exsiliumlogs | It seemed like a good idea at the time...

Entry tags:

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

Date & Time: 2698, fin-de-millenium, just prior to the formation of the United Earth
Location: Las Vegas
Characters: Break, Kevin, Gilbert, Oz, Elliot, Alice, Allen, Lenalee, Rosette, Chrono, Chrysos
Summary: Fear and loathing
Warnings: Showgirls and Gilbert weeping.

The statement “Let’s go to Vegas” exists as the multiverse’s quintessential definition of, “well it seemed like a good idea at the time.” Even in this case, it really had, between zombies, insurrection, and the day to day tedium of life on the moon. Besides which, Xerxes Break has a new sentient (sentient-er) weapon, which in a stunning show of good judgement is too dangerous to test on the moonbase, nor in any concentration of people. Las Vegas, set against the backdrop of the vast, desolate Mojave desert, seemed to be a perfect choice.

When our heroes wink into existence, squinting against the early-morning desert sunshine, they’ll find themselves duly welcomed. Come play in the casino. When you feel a bit peckish, indulge in all you can eat. Take your winnings and go shopping; at night, take in a show. And if you’ve done really well gambling, unwind in a ridiculously luxurious suite.

…or is this how you’re spending the night?

Thirty-six hours in Vegas, what could possibly go wrong?

(ooc: feel free to start threads willy-nilly, name your time and place, threadjack and mingle)

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Life finds a way. Despite global warming, biological warfare, earthquakes, and the general desolation of the Mojave desert, there are still living things struggling on, or even flourishing. White blossoms adorn a yucca plant, pushing its way up out of the dry earth. Road runners scratch in the ground, glance up at their visitors, and speed past. The earth is stained red, and in the distance, a set of sandstone peaks and high walls — the Keystone Thrust — rises majestically in to the sky.

Carried on the breeze, a G-string wafts by.

Break and Kevin have slipped away from the main group, and are on the outskirts of Las Vegas. ]

We'll need to get well away from the city, and it'll be tedious to walk it. Fancy giving me a lift, Mister Cecil?

[This is heaven and hell all wrapped in one eye-searing glitzy neon package. It's pure insanity, it actually hurts to look at. On the one hand, there are gambling machines. Actual machines you can gamble with, and receive money from. And roulette. Blackjack. Poker. It's the gambling house of the gods, he doesn't even know what to do with himself.

But, as is often the case, the air is foul with liquor and bawdry and things he doesn't even want to consider. It makes his skin crawl. He imagines Master would lose himself in a den like this, never to be seen again - and he'd say good riddance, but he knows who'd still be footing that bill. He'd rather just die, honestly. The thought of it alone is enough to make him sick, and the mere smell of alcohol already took care of that.

But then he catches whiff of the buffet, and everything else is thrown right out the window.

Goodbye, everyone, he'll see you on the other side of the food coma.]

Edited 2013-11-21 04:11 (UTC)

[ oh hello, fancy meeting you here on the ship to food comma island. let's bid everyone adieu together.

alice, on the other hand, has very little interest in gambling so she's already at the buffet. there were so many things she's never heard of that would be in a casino, and she had to have it all explained to her, although even after all that she isn't really sure if she understands it all just yet. however, when she had asked whether you could eat vegas, someone should have told her that she wasn't far off. IT REALLY SEEMS LIKE YOU COULD EAT VEGAS! what is everything else? she's not paying attention. or well, she will after she eats her share. and right now she appears to be bossing one of the workers around because they did not give her enough of the ham. it's really a shame you can't cut your own meat at buffets, but if it were up to alice she would have put the whole ham on her plate.

the meats just stack up. what a dream come true! ]

[Kevin is in love with the earthen quietness. He becomes much more peaceful as soon as they leave the frantic city full of things to gape at. True, he cannot wait to go back to the poker table, but this is nice too. And he is not alone.

He picks up the G-string and turns it around, wondering what the heck it is. Perhaps an eye-patch?]

...I see you have been planning this all along.

[He holds Break's hand and tugs him closer. If he is going to spend the day stabbing the man, he might as well help him fly just like he promised.]

[As glad as Gilbert always is to get off of the moon base and out into some semblance of fresh air of yore, it's been a bit of a stressful few weeks, mission-wise. Their trip to SeaWorld had been a success (they think) but it had also been an extended vacation as they found themselves unable to return for several more days. The mutiny had been the cause, they'd found out upon returning home. And before Gilbert had been able to learn the full details of the obviously important things that they had missed, he'd been ushered into another new mission, barely given time to shower and put on fresh clothes before once again getting send back down onto the old planet.

This place is much different from something as innocent and fun as an aquarium. This place is...lewd! Loud! Lascivious! And a whole lot of other adjectives that don't start with an L but mean approximately the same thing!

Everyone brought along on the mission seems to run off their separate ways pretty fast, so Gilbert tries to put himself in all places at once the best he can. You can spot him running along the casino floor, checking each slot machine and card table for his fellow transports. A quick rush through the buffet and out onto the strip before he's hurrying back into the amazing invention called 'air conditioning'. But after he gets tired of running around trying to keep track of everyone, he finally flops over against a wall near the entrance to the bar (one of many bars, probably) on the casino floor, crosses his arms over his chest and just glares across the room disapprovingly, eyes awkwardly averted away from - well, pretty much everyone.

Break, he's going to kick you in the face before this is all over.]

( the weather reminds him of that sunny beach, if drier; and further differentiating it from that place is the distinct lack of dinosaurs, replaced with curious buildings, large and mismatched, and lots of lights — and people. perhaps closer to the florida he only just left, with gil and alice and katniss, but there's no complaining about the opportunity to go from one bright place to another, with no time to get readjusted to chill space at all.

(which isn't to say he doesn't think on it, however, break's curious insistence on coming to a place like this, roping the lot of them into it — or some of them at any rate, a large group finding their ways here regardless — the timing of it after what ahiru had to say about recent events.)

he doesn't hide his interest in this las vegas, and doesn't see any point to it. instead, he wanders blithely past signs setting down age restrictions, taking in the sights like the crowds, the architecture, and the lights (and wonders, at the smells, just how well gil's commitment to quitting smoking is going to hold up here). it's noisy and exciting, which means there's plenty of people-watching to be had and mischief in which to get.

he can be found watching the card games curiously, tables set up a little ways beyond the slots, a long way from the go fish chrono showed him when — well, not a time to be dwelt upon in a place like this; or perhaps he's spending time with one of his fellow transports, excitedly telling you ALL ABOUT the excellent new book he's reading (and if you're particularly unlucky, he's just found excalibur with you); observing the slots machines; considering the buffet; or listening very attentively while a stranger tells him about...this may be the time to interrupt, honestly. )

( oz is totally not sneaking up on him to see if he's failed to quit smoking for the tenth time. he just happens to approach quietly, not hard to do with all the noise from the slot machines and bars and clubs and music, and more or less pop out abruptly in front of gil )

— there you are!

[He's refrained! Even though there's drinking and smoking and all forms of debauchery going on all around them, he's managed to keep himself from buying a pack of cigarettes from - well, pretty much any vending machine. Vegas probably has changed that much.

But he's still startled to hear Oz sneak up behind him. Nicotine cravings under control or not, there's still a lot going on around them.]

Huh-?! [Groan.]

Where have you been?

( he spreads his arms as he moves over to sit next to gil, as though walking on a tightrope the whole way. )

I've been here! There's a lot to see, you know.

Too much...

[Another small sigh and he turns to look back across the casino floor. Everything in here is loud, one sound attempting to overpower all of the other ones around it. Things ringing, people cheering, glasses clinking together, ice rattling in a cup. The brightness of the room only makes things worse, the glow of machines, and of tall lights atop vibrant, ornate chandeliers.]

What did Break need to do here anyhow? [He'd agreed to go at the last minute, but he has no idea what role he's supposed to play in all of this madness.]

[ Chrys's mistake, some might say, was even remotely hinting to Oz at his own leisure hobbies when asked, which included sitting back in a decent chair and turning the pages of a new acquisition from the neighborhood library. ("Reading", he'd merely replied.) You've unleashed a beast, a despairing cry might proclaim, dramatically, amidst rumbling thunder and flashing lightning.

The subsequent bubbling torrent of words from the boy had been.... well, honestly, he didn't really mind it.

In fact, to Oz's eyes, he does seem like actually listening to everything being said, and nodding in all the right places. With, lo and behold, interest. ]

( what, gil says, and he's wondered the same. it's not exactly a small city, las vegas, crowded and busy and difficult to keep track of anyone; so it might not mean anything that he's not seen kevin or break for some time now.

then again, it very well might.

oz flops down into a sprawl, casting a look about the casino around them. )

Aah, maybe he heard about this place and got curious!

Even this place is too ridiculous for him to be curious about!

[No, Gil is sure at this point he's suggested it just to make his useless subordinate anxious and upset.]

( it's just — he's not known someone willing to talk to him at length about books like this since perhaps ringo, quite some time ago; ellie and dagger had been interested in well, but he'd not had as much chance to speak literature with them before they'd left. elliot is a not unimportant book friend, but it's nice too to have someone less...well, argumentative about opinions. )

— I don't think it exists in my world at all, so I'm glad Ahiru found it for me, ( he's saying, eyes veritably sparkling ) and it's one of the best parts of being here.

( he's not worried about being overheard; this is a place full of people saying all sorts of strange things under varying influences, chemical and otherwise. )

All these books I would never have known about otherwise! And so, once he becomes king, he doesn't become arrogant at all, even with all of his victories — though, Merlyn is there to help with that. But once you've grown up a normal person, it's not so easy to become someone like that, especially with all the lessons he'd learned already.

Ahaha, do you think so?

( nearby, someone wins a prize at one of the slots machines — not a jackpot, with as carefully calibrated as they are to keep money in the casino — but it's enough to set off a new round of lights and whistles. )

[Break can't see any of it, and certainly all of the noise would be dizzying to someone like him. There's no other explanation!

Well, that and Gilbert has had his fair share of terrible bad luck lately, so this really would be the icing on that cake.]

I'm going to get some fresh air. [He grumbles as he pushes himself up and starts for wherever the closest door is. Which might be a ways away since they're in the middle of a large casino.]

( oz blithely hops to his feet behind gil — honestly, and he'd only just sat down! — and follows in the direction of the elusive doorway. )

Do you want to eat or drink something?

( HEY LOOK THERE'S A DRINKS STAND NEARBY FOR...daquiris, those aren't alcoholic right )

Are you hungry?

[Answering a question with a question like a winner. AND OZ NO.]

That's right!

( or is he saying that so he can con gil into getting something itisamystery.jpg. AND DAQUIRI IS A NON-ALCOHOLIC SOUNDING NAME )

[Oscar Vessalius' nephew, everyone.

Well, he can't deny Oz food no matter how badly he wants to not be inside this building. So he agrees and lets Oz lead the way to wherever it is he wants to eat. There are a few choices, but apparently he's got his sights set on the one place he isn't allowed to be.]

It feels like a waste to spend money on food here...

[ He has been planning something like this for ages, ever since Oz told him the United Earth had done something to his contract. The sticking point had been trust...

Well, no. Not trust, exactly. He trusts Gilbert, and Raven has the ability to seal away even the most powerful of Chains. However, Gilbert is busy sealing Oz's power; and besides, he's got better things to do than be burdened with an old man's weakness.

No, the sticking point had been trusting Kevin. He is the obvious choice for a partner, having proven his healing ability already. And yet... ]

Ah... don't do that, if you please.

[ He sighs. It's a show of weakness to explain, but that is how this day will go, no doubt: his body failing over and over. It's the reason Kevin is here. Best to get it over with. ]

Don't tug on my hand like that. I don't expect it, and it pulls me off-balance. If you wish to lead me somewhere, do it like this.

[ He twists his hand free and reaches for Kevin's upper arm, just above the elbow. ]

I can feel the movements of your body much more easily this way, rendering to me information about the terrain you're traversing. I can hang back or speed up or let go if I need to.

[ He colors, slightly, because that was hard to say. ]

Yes, well. Anyway. If you're ready.

Edited (third time's the charm) 2013-11-22 04:25 (UTC)

[ Truth be told, his attention isn't entirely focused on Oz's live book review, though not for lack of trying; it's certainly a welcome distraction from the constant reminder of the garish decadence of where they presently are, and the aggravation that bubbles dangerously close to the surface at times when he thinks on it a little too long (but why are they here, why is he here, now, exactly, didn't they all have more urgent things to be focused on at this time, honestly, even if "time" itself was something they were able to jump in and out of like the stops of a streetcar.) He hasn't seen this much neon lighting in one place in his life. Though the entertainment district back home... well, if one gave it a few more decades, maybe...

But Oz is looking at him again with that sparkly-eyed look, and it's not hard to coast along with his enthusiasm. It's a familiar stride, though with a less familiar companion. And books are nice to consider. He'd be more opinionated if he'd read the one being discussed, though. As it is, there's at most a few eyebrows raised here and there, particularly at the parts involving a certain eccentric wizard's shenanigans. ]

And so this Merlyn remains Arthur's advisor throughout his reign?

[ Discreetly attempting to steer their course away from yet another entranceway marked NO MINORS ALLOWED. ]

[That was...unexpected...]

[And probably one of the most beautiful things Break has ever told him. He would like to show his gratitude for the explanation, but he fears embarrassing the foolish man further.

Still, Break might feel that his body is visibly more relaxed and peaceful, that warm aura that is very much Kevin becoming just a little brighter, as he does precisely as he is told and carefully wraps an arm around Break's waist.]

R-Right. Hold tight, please.

[He drops his human form like a veil, just enough to unfold his remaining wing. Now he feels far more like a divine being, his soft feathers accidentally caressing the side of Break's face.]

[ Someone had made a Terrible Mistake.

It's hard to recall, precisely, the circumstances that led to this point. There had been word about a mission, a group forming for the purpose, some great necessity involved, tied in with an opportunity for stretching one's legs while they were all at it, you should come along anyway, the more the merrier, or something to that effect, with familiar faces among a relatively considerable crowd at the transporter pad and one thing leading to another and here

he

stood.

Deserted. Amidst dens of gamblers. Lairs of debauchery. Amidst the frivolous usage of so many gigawatts of electricity as to be absolutely criminal.

A woman clad in about one and a half napkins passes by with a tray. He turns down the offer of a stiff drink. For now. (Vaguely regrets it, about sixty seconds later.)

If you haven't already strongarmed him into some shenanigans of your own, you might run across Chrys sometime during this jaunt. Maybe as a disapproving head poking into casinos for a familiar face, to keep an eye on them or pull them out of the trouble they're likely in (that's gotten to them or they've gotten to, either, really); maybe a sullen barstool figure nursing that drink (or any number of its successors) at the furthest end of a hotel bar one can get away from the glitzy stages; or maybe just a head of hair cornered by a rather persistent gaggle of showgirls he was told to Investigate, For Mission Reasons, Definitely.

Thirty-six hours, as any timekeeper will tell you, is a Very Long Time. ]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 58

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

Mojave Desert, Kevin and Break

BUFFET

no subject

Re: Mojave Desert, Kevin and Break

everywhere and everything

everywhere and open!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

everywhere and open???? lemme know if you want hilarity or srsness or in between