[EVENT] A NEW WORLD ORDER

[ironwood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: December 8, 2015 (with some starters for the following weeks)
Location: Keeliai, the Midnight Hotel, others
Situation: The Foreigners have awakened.
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings as needed.

They've been in the Dreaming for so long that when they wake up their bodies feel more like automatons, alien and ill-fitting. They haven’t atrophied, thanks to Milyn, but they’re stiff and a little bedsore, and the solidity of the Life Plane is jarring. Here, the surroundings don’t move on a whim. Here the world is more stable, almost harsh and unyielding in spite of the homey surrounds.

It’s been a year, says the clock on the mantle and on the second floor. Says Milyn, too, when she’s able to stop hugging them long enough to speak.

Nothing much has changed in the Midnight Hotel. There are dishes out of place, objects belonging to either Milyn or Eva in evidence, the diorama exactly where it had been but now brightly-painted thanks to Milyn's boredom. Milyn and Eva took a room each, in the time the Foreigners were sleeping, though neither used them much.

Eva’s upstairs, Milyn will tell anyone who asks. In her room.

Eva hasn't left that room in three days. She hasn't spoken in three days, either, or walked, or moved, or breathed. Her effects are neatly arranged around her bed, and the sheet has been pulled up. There is heavy incense in the room and Milyn has managed to preserve the body enough to remove the risk of too much mess (and other things). In a way, that makes it worse: as though Eva is sleeping. It’s difficult to tell whether Milyn is in denial or whether spending three days with no one to talk to other than sleeping Foreigners and a corpse has had its influence.

---

LINKS
Dreaming log | Foreigner's Awakening (Hotel) | Milyn’s Relief | Exploring Keeliai | Old & New Faces (Canon Updates/New Arrivals) | OOC: State of the Shell

Comments

[raavashing]

I know.

[He couldn't help the sadness in his voice, but he was also... content? Yes. He felt content. Back home, he worried constantly. But here, with all the memories returning to him, he knew that even if peace didn't come in his lifetime, it would still come. In all the lives he had yet to live, he would strive to bring it.]

I remember what Korra told me. What Aang said. About the wars and about what will come. Korra is going to stop Vaatu at the next Harmonic Convergence. Peace and Balance will come. It will simply take longer than I thought.

[Wan's pace slowed as he realized he couldn't feel Aang or Korra. He could only feel the slight tug on his soul that he identified with the lantern and it was... on his hand? He turned his eyes to his hand and the jewelry there with the dark stone that seemed to pulse just slightly.]

They aren't here anymore.

[He murmured as he stared at the stone, then looked up at Zuko, searched him over with his eyes.]

Do you have a stone, too?

[lordhotman]

[At first there was a small smile of relief that Wan seemed to already know these things and was content with it. It was also good to know that he wouldn't have to tell him indepth about how his nation had played a huge role in creating strife in the world. What was important though was that he knew that peace would come. He and Aang were working hard to make that happen.

But there's a pause and his smile fades at what is said next. Aang and Korra aren't here? Zuko was relieved, but also concerned.]

Maybe we were the only ones that were brought back.

[He could hope that at least. They needed to be back home where they belonged. Though they still needed to figure out WHY they were brought back in the first place. But the attention to jewelry made him switch gears again. Zuko held up his hand, revealing a gold ring with a similar red stone on it.]

Yeah.

[raavashing]

[Wan let go of Zuko's other hand to reach out and touch the ring. That was Zuko's soul. It seemed so... simple.]

You know... if I were to pick something to house your soul... it would be something a lot bigger than that.

[He moved his fingers lightly up Zuko's arm until they could rest ever so carefully against his collarbone. Close enough to ghost against his neck. His eyes shifted from the ring and to the side. Somewhere in the range of Zuko's hip but not quite.]

What I mean is, you have a bigger heart than that.

[lordhotman]

[At first, Zuko was confused by Wan's words. But as he explained, his eyes softened and there was a small smile on his face. Though his breath hitched in his throat at the gentle touch.

It was strange, coming back to this. He was hesitant and a bit unsure, having all these memories suddenly dumped on him. But now, as Wan touched his soul both physically and with his words, he came to remember why he cared so much about him. His feelings for this man rushing back.

He took a step closer and reached out to touch Wan's face.]

I've missed you. Even if I didn't realize it.

[Sure, it was weird that Wan was so much older than him now, but that didn't matter. This was still Wan, and Zuko still loved him.

With that thought in mind, Zuko leaned in to kiss him.]

[raavashing]

[Wan lifted his eyes as Zuko leaned in, wondering if something was wrong. He was caught by surprise with the kiss despite the obvious telegraphing. It was confident, sure. Like Wan had been when he first kissed Zuko. But now Wan was the one who held still for a heartbeat as his mind blanked a bit before he managed to have enough sense to react. His eyes slid shut slowly and with a somewhat stilted tilt of his head, tried to push back. To remember what it was like to kiss Zuko with the assurance he used to have.]

[lordhotman]

[It was all coming back now, almost as clearly as it had been before. The feel of Wan's lips and the prickle of his beard against his chin was very familiar. So unlike Mai, and yet better in some ways.

Wan's hesitance was noticed, but it was okay. It had been a long time, especially for Wan. He could tell that the Avatar wasn't quite the same person he had been before. Things had changed, and it was obvious that Wan had been through a lot. Zuko at that moment determinded that he would do what he could for Wan, to take care of him, just like he had done for him before.

Pulling back, Zuko looked at Wan with another reassuring smile.]

I love you.

[He said this without any doubt in his voice.]

[raavashing]

[To Wan's credit, when Zuko pulled back, he tried to follow and leaned in further before it clicked that Zuko was purposely putting space between them. At the words, he smiled. Soft, sad, weighted down, but happy, too. Wan's head came down and he rested it in crook of Zuko's shoulder as he moved his hand to slip around behind and play with the hair at the nape of Zuko's neck. A deep breath was taken. Then another.

He found his peace.]

I love you, too.