhere, and also because he was catching up with the surprise. If there was one thing Bull hated it was being taken by surprise, but the kid seemed to be kind enough, and he didn't detect any deception in the sentiment, either.

"Uh...thanks. It's going to take a lot to take down the Iron Bull." He let a beat pass before he added, "where did you come from?"

[doubled_speed]

Man, don't name yourself in the third person. How weird was that? Man just say 'me'. Tommy considered the question and his free hand pointed back to the obvious, tall, glass sided and roofed building.

"Greenhouse. Heading to the diner," he said, swinging his arm in the exact opposite direction. The two places were on either side of the central fountain.

[theirondragon]

It's a whole thing, Tommy. You'll get used to it. It makes him sound like a thing, not a person. It's the whole vibe.

"The diner, huh?" He followed the guy's motions, taking careful note of both places, before nodding. "I guess you don't need an extra set of hands. At least not one as slow as mine." Because he was catching up. The guy didn't just appear. Just like Cole, he just wasn't seen. Cole messed with your head. This guy was a lot more normal. He was just fast. Real fast.

[doubled_speed]

Yeah, it was clearly going to be a thing and it was something Tommy would lean to deal with. For now, though, he supposed he should help get the new guy dealt with.

"I don't need them, but I'll use them. Here, carry this. We'll get you there and fed. And I'm used to being slow for all the people around me. Can't even imagine how many calories it takes to be as awesome as me."

[demjiin]

While it was certainly not always the case, Kaz was often easily heard long before he appeared with the staccato sound of his steps and his cane punctuating them. He was on his way elsewhere but the sight of a large horned man stopped him from continuing. Kaz was of about average height and though slim he was also wiry despite being a cripple. Even still, he barely was tall enough to reach Bull's pecs. Pausing for a moment Kaz raised one eyebrow.

"It's a wild guess, but I'll bet you're new."

When he spoke, his voice sounded like he gargled with whiskey and broken glass; a grizzled old man speaking from a teenagers mouth.

[theirondragon]

Bull had met someone once who was nearly murdered in their sleep, throat nearly slit, but it had healed. The guy had ended up sounding a lot like this one, but from what the Bull could see, this guy didn't have any scars. Maybe he just healed better than others, of course, that cane suggested otherwise.

"Good guess. You must be Hell to beat at cards."

He grinned, inclining his head slightly in a greeting. "The Iron Bull. Good to meet you."

[demjiin]

Kaz had a scar on his left eyebrow, and a much lighter scar on the left side of his lip, It was also his left leg that gave him a limp without his cane, and yes there's a correlation to them.

"Oh, I'm just an amateur at card games."

Which is a total lie but said with such easy conviction you'd never know it unless you knew Kaz. He could do card-counting in his head for up to five decks, could control a deck if he was dealing, and had as deft a hand at cheating at cards as he did at pick-pocketing.

"Kaz Brekker."

But he did not offer to shake hands and actually had to stand back in order to look Bull in the eye.

"If you're new then it's probably better if you find the Datapoint close to the fountain. Just know it doesn't cover a few things that us captives have worked out for ourselves."

[theirondragon]

The stepping back was a gesture the Bull was used to. It came from years of working with small southerners. He didn't try to close the gap or anything so obtuse. Instead, he inclines his head slightly in greeting.

"The Iron Bull. How do you do?" He glanced in the direction Kaz indicated. "And you mean the shiny ball, right? Yeah, I touched it. Now I have a headache." Judging from the smirk, though, that might have been a joke. "Is that an offer of intel? I do like some good intel."

[demjiin]

Kaz mirrored that sentiment about the Datapoints, but there was a slight sneer of disgust instead of a smirk on his lips.

"Yeah. All the Datapoints download information straight into your brain. You'll find that other Datapoints will delete any knowledge you gained from one Datapoint and trying to use another. Meaning whether you like it or not, you are limited to one Datapoint at a time."

Kaz shrugged.

"I'm not a fan of them at all and resisted using them for a while. Eventually, I had to take one just to try and make sense of the alien tech around here. But you've already learned of the reason we're supposed to be brought here, but what it doesn't mention is that the Agrii were invaded and conquered a long time ago. Now there's a question of whether or not this is even the planet they started out on, or if the conquering species, the Atroma, transplanted them here along with a third species, the Graq."

And now Kaz's eyes, which are dark brown, pin Bull with a look that's as flat and black as a shark.

"But don't mention that on the Network. In fact, just assume that anything you say on the Network is being seen by whatever species is holding us all captive. If you don't want them to see it, then say it face to face or not at all."

[Network]

[deal_me_in]

Whoa! The Iron Bull, huh?

[He grins somehow, with all that metal.]

Sure, I got some tips. Don't touch the other glowy ball things unless you wanna commit to some job nonsense stuck in your head, keep your nose clean, and if you want to know the best place for drinks? You come up to my bar. ...I'd say down, to the bar, but the fact is it's upstairs.

[Network]

[theirondragon]

[You know, he's actually seen weirder.]

Don't knock jobs. They give you purpose. [But he'd make sure he was good and ready for that job before he committed to touching one.] Yeah, okay. So what are the other places to get drinks?

[Because he's heard there's only the one place.]

[deal_me_in]

[That's a relief. It gets kinda old having to confirm that yes, you have a robot face.]

Or you could make your own purpose. -Wait, does that make sense? It did in my head, but when I said it, it kind of- eh, anyway...

[He waves a hand.]

Glad you asked! There's The Deep End, and then there's the Deep End, but the best place is in fact, the Deep End.

[theirondragon]

Your job doesn't have to be your purpose. That sounds better.

[And it made more sense.

That got a laugh from him.]

Good to know. It sounds like the place is made for me.