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 Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 8:25 am
Lawrence liked to invite himself into Melvin's dorm, something which had become very easy of late with the whole being able to turn into an owl thing. Flying in rain was difficult but not impossible and he'd had to learn how to do it in the face of the constant downpours on the island. That day he'd shown up when no one was home and settled down in a chair with a book from one of the shelves to wait for Melvin to come back again.
He'd done all his chores and there was no gardening to be done in the rain, so harassing Melvin a bit seemed like an entertaining enough way to pass the time.
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 8:45 am
He was wet, tired, and wanted to change into dry clothes as soon as possible. His sneakers squeaked and his socks were soaked as he unlocked his dorm, eyes distant as he thought about dinner or the bar, and shut the door behind him.
Peeling off his coat, he hung it on a hanger to dry before neatly taking off his shoes. He then took off his socks to alao hang up to dry, and went to start a bath. Turning the hot water on, he walked back out only to stop when he finally noticed Lawr.
"Damn. You are way too quiet." He said, pausing in removing his shirt but deciding to continue and peel it off. Seeing as there was only one way in without a key, he glanced at the open windows and back. "Do you need a towel or something?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 9:02 am
"I already dried my hair off." he said, and being Lawrence had helped himself to Melvin's belongings to do so. "You get less wet when you have less surface area also. I'm sure owl to human rain ratios are someone's concern somewhere."
"You look like a drowned rat." he said. "You should get your shower, I'll still be here when you get back."
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 9:24 am
"Yeah. No way I was getting here dry and need another umbrella when I go on leave. It almost feels futile with how many have broken on me." He set his shirt up to dry.
"I won't be long. I have the coffee machine set if you could turn that on." He left into the bathoom, changing the bath to a shower and undressing. The hot water was a sweet relief and he woyld have soaked in it longer if not for having Lawr. He wasn't prepared and sometimes he needed a moment to seperate the past and present.
Pinker from the water, he returned with a towel about his waist and went to the dresser for some briefs. "Getting better at the whole owl thing?" He asked, setting the towel aside to slip on his briefs and then looking for some sweatpants.
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 9:37 am
Lawrence took the time to go one further than just turning on the coffee machine and actually made Melvin a coffee how he usually liked it, setting it down on the table. He always just insinuated himself into people's living spaces as if they were his, and it was made so much easier by the fact that at one point this had been his living space courtesy of Melvin.
He gave the other man a faint little smile for his comment. "Better yes, but still not a master, I've taken a few nasty falls and flown into more than a few windows. It's amazing how confusing they can appear to owl vision, you see movement in them and you could swear it was in the grass or trees. It's all very different from how things look as a human."
"This Atlantean nonsense needs to stop." he said. "I am constantly vindicated in resenting the ocean. It wants nothing more than to eradicate all of us and keeps proving it."
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 10:14 am
He smiled at the coffee as he turned to out on his sweatpants and took it in both hands as he sat down, letting what warm he could drain seep into his hands for a moment.
"I wonder how you compare to a normal owl - if your intellegence rises above an owl's natural ability." He mused as he took a sip of his coffee. "Hate to image what impacting windows does to your features."
"Atlantis is only reacting to stupid people stealing. It shows disrespect - like archaeologists plundering ancient tombs without any regard to culture or history. I shouldn't have even brought anyone with me. I won't make that mistake again. If I even get to go again."
He was somber at that thought. He wanted to know more and see more and now he might never even be allowed enterance. "But it has to stop. I want to keep our island from flooding. Even if it means I can never go back."
"People are so selfish."
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 11:23 am
"Oh come now Melvin, I am certainly smarter than an owl, what do you take me for?" He didn't look too offended though by the comments. "And it doesn't hurt as much as if I did it when I was normal, birds are pretty light, it's mostly a fright and a bit of a daze."
He nodded. "People are generally fairly stupid, next time if you go to explore a culturally and magically significant location it is probably best to bring along some vetted individuals rather than a ragtag band from the island."
But it ultimately wasn't Melvin's fault anything turned out the way it had, he should have been able to trust people from the island, he shouldn't have had to account for sticky fingered selfish morons with more greed than sense.
"I know it meant a lot to you, to get to go there." he said. "And it must take a lot to even want that much with the risks involved. I hope that it doesn't come to you never getting to go back, you never harmed the city."
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 12:02 pm
"I wanted it before I even knew it existed. It was mine even when I felt selfish saying it was mine. I wanted to explore all of it, absorb all of it, map and plan and document all of it. I didn't feel I had any right keeping it to myself when I had help to kill the monster that guarded the door. Now I want no one there. Not if it means risking Deus and Atlantis together. Because people don't want to listen to me and feel they know better. That their idiocy is excusable. That everyone is entitled to forgiveness."
He stared into his cup and looked up at Lawr. "Some days I think the worst - sometimes .....you are probably one of the few reasons I don't let the island sink."
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 12:33 pm
Lawrence nodded to Melvin. He might not have understood a lot about emotions but he understood how important Atlantis had been to Melvin and his pride in being the one to find it. "You wanted to share something wonderful and people had to ruin it with their own innate vices. They don't deserve forgiveness."
Rodney said that everyone deserved forgiveness but he disagreed, as far as he was concerned, the people who deserved to be forgiven were people who sought it and meant to change their ways in earnest. Until that point it didn't count and they should be subject to retribution.
He gave Melvin a soft sort of smile. "That's a terrible reason to spare people, though I appreciate you kindly letting me not drown." A little of the fleeting colour drained from his features.
"Drowning is the last way I'd like to go."
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 1:13 pm
He reached over to take his hand and squeezed it. "I'm gonna try righting this. I don't want this sinking into the sea due to selfish people. Not after everything we had to ensure just to be alive. If i have to let someone else drown to spare the whole, then let the spoiled grapes sink. It's my Atlantis and I want it back. If I have to push through water golems then so be it. I'm at least trained for it."
He released his hand to hold his cup, aware of Lawr's boundaries and how long he could hold him.
He breathed out, hearing the crack of distant thunder again.
"I can't build anything with the rain."
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 1:27 pm
Lawrence squeezed Melvin's hand back with a smile. "Whatever you set your mind to you achieve, I don't have many doubts that you will manage this too, and make the right choices to get there. People always underestimate you."
"You know, I've been doing a lot of golem work." he said "I've actually adopted it as my specialisation, badge and everything. I spend a lot of my time down in the labs learning about that sort of thing, when I'm not doing the usual duty shifts elsewhere. I'm not very adept with runics but I am apparently fairly decent at mimicking things, who'd have thought?" He still enjoyed the infirmary best, but there was a limit to what he was allowed to do there.
"There may be a way to send golems down to Atlantis to see what is going on. I assume that it would be safer than sending people down there to drown. They know me in that department now, so you won't be on your own if that's something you want to pursue."
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 2:27 pm
"Really? Congrats. Uh, are you still going to try and become a doctor? I mean, golems sound like they would be perfect for you." Considering that Lawr shifted in personality and appearance all the time and found it a freeing feeling that kept him from feeling pent up on the island, it was a perfect avenue to let him be anyone he wanted to be without using up all his leave time.
"Do golems work in water? Do they run on runics? If they get close to the door and go offline, then it would just be a waste of all those resources. The city drains your weapon and everything right at the door. I mean, I'd love not to send everyone down into golem and possibly mermaid infested waters and no doubt terrible waves in this storm. If it can work - I think that would be a safer options that more people would volunteer for, and honestly I could use all the help I can get."
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 3:29 pm
Lawrence nodded. "I am still continuing my studies, I have no intention of stopping those. I will be a qualified medical doctor. It is simply that I don't think that even if I was one that I could really go anywhere in the infirmary. Track records and all that. It's good to have another hobby." And it had made him happy, a way he could explore human nature without harming anyone or getting in the way of anyone.
"They function via a core of sorts." Lawrence said vaguely. "And as far as water they don't disintegrate in the rain, that would be problematic on excursions into Halloween. Their component parts aren't always dissolvable. Prolonged immersion would take more investigating as to its effects. Very possibly though the shielding capabilities of the city might drain them of their energy."
He looked concerned. "Which would mean draining our weapons too if people went down there to try and revert whatever is happening. Maybe they will just move us all to the mainland for a bit till it all blows over." And it was obvious this pained him to say or even consider. "I think some people might choose to stay even if that was proposed, some people have homes here."
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:07 pm
"The city does drain weapons, but there isn't much point in fighting Sophie. She's a golem, one of many, and probably can program herself to pop up once one of her bodies is destroyed. She is just a program, but one that might be tied to a security system that is doing all this. One that notices when things are misplaced. I saw her meld into the road once and become it, so if she can become a road, she might have a sense when items are removed from the city. I have no idea how this happened through, as she can't be online without runic power, and last time I checked, there was none there. The city went dark when we left."
Was there a backup supply she was running on.
"I....only want to get there. I don't mind being weaponless there. I don't care. I just want to get there and talk with her. See if it really is her. If it isn't, then at least we can rule her out. At least Deus won't see it as a threat and try to destroy Atlantis in order to secure the safety of the island. I want to protect it." He said, looking over at him.
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 6:04 pm
"Well, I don't mean go in and fight certainly, but one does want to have one's weapon intact in case something attacks when in there." he shrugged. "I don't like the idea of you going down there alone to try and barter with an AI which might be frazzled after millennia of disuse. It's not worth losing you for it."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"But I understand you want to help resolve the mess down there and if there's anything I can do to help I will, even if I'm not suited for swimming in the ocean."
He didn't want to distress Melvin too much unduly. "Besides that though, as important as it is, have you been keeping well? I worry about you often."
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