[hatch log] wake up, starshine

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: New Hosts & EVERYONE
WHERE: The Station
WHEN: DAY :009
SUMMARY: What's this? It's a whole new set of tools!
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. Need a warning added? PM this account please!

YOU WAKE UP and suddenly you're a different person. --No. Wait. Scratch that. There's no suddenly about it. It's been a while, hasn't it? Something feels off anyway - a combination of the strange and familiar right there in your own head - and you know intuitively that you've been unconscious for more than just a blink of the eye. It’s impossible to tell exactly how long ago or how exactly you escaped the danger that had been breathing down your neck, but you know it was more than a moment ago.

But here you are, a small miracle of the multiverse: lying in a small faintly hexagonal chamber, a gentle white light emanating from the surrounding walls. If you were injured during your escape, those injuries have been healed. If you were anxious or frightened or distraught, those feelings have been briefly calmed. There's something strangely peaceful about waking up here. That feeling persists even as you find the tube running from the base of your neck to the compartment's rear wall.

But when the tube's disconnected? Things get loud. A wave of emotion fills that peaceful void - fear, uncertainty, relief, a sense of purpose or loneliness or anxiety. Maybe some of these emotions are yours, but they can't all be. After the initial sensory overload, the mental buzz elongates: stretches out into a murmur like the sound of a party happening behind a closed door.

You can sit up - barely -, and shift out of the pod. There’s a ladder at your feet and a little cubby just before it with anything you brought with you as well as a set of crisp, loose-fitting white clothes; while your injuries are healed, whatever you’re wearing is in the exact state it was before. Maybe it's time for a change? Drop down the ladder to the floor of the Nesting Deck and you’ll find you’re not alone - and that those sounds in your head are louder the closer you are to these strangers. --No. That's not right either. A sense of familiarity runs so deep between you it might as well be cellular.

Welcome to Station 72. It buzzes with activity - a pulse of life that beats beyond the four of you and this strange nesting deck. Somewhere deep in the Station, other minds call to yours. They are bright, shining spots in your subconscious. They are sun-warm gentle, or the back and forward lapse of some tidal wave pushing in and pulling away, or they are fire and the taste of ash, or they are a cold black stone, or they are a tangled garden. No two links are exactly the same, but you know for certain that you are connected to all of them in at least some small way.

It's time to figure out how - and why.

---

((OOC Notes: This is the hatch log for the new hosts and anyone looking to greet them after their hatching. You’re welcome to make your own logs separate to this going forward!l and tag any old logs that have been forward dated to this point or beyond (there's a lot of catch-all's on the comm right now, and we encourage you to go snooping on them!).


Additionally, you can find a more detailed overview of the hatching process HERE. You can find additional setting information about the Station HERE If you have any questions, please hit up either the FAQ or MOD CONTACT pages!))

NAVIGATION • SETTING • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

[martyric]

Ten months ago?

( the shock from this statement is enough to knock her back, and the immediately knee jerk violence takes a backseat as she stares a bit, because he didn't just say ten months ago. that's just not possible. the shock gives damon his opening to do his concussion inspection, and there's actually a moment there where she doesn't protest.

it doesn't last though, of course, and quickly she shakes her face until she can get herself free from his grip, slapping his hand away.

( vaguely, somewhere, she's aware that he could keep hold of her if he wanted to, but not consciously, not yet. )

elena jabs a finger at his chest, and she's all hard expressions and scowls as she tries to appear....somewhat intimidating. )

What do you mean ten months ago?

[blooded]

( if he wanted to, he could hold onto her and not let go. it wouldn't even be hard, and he's done it before. but she was about to do something stupid, then, and he had to make sure she didn't get hurt. this is... disconcerting, certainly, but she's not in any danger. that he can see, anyway. when she bats his hands away, he lets them fall from her face, clenching them at his sides instead. )

I mean you figured that out ages ago, it was a whole thing, now it isn't. Stop screwing around.

( there's something... odd about the way he's acting — or at least there would be to her. the last time she saw him, he was cryptic and vague, being deliberately provocative and pushy, trying to unsettle her. now there's none of that weird energy. he's intense, but focused, with no double entendres or weird comments designed to get under her skin.

as far as he's concerned, they're way past all that. )

Look, I get that the past few months have been hard on you. ( his voice is soft now, and he ducks his head to look her in the eye. ) We don't have time for you to freak out on me. I don't know where we are or why we're here, but I can't protect you if you're punching me for shit we dealt with almost a year ago.

[martyric]

( he's being kind to her, and there isn't that layer of manipulation laid on top of it either. there isn't a hidden meaning or ulterior motive, she can hear it in his voice. damon is genuinely concerned for her, and that's more jarring for elena than any of this. after all, the last she'd seen of damon had been when she threatened him with going to the sheriff.

how silly that seems now. )

This didn't happen a year ago, Damon, this happened last night.

( she thinks. honestly who knows how long it took to get to this place, it's about as far removed from virginia as she can possibly imagine. she could have left mystic falls months ago for all she knows, but it's the last thing she remembers, so 'last night' it is. )

[blooded]

( ...no fucking way. )

You only figured out that we're vampires last night. Last time we saw each other... ( it's been nearly a year, but he remembers it all. he knows what happened between them right before she learned the truth. ) It was the Founders' Party, wasn't it?

( he allows himself only a moment to be frustrated, to wonder how the fuck this is even possible when he knows she lived through the next ten months with him. how this is happening isn't a priority yet — it will be, and soon, but damon remembers how that night ended. elena realized what he'd done to caroline and threatened him. she won't trust him like this, and if she doesn't trust him, it will be so much harder to protect her. he steps closer to her, hands going to cup her face. even if she tries to move away, he won't let her — his touch isn't harsh or painful, but he needs her to see how serious this is. )

Elena, I've lived through ten months after that. You're missing a lot of information, and I'll fill you in on all of it when we know what's going on, but for now you have to trust me. I'm not going to hurt you. ( damon's voice goes soft, his eyes darting over her face, trying to gauge her reaction to all of this before settling on her eyes again. ) I'd never hurt you.

[martyric]

( he's right, elena doesn't trust him, and it's very likely that if something like this had happened in mystic falls she would have wrestled herself away from him - and probably tried to punch him again, if she's being honest. it's not happening in mystic falls though, it's some weird hivemind creep station instead, and if there's one benefit to all of that it's this:

elena believes him.

it goes against every fibre of her being, every part of her mind that is still her own screams that he can't be trusted, that he's a vampire like stefan. but whatever parts of her brain that have been rewired to send and receive information like this, it's apparently happened to him too, because she can feel it. he's telling the truth. )

Say I trust you, ( when she speaks, it's careful and measured. each word is obviously being chosen with great caution, and the conflict between what she currently knows to be true and what she feels is practically giving her a headache. or maybe that's just this place, she hasn't figured that much out yet.

either way, she doesn't shove damon away. instead she looks back at him, back into his eyes and tries to find something to prove either side of her conflicted mind to be right. unsurprisingly it's not that simple. ) you need to be honest with me. Completely. I can't just blindly believe you won't hurt me. Not after...

( not after i found out what you are. )

[blooded]

Done. As soon as we've figured all this out, we can sit down and have a talk.

( well... probably a series of talks, spaced out a little. there's a lot she's behind on, and getting through all of it in one sitting would probably just end up freaking her out.

he's going to have to figure out how to keep the worst of it from her. telling her about vampires is necessary and could end up saving her life, telling her about jenna would just break her heart. she doesn't need that.

christ, what does she know? they were all so in the dark ten months ago, even him. so much changed so quickly. )

I don't know how this mental shit works, but — ( he nudges her mind with his own. it's hard to do it without reflexively adding compulsion onto the nudge, especially looking her in the eyes like this, but more than anything, he has always wanted their relationship to be real. he won't compel her, not now. ) You feel that? Memorize it. However I feel, hold onto it, so you can find me when you need me.

( because she's not going to be content with him following her around everywhere, not while the trust between them is so tentative. he's already memorizing her, holding onto the feeling of her thoughts so that he can keep her in the back of his mind while he explores this place. any disturbance in her emotional state and he will come running, but until then... he has to give her space. much as it makes his skin crawl to even contemplate leaving her alone when he doesn't know what they're up against here. )

[martyric]

( as if being here wasn't already complicated enough, she now apparently has almost a year's worth of memories to contend with too, and a...friendship with damon to boot. if a complete meltdown was ever warranted it would be now, but that's not the elena gilbert way. she can deal with this, she can. and if not, she'll just keep telling herself she can until it becomes the truth. )

Fine.

( it's not exactly a terse reply, but it's certainly still wary. but damon is also the only familiar face she's come across, and there's something to be said for the devil you know, right? besides, they clearly have unfinished business here, it's better for her to keep him close, however foreign that idea might feel to her right now. elena frowns slightly as she focuses, and she can feel it, feel him. it's as distinctive as a fingerprint, damon's particular brand of chaotic thoughts and feelings, and it's almost instinctive to let him in. in this place, it seems, that's natural. )

I need some space. ( she says finally, when she's sure that she can identify damon's mind amongst the drone of everyone else currently echoing through her. she's at least gentle when she removes his hands from her face, taking a small step back. ) This is...a lot. I just need some time, with it all. Can you give me that?

( compromise at its finest. )

actually finishes this thread......

[blooded]

( the request for space, though entirely expected, is still incredibly frustrating. how does she expect him to give her space, give her time, when they're who the fucks knows where with telepathic links to who fucking knows who? she's elena, that's how, and her particular brand of stubborn individualism is the fucking worst.

but it's something he's going to have to cater to, at least at first. eventually, she is going to have to deal with his compulsive need to check in on her every two seconds. )

Whatever you need, Elena. ( if he sounds less than thrilled with that, at least he's agreeing. he steps back from her, but hesitates. ) Be careful, ( he says eventually, and then walks away.

time to get answers. )