thespherelogs | August Mingle Log

Entry tags:

August Mingle Log

Who: Everyone
What: The open August log.
When: The month of August.
Where: All over.
Notes: Fireflies.

August Open Log

innnnnnnn summer

So, someone seems to have gotten the idea that summer has kicked into high gear. Or at least it would if there were seasons here other than the artificial ones. So the party this month definitely has a large summer bent to it! Instead of the main party being held in the merchant dome, which has another purpose right now, the party is being held in the Rec dome. More than that, it’s being held around the swimming area. The swimming area consists of three pools and smaller communal bathing areas. The large pool is Olympic sized, and is a sparkling blue. It’s fresh water, and probably clean enough to drink. I still wouldn’t drink it. The second pool is slightly smaller and more kidney shaped with a gradual sand mound at one end of it. This pool is salt water and looks a bit more like a beach than a pool.For those who are missing the actual sea, the pool is a wave one, the highest wave cresting at about four feet. The third pool is a kiddie pool, complete with a splash pad, that’s running. Buckets drop, it’s got one of those mushroom things, and sprinkler jets.

Set up between the pools is a brightly colored tent, and there’s massive grills going behind it. These are definitely the sort of grills that one uses to feed the sort of crowds that would be at old timey Church socials. Every sort of meat is being grilled or smoked on them that you can imagine, right down to an entire suckling pig on one end. Veggies and corn and potatoes in foil are at various stations, and locals are pleased to hand you some of whatever you want before directing you to the cold salads stations or to the long picnic tables covered in red and white checked tablecloths.

On a different long table is beverages of every sort: wine, beer, sangria, sweet tea, lemonade from ice-cold carafes. They’re being served in red solo cups, going along with the theme of this being a picnic. Strangely enough, there doesn’t seem to be any desserts anywhere. You’re gonna need to go elsewhere for that!

For those who didn’t bring a bathing suit or a towel (or a cover up if you’re feeling modest) they will be provided in the changing rooms along with flip-flops. The changing rooms also have volleyballs for the volleyball net, and an assortment of sand toys and beach balls for people to play with. There’s also various local bands playing music, and a temporary dance floor for people to jam on.

Additionally, the baths are still present! There’s a large bamboo building near it, and inside are various sets of hot and cool pools, sauna and steam pools, a masseuse and other spa treatments and the like. There are three options for these times. 1.Strictly bathing suits, 2, strictly mixed nudity/ bathing suits and 3. Strictly separated nudity. No one below the age of eighteen is getting naked in the baths, sorry kids.

ten million fireflies, i'm weird cause i hate goodbyes.

Someone, somewhere during the movie night said that they missed nature, so the Sphere has provided. As the “sun” in the rec dome starts to “set” people will notice something odd. Small, fluorescent bugs appear seemingly out of nowhere. It’s just one or two at first, but then they almost seem to fill the sky, creating an internal galaxy. The bugs are entirely harmless, and will land eagerly almost in cupped hands, and form crowns in people’s hair. They’re listless and practically tame, but will only be here for the night, so enjoy them before they disappear in the morning.

oh so the cake is not in fact a lie

Several weeks ago now, Carol and Alex got started talking about desserts and baking. Alex, being candian mentioned that the one thing other than coffee that she can cook is Nanaimo bars which are a no bake dessert. Carol ran with the idea and the two of them went to Max with the idea of having a no bake no sale. So, they opened it up and main street too is set with those red and white table cloths and picnic tables, and are strewn with lights and there are many many no bake desserts set out. Basically anything you can imagine is there, from Alex’s Nanaimo bars and Carol’s Chocolate drop cookies, to any varieties of cheesecake, mousse, tiramisu, pudding, rice krispy squares and so on. There’s also more beverages of every variety here in those red solo cups.

For those more health-conscious there’s also a variety of fruits and cheeses around. There’s also more music and a variety of card games. Of course betting is surely optional but no one’s really looking all that hard are they?

exploration: teeth and bones. (yes again)

After what had happened, there really is no putting back the seals on the doors to the places that were opened up, even though the council has tried with some of them. There are some doors that are deemed too dangerous to let anyone go inside of (lava and ghosts are not good things to let loose inside the Sphere, no matter how fun it would be at the time) but the door in the infirmary (in the morgue) needs to be open for practical purposes. Which may not be great for people who work in the infirmary, but there it is.

Once people drop through a hatched hole in the floor of the morgue, there’s tunnels extended out for several hundred yards, into the dark. If you have a flashlight, it’s clear to see that here and there the walls are etched with Latin, carved into the stone of the tunnels themselves in what looks more than a little bit like scratches rather than anything that resembles tool marks. The words are repeated at first, over and over: ”cave veniunt!" And "ossa et dentibus illius ruminandum!" Along with the repeated: “cave.”

The skeletons inside are supposed to have been all taken care of, but you can’t help the uneasy feeling that moves down your neck in the darkness, or the way that you can swear you can hear more than a little bit of a hiss of bone. There are things discarded here on the floor of the hallway, gathering more value with the deeper that you go, but is it worth being down here in the dark with the dead for that?

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It really wasn't possible for his big brother to emerge from a pool without being noticed. It was as though he had some sort of beacon all women, and some men, were drawn to and Loki couldn't help but roll his eyes as Thor rose from the water, shaking his head. He'd always been the one who demanded attention, even as he feigned ignorance.

Or maybe it actually had been ignorance. After their little talk, he was willing to give his big brother the benefit of the doubt. He was, however, pleased to see Thor had come along, with the way he'd been moping, and he approaches the Thunderer with a glass of sangria.

"You came. I'm surprised."

While men and women may have been staring, Thor paid no attention to any of it. Sadly, Thor was not the same Thor that Loki had grown up with. Things had changed for him. And while he was happy, having his brother back in his life, there were still hints of the past. There were glimmers, failures that he didn't want to discuss. This Thor was a god with insecurities, for the first time in a long time. How he wished he could have a conversation with his mother.

Hearing Loki approach, Thor snapped back to reality and smiled at his brother. "You did make it sound like I could not stay away," he teased, leaning over to nudge his brother in the shoulder playfully. "If you would like, I can leave so that you can have all the attention to yourself."

Thor winked at his brother. Yes, he would leave if his brother wished it. And yet, he knew that he shouldn't need to. His brother could command attention from anyone and should not feel threatened at all by his brother's arrival this day. "And what is that concoction that you be drinking, Loki? You didn't enchant the punch again, did you?"

"Again?" He looks slightly offended but laughs after a moment. To anyone else, it might have been an offensive question, but Loki won't deny it's warranted in his case. "Not yet, brother, but the night is young."

He grins broadly, offering the glass of iced green liquid to Thor before conjuring another from a nearby stall to his hand.

"It's called a 'margarita' and it's surprisingly decadent." He motions to the glass he's just handed his brother. "Go on, then. Try it."

Thor takes the drink from his brother and he sips it, frowning slightly. "An odd wine," he murmured as he handed the drink back to Loki. Like his own beverage, he wasn't opposed to it, but it was not the ale that he was accustomed to. It was sweeter, with a tang to it that he could not put his finger on. "Decadent is one word for it."

He would tell his brother about his drink, if he knew what it was.

"This is an odd place, brother. I think I am settling in, and yet I wish I could just return home. In truth, you are the only thing I find favorable about it so far," he murmured.

Loki was more than happy to take his drink back. He'd never spent time on Earth in modern times, and he was slowly learning there were things he might have missed the last time he was there...you know, trying to conquer the world and all that.

Thor's last words caught him off-guard though and he stop mid-sip of his own drink, eyebrows raised slightly. "It...is odd, yes, but surely there must be something you're enjoying."

"It is not a bad place, do not misunderstand me brother. For us, in this moment, it makes a fine way station, but a way station is all that it is. It is not home for us. And yet, you are here. You are not at home. That alone makes it so that I will never leave, not as long as you are here beside me breathing." Thor frowned, putting down his drink that he only half likes and surveying the people around him.

He wanted to be more open with Loki, but he wasn't ready, not yet, not for the full stories.

"The people are kind, pleasant enough. Some of them remind me of Asgardian." He smiles a bit wider, thinking briefly of Mera. "Pools are fine. Food is fine. It's fine, Loki, but it's not home. It doesn't feel like home."

"Our home is gone." As soon as he'd said the words, he winced, knowing they'd come out more harshly than intended. For so long he'd been seething with so much hatred, for himself, for their father, that he'd wanted nothing more than to watch Asgard burn. In the years he'd led the place posing as his father, though, he'd come to love it again, as home, and to actually watch it burn had been more painful than he'd like to admit.

"It's as good a replacement as any."

"Yes, brother, it is gone. You do not have to remind me," Thor snapped in return.

Thor downed his drink and threw the cup to the side, not caring where it landed. Turning away from Loki, he stomped over to a table to find another. He knew how Loki had felt about home, that it wasn't his home and he did not care for it or their father. Still, it was home to Thor. And like it or not, it was gone. He did not need Loki to point that out so harshly or so repeatedly.

"It's acceptable," he muttered, taking a long swig of something, not even knowing what he was drinking.

Loki narrowed his eyes at his older brother, jaw clenching for a moment. Easier to let it roil in his gut, to fuel the fire of his rage, but they were past that now, all they had was each other, but Thor didn't seem to agree. Would the Thunderer hear him now, would he see him?

"...it was my home. Odin...Father gave it to me...when he owed me nothing save hatred. It was...a gift I squandered, and only now, when it is too late for him to know, do I see." He swallowed but turned as if to leave after his next comment, unless Thor moves to stop him. "It is not your pain alone. Father and-" his voice broke and he swallowed the emotion that choked him. "-and Mother. I miss them both."

Thor turned, throwing an empty cup at Loki, hitting him in the back of his head.

"Do not. How dare you make it sound like I am dismissing your pain by daring to express mine, brother. You of all should know then how it feels. How it feels to be the only one left. No more Asgard. No survivors. No family. Nothing. You are the last. To watch everyone and everything burn around you. Do NOT try to diminish my pain at the hands of MY failure, my faults."

Thor's hands clenched and he wanted so badly to hit something. "We are it. There are no others," he choked out. "Mother. Father. Heimdall. Sif. They are ALL GONE," he roared. Turning, Thor kicked a table, watching it topple over before striding after Loki. "Now, here we are, trapped in this so called paradise. We are expected to act like all of that matters naught. Have a drink. Flirt with a woman. Pretend everything is fine. Well, I cannot so easily forget, brother. Their memories deserve more honour."

"Ow!" He turned quickly, rage replacing the sadness in his eyes. No, Thor had not belittled Loki's feelings with his words. Not at all. To do so would have been to bring it up at all.

"You're absolutely right, Thor. You did fail. It's burning inside you, the failure, the assumed disappointment of all those around you. But do you ask? No. You assume. Name one here who despises you for your shortcomings. One. I wager there are none, because the whole sodding lot of them tried, too. And failed. Half the Universe, Thor. That was his goal, wasn't it? But our losses are the most dire, aren't they?" He shakes his head.

"My failure gave him the power. I couldn't leave well enough alone, could I? If the Tesseract had died with Asgard, then...then that would have been it. Thanos came for us because of that damned box, because I was tasked with retrieving it and failed. Our people are dead because of me. You didn't make a selfish decision that doomed the universe, Thor. All you did was miss."

Edited 2019-09-11 20:36 (UTC)

Thor glared at his brother, raising an eyebrow at him. Loki wasn't wrong. Sometimes he could be the worst brother, including taking that Tesseract with him when they left. And yet, he didn't want his brother to feel the guilt. He was the one who should feel guilty. His brother had died with valor, attempting to right his wrong.

What had Thor done?

"Of course our losses are dire. Our whole world, Asgard, it's all our fault, yours and mine. The burden is not yours alone, brother. Your actions may have not been the most honest, but you were trying to do something. You helped save Asgard from Hela. You tried to kill Thanos. You were a valiant warrior to the end, brother." He sighed. "Never doubt that there IS good inside of you."

"Our people are lost because of both of us."

He'd been able more lately to see there was hope for him. Convinced from birth that frost giants were evil, once he'd learned he was one, the confusion and the shame had devoured him, coiled around his inferiority complex and it had taken years to recover.

He swallowed, though, knowing Thor was right, and also knowing there was nothing they could do to change it. He moved closer, and when he spoke again, his voice was more gentle.

"And neither of us need to shoulder that burden alone." And he added after a moment's pause for emphasis. "Brother. I am here."

"And you don't know how grateful I am to have you here." Thor looked up at Loki, pain still in his eyes. "I do not want to go home, brother. Not if you are here. Here, at least in this place, I share my life with you. At home, I cannot do that." He sighed, his shoulders slumping.

It was a burden, but at least it was one that they could share together.

"Our father didn't see it in you until it was too late. You are my brother and you always will be," he said softly. "I do not want to do this without you."

"In a place so far from the sky, I suppose we'll have to make our own sun, then."

After all their betrayals, their mistrust, his trickery and subversion, it was...nice, to hear Thor say all of those things, but Loki would always be true to his own nature, and a mischievous smirk touched his lips as he spread his arms wide.

"I believe I owe you a hug."

Thor's eyes widened. He could not help the grin that started to show on his face and he did not try to hide it at all. The idea that Loki was finally willing to give him a hug, in public, was huge.

"The sun will always be here for us, brother. We will find it because we are looking for it." Thor stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Loki and hugging him tight. "Thank you."

Thor's embrace was tighter than he'd anticipated, and while he was more resilient than a human, he was still, at his core, a stunted frost giant and he tensed at the intensity of the hug, hesitating for just a moment before returning the embrace and patting a hand on his brother's back before moving away, a teasing grin on his face.

"Now, give us a kiss."

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August Mingle Log

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