CoLC crossover RP, main thread

Eve | Buffet | nope

Eve pretended to look around in response to Cole's comment. "I don't," she replied with a shrug. "Except maybe getting some food, while I'm here." She was in a buffet, after all. She looked at Rex, and rolled her eyes. "I heard enough," she said, not feeling inclined to say more, but gave Makoto a grateful nod.

Cole didn't really respond to Makoto and Rex, just glancing towards Eve for a moment before looking away again. "You will. You'll have to go help fight...or go help Ben, or Arcade...something will come up that you will have to go to. I understand it, so...it's easier I just go somewhere else, don't distract you."

Eve | Buffet | Cole, You Have A Stalker

Eve shook her head. "Right now, I have no other priorities," she replied, before stopping briefly, and looking at Cole. "Do you want me to go, Cole?" she asked gently. "What do you want?"

Library

Yeah, Caboose wasn't really getting what was going on regarding the furry star crossed lovers. Even at the best of times the soldier would have trouble, but right now he was mulling over something complicated. It was a testament to how much these few days in the city had changed him that something like this could eat at him so much.

"Yuna should stay," Caboose said after the gears in his head started to turn. He had just watched a whole show with all sorts of little lessons about friendship, so he could remember one thing. If he was troubled by this, he should talk to someone. "And I definitely do not just want to talk to you about anything alone." He would pat himself on the back later for this genius lie. No way anyone would be able to see through it! The armored man wanted to ask Two for help on how to talk to their friend about this.

Makoto proposed going to the theater and even though she didn't sound sure if it was a good idea, her motorbike roaring near the door was a good sign that she wasn't mad at Rex. Even after getting dragged into a mission, fighting off several bad guys and a very awkward soul-searchy conversation with Cole, things didn't look all that bad. Maybe this date could end well after.

"Sounds good to me. So, who's driving?"

"So he did..." I thought out loud. "Thanks, 's all I needed to know. I'll keep in mind that you don't share notes on that if it ever comes up again."

I shuffled through the radio app, moving away from the desk again. Man, how was it already near a week since the last time I used the call-in channel? Felt like it had to have been more recent, considering.

"Hey, it's me again. Um, I have a question. Jeff, right? You asked the writer for something a while back, I heard. How'd that work out?"

Inside Universe Buffet to Entrance- So Close To Freedom

"I'm driving. Even if I let you sit up front, Anat would just ignore you trying to steer anyway," Makoto said to Rex, leading him over to the doors. "Like I told you before, this isn't really a normal vehicle." She let go of his hand to get on her motorcycle, and then waited for him to get seated. This was certainly different from the other two times she had to drive people around here, but hopefully a little less awkward. And there was no one to have to slow down for either...

Finally, a way to blow off steam that didn't have a catch to it. No one to report back to or lives at stake. She twisted the throttle a little, and Anat's engine picked up in volume for a second before returning to a steady rumble.

Cole went silent at that question from Eve, just staring at the floor, even as he stopped walking. He didn't really seem to react to anything, turning his head finally to look at Makoto and Rex as they were preparing to leave. Still, he didn't say anything, just looking back down again, completely silent.

Eve | Buffet | I AM THE WORST PERSON FOR THIS

Eve saw the shutdown, the way that Cole just...stopped responding. She didn't know what to do, so she just stepped forward, and kneeled, hugging him gently. Maybe that would help.

Cole didn't really resist being hugged, but he didn't particularly lean into it either. He more or less just...stood there, passive, neither trying to pull away nor push closer. He just let out a soft, exhausted sounding sigh, remaining there for a long moment as though simply choosing to endure the situation rather than finding any real emotion to attach to it.

"Something will happen to call you away. You'll have to leave, and you'll tell me to stay behind, because you have to do it, and I can't help."

Eve | Buffet | Progress?

This wasn't going well, but at least he had responded. Eve had hoped for at least some kind of response, a sign that he had strong emotions either way. The simple standing worried her. "I died," she said, matter-of-fact. "I don't have a radio, or a phone. Do you want me to leave?"

"I had to try" Rex answered, shrugging. "Guess no one can steal either of our bikes"

Whatever Rex thought of how Anat's rebellious attitude to someone trying to steer for her sort of mirrored Makoto was left unsaid. There had been enough crap to deal with to add a badly timed joke to the mix. Besides, there were other things to talk about.

"Do you have a particular movie in mind?" he said, sitting down.

"It doesn't matter. Something will happen. Something always happens. I can't ask anyone to stay, not when there are all more important things out there. It's not fair to anyone. I have to make things easier for people."

He finally pulled away somewhat. "You should go find whatever the city needs of you today. I am all right."

Eve | Buffet |

Eve didn't quite let go, just loosening her hold a little. "Cole. Do. You. Want. Me. To. Leave?" she asked again, stressing every word. Everything else he was saying didn't really matter. "Right now, today, the City will be fine without me. It has Ben, and.... Rex. I'm not sure you will."

Buffet Entrance to City Streets- "I've Been Waiting For This!"

"It'd be pretty concerning if someone could forcefully take control of mine," Makoto said. It was kind of a scary thought... As soon as Rex was sitting down, she directed the bike out of the doorway carefully, not wanting to hit anything. "Um... I didn't really have an idea, I'm not sure if you'd like the movies I tend to watch..." Was he into things like Yakuza: Like a Dragon? Anat interrupted her thoughts to wordlessly remind her of just how long they'd been waiting for a moment like this, and gunned the engine again. Right, yes. This was wasting time!

"Oh, you should uh... you should probably hold onto me for safely purposes." With only a few seconds for Rex to react, she leaned forward slightly and allowed Anat to take off. The bike shot away from the Universe Buffet and gained momentum as they drove down the street, which would hopefully clear out as the engine's roar warned anyone up ahead of what was coming. They'd eventually hit their limit and go back to their cruising speed, but the initial acceleration was a good enough rush by itself.

"Is this fast enough for you?" she called back to Rex, raising her voice.

"Stop it!"

Cole finally pushed away from her as hard as he could manage, whirling around on her, snarling. "Stop it, stop it, just stop it, stop pretending that you care, that I matter, that everyone in this city, in my world, in your world, isn't going to have everything else that they care about except for me! Stop pretending like I'm anything but a means to an end for anyone or anybody! It is how it was in the Circle, how it was in the Inquisition, how it was with Solas, how it is here and how it will be in your world! It has always been and it will always be and lying to me of it doesn't make it better!"

Eve | Buffet | Welll... results?

Eve was silent as she watched Cole rave and rant. His attempt to push her away wasn't particularly successful, but she did let go. "People can care about more than one thing, Cole. And yes, you're part of a challenge to make sure that both you and Arcade can go back to a relatively stable dimension. But you're more than that. You're a living, breathing person, with wants and needs and emotion. So I'll ask again. What do you want?"

Herc then let the city shift him to his next destination which oddly enough send to outside to what was a marketplace instead of the grocery store that he went to yesterday. "OK, not what I had in mind but it will do." Hercules then said to himself as he saw the marketplace that was now in front of him it didn't really matter to him because he wasn't really hungry at the moment. He then looked down at the ground in sorrow he was still shaken by what had just happened back at the area where the battle with the Predator took place. On the one hand the Predator had been dealt with so Herc didn't need to worry about dealing with it anymore. On the other hand? He had been careless in his actions to protect Ben and had let Rean die because he was trying to calm him down. And again had alienated himself from Ben.

"I feel terrible now..." Herc finally said after a moment's reflection he was approaching the Grocery Store he was really wishing these turn of events had never happened but it was unlikely now that anybody was going to forget it and he was pretty sure Ben was not going to let him forget it.

"Mum...Dad...please tell me was it right to keep Ben away from harm? Was I even...justified in my actions? And if so...do you forgive me?" He then asked sadly to no one in particular. He had never felt so out of place and alone than he ever had before.

edited 24th Jun '18 5:34:33 PM by TheStarscream759

Two Has To Make A Choice, Library

"It's not your fault, Veela." Rachel was right however. Fastanook was likely in no real shape to discuss this now. Veela wasn't in the best one either, and I had no idea what Thunder Child even was. Presumably that was the name of the Militia's headquarters? It would imply the ship. Perhaps some straggler spaceship from the alien invasion day...?

It looked like I would have to postpone this matter for the time being, which brought me to the second one: Caboose. "Right. Let's give them some time to recover..." I said without much conviction before my eyes set on the familiar red-clad presence. I wrapped an arm around his shoulder and led him away from the others. "...something's on your mind, Caboose. Did something bad happen?"

"I'm willing to give anything a try" Rex said "There isn't really much I could lose at this point"

Rex blushed a little when Makoto pointed out he should probably hold onto her for safety's sake. He hesitated for a second before her sudden acceleration made it look like the lesser of two evils. He was still just going to grab her shoulders to keep try and the awkwardness to a minimum.

But there were good news, Makoto sounded happy for once. Even going so far as to joke if the speed they were reaching was enough for Rex's liking.

"I guess those roars weren't just for show"

Library

Caboose let Two lead him away from the group. He really felt like talking about what he had learnt in front of Yuna would be a bad idea. As miraculous as it sounded, the idiot had actually learned something from his recent experience with the intoner mess. If you were troubled, talk to someone.

"Yes, it happened," the soldier said. "Something very bad, to Yuna's friends and home and everything else there. Everything is fire."

edited 24th Jun '18 1:27:41 PM by pillowmantis

Two Is Now Heroics, Library

...straight to the point, I see. The time when he was absent, Caboose must have spent it on familiarizing himself with Yuna's world just like he did with mine earlier. "Everything is fire"...?

Take a deep breath, Two. It's your time to help your friend. You can't just give up because you're unfamiliar with the situation. "Can you explain in more detail, Caboose? What caused the fire? What happens to Yuna and her friends?" I asked, offering a reassuring one-armed hug.

City Streets- An Extended Joyride

Makoto wasn't sure why Rex grabbed her by the shoulders, but if that was what he was comfortable with, it was fine. She wouldn't say anything about it.

“We don't usually get to drive this fast unless we're in the middle of an important fight, or just training. It's not exactly stealthy," she said, slowing down a little to not overexert herself. They were still moving fast enough to be heard from a distance as she turned a corner onto a new street. They passed Ben in only a few seconds before they approached another intersection.

“You'd be willing to watch anything? I know that you have your own show, but mine is a video game that I'm not the focus character of. I'm not sure I’d have something that we could watch, though it would be from a different perspective, at least.”

"It doesn't matter what I want because it would never happen! I just want everyone to stop trying to make me think I matter to anyone or anything because I already know I don't! I've already seen it enough to know!"

Cole shook his head hard, turning to walk away again. "Go find Ben, or Arcade, or someone else who needs your help. I don't! I don't need anyone paying attention to me unless they need me to do something for them! It's all just a waste of time!"

Eve | Buffet |

Eve was silent for a few moments, just thinking through what Cole had said. "You matter, Cole. You're not a waste of time," she replied softly, matching his steps. "What do you want? Do you want to go back to Thedas? Do you want to come live with me? Do you want to go live with Sans?" she asked. "What would make you happy?"