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(no subject)

Who: Everyone
What: The open July log.
When: The month of July.
Where: All over.
Notes: N/A

July Open Log

Time to shine, sparkle and become renewed.

So the fighting has finished, the filtering system is turned back on and the water has retreated. Of course, all that water rushing in and having been there for so long means that there is a giant mess in most parts of the Sphere, where water alternated between coming up to one’s ankles, all the way to one’s knees. Even the smaller private domes were affected with lesser amounts of water, leaving dirt and sediment and kelp behind along with an assortment of other sea life.

Now we all remember what happened last time something grew inside the Sphere right? Thankfully, there’s been a fair amount of supplies that have been accrued, and it involves gloves, face masks and a good damn amount of bleach to go with those large scrub brushes. There’s also huge pails of soapy water that are used to clean up things from the bleach. Everything is wet and it smells a bit like an indoor swimming pool, but it’s definitely safer to be safe than sorry.

So pick up a brush and pitch in. Those who do may find a little extra something from the Council delivered to their homes in a basket. Those who don’t may find themselves a little bit on the Council’s unofficial shitlist. And given that Max runs the Black Market, it’s not a great place to find yourself. Maybe you were sort of shoved towards this and were doing it haphazardly. Maybe you give a damn. Either way, food and water will come to you, and everyone will be better once this place is cleaned up.

Or so people keep telling ya anyway.

about that bucket of water that you’re wearing.

Of course, if there’s one thing that history and eighties movies have taught us, it’s that where there’s giant buckets of soapy water around, and hoses, and big sponges, then there’s bound to be one thing that happens: a water fight. And a big one at that. Kids (or kids at heart) have been not so subtlety wandering around with buckets filled with cold water, or sponges dipped in them and a few of them have hoses. There’s no bleach in them thankfully (because it’s all fun and games until someone gets a chemical burn) but the water fight is a good way to let off some of the tension that the folks in the Sphere have been getting up too.

So are you a victim, or are you a perpetrator. Do you care either way? But it doesn’t matter because this fight is huge and when there’s this much water flying around, there really isn’t any space for anyone to be a bystander here. Sorry.

with a suitcase full of summertime

Do y’all know what we happened to miss while we were underwater?! The summer solstice. And once things are all cleaned and cleared up, your resident summertime goddess ain’t gonna let it pass without knowing it, and it’s something the inhabitants of the Sphere take to like ducks to water. Wine and dancing is flowing all around and there’s a few fiddlers and jazz musicians dancing around. Because when the queen of the underworld prods ya gently, you get up and do it.

As the night and people’s alcohol levels rise, people start to become more daring with the fire. After all, everything is all cleaned but probably still slightly damp from what had happened, so there’s no problem with people swinging poi around, or using hula hoops set alight. There are even some among us who happen to be going out and jumping over bonfires in order to create good luck for the new year to great cheers of the people around them.

and baby you should see me in a (flower) crown

Do you know what else is a thing during this? Flower crowns. There are tons of flower crowns and various people are sitting around and teaching people how to make their own. The materials, including fresh flowers of all varieties are scattered around the field in the agricultural dome, and people are sitting criss-cross applesauce in order to add ribbons to the stems. For those people who are loathe to wear them, it almost becomes a game for other people to plant them on those resilient folks heads. People use magic or guile or just plain old tossing them in order to make it so that they land on people’s heads. More than that, a group of people will audibly cheer each time one lands. (And of course jeer when they lose one.)

exploration: teeth and bones.

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?

let's go to the movies, let's go see the stars

So, Alex made a post, and then she went and badgered Max into giving them the money to do it, so in the middle of the merchant dome, a large screen has been set up, and there’s space for people to have blankets or chairs from home set up in front of the screen. Various vendors have set up carts or stalls here and there, selling the sort of foods that one would expect at the movies (popcorn, homemade candies, soda, juice, wine and beer, nachos and that sort of thing) along with some that one may not expect: (full curry dinners, burgers, basically a bit like a food truck festival. If you can imagine it it’s there.)

Before the movie, there’s cartoons running, some familiar, and some not, and this is an event that people have seemed to have taken to well. Children run around here taken with the idea for the movie, and it’s a fun, summery festive sort of atmosphere with a community vibe, despite the wine and beer for sale.

we're heckling! it's good to be heckling again!

Well, at least until the movie starts anyway. Groundhog Day has a fair bit wrong with it honestly, and people are taking notice of that. After all, it was from the 80s, a period that wasn’t exactly known for its political correctness or sensitivity. And there’s the small fact that Bill Murry is kind of the worst as well. So, there are some people who have taken issue with the movie that has been chosen. Those people are definitely taking the Mystery Science Theatre approach to this movie, while others are taking issue with them doing that.

So which crowd do you join? Are you watching the movie quietly? Are you joining in the hecklers? Either way, it definitely seems like a fun night out.

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[Her head turns towards him, her bright blue eyes curious while her lip tilts into an uncertain frown.]

Turned to children? I- don't remember that. Was it before I woke up here? [She doesn't take her eyes away from him. Instead she slowly maps out the contours of his features, the tilt to his mouth and the depth and color in his eyes. She logs it all away, all useless information but noted and documented anyway. Like the way his hands move when he speaks or the natural straightening of his back when he's asked to defend his work.

All these little things.

Enis doesn't really understand it but they feel like something that's worth holding onto.

Her lips part as if she's about to speak, interrupt him and ask something else, but she doesn't. As uncertain as she is about her feelings, Enis isn't used to speaking up. She'll let the flow of conversation make its natural twists and turns but she's never spoken about how she feels, keeping everything locked up tight.

It's the only way she's been able to survive but she can feel Rhys chipping away at her walls. Bit by bit. Day by day.]

It might've been? God, but it was awful...I got trapped in that one, and so my body returned to what it was when I was maybe ten? Except the robot arm didn't shrink or go away. So I had to lug that around.

[He laughs at the memory of it, a genuinely amused sound for once. Despite the awkwardness of the crush and feeling like he's back in junior high, Rhys enjoys simply spending time with Enis, whether it's at the shop or just like this.

He sees no reason to not trust her, so he can be himself around her.]

John got to be alive again, so Alec and I helped get her some foods she missed. We made a party out of it.

[She presses her fingers to her lips in an attempt to hide her smile. It's awkward and uncomfortable and new but somehow... this last week she's found herself smiling more and more.]

Sounds like it would have been difficult to get around. [With one large mental arm.

Enis is trying really hard not to laugh at the thought.]

I don't think I've met John personally but I do know of her. She works at the hospital. [She tries to remain informed.] What sorts of foods did you two introduce her too. [Enis has decided that she isn't going to tell Rhys how little experience she has with food or anything else. The last thing she needs is him trying to introduce her to things.]

It was! I couldn't really lift it, so I had to drag it behind me. You can still see the scrapes. I didn't really have much time to buff it out, since right after that was when the leak happened.

[He lifts it to show her the scrape marks along the back of the hand.]

And we brought John all kinds of things. Pizza, ice cream, french fries, candy...Anything she wanted.

[Enis reaches forward and gently takes his metal hand between her outstretched fingers. Her lips tilt into a rare warm smile as she runs the tip of her pointer finger along one of the scratches.]

It seems I had just missed that. [She'd arrived shortly before the flooding or perhaps it'd been happening but Enis hadn't been paying attention... which is entirely possible.]

That sounds cute. I didn't know you were so good with kids.

[She glances up at him, her blue eyes bright and the movie entirely forgotten.]

I-I'm, uh, I'm not...Not really. I mean, we were all basically just adults trapped in children's bodies, so it wasn't exactly the same.

[He's blushing deeply now. Though he can't feel anything with his robotic hand, the gesture feels intimate. He's completely forgotten the movie, as well.]

Do you like kids?

[She gently releases his hand and then shrugs.]

I don't know. I haven't spent a lot of time around kids. [Enis reaches for her beer and drinks the last of it.] I think I'd like them. Maybe. I don't know how to handle children. Maybe if it's an adult in a child's body.

[She wants something to do with her hands but finds herself all out of things to move or pick up.]

[Once his hand is released, he reaches up and runs it through his hair. It's a nervous habit.]

I don't spend time around kids, either. My friends back home don't have any, probably because we were all too busy working to actually have meaningful relationships. I did have a girlfriend for a while, but Stacey always complained I worked too much, and...yeah.

[Probably not a great idea to bring up his ex, but it's out there now.]

[Enis nods her head in understanding.] I take it she broke up with you? [It sounds like it.]

I have never had a relationship. [Such things are impossible when locked in a room and after she'd escaped... all Enis wants to do is die, tying herself to someone never seemed like a good idea. Then there are other reasons...

Her expression falls and she looked away as her voice softens to a whisper.]

And I cannot have kids. It was a procedure. I was very young when it happened.

[She has no reason for her to tell him this and no reason for it to make her sad but it does. Not only that it's true but because for the first time, she wishes it wasn't.]

Yeah, she broke up with me. It was kind of a relief, though, so I wasn't too sad about it.

[He looks up at hearing the next part. Never?] Wait...so you've never kissed anyone, or just...never had a relationship? Because one of those is very easily fixable right now~ [He winks and shoots her with a finger gun, letting himself totally ignore the power dynamic of being her boss.

The last part...well, he doesn't know what to say to that, so ignoring it in favor of cheesy flirting tactics sounds like the best idea.]

[It's easy for her to imagine that Rhys's relationship didn't work out when he was more interested in work. That is why her father and mother hadn't lasted though he had killed her for his work... so many not exactly the same.]

I've kissed people and I've had sex but I don't think you need a relationship or affection to do either of those things. [Sex is just another tool that Enis has used to get what she wants.]

My understanding is that many people have sex just because they can.

[Life is easier without feelings getting involved.]

True...You don't need a relationship, but it does make sex better.

[Now that it's out there, it feels a tiny bit awkward. He's her boss, after all. But he is the one that brought it up.]

You've really never had a relationship?

Maybe you can prove it sometime.

[She pauses as if only realizing then what she had said. Oops? Is she allowed to flirt with her boss? Did she just imply that she had feelings? This got a little more awkward and Enis decides to move on and not give him time to comment...]

Is it really that surprising?

I haven't had the time for it. Didn't you say you had a similar problem? There is always work to do and it's... more important.

[Rhys blushes and glances away at the challenge. Not that he wouldn't like to try...]

I...guess you have a point. I mean, we both work pretty hard.

[Maybe it could work out between them. They do work together, so work wouldn't exactly be coming between them...]

Yeah. We do.

So it probably wouldn't work out for me anyway.

[Enis glances back at the movie only to realize that it's over. Night had fallen and groups as well as couples were beginning to rise and leave.]

Oh. [She isn't used to feeling this awkward... about anything. She isn't sure what to do with the feeling. Her thoughts were buzzing around her head and every one of those thoughts were about Rhys.] The movie is over.

Yeah...Me, either.

[He looks up at the screen, then around at others getting up and leaving. He notes that a lot of couples seem to be holding hands, and his next thought is that he wants to hold Enis's hand with his real hand. It'd been nice having her look over the little scratches on his metal one.

He stands and makes a show of stretching, throwing in a yawn for good measure. Then he offers his flesh hand to help Enis up.] Want me to walk you back?

[Enis gathers up her beer bottle and the reminiscence of her nachos in the one hand and then reaches to take Rhys's offer hand with the other. She stands, a little off balanced thanks to the multi-tasking.]

Sure. [She pauses and then adds.] Thank you.

Can we walk by a trash can?

[She indicates the trash in her hand opposite hand but hasn't yet realized that she's still holding Rhys's hand.]

Yeah, we can do that. [He leads her over to one, keeping a loose grasp on her hand. It's warmer than he thought it would be and it's a pleasant surprise.]

Uh...Which way is your dorm?

[It'd be good information to have, since he's walking her there.]

That way. [She points with her free hand after tossing out her trash.] I live in the large group dorm. [Enis has mentioned this to him once before but that'd been when she first arrived and she hadn't known much about the layout of the domes.

She doesn't realize that she's still holding his hand... weird.]

I can lead the way.

Ahh, right. How's that working out? Do you like it?

[He lets her lead, swinging their hands lightly as they walk.

It's... okay.

[Enis glances down at their hands and then back at the path in front of them. It's odd... his palm is warm and clammy or maybe that was her? The touch is light and innocent enough but Enis can feel her pulse quicken as a gentle warmth curled beneath her breast bone. She's been physically attracted to people and Rhys is very attractive but those feelings haven't been exactly like this one.

It's confusing and not knowing makes her want to know more.]

I don't sleep. So I mostly work on my laptop through the night. [There is always a blue glowing screen in the dorms and so far no one has complained about it.] I don't really know who sleeps there. [Not personally.]

[There's a warmth blooming in Rhys's chest. He's felt it before, and it's a nice feeling. He just never expected to feel it down here, so far from home. It's weird.

Not that he's complaining.]

You don't sleep, and you don't know your roommates...That doesn't seem healthy. [There's a note of genuine concern in his voice.]

There are a lot of things I do that probably aren't healthy.

[She lifts her shoulders in a nervous shrug and tries her best to pretend that she doesn't care.]

It works for me so it's fine.

[Right? Yeah, totally fine.]

If it works, it works...Not really my place to tell you otherwise, either.

[He does worry, though. Especially now.]

You should at least try to get a little sleep, though. It's good to reset once and a while.

I- can't.

[She exhales a tired sigh.]

I physically can't sleep. I am not able too after the chip was put into my head. It is always on. So I am always awake.