abraxaslogs | WELCOME TO NOTT!

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WELCOME TO NOTT!

WELCOME TO NOTT!

Welcome to Nott! A blend of old world Thorne and new world industrialism, densely packed wooden buildings surround a section of ancient stone architecture at the lake’s edge. The city rises up against the horizon and is easily seen from a distance, lacking any farmland or outposts around it to distract the eye.

The city gates are wide open. Whatever may be happening back at the Thornean capitol, there’s no obvious hint of it here. Busy citizens are going about their day, guards in local uniform patrol the streets with little urgency, and no alarm bells or horns are sounding. It appears,at least on the surface, as though no one is concerned about escaped prisoners here.

But it certainly is a bustling place! Sounds and smells assault the senses right from the gate. The streets are filled with vendors and panhandlers and criers shouting out deals and directions and soliciting money, hawking food and services and shops. There seems to be a tavern or a public house on almost every corner. A cool wind comes off the lake and the scent of the fish market carries through the city. People are everywhere and no one seems to notice or care that much about strangers - aside from wanting their coin.

It’s the perfect place to hide out from Thorne while staying within Thorne’s borders.

Within a few hours of arrival a city guard will approach each escapee from Thorne - regardless of what their standing was back at the castle - to politely inform them that Lord of Representatives Lyle Vela would be happy to receive them at the House of the Lords at any time today. Each character will be given a handwritten invitation marked with an official seal that gives directions to the House of the Lords, a sprawling Old Nott building on the lake that overlooks the city. The invitation is of course optional and there are no repercussions for declining.

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[ Getting on the horse had been the easy part, balancing and not squirming every time the horse shifted under him was another problem entirely. He's pretty sure his balls are just mutilated by now. Thanks, ya fuckin' horse.

Her arms wrap around his neck and he adjusts himself so they can just lay there, the wine bottle gripped carefully so he doesn't spill. It's a precious commodity tonight and they're both going to need it. His free hand wraps around her back, running up and down her spine. While he hadn't exactly had an empty bed at the castle, it didn't really count because it was Nadine and it was mostly just a comfort thing. They were both kind of pathetic. ]

We did the first time. Remembered everything when we came back about bein' there, but even if you do, you're not gonna be alone. I never brought anyone there, so I dunno what happens. If we get split up, I'm still gonna find you.

[ Look, Julie and Susan do not have the necessary experience to help him sit in a way that doesn't mangle his dangles. They tried, they made sure he had at least some semblance of the correct posture, but there are limitations.

This is the most physical contact Julie has had with anyone since she beat Eponine's face in, and she leans into it as she rolls that thought around in her head. She decides that temporary amnesia is acceptable. ]

So what do we gotta do? Should I get dressed?

[ Absolutely no respect around here. He tried and hated it the entire fucking time. If he has to do it again, he'll fucking walk if he has to.

He'll give her whatever she needs. He missed her company, especially when she was so close and yet so unreachable. ]

Nah, you don't have to get dressed. Here's just fine. I think.

[ This is a first, but if he concentrates enough, it should work. Closing his eyes, he rests his forehead against Julie's and focuses as hard as he can about going to the Horizon and taking her with him. At first, he doesn't think it works, but when he opens his eyes, he's back.

Holy shit, it actually worked. ]

Jules?

[ Julie watches his face closely, feeling like she needs to imitate him, and closes her eyes too.

When she opens them again, she's sitting on a stool, in front of what appears to be a dead slot machine. She gently touches the lever; she's never seen a real slot machine before. Black rabbits run around her feet as she slides off the stool, peering around the room curiously. Neon lights make her gold dress glitter in shades of electric blue and acid green, and she fiddles with the Wheel of Fortune pendant hanging from her necklace.

She can hear someone calling her, and she tries to follow the voice through the maze of slot machines and card tables. ]

Hello?

[ He hears her echo back, but it's distant. Stepping into the casino, he groans in irritation about how shitty his domain looks. Now that he knows what he's going for, he waves his hand to at least shed some warm light in the place to make it seem less desolate. As he walks around and searches for Julie, the carpet shifts from drab and brown to vibrant orange and red, interlocking in a neverending pattern.

Lloyd just changes things as he goes, those strange black rabbits scurrying along in his wake to hide between slot machines and under tables strewn with plastic chips. ]

Julie? You here?

[ He shouts into the silence and it seems to echo forever as the ceiling rises into a facsimile of the Inferno. Damn near identical to what they had back in Vegas, though it's devoid of the thrum of people. That he can live with.

When he spots a familiar pink head of hair, he lets out a relieved sigh and stops in front of her. A broad smile breaks out over his face as he drinks her in, nice and slow. ]

Well, I'll be goddamned, girl. Ain't you just a walkin' felony.

[ Julie thinks it looks amazing; it's easily the most grand place she can remember visiting in her life. Actually, she doesn't really remember being anywhere before she was here. She remembers existing, but only existing -- not experiences or people. But she also doesn't feel a sense of loss, like she's lost memories. The memories simply never happened.

Huh.

She's moving slow, taking everything in, running her fingers over the green felt and blank video poker screens. When they find each other, there's no recognition of him on her face. Instead, she looks surprised to hear a total stranger speak to her like that. ]

Who are you?

[ There's a pang of disappointment at the lack of recognition, even though he knew it was going to happen. Some part of him thought maybe since he brought her in, there'd be some kinda spark. Ah well.

By now, he's altered his own outfit to something more fitting of their Vegas lifestyle, opting for his favorite snakeskin suit. The snakeskin has rearranged itself along his back into the pattern of the lovers arcana. The other outfit was fun, but..he misses his fucking wardrobe.

Lloyd removes his fedora and gives her a little introductory bow. ]

Lloyd Henreid, and this is my place.

[ She watches him and the expression on her face is unreadable. Everything just feels strange all of a sudden, in a way it hadn't before they found each other. She gets the sense that she's missing something, but she can't for the life of her figure out what it could possibly be.

There's a moment of silence, and a group of the rabbits run past. Julie crouches and most of the rabbits shriek and run, but the one nearest to her stops and sniffs her hand. It glances back at Lloyd, its eyes suddenly icy blue instead of pink, then it allows her to pick it up.

She straightens and knits her brow, holding the rabbit to her chest. ]

Do we know each other?

[ He watches her curiously. The rabbits had never shown interest in someone while in his own domain. The only other one that even seemed remotely interested in them had been that Misty chick. Wherever she'd fucked off to. Lloyd is pleased at the turn of events, and he grins at her, sitting there all cute with one of his little creations. ]

We do, yeah. But if you don't remember, that's okay too. I don't have a problem with second impressions if you don't.

[ The rabbit doesn't exactly look happy about the situation, but Julie has always had a knack with animals. There just weren't very many left to love after Trips. She also has not realized yet that she's the one manifesting the rabbit into a solid form, into tameness. She seems to consider the idea of a second impression, if it can even be called that when she can't remember her first, then looks up at the high ceilings, the balconies. ]

This whole place is just for you? It's so big.

Well, it's for anybody, but I'm the only one here.

[ He follows her gaze up and up toward the ceiling, his focus landing on the topmost balcony, illuminated a deep red. When he looks back at her, it's with a grin. ]

Want me to show you around? Or we could go find your domain, see where you ended up. This place lets you create whatever you can think of. It's real fuckin' neat.

I get my own place? Like this?

[ There is a kind of delighted innocence in her voice -- without a lifetime of feeling lost and alone, oppressed by the poverty and isolation of where she's from, there is no need for her to have a constant guard up, no need to use her armada of defense mechanisms. It also helps that she has not immediately deemed Lloyd inferior to herself, at least not in any meaningful way.

Still clutching the rabbit, she takes a few steps away, still looking up at the seemingly endless number of floors. ]

Where would it be?

Maybe not like this, but someplace that's yours, yeah. [ He gestures around the facsimile of The Inferno, devoid of all its people, vaguely. Sure, it could look just like his, but with a gal like her? No way it was.

He shrugs a shoulder and grins easily. ]

Why don't we go lookin'? Betcha it's close.

[ There's a moment where she's just silent, looking around, then she begins to walk very confidently toward one exit. She doesn't know why, but something makes her feel extremely sure that she needs to go this way, that what she's looking for is that way.

She does stop to put the bunny down, where it remains docile and quietly hops away from them. ]

Why's your place all empty like that? Don't casinos usually have lots of people in 'em all the time? That... I feel like that sounds right.

[ Lloyd follows behind her, interested to know about her own domain, too. What will it even look like? He has a few ideas based on what Julie is like, but whether or not it'll be what he thinks is a different story. His hadn't looked like he expected the first time, either. ]

They do, but y'know it didn't really feel right putting a bunch of fake people in here that say the same stuff over and over. It felt lonelier than just having my rabbits.

But ain't there other people around to visit? Like me?

[ She opens the door without much hesitation. There's no specific reason she can point to, but she knows that she belongs on the other side, just as much as she knows her name, or... well, okay, she only knows her name, but she's very certain of it.

As the door swings open, the sound of pounding bass music floods the air. Neon lights scatter over the floor before she can even enter, and glittering confetti fires over them from conveniently timed cannons. They're behind the bar of an apparently very busy club, dozens and dozens of bland, forgettable people filling the dance floor and booths. The bartender does not seem alarmed by their presence, either -- in fact, he hands Julie a champagne flute without any prompting. She takes a sip, and it's not just champagne, it's a cocktail, and it's perfect.

It's loud and crowded and excessive, and she feels so comfortable. ]

Wow.

Yeah. I'd much rather wander into other people's than sit in mine.

[ As soon as she opens the door, it's like stepping into a different world. The bass beats so loud he can feel it echoing in his chest, and the dark club with flashing glitter and neon lights blinking around makes it feel something close to home, yet so surreally different. He looks to Julie who fits so perfectly in this atmosphere with awe, feeling so damn lucky he managed to snag her while also knowing that she can be a bitch. It's the lifestyle, it comes with the territory.

Lloyd grins at her, leaning against the bar as she sips her cocktail. ]

Yeah, I'll say.

[ Julie comes out from behind the bar and it's like the crowd suddenly turns on, as if they were only idling before she was there to pay attention to. The feeling, for Lloyd at least, is most likely familiar, not unlike how it used to be when they walked through the real Inferno.

But now, he isn't the star of the show. She is, and it's so obvious. They gather around while never being in her way, they raise glasses to her, raise their voices too. She feels like she's in a bubble as she floats through them, and it's a feeling that she can't really put words to.

She knows she's never felt like this before (because she only remembers feeling at all over the past 45 minutes or so), but she also somehow knows that this is also exactly how she has always wanted to feel.

Before the crowd can swallow her entirely, she looks back over her shoulder at him. ]

You comin'?

[ It absolutely gives him the same vibe as walking through the Inferno. Like the party sleeps until they get there, then it's all for them. She fits so much better into this lifestyle like she was made for it instead of turned onto it. He loved the vibe and the attention he got back home, because who doesn't like feeling as if you're the most important person in the room?

He watches how the crowd of unremarkable people dances and cheers, but never gets in Julie's way, never do anything more than cheer her on and give her praise when she needs it. Lloyd doesn't waste a second, pushing himself off the bar and following her into the throng of people with a wide grin. ]

Right behind ya, gorgeous.

[ The clubgoers ferry them both (but mostly Julie) across the club, dissipating a few at a time as they reach the other side. By the end, it's just the two of them again; Julie has long since finished her drink and lost the flute, her cheeks aching from smiling.

She doesn't keep smiling much longer.

Where the club should theoretically end, have a wall to close it, there is only blank space, vast and haunting, suffocating from emptiness. The furthest wall, where the structure actually ends, has a large industrial fan set into it, makes an eerie, repetitive whoosh as it slowly rotates. It seems to suck happiness straight out of the air, the longer they stand there, and Julie is suddenly very frozen, unable to walk out no matter how much she wants to.

Instead, she stares at the spinning fan blades, locked in place with a feeling of existential nothingness that permeates down to her soul. ]

[ The difference in moods is almost jarring, like an unexpected slap to the face. The grin slides off his face as he takes in this vast nothing of space, that industrial fan spinning and reminding him of the sound of an axe swinging through the air. Brown eyes flit about the space before looking to Julie in confusion.

His question about what this place is dying before he can make a sound. Her haunted expression spooks him because he's never seen a look like this on her face. She's always the unflappable one. He wraps his hand around hers, aiming to tug her back into the fray. ]

Hey. Jules, c'mon. You don't gotta be here.

[ It takes her a second before she can even understand what feeling this place is evoking in her, and the scream of realization dies before it ever hits her throat. Though she doesn't know why, she knows intimately, in her very soul, that she will die alone in this space. That there will never be anyone else, just her and her thoughts, echoing in perpetuity, until her mind is gone and she can't go on anymore.

She's never felt this way before, but it's so familiar.

Lloyd takes her hand and she looks at him dumbly, having forgotten he was there. But he is there, so why does she feel so alone? She can barely parse what he's saying, and when she does, she can't make her legs move. ]

It's so empty.

[ It is empty, and it gives him the creeps more than the empty husk of Vegas he'd first conjured with no real reason as to why he had. He has to remind himself that this isn't where she wanted to be, but something her mind made to play tricks. ]

Yeah, it is.. Do you know why? We can change it into something else. I can even help.

[ He's not too keen on sticking around if she doesn't want to change it, but he's not going to leave her, either. ]

[ She doesn't know why it's like this, and she doesn't know why she feels this way, and it's all reflected in her face now, her lack of defenses and inability to manipulate a situation she doesn't understand. Her hand is limp in his and she shakes her head. ]

It's supposed to be like this. I just know it. It... it can't be changed.

[ Everyone who left her alone is dead, can't come back now. ]

[ He squeezes her hand to pull her back into the moment, standing in front of her to block the view of the fan. ]

Lots of things can't be changed, darlin'. Doesn't mean you have to stick around. Let's go outside and go exploring. See some other people's domains and shit. Give ya inspiration.

WELCOME TO NOTT!

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