INTRO EVENT ;; OPEN

[nosotros]

Who: Everyone!
Where: All over the city!
When: June 19th
Summary: The newcomers to El Sera have arrived.
Rating: PG-13ish, likely!

For everyone who arrives in El Sera that day, it's the same. Whoever the newcomer might be, when he opens his eyes, he's alone in a calm quiet room. In front of him is a box. In his hand is a letter:

Hello. I'm sure you've got a lot of questions, so I'll do my best to answer them.

To start, you aren't on your home world anymore. You're in a city called El Sera, in a country called America, on a planet called Earth. A lot of you might recognize the name Earth, and you might even be from it, but if you're reading this then I can promise you one thing--this isn't the Earth you're thinking of.

Magic exists in this world, and that magic is what pulled you here. It's given you magic of your own, if you didn't already have it, and the ability to defend yourself from the monsters that inhabit this world. I want to ask you to take a more proactive role in fighting these creatures and do more than just defend yourself, but I'm a transplant from another world myself. I understand some of what you're going through and I won't force you into it, but it makes it easier for us -- Xochipilli -- to find a way to send you home.

Whatever you decide, whether to join us or strike out on your own, is up to you. I only ask that you keep your magical abilities and status as, well, an alien hidden. Xochipilli will do its best to hide and protect you, but there are limits to what we're capable off. This city is a bit of an odd one, so simply behave like you belong and most people won't give you another glance.

Sincerely,
Jackson Rau

The box primarily contains any objects or clothing of the newcomer that would draw undue attention in their new, modern surroundings. However, it also holds a phone complete with instructions, a key to the recipient's room, a map to their apartment or dorm (with an attached note reminding them that their roommate is probably a normal person and that they should maintain their secrecy), and a plastic debit card.

Whoever arrives here, the setup is the same: In front of him is a set of double doors, leading into a room filled with milling Xochipilli employees. Any questions he has about the city can be answered here--and if he's discrete enough about asking, he can even get some basic instruction on how to use their magic.

Behind him is a door labeled 'EXIT'. Should he choose to step through this door, he'll find himself in a deserted stairwell that opens up into an alleyway.

The choice is up to him.

The Welcome - The Festival - Roommates - Around the Town

Comments

THE XOCHIPILLI BUILDING

[nosotros]

It's pretty quiet here, and there's only a handful of people around. Most of them are friendly uniformed employees looking to answer your questions, but there are a few other newcomers in plain clothing milling about as well. For the most part, everyone is being directed to the festival going on at the Landing, but there's no reason you can't get to know the other people present all the same...

THE LANDING

[nosotros]

This is where the real party is. Music, dancing, food -- it's all here. There are games for adults and children alike, boat rides, and even a small ferris wheel. It's easy to get lost in the crowds, and just as easy to meet new people -- or maybe see some old faces.

ROOMING THREADS

[nosotros]

101 - Elijah Elkwood and John Watson (Apartments)

[nosotros]

102 - Kain Highwind and William Graham (Apartments)

[nosotros]

101 - Kazu Mikura and Hakuren Oak (Dorms)

[nosotros]

MISC

[nosotros]

(For random mingling around the town.)

102 - Teito Klein and Ryu (Dorms)

[nosotros]

[raggs]

[there are a while lot if things that Teito is a little unsure about. Well -- more than a little unsure, honestly. This doesn't seem like a place he should be, given that Mikael was broken and Frau was there and absolutely everything was going wrong in the most spectacular way possible, but he's not sure he buys this explanation either. It seems a little too weird to be a delusion of his, so... Maybe it was someone else's. somehow. Either way, he was going to go with what he knew for now and head to his assigned room. It had to be better than rooming with an Oak, right? He took in a breath and opened the door, prepared to see anything when he opened the door. Or anyone.]

Hello?

Open!

[raggs]

[If nothing else, Teito wants to avoid the festivities around the landing. He's used to not knowing anyone, but not knowing anything -- that's a little different. He's out of his element in this situation, without Mikael, without anyone he knows, without any real sense of what's happening, and he can't stand it. So with little else in the way of a plan, he set out to explore the town and get a feel for everything in a place so foreign to him.

He looks a little out of place, in part because he looks so disgruntled about everything. There isn't anything quite like having a five foot talk irritated teenager watching everything while making an effort not to interact with anyone. Which might have worked better if he wasn't so busy looking at everything else around him that he walked straight into a lamp post.]

--Ow!

[oakleaf]

[It could have been worse.]

[He could have been dead.]

[Melodrama aside, Hakuren has adjusted surprisingly well to... well. Everything. Some time at the welcoming party and some time at the Landing had more or less given him an understanding of how things were supposed to work here. Now if only he could keep Mikage from blowing their cover...]

[Hakuren let himself into his new dorm with little fanfare and was immediately disheartened by how dull it was. Still, it could be worse...]

Hello? [Was his new roommate here already...?]

[estranges]

[Kain... he's taking it all in stride. He knows how to blend in, has the clothing these people of Earth tend to wear, but he feels very naked without his armor, or at least something to cover his head. But the lack of security his armor brings him doesn't bother him as much, because he learns as much as he can (or at least as much as this 'Xochipilli' will allow him to have) before deciding to retire to his rooms.

Or well. Shared rooms.

He knows the feeling of sharing quarters, remembers that much of his early life, but he knows this is different. He is a man far too used to battle, in both lifetimes, and living with someone he has never met does not sit will with him.

So he strides into the rooms without preamble, as if he owns it, intent on ignoring anyone there, if there is someone there. He just wants an empty room to hide his personal belongings in.]

Re: 101 - Elijah Elkwood and John Watson (Apartments)

[warmgun]

[John's first inclination is to find his home base. It was a soldier's mentality, but as he's apparently entered into the bad end of an episode of Doctor Who, he'll stick with soldier for the moment. He's wearing what Harry calls his 'oatmeal' sweater and knocks before slotting his key into the door and opening up.

The flat reminds him almost immediately of the one he'd been renting before he'd met Sherlock. It's tasteful, bland, and very much not 221B. Still, he squares his shoulders and marches in to have a look around. There's meant to be a roommate, as well, isn't there? A 'normal' bloke.

John goes to check the fridge first. It has some small amount of food - the necessities, really - but it's missing one thing.]

Of course we'd be out of milk.

[oakleaf]

[Perhaps Hakuren is on a bit of a hair trigger, but that lone exclamation is almost painfully familiar to him. He whips his head around so fast his ponytail nearly slaps someone in the face and prompts a protesting 'pya!' from the little dragon tucked away in his bag. He'd know that 'ow' anywhere.]

Teito!

[inline]

[Very much here!





Although that mightn't have been the case had Hakuren arrived ten seconds later.]

Oh, uh.

[Even the words sound jerky, the verbal equivalent of a guilty start. Should Hakuren look for its source, he'll find on one side of the room: one of those large dorm windows opened to its measly allowance of two inches. Silhouetted against the window, a boy. On that boy, the sheepish look of somebody with a lot to explain, but no appropriate words to do it with—and also some kind of weird wheeled shoes, one of which he's got braced against the window frame.

There's no mistaking he was about to kick it the rest of the way open.

Down comes the foot. Up goes a hand in awkward greeting. Kazu shuffles a bit and then, in what appears to be a hasty afterthought, scrubs at the scruff mark left by his wheels with a sleeve.

It doesn't go away.]

...Hey.

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu was sitting quietly on his bed in the dorm, still looking at the phone. He wasn't sure how to work this thing, even with the little bit of instruction that he'd received. At least he'd put his box under his bed. It was so weird not having his sword at hand.]

[Oh. That must have been who he would be living with.]

Um... hello?

[oakleaf]

[Hakuren doesn't even know this kid and he's already not sure he wants to room with him. He supposes that it can't be any worse than his initial meeting with Teito, but walking in on someone getting ready to kick open and likely break the dorm window comes pretty close. Hakuren manages to handle it pretty well, giving Kazu a once over (and letting his gaze linger on those weird shoes of his) as he steps inside and closes the door.]

[He can't help from making a snarky comment, though.] Is there something wrong with our door?

[inline]

[Yes, the fact that SOMEBODY ELSE WAS ABLE TO OPEN IT. That didn't go as planned! ...Even if the scope of his plan rounds off at "sneak out unseen, get somewhere high up, try to scout the place out." Tugging his beanie lower, he slouches away from the window, hoping he doesn't look too much like somebody who's just been busted.]

Nah, the window's the problem. Why give us any if it's gonna be the same as not having one...?

Open!

[inline]

[On one hand, he's grateful for the cover of the crowd and its bustle. Those Xochiwhoevenknows people can try to sell him whatever they like. He's not buying any of it just yet, and they can't make him if they can't find him.

...On the other, this is making it pretty hard for a boy with little presence to start to get anybody's attention.]

Hey— Sorry, 'scuse me!

[It's all right if you choose to ignore him. Heaven, hell, and Kazu himself know he isn't looking his most respectable in his sleep-rumpled clothes, slightly frayed at the edges like the rest of him and wreathed in the faint scent of smoke—also like the rest of him. Meet his eyes for more than a second though, and he'll plow on before you can decide you aren't giving weirdos the time of your day:]

You mind if I borrow your phone for a sec?

[crotesque]

[From Will Graham's perspective, Crawford could have tried a little harder on this prank. If he was going to take advantage of Will's bouts of disassociative sleepwalking, then he should go all out. He hadn't even really bothered to disguise his name. Although where he came up with Rau and Xochipilli, Will can't even guess.

He does rub his eyes, however, looking exasperated as he stares tiredly down at the letter. El Sera in America. He's never heard of El Sera, but his mind runs over the word, a root word for "late." He's not going to go so far as to think Jack is trying to punish him in some way, this was too elaborate for a man who liked to shout as much as Jack Crawford did. So it isn't Jack.

So he's just losing his mind. He's cynical enough to jump to that, and also enough of a detective that he stuffs the letter in his pocket, takes everything in the box with him out the door. He's being led towards something. He doesn't believe it's magic, or the fate of the world, but he'll find out what's going on, one way or another. The first clue he has is the map and the key.

He comes in after Kain, looking around at the empty apartment with a furrow between his brows. An empty apartment is not what he liked to see, he couldn't read anything from an empty apartment. There was no intent, no explanation. He takes his glasses off and rubs his eyes again, pushing down the creep of anxiety.

Where is he. What has he done.]

[estranges]

[Kain raises an eyebrow at the question. He hadn't even been looking properly, just surveying the new world he'd been dropped in. After all, he's already dressed the part, best to learn how to blend in.

But this boy is asking for his cellphone (isn't that one of the items in the box given to him?) and he'd been under the impression that everyone in this world has such a thing-- after all, it wouldn't have been given to him if it isn't a common item.]

What happened to yours?

[estranges]

[Kain looks up when the door opens behind him. Oh, that must be him. The man he is supposed to share space with and keep everything a secret from.

At the very least, Kain is good at keeping secrets. He hardly ever speaks nonsense to spill a secret after all. Though without his armor on him, even just his helmet, he'll have to do a little more. He's too used to lying with a helmet on.

The other man looks stressed. Perhaps because he'd just moved in to the city, not like Kain who'd been dumped in here unceremoniously like those that fashion themselves the powers that be in this realm. Should Kain care? He will be in fact living with this man, and he probably should make things a little more bearable for both of them.]

Hm. If you are feeling ill, I have little way of assisting you right now. [Smooth, Kain.

He may have a bit of an British accent, though not exactly. People have been telling him about this since he arrived here, even though he doesn't know what a British accent is.]

[smokefilledroom]

[Elijah takes some time before he decides he's going to follow the map. The time alone is what he needs to not feel like this world will be ripped out from under him-it's all impossible, but even as he thinks the word it feels like a weak protest against reality, and pinching himself hurts. America? Xochipilli? Magic?

At the least they left him a pack and a lighter, and the room allows him a chance to collect himself. He has to keep his head, cannot let himself try to think too hard about why for the moment when what's more important is the fact that should he believe this Rau, then he's a stranger in a strange land.

Is Meredith here too? Is Petunia? Can he find them if they are?

Everything in the box goes into his pockets, and he can only hope that whatever roommate they've given him isn't someone he's going to be unable to tolerate. (He wouldn't tell them that he apparently can do magic now anyway, the request for secrecy is unnecessary.)

And there's a voice when Elijah walks in, telling him that this person is here already. Wonderful. Nothing for it but to take the initiative to introduce himself to the other man that he finds in the kitchen.]

...Sorry to interrupt you if you're busy.

[crotesque]

[The most accurate description of what Will is doing near that lamp post is probably sulking. It's not the most overt of expressions, considering he tends to wear the same look of exhausted annoyance at all times, but those who knew him well would know the body-language and recognize the way his eyes linger on the concrete.

That is where he gets his first view of the boy, splayed out on the concrete and Will blinks slowly, apparently having to digest the scene before he bends to offer a hand.]

That looks like it hurts.

[It's not mockery. It might be closer to camaraderie, in that respect, Will Graham always looks like he hurts. But that might be a little dramatic for Will's tastes as well.]

open

[crotesque]

[The last thing he wants anything to do with is a festival. Too many people at a time when his head is already too cluttered. The Xochipilli building is a little more what he's used to...]

[And he is assuredly playing detective and harassing anyone he can find about what's really going on here...]