♤ Network || Log - Raise a Glass

[deal_me_in]

WHO: Cayde-6 and erryone
WHERE: The Deep End (Orange-13 on map)
WHAT: Cayde doesn't like dwelling on negative things so HEY Bar Grand Opening come drink away your sorrows and stress and enjoy company in general
WHEN: 'bout a couple of days after the storm's passed, time flexible thereafter
WARNINGS: N/A will change as necessary
NOTES: Use whatever format you want

[Network - Video]

[The image starts out crooked but the Exo's actively adjusting it before he steps back and gives someone a thumb's up off-screen.]

All right, so good news? Nothing sprung a leak despite prior circumstances, surrounding area's a little damp though, but all in all? Everything's pretty much how I left it. Even got some supposed cyanana booze that's been uh...going through this still since before we left for space. -okay I'm not exactly sure how that might taste? So in the meantime, I've got a backup plan.

[He seems to remember something then, coming up close to the communicator.]

But Cayde, you say, what's all this about anyway? Excellent question! I was so excited I forgot to say. Ahem. So, some of you- a good number, actually, might be aware that I have been in the process of putting together a bar-slash-common gathering area type of hangout...thing. It's pretty much been done, just not stocked- but now that we're finally back from...all that and then some, I've got a selection of fine drinks for your...uh... drinking pleasure. Also some non-alcoholic stuff for the non-drinkers and the under-aged. Oh, and there's tea and coffee too.

[Fishing around in his pocket, he holds up a map he's drawn up, the location circled.]

We're right down here, southeast sector, past the lake- I'm working on getting some kind of a landmark but this place is fresh out of neon signs. Anyway! I'll be around. Come as you please, even if I'm not- don't trip up the stairs, help yourself and uh, don't mind if the fish stare at you.

---

Making the network announcement had helped to fully kick his mood back into a semblance of normal. Truth be told, he just wanted to gather up people together, real people, and settle in with an ambiance of more pleasant times and warmer company.

The backdrop of the water-filled courtyard that made up the center of the nest of buildings had been something Cayde had at the time thought whimsical. During the daylight hours the light that filtered through the large window was a wavering green-blue, offset by the small sconces along the wall and a few individual lanterns at tables and flanking the bar area adjacent to the makeshift aquarium.

Cayde had set up the various bottles of drinks he'd acquired from their planetary pit-stop and scavenged from the cafe on a somewhat crooked shelf behind the bar itself. He'd been trying to go for rustic like those Old West saloons but in the middle gave up and just let things shape itself as he found them. The glassware is just as mismatched as the furniture, but everything's clean and ready to be made use of. If there's anything he really wishes he had, it would be an old-fashioned phonograph player or some kind of music source just to drive off the quiet that filled the space when no people did.

Comments

[kree_soldieress]

Her appearance should most definitely scream Kree at him. But not nearly as much as her look of awe at seeing him. That is a soldier that recognizes her ruler. The one who allowed her power.

"If I might speak in a familiar manner, my Emperor, I do not know who this Cayde you speak of is. But he spoke of coffee, and it was a pleasant beverage when Carol offered me some before."

[hulkintraining]

My Emperor. This isn't the first time Teddy has been looked at like that, by Kree, Skrull, and hybrids alike. But there's a certainty in her voice that's different. That doesn't refer to who he could be in the future, but who she believes him to be now.

"Call me Teddy please." The response rolls out of his mouth with ease despite his confusion. He's sure he's never met this woman before. But apparently she knows Carol.

"Cayde is the owner of the bar. He should be around here somewhere. I can introduce you. But first...I'm afraid I'm going to need an introduction since you already know who I am."

[kree_soldieress]

"Of course, Emperor Teddy," Lauri-Ell agrees immediately. He used that back home as well. Her fist went to her heart as she bowed her head and offered her name.

"I am Lauri-Ell, your Chief Accuser, my liege. It honors me to serve you and that which you have built. And it would honor me to see you safe in this place."

[hulkintraining]

His hands come up in front of him as she bows her head, as if he could stop her.

"Oh that's not necessary. Really. I'm not anyone's Emperor...yet."

His Chief Accuser. Wow. At least she's not giving off Ronan vibes. Instead she actually seems pretty friendly. Clearly his future self has good taste.

"It's nice to meet you Lauri-Ell. You arrived recently right? You must have some questions about this place."

[kree_soldieress]

No, he will always be her emperor, future and past.

"Very recently, and many questions," she agrees. Was it just supposed to be Teddy then? "I admit, this place is strange. Like the city of New York. Carol did not explain the name to me, but it was a nice place. Like this, but more... alive."

[hulkintraining]

"Ah yeah, New York City is a lot more lively, that's for sure. This planet was deserted by the Agrii because it became inhospitable for them. That's why they brought us here. To help restore the planet so that they can return. But there are these storms that are deadly to them and...pretty horrible for us."

His voice lowers at the end and he glances away for a moment, his jaw set. This past storm had been a bad experience for all of them.

"But that was before. Awhile back the Agrii tried to send us back home, but it turns out the technology they had to do that was taken by a mysterious person or group that's been watching us and wants to keep us here."

He takes a drink from his glass.

"And that's the short explanation. But let's get you something to drink before we go too far down that rabbit hole. You said you like coffee?"

[kree_soldieress]

Ah, there is much to learn from him, and she stays quiet and thoughtful for all of the information she is given. Her poor emperor, to live in all of this without his people to support him.

She will be here to support him, she chooses. This is her duty as his Accuser.

"Then we shall determine who has the power and make sure you get home. And yes. I have experienced this coffee from Carol."

[hulkintraining]

He nods in agreement.

"That is the plan ultimately. We don't have much to go on as far as I know, aside from some footage. It seems like whoever is behind this has been watching us for a long time. Which is just as creepy as it sounds. But we're on better terms with the Agrii now, so that's something."

Teddy then leans over the bar counter, waving to get the attention of the Exo behind the counter. "Hey Cayde, can we get a coffee over here?"

With her order in, he settles back into his seat. "So...how did you and Carol meet?"

*sneaks in briefly*

[deal_me_in]

"Sure thing, coming right up!" the Exo pipes, peeking out from the doorway behind the counter. He saunters over, fishing out a pair of mugs from the shelf just below, plunking them down by the two before stepping back to grab the coffee pot.

"I'll just leave this here," he grins, setting it down once he's filled the mugs. "You need anything else, just holler."

[kree_soldieress]

Lauri-Ell nods her appreciation to the Exo for the delivery. This one is a good person, and she appreciates him. Which will of course mean fresh flowers delivered to the bar whenever she finds them.

Then her attention returns to Teddy.

"I am not certain I like the idea of you being surveiled," she admits. But it is not something to be discussed. It is unchangeable. Until she finds a way. In the mean time, she must answer.

"There is a city, K'in-Al, on the planet of Mar-Da'en. It was built as the first city where Kree and Skrull would live together, under the Alliance. It was... destroyed. I was the only survivor. You send Carol Danvers, your only Accuser, to investigate and confirm why a Kree soldier, myself, would do such a thing to bring our new peace to such risk. I knew her at once. And so we came to know each other."

[hulkintraining]

Teddy can't help but laugh at the remark, but not unkindly. He offers her a grin. "Yeah, you and me both. Can't say I'm all that happy about it. But what I'm more worried about is what they're using the footage for."

He listens carefully to her story, his expression only shifting to one of surprise and sympathy when he hears what becomes of her city. But her explanation also brings forth a hundred new questions.

"Wait...so I made Carol my Accuser first? But she's not Kree. And I was accusing you of having destroyed the city?" Which, of course, had to have been a mistake or she wouldn't be his current--future--Accuser. "What do you mean that you 'knew her at once'? Like you recognized her as Captain Marvel?"

[kree_soldieress]

"From my understanding, you may have been influenced by..."

Wait, she probably shouldn't tell him about Rk'lll.

"Tanalth the Pursuer, she was leading the Kree at the time. The Pursuer Corps are, or perhaps were, a partner group to the Accusers. But she selected Carol."

To send the woman away, Lauri-Ell thought.

"You were not you accusing me. It truly believed that I was guilty. Only I knew I was innocent. You attempted to solve a problem. But of course Carol is Kree. Our mother is Mari-Ell. And I knew where I came from, what I was made to be. So I knew her, Hala remembers her, as it remembers your father."

[hulkintraining]

"You're Carol's sister?"

The words come quickly, flowing out of his mouth quicker than his brain can even grasp the thought. His eyes widen in apparent surprise. He really hadn't been expecting that.

"I had no idea..." Is he mentally editing Carol's superwiki page in his head? It's more likely than you think. "But clearly you're not the one responsible. So Carol helped you find out who was really behind the destruction?"

[kree_soldieress]

Yes, had she not been clear upon this?

"Yes. I am her younger sister. Apparently this means I 'ruin shirts'. I do not understand the concept, but perhaps she is aware that I accidentally tore one because it was suitable for my frame."

How interesting, that he is so excited about this. She doesn't quite know. Please do not overwhelm her with excitement.

"It is understandable. Carol did not know of me either. I was not truly born to her mother. I was genetically created. Such is the way many great Kree warriors are made in these days. And she did not assist me. I had to hide in her apartment. There was too much happening."