Mingle - Emergency Potluck

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WELCOME POTLUCK

Greetings, residents! Those more observant sorts among you may have noticed a large influx of very crowded ferries. In order to welcome our new residents en masse, Town Hall is holding a potluck in Town Square. Please bring a dish if you are able and make a new friend!

All of our newest arrivals need only bring themselves. We look forward to welcoming you all into our community, and may your lanterns always be lit.

This event is open to all! In light of our new influx of prospective players following the Great Sail Migration, we've decided to offer a small public event to tide everyone over until the TDM this weekend.

Comments

[notinflictthem]

"Oh, y'know, stuffing my face and wondering when the hell you got that thing-" he gestures to Rambo's new scar.

"Because I didn't stitch it up, and if you've cheated on me then I'm taking the kids."

...

"I'm fine. Just been a lean winter. I grew up in the Depression, this is nothing."

[theydrewfirstblood]

It's distant, but John remembers--and absently counts himself grateful that the lean period is over.

"I left for a minute." he replies, letting the joke pass with uncharacteristic lack of even deadpan repartee. "Couple days passed, here, three years on my end. Did some time, then got talked into going back with the promise of a pardon. I was captured...this happened during, uh, 'questioning.'"

[notinflictthem]

......

"Is that a thing that can happen here?"

Terrifying. Deeply deeply terrifying.

"Great, y'know I was worried I was getting too much sleep at night, I didn't know what to do with myself. I'm uh- glad you're back, buddy, and not still enjoying their hospitality."

[theydrewfirstblood]

"Seems like--but I'm glad for that." John confesses softly. "Didn't wanna die in Washington. Not like that."

Not because of people like Galt and Teasle, not with all the parts that were still him stripped away until there was nothing left but what the war made. That was one thing prison had given him: a chance to pick through the rubble. He still isn't sure if what he's got left is more missile or man, but that hardly matters.

Figuring that out wasn't fun, but at least it helped him settle a little.

Hawkeye's wisecracking makes John smile a little, even going so far as to jostle him companionably with his shoulder.

"Least the dark circles don't clash--what's the saying? Black goes with everything?" he quips. "And, uh...thanks. Glad to be back here with hammer 'n nails instead of bustin' rocks in Arizona."

[notinflictthem]

John Jay is 100% trying to joke it off. Which Hawkeye cannot in any capacity call him on, because that call would be coming from inside the house, and he does not want to give anyone any ammo for him in the future. So he adds-

"Oh yeah, it's very slimming. Your eyes look like they've lost fifty pounds. And good, I'm glad you're not in Arizona, free or in jail. Nobody should be in Arizona."

He's a New England boy, Arizona is way too hot and dry.

[theydrewfirstblood]

John raises an eyebrow at that, narrowing his eyes even as he tries to fight a smile.

"I'd agree with you, only I was born 'n raised in Bowie. So I'm a little biased."

Take that, smartass.

[notinflictthem]

"Hey that's good- your hometown finally has something to be proud of!"

Accompanied by a broad grin and a gentle knock to the shoulder.

"Weird question, but... did you remember being here, while you weren't here?"

CW: depersonalization/touch starvation

[theydrewfirstblood]

John snickers, and manages not to flinch at the gentle contact. It's one thing when he's doing the touching, he knows it's coming and can modulate it--linger if he's okay, pull back if it's too much. Plus, he's expecting it when he does it.

Slower touches are easier--again, he can expect it, brace for it, escape it without hurting anyone if it's too much and, before he accepted the lack of it, go back for more when he was ready.

The jostle of Hawkeye's shoulder--he remembers, mostly, when it was warm and bright and comforting, banishing the chill. Now, after longer still without, it's still warm and bright but nerves unaccustomed to pressure and heat and connection anymore light up with burn instead of warmth and shock instead of bright. Coals on flesh, electrocution.

It's not unpleasant, it's just too much. But he rides out that split second shock and breathes as the cold ache settles back into that background noise he's used to, soothing the sensation away.

"I remembered, yeah." John assures him, leaning against a chair at one of the nearby tables for a second as he folds his arms comfortably. "Not super clear, but it was all there--but as time passed, some of it got fuzzy, like a dream? And I did lose some stuff, like that whole shared dream thing and some stuff--day here, hours there--around...well, a dust up I had with a buddy of mine."

[notinflictthem]

Hawkeye nods, the reaction not escaping his notice. No touching, that's- well, he'll have to keep it in mind, but he can do that.

"Well. At least we know we won't forget here when we go back," a moments hesitation, then-

"Which is good. I'd hate to not get to tell my buddies about this swell Special Forces guy I met who they won't have any record of and they can't meet. Like that girlfriend I said I had in Long Island when I was 13."