mingle log | the quad and elsewhere | we were young and drinking (coffee) in the park

[lamiaceae]

Characters: Gansey and whoever shows up
What: Interpersonal interaction! Meet each other face-to-face while nothing is on fire
Where: the quad, unless elsewhere seems cool to you
When: loop 1, day 10 (6/10 irl)
Content Warnings: nothing yet. please use and check thread subjects

It's a pleasant day outside. There's a nice breeze and the sun is doing its best. At very least, it's not raining and warmer than it was yesterday. This is, statistically, likely to bring college denizens out of their dorms and offices since rain seems to often be on Newcomb's horizon. Fall in not-at-all-New England is lovely that way.

Gansey, for his part, can be found throughout the day in several places! He likes hanging out near the clocktower to study, since he's found time works best there (at least for him). It's nice to have a watch that's doing something vaguely akin to timekeeping for once.

But he's an explorer at heart, so he can probably also be found in the library, the computer lab, and wandering the grounds. Gansey isn't sure he's interacted with anyone outside a classroom or on Fermii since the train crash, so he's more likely than usual to strike up conversation instead of waiting for it to come to him.

The real question is this: where's everyone else hanging out today?

[ i'll be throwing gansey at anyone who doesn't note that their tag is closed. please mingle! ]

Comments

[lamiaceae]

"I suppose we can settle for a bastardized drinking song if we must." His smile turns amused, and it's both a little sharper and much more real. It fades into a look of scholarly interest. "My memory still gets spotty when I try too hard as well. I discovered the other day that I can play the piano without remembering any of the hows or whys. My rediscovered skillset includes skipping rocks, swimming, insomnia, and speaking Welsh, so partial amnesia isn't boring yet."

He extends a hand and a grin. "Good to meet you, I'm Gansey."

[beingawesome]

"Claudia," she says, accepting the hand with a firm shake that seems to last exactly the right length to be friendly yet impersonal. She has a lot of practice with that, usually when trying to sell someone an identity she only slightly qualifies for.

"I'm mostly an applied science girl. Although I do seem to know my way around the metal shop," she admits, shrugging once again. "I guess I just am a woman of varied and diverse talents."

[lamiaceae]

It's the type of handshake he's very familiar with on some intrinsic level, so he returns it in kind. His hand is more calloused than one might expect from his appearance, toughened by years of rock climbing and rowing crew.

"Varied and diverse talents are one of the hallmarks of interesting people. I would love to learn more about metalworking. I know my way around under the hood of a car, if my patchy memory serves, but nothing about making things." The way he says making things makes it sound like he finds the idea admirable and fascinating. "I think my wheelhouse is closer to finding things."

[beingawesome]

"I remember doing a fair bit of that, too. Although it seemed to have something to do with a museum or warehouse. Sometimes even buying things at auction," Claudia said, her brow furrowing a little as she tries to get some of the pieces to fit together.

"But I like building things. And some skills will never quite be duplicated by machines. You've never seen a robot shoe horses, for instance."

[lamiaceae]

"An artifact dealer?" That seems to ping something in him, something that comes with mixed feelings. "Are you the one who mentioned imbued items the other day? I know of magical objects, but not objects that become magical somehow." Was that yesterday or a few days ago? The answer to that slips through Gansey's fingers. How on earth are they supposed to hand in assignments on time when time is so hard to keep track of? There better be academic provisions for this.

"True enough. I don't think the average horse would be pleased about being robotically shod, either."

[beingawesome]

"More like collections than sales. I think most of the items were...dangerous?"

Claudia frowns, because she gets that feeling.

"Yeah, that was me. I remember that most of the things belonged to people or were at events that had significance. Like strong enough personalities can leave marks on the things they valued. I don't know that it was really magic."

[lamiaceae]

The way Gansey nods implies that dangerous makes perfect sense to him. "The things I remember were considered curiosities, I think. Some things were very dangerous, some were just beautiful. Does the word Greywaren ring any bells?" That's a very easy way to discover whether Claudia's objects and his own had any overlap. Every artifact dealer in the US, if not further, had probably heard about the Greywaren.

He sets his chin in his hand. "Personalities imprinting on beloved object. That's fascinating. I wonder what causes that. It sounds like what I'd call magic, but I'm not sure anyone has tried to scientifically quantify the things I'm familiar with or if they just resist quantifying."

[beingawesome]

"Can't really say it rings a bell, but that doesn't mean it wasn't collected and put on a shelf somewhere. I've barely skimmed the inventory, and a lot of stuff has gotten lost or wandered off over the centuries. Artifacts don't really like to stay put and behave. Probably has to do with the energies involved with creating them or something," Claudia says, those facts coming to the surface.

"Magic is...well, some people have called it magic. There's definitely an element of the power of belief or being at the center of something. On the other hand there are some that seem to be more a product of their environment, like an alchemist's spoon causing certain reactions to take place in the liquids mixed with it."

[lamiaceae]

"No, you definitely wouldn't have lost him on your shelves." The idea of someone stashing Ronan in an archive makes Gansey chuckle and shake his head. "The Greywaren is a person, but the name was circulated as a rumored artifact with incredible power. Everyone in those circles knows of the Greywaren, but not the significance of the title."

As Claudia explains her understanding of what sort of power creates artifacts in her world, Gansey follows her words intently, nodding along. "The magic I'm familiar with is mostly related to tapping the energy of ley lines. Energy flows naturally along them, pooling where they cross each other, and some people are in better tune with that energy than others. I...studied this for a long time, I think. And lived close to one of those crossroads." He's not ready to talk about Cabeswater, or maybe Cabeswater isn't ready for him to speak of it. "There are people--Dreamers--who are able to bring objects back with them from dreams. I don't think it usually ends well for them, but that's what artifacts are. Dreams made manifest."

[beingawesome]

Claudia considers that, absently fingering a few chords on the guitar.

"That isn't...well, there are artifacts that can make part of a person's psyche either seem to or rarely manifest in physicality, but it isn't because that's where they came from. And while ley-lines might have some influence on how some artifacts work or how they came to be, well, I can speak from personal experience that some artifacts are purely made objects. I've built them myself," she says, although she hesitates before the last sentence for a moment.

"I can imagine learning to bring back objects from the subconscious mind is rather fraught with danger. Grab something from a nightmare and it might be the last thing you do."

[lamiaceae]

I've built them myself. His eyes widen slightly, looking gold-green for a moment instead of a more mundane hazel. "You absolutely are a woman of diverse and various talents." Clearly a compliment in his books, and is tone is acknowledging the truth of her previous statement, not just bestowing praise. "So your artifacts are different from my artifacts. Since I can't feel the ley lines but there's a lot of ambient something here, it would make more sense for this place to be closer to your experience than mine."

"I'm not sure how Dreaming works, I've just seen it in action. Things from nightmares..." A fission of cold sparks up his spine at the idea even though nothing is coming to him in concrete memory. The impression of whatever gets brought back is terrifying enough. "They're nothing you'd bring back on purpose."

[beingawesome]

"I'm given to understand there were different terms for them over the years. HG said they called them 'curiosities' in her day. And I wouldn't exactly expect a pocket dimension to have normal energy patterns," she says, trying not to blush at the compliment.

"As I said, it's not something one would probably have happen more than once. I got caught in something that made fears manifest once. We were lucky that there weren't more deaths."

cw: momentary hallucinatory flashback

[lamiaceae]

"I think we're getting to the edges of 'what I would expect' at this point. But it's just guessing instead of investigating, which will have to change if we want to understand. I don't personally know much about raw data collection; my interests were mostly in the realm of 'ancient'." Not that he's entirely convinced that Newcomb isn't some very weird sort of ancient. 'Modern technology' is far from universal, and there's nothing to say that they're not in the equivalent of a millennia forward from what Gansey considers 'now'. These are the kind of thoughts that keep company with his insomnia. "Have you met the AI?"

"Yes, you were probably very lucky." The concept brings a vivid memory to the forefront, and for a moment Gansey's perception of reality is subsumed by the utter darkness of underground, the burn of a rope between clenched hands and the ominous sound of insectoid buzzing. He blinks rapidly until he's back in the quad, rubbing one of his ears against his shoulder like a nervous tic.

Well. That isn't promising at all.

Re: cw: momentary hallucinatory flashback

[beingawesome]

"See, that's where you're in luck. I've done more than my share of database creation and management. Sometimes it's not so much knowing what's out there to find as being able to put your hands on where people have already done the work," Claudia said, grinning. "Cassandra might be useful for that. If you trust AI. Some aren't quite what they seem."

But she agrees with luck, but can't help noticing that he goes off somewhere, so she snaps her fingers in front of his face to catch his attention. "Hey, you back with me?"

[lamiaceae]

"I like you more and more." Gansey grins; accidentally finding someone who has the skills he doesn't is its own kind of magical thing. "Well, we can access the archives, it's just that there's nothing there. I haven't encountered an AI before, just a lot of human librarians and administrators. She acts like a person, so that's how she gets treated." People are fallible and have their own agendas, he means.

He startles when she snaps, his eyes fixing on her fingers. A few more blinks and he's definitely back, looking sheepish and running a hand through his hair in the wake of rubbing each of his ears against their respective shoulders. "Sorry about that. It hasn't happened here before."

[beingawesome]

"Timestamps must be a total bitch to keep track of," Claudia mutters.

"It's okay, I've been there. Well, had my own experiences that involve not quite being settled in the here-and-now."

[lamiaceae]

"Oh, I didn't even think of that. Damn." How have all the computers not exploded? "I wonder if the network has the proper date recorded anywhere we could access. My phone just says it's October 10th, no year." Or day of the week, he realizes, which could be used to at least get a ballpark on potential years. The whole headache of a time loop reverting things every thirty-one days probably doesn't do anything good to computer systems.

"It didn't feel like a new experience, so hopefully I'll remember my coping mechanisms before I walk into something that triggers it worse." Then his expression brightens and he pulls something out of his pocket. "At least now I remember what this is for." It's an epipen, the label slightly scraped from being carried in a pocket. "Severe allergy to hornets. I've always got one on me." He's not sure why he's telling Claudia this other than that it's important for somebody to be aware, since he's unlikely to be able to use it on himself. This is Important, but he pushes the rising memories down. One flashback in a conversation is enough.

[beingawesome]

"I expect they were able to brute-force some basic stuff like how to keep continuity. Time and space reset, but some things have to continue or what's the point of this? Groundhog Day only works if you can make changes to try to affect the loop," she says, her brow wrinkling a little as she tries to consider just how messed up it could get.

"I wonder if that's part of why we're all having memory trouble. Part of having to adapt to a place where things are so messed up. It's not gone, just disrupted in some fashion that we're getting back in bits.

"And it's a good thing you remembered before you needed it. Although I hope it's a little too cold for them with it being October and all." So strange to know it will always be October for the foreseeable future. A thought occurs to her, and she can't help sharing it.

"Hey, there won't be any consequences for pulling dumb pranks on Halloween, at least."

[lamiaceae]

"And a solution that's not quite complete would potentially have cumulative side effects like the time distortion. Or maybe there's no way to avoid the side effects." He nods in agreement. "If we're all that weatherman guy now, there aren't nearly enough mental health professionals available." For all that movie is a comedy, it gives Gansey a case of existential dread.

"That makes sense to me as well, if something is messing up our sense of linear time." He huffs. "It would be great if I knew why it makes sense." If only bullying your brain to cough up memories worked at all.

"There's farmland here, which means some kind of pollinators." He shrugs as he shoves the epipen back into his pocket. "No sense in taking stupid risks when there's other stuff to do. If you want to carry a spare in case anyone else has serious allergies, I have a couple." Claudia seems like she might be one of those people who carries useful things for as many unlikely situations as possible in her pockets or bag.

Shaking off the concept of hornets in favor of Halloween pranks seems like a very good idea, so he does. "We have about 20 days to come up with some good ones."

[beingawesome]

"If you think you have enough. Might also leave them around places you frequent if you can keep others from messing with them," Claudia says. She doesn't mind being an emergency backup. It feels kind of familiar.

"And if we're stuck, there's always next month," she adds. "So, how do you feel about something in keeping with the school mascot? I think this place clearly feels there are never enough crocodiles."

[lamiaceae]

"Mm, I don't have enough extras to leave them lying around. There's probably a deus ex vending machine wherever the campus clinic is hiding." Gansey should potentially not be allowed to nickname the on-campus oddities that keep Newcomb's residents provided with their basic needs.

"Not sure I love the implications of 'never enough crocodiles', but the ones I've encountered have been chill about wandering humans in their territory. There are so many Florida Man jokes waiting to be made."

[beingawesome]

Clearly neither is Claudia, because she approves wholeheartedly with that name.

"Yeah, but just imagine the Egyptian-themed parties one could have at without much expense. Sobek on denial and so on."

A pause. "Can it still be Florida Man if we're probably not in Florida?"

[lamiaceae]

"Oh my god." The laugh Gansey lets out would be called cackling if it was any higher pitched. "Sobek beats out a toga party any day." He shakes his head. "A sufficient amount of reptile can make anyone an honorary Florida Man regardless of geography. Besides, the internet at large isn't here to criticize our choices."

[beingawesome]

"Loincloths are easier to tie, anyway," she adds, grinning.

"So what are you hoping Florida Man does around here? Anything in particular, or just general shenanigans?"

[lamiaceae]

"And less likely to get tripped over," he agrees.

"There must be ways to make our mascot into an aesthetic without bothering the living ones. Statues? Like the happy Buddhas in front of Asian groceries, but without the religious iconography." Newcomb has too much undefined something hanging around to discard the possibility that it could get offended.