hadriel { ic inbox }

[nonscriptum]

This is Nate, you know what to do. I'll...probably get back to you.

Comments

Backdated to 12/26

[sorryitasedyou]

[ As much as Darcy might've liked to get everything out in time, Wonderland had a weird way of screwing up her plans. So, after a solid day's sleep, she starts making her rounds - dropping off gifts on each floor while using a little red wagon. In front of Nathan's door, he'll find a basket that contains:

• a blanket
• a festive mug
• a few different flavors of tea
• honey
• another mug of hot chocolate supplies with a note to just add hot milk
• a chocolate dipped stirring spoon
• ridiculous fuzzy socks
• a tiny stuffed animal
• assorted candy
• and an ornament

There's a note dangling from one of the handles that reads:

Hope Wonderland's attempts at holiday cheer didn't go too poorly for you. Here are a few supplies to help get back into the swing of things and thanks for being my Hogwart's tutor. Happy Holidays!

- Darcy ]

[nonscriptum]

[Nate isn't exactly accustomed to receiving gifts, so it takes him even longer to figure out how he's going to respond to something so selflessly giving. When he does, many hours later, it comes in the form of a text:]

thanks for the stuff - the socks in particular are a real winner

[No sarcasm there, he's shuffling around his apartment in them.]

we should hang out sometime
no magic lessons

-nate

[mulletrock]

dude. you around?

[nonscriptum]

more or less

[Nate doesn't keep normal hours because that would require a much less active mental state than the one he posseses.]

i'm on the roof
why?

text; 8/13

[restinglichface]

GRATS ON THE SEX!!!!!

[guess who met his wife]

[nonscriptum]

[You know, he was having a pretty chill and relaxing day until he saw this text, but now it seems like Elena's been making friends too.]

please tell me this doesn't mean what i think it means

text;

[weedbgon]

[ nate, aka perhaps the only person who gets a text message to go with the blurry photo that merle sends to him during this, the weirdest event that merle isn't even questioning. ]

now is that cool or is that cool

text;

[nonscriptum]

i'll be honest

it looks like something that pablo escobar would put in la catedral

text;

[storyseeker]

So someone/thing wants to kill you now. It's starting to feel more like home here.

text;

[nonscriptum]

is it the robot people? they blocked me from their post after i told them to go fuck themselves

audio;

[weedbgon]

Weeeell, lemme know if you get any assassination attempts this week. I mean, I can't stop 'em or heal anything if they almost take ya down. But I do like to be in the loop! Y'know, keep up on my current events! Not that it's hard to keep up with all you guys puttin' your feet in it right now.

[ Logistically, should he be laughing at like all of his friends yelling at the Null and getting put on a hit list? No. But finding joy is his niche. Sometimes you gotta laugh it off. ]

PRIVATE audio;

[nonscriptum]

Might actually need your help, Merle.

[If the idea he's entertaining gains any traction with his wife.]

Do, uh, you and the gang wanna stage a murder?

[Video]

[lifetothefullest]

Hello Nate; it isn't an emergency or anything, but there's something I wanted to discuss with you that's better talked about in person.

[Because who knows who's watching the network, and to what extent.]

If you could stop by the Clinic whenever you have time, I'll probably be there.

[text] -> [action]

[nonscriptum]

be there soon

[It isn't an emergency, but Lance wants a private audience? Dude, be more transparent.

On his way back from the usual run around Hadriel marking new cave openings as they shift and change, he makes a point of swinging by the clinic - it's not like he has anything better to do, and Lance seems to have majored in Understating Important Things as well as psychology.]

Knock knock.

[Nate raps on the jamb when he enters, closing the door behind him.]

1/3

[restinglichface]

[The texts don't come until Lup's finally gotten Elena to sleep after a good ol' crying sesh. Her heart hurts for her friend, and even if she isn't a part of this whole mess, she still has to drag Nate at least a little for it.]

2/3

[restinglichface]

im v disappointed in u and i want u to know u fucked up real good

[text]

[lifetothefullest]

Hey, Nate. No real emergency, but I was hoping I could speak with you in person about some recent events whenever you're next available.

[He just doesn't want to mention Name on the network. Also, he also wants to check in on Nathan after the last event and the whole demon issue.]

[text] u mentally called him NATHAN wow

[nonscriptum]

sure, i've got some time

[Heaps of it, really, because Hadriel allows for free wandering most of the month. Unless some catastrophe strikes them in the next three seconds, he's available.]

where do you want to meet?

[text] the 16th!

[lifetothefullest]

[As soon as Lance receives the text he sends a message to Nate.]

Any chance you're near here?

[And he sends the coordinates Name sent him; Lance is on the other side of the city, and it'll take him some time to get there, but maybe Nate is closer.]

[text]

[nonscriptum]

[Last-minute scavenger hunts are exactly the kind of thing in which Nate excels. He drops what he's doing to shoot a quick text back, sliding his bag back over the belt at his hip, sketchbook securely stowed away.]

on it

[seekingmyfortune]

[It's late at what would be night when Sam sends the text, and he does it because he can't really sleep. Ever since his chat with Elena, his mind has been racing with memories and thoughts about Avery. It's when he's about to flip through their mother's journal again that he realizes he didn't even tell his brother what his wife had dropped off. So:]

hey, you awake?

[He's not expecting an answer. But it's a start.]

[nonscriptum]

[Nate is conscious, as a matter of fact. He hasn't been agonizing over his recent double-crossing with a certain god regarding a certain robot, but there are bits and pieces that have been scratching at him. Anxiety isn't normally something that keeps him up at night.

He texts back sleepily, rubbing his eyes.]

yeah i'm awake

what's up?

[Action] /ambiguously early May

[lifetothefullest]

I'm still not entirely sure this is the best idea.

[Of course, it's a little late in the whole idea to back out now, but still; Lance is definitely rethinking this. Sure, it's a really good plan to pick up some more self-defense--he'd even asked Brennan about doing so when she was here--but the idea of actually going through with it is... A little intimidating.

He totally trusts Nate and so it's not that he's actually afraid of something going wrong, like he would've been with anyone else here who offers self-defense lessons, but he also has several deep-seated reasons to feel agitated about the whole thing. But it'll be fine, and he knows that, and so all it's doing is making him a little anxious.

Still, he's shown up at Nate's apartment, more or less dressed for the occasion in jeans, sneakers, a longsleeved teeshirt, and an open button down. He's left his gun at home but has his badge with him simply because it's his focus, and he'd rather have it on him, but it's not like it's dangerous or likely to get in the way. So he should be good, at least once he can get over his nervousness.]

B)

[nonscriptum]

Aw. Baby's first self-defense class.

[Nate assesses him from the doorway, arms folded over his chest, grinning broadly. Lance is prepared in the sense that he is at least wearing something casual, though his instructor is fairly certain that button-down will get shredded in the first thirty minutes. The last time Nate wore a dress shirt for a fun and casual heist venture he ended up in a shoot-out, and there is nothing more annoying than wearing the wrong clothes to a firefight.

But that's neither here nor there.]

Don't be melodramatic, you're gonna be fine. [Nate claps him on the shoulder, suddenly feigning seriousness.] Did you bring your bag lunch? Your sunscreen?

[Action] /backdated to after the Name log

[lifetothefullest]

[Everyone on their assigned tasks for the moment and that mess of a conversation finally finished, Lance takes a moment to step outside for some air and some quiet, if just for a few minutes. There are enough people that Name should be fine for a short time.

But there are still some things Lance needs to go over individually, and so before he ducks out of the lab he shoots Nate a glance, a clear 'we should talk privately'.]

[nonscriptum]

[Nate wanted out of this conversation as soon as His High And Pointy-Earedness over there started throwing his "friendly" suggestions around, so the instant it breaks up he steals out like the thief he is. He barely catches Lance's look, already intent on reconnoitering somewhere with fresh air and fewer prying eyes, and finds him lingering outside near the far corner of the building.]

Thank God.

[Nate grouses quietly, hastening over to him.]

Thought I was gonna friggin' lose it in there.

End of August

[abyssalarcana]

[Presumably, Nate acts like an average human and sleeps sometime at night. To be safe, she chooses around 2 am to cast her spell. If it fails due to him being awake, well. She'll just try again periodically until she gets in. Easy enough.

Whatever Nate is dreaming about, she'll just insert herself. For the first time in this city, she doesn't aim for something monstrous, doesn't want to warp his dream into a soul-rending nightmare. Just wants to talk. Also wants to look around at this dream of his because hey, snooping on people's subconscious thoughts? Pretty fun. But mostly she just looks relaxed, and actually waves if she can spot a representation of him in his own mind.]

Hello, Nate.

DON'T LIKE THAT

[nonscriptum]

[They're on their way home - as "home" as the islands can be, anyway - and Nate is nestled in the niche of the bow, having lent the cabin to Lance for the evening. He never minded sleeping outside and the cool air is refreshing, soothing when paired with the water lapping gently at the sides of their boat.

He's asleep.

He tends not to dream too much, but since Sam left he's had a lot of flashes of Scotland's terrain, the punishing environment of the Hebrides that so aptly resembles Hadriel itself. Stone and gray skies, sheer cliffs dropping into the ocean. It is here that Caedra finds him, and the subsequent confusion he shows at her presence.]

...hi?

9/15, during The Post

[pocketspa]

kick his ass baby ill hold your flower
also like
dont think im gonna shut up cuz like
boi

god bless this mess

[nonscriptum]

i finally got kate to give me a straight answer about this shit, but that doesn't mean i'm going to trust admiral nelson over here

not sure if the superiority complex is naturally occurring or comes from the proximity to a ship

[text, 11/13ish]

[synthedick]

Going to need to add Armitage Hux to your list.

[private]

[nonscriptum]

that sounds like a made-up name if i ever heard one

what's his deal?

backdated to 12/24; a paper left on his apartment door

[pocketspa]

[However Nate manages to find it, a paper has been left tacked to his door the day of the 24th, a scribbled message on it with a drawing of a bush and a candle on top. The whole thing manages to glow slightly and smell like wassail, though how it's doing that makes no logical sense. The text upon it is loopy and sloppy, and reads:]

You're Invited!

What: It's Candlenights, baby!
When: Tomorrow
Where: Horny House (y'know, Lup and Taako's place)
Details: Wear pants, bring gifts, prepare to lose both

We know you're not doing anything better with your time! You better be there!

[It looks inviting enough- or so Taako thought. But the party is real, and they hope he'll attend.]

voice; backdated

[storyseeker]

[...to shortly after she came to her senses following this bit of what the hell.]

Hey. Ssssssso. Remember when we were inexplicably pissy with each other, and everyone we didn't like suddenly seemed like an awesome new pal?

voice;

[nonscriptum]

Uh...yeah? [If he sounds nervous and confused, it's because he definitely is.] I'm guessing you made an awesome new pal.

action, the first day of the planet move, so like 3/28

[pocketspa]

[It's hot out and for once, that's a damn good thing.

When the event finally ended, Taako kicked himself for everything that happened and let himself get over it. Fucking liches, doing dumb shit, fucking with them all over again. After that, he texted the two people who really needed it; Lucretia, and Nate. Lucretia got her own message, but Nate's was pretty simple.]

im not mad at you
jsyk

[Except now it's been about four days and Taako's decided that if he's going to be out here feeling things, he's going to go make sure Nate's going to speak to him ever again. He doesn't quite have the hang of being any of the native flora and fauna yet, but Taako's been to a lot of planets and he figures Nate doesn't know what the jungle animals look like yet either, so he picks a strange looking bird from cycle 34 and starts ducking through the trees.

It's warm out, so Nate will be here somewhere. It's just a matter of finding him and then forcing a conversation.

Man, he can't believe he's the one fucking doing this. Emotions suck.]

[nonscriptum]

[ He didn't mean for that shit to happen. It just does, he knows, and there's no control when the gods force you into it, but it didn't feel strange or unusual. At the time, it had felt perfectly reasonable to want to tear people open and that feeling, that need dissipated just as quickly, though its influence lingers. Like a patina rubbed off but remaining in the cracks, it's still there. How right is felt is still there. The prospect of being forgiven is tempting and Nate knows plenty of people here would be more than happy to agree it was a bad hand they all drew,

He doesn't reply to Taako's text.

Elena gave him his space to wander a little and it's in the forest that Taako finds him, about a fifteen minute walk from the edges of the city. As far as he can tell there's nothing around them but rainforest for miles, but at least the planet seems alive with all the green, lush and verdant and thick.

He's halfway up a tree, back braced against a mossy trunk, drawing the coils of the vines. ]

voice;

[volitaunt]

Hey, how do you feel about doing some translation of Null menu screens?

voice;

[nonscriptum]

Wow, you don't even wanna ask me out for dinner first?

[ Nate has to wonder how much of this question is tied to what Poe was posting about not long ago - seeing as he hadn't thought himself capable of helping, he didn't offer.

But then there's this. ]

...I'm kidding. Sure, I can do that.

[text] Late April/early May/whatever works

[lifetothefullest]

Hey, I know you've probably already explored every inch of this place already, but I'm bored and want to go jungle-hiking. Just not alone.

[He's pretty sure he'd be fine, but no need to take stupid chances. Besides, framing it this way might make Nate more likely to agree if there's any remaining awkwardness from the whole event disaster.]

[nonscriptum]

[ Lance isn't wrong. Nate has spent the better part of their time here exercising rusty cartography skills, knowing how useful that information is going to be when the shit inevitably hits the fan. Seeing as the climate agrees with him, he couldn't find any reason not to engage with it on a daily basis. ]

sure. you're not going to wear a button-down, are you? :)

[ It's been a little while since they talked, and while Nate has a certain amount of lingering guilt, he knows Lance would verbally tear him a new one if he sulked about it. ]