tramitem_log | Support Group Open Thread for April

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Support Group Open Thread for April

Who: OPEN (Including to all the new characters who app throughout the month)
What: Bureau Run, Non-Mandatory Support Group
When: There are meetings at various times during the week, whatever works for your character between 8 am and 10 pm
Where: There are meetings at various locations around NYC, whatever works for your character
Rating/Warnings: We ask that players put appropriate warning labels in the subject lines of their threads as they become necessary

There’s a generic spread of food on a table off to one side of the room: donuts, muffins, bagels, and cookies; coffee, lemonade, water, and because one of the Different asked for it, hot chocolate. Maybe you’re hungry enough to try it—it’s free after all.

Or maybe you can’t stomach anything, given the event you’re attending.

The space is a local rec center. The beige-painted cinder block walls and the fluorescent lighting are a terrible combination. Maybe they are reminiscent of the public school you attended in your youth?

Why are you here? Curiosity? Maybe the Bureau official will say something that will help you make sense of things? The meeting was interesting—who knew there were so many people like you, receiving memories of a past life? The group was led by someone from The Bureau—the Department of Medical Services. Some people are staying in their chairs and chatting—they must know each other from previous meetings. Some of them are gravitating towards the food.

How do you feel about tonight? Has it helped you come to terms with the dream of memories you’re having? Maybe it’s time to talk to others, get an understanding of their experience.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Dimitri shows up at the group with his hands shoved in his pockets, looking oddly a little tense and hurried. He feels like he rushed to get there, as though throwing open the doors will give him the answers he seeks; namely about this strange urge he felt upon waking up. His friend had asked him how he was feeling after a stilted conversation the night prior, blunt affect making him seem clipped and terse.

He told her he was feeling on the precipice of something bad. The words just typed themselves out into their messages, and he only realized what he'd said after she responded. The rest of the conversation continued in kind, and he cut it short due to the weird, stark nature of his statements, how he couldn't stop them.

Dimitri feels nervous about speaking aloud once he shows up at the group, so the energy he gives off is tense and odd ...

- Anakin & Anthony -

Aziraphale waited for Anthony outside, fretting and pacing in place, mentally reminding himself that they were cool (Anthony's words) and that Anthony didn't already know, so there was no reason he should find out. After the usual friendly greetings (in which he tried his damnedest to not look like a totally smitten buffoon), he ushered him into the building.

"Anakin, this is Anthony," he said by way of introduction, once they had found the younger man. He turned to gesture at the tall red-head beside him, and if Aziraphale's attention lingered a little too long, or his expression softened just a smidge, best not to mention it. "Anthony, this is Anakin, the friend I wanted you to meet. Anthony had his first memory last month, but he's been nervous about these meetings and I was thinking you might be able to put him at ease."

He was tittering away again, but...There, that was a fairly safe way to say Anthony questioned the Bureau and wanted to talk about that kind of thing and join their little group, right?

- OPEN -

After introducing the two and getting things sorted, Aziraphale figured he might as well look like he was attempting to use the Support Group for its intended purpose, too. After acquiring his usual hot cocoa, he lingered about the room, listening to stories of others, making small talk, and offering support.

And if it looked like this funny older man, dressed like an English professor in a soft sweater and a bow tie, was occasionally taking notes onto a page of his book...well, he was TRYING to be subtle. If you managed to catch him writing, he seemed to be writing down names of some of the Different.

But mostly, he was an unassuming, friendly, weird fellow. Come say hello.

Edited 2020-04-15 23:18 (UTC)

His arrival wasn't a subtle one. Anthony's motorcycle roared up to the curb as he parked the thing in a space and tossed a few coins into the meter. He was holding his hand up in greeting when he walked over to the other gentleman.

"Hey, Aziraphale!"

That small greeting had been the result of an entire evening's worth of practice. Plants were the perfect audience for that sort of thing, never laughing or making rude comments when he had gotten it wrong.

Trepidation was the word as he walked back into that meeting hall. It wasn't so much that he was scared of the Bureau, though they had said to stay out of trouble like that was some kind of warning, but he was worried about what all these returning memories might mean. His first one had been a dozy, the second was rather sweet actually, and the third... well, let's just say he had no plans to take up either singing or babysitting any time soon. Anthony gave the buffet table a wide berth as he reached out for Anakin's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Anakin. Been coming to these things long?"

Anakin had claimed a chair and was sitting, waiting for Mr. Fell and and his friend to arrive. He had his air pods in with the volume cranked because it was the only damn way he could keep his mind off the low buzz of emotional white noise that followed him wherever he went now. He was looking down at his phone until two pairs of shoes stepped into his line of sight.

He immediately looked up, saw Mr. Fell and who Anakin assumed was his friend. He popped out an air pod as quick as he could, but he was sure he missed some of what Mr. Fell said.

He pocketed his phone and single air pod. He offered a slight apology while pointing at the air pod still in, "Only way I can keep from feeling everything."

He then stuck out his right - prosthetic - to shake Anthony's hand. It looked robotic, a marvel of Earth engineering, really.

"Started coming in February. I keep coming back to meet new people, keep tabs on-" He looked pointedly over at the Bureau official there that evening.

He hadn't intended to so it certainly wasn't a conscious action but Anthony did a double take when he found himself shaking plastic and metal rather than a warm human hand. It had been some kind of accident? A birth defect? It was marvelous the sorts of implants modern technology could come up with these days, wasn't it? The implant looked to him something much more advanced than those clunky things they had been using even five years ago. Humanity was so inventive!

"Keep from feeling everything?"

Clearly some one didn't network much yet either or he might have some idea what that meant. Trying to avoid the memories and anything or anyone that could trigger more of them had been his initial knee-jerk reaction.

Anthony followed Anakin's line of sight to the Bureau official. It was some one he hadn't seen before or if he had it wasn't a face he could place.

"They're always here, just watching and taking notes? Have they ever done anything weird beyond threatening people the first time they have a memory?"

"Yes, Anakin recently expressed a sudden issue with experiencing... What was it you called it, my dear?" Or compared it to, rather. The word escaped him. Something with a P? Fascinating concept, if very annoying to experience, he imagined. "In any case, he's been picking up people's emotions."

And having said that, Aziraphale became incredibly aware of what that might mean for him in the immediate situation. His smile tightened nervously, and he disguised his fidgeting with a brief glance over his shoulder at the room as a whole, and specifically the official.

"So far they've mostly kept up the pretense of being here 'for us.' I know someone has contacted them. Was a very...PR kind of response. As was their response to the power outages in February."

"Proprioception- that's the sense of awareness of your own body parts. I said that feeling other people's emotions was kind of like that- I'm now aware of basically everyone's body I guess. It's super annoying."

Anakin didn't have the slightest desire to focus on Aziraphale or Anthony for that matter, he would be telling no one's secrets.

"Really?" Anakin asked. He didn't know someone had tried contacting the Bureau.

"Are you two set on staying here?" he asked. "There's an English pub- or America's version of an English pub, it's very gimmicky, but a few blocks over."

If you wanted to talk more, in private.

"You can do that... be all empathetic?"

That was as scary as it was intriguing. Oh, he didn't think he had any hidden crushes that might just risk being revealed, or many secrets at all really, but if that were real! Just imagine the possibilities! Anthony made a gesture with his hand that was not unlike magic fingers.

"Can you focus in on just one person? Like... customer service types?"

Like that Bureau person they had just been speaking about.

"I'm not set on the idea of remaining here, no."

Though he scrunched his nose at the mention of an American version of a British Pub. They always tried for the feel but some how missed out on the real history aspect of those old places. He supposed that just couldn't be faked with paint and older looking furniture.

"I could use a drink, especially if we are going to be discussing anything heavy."

Aziraphale had already asked many questions about the power, so he let them discuss it until the decision was made to leave.

"I was hoping to--well, that can be done later." He had planned to take a few notes, make a collection of names and contacts for future meetings, but there was plenty of time for that, or another day entirely. This was more important.

American's British pubs were rather quaint, Aziraphale thought. They were kind of fun, like an approximation of something with a much older history (though there were certainly genuine colonial and precolonial era American pubs). Sometimes they were genuinely older, handed down through families, usually places for laborers to gather, with real period-appropriate interiors. Other times it was a bit of set-dressing, fabricated like an amusement park, but best when stand-alone endeavors and not a chain. Either way, it was endearing and they got good marks for effort.

"I'm sure it's lovely," he said, offering Anakin a smile and then Anthony a look that suggested he keep that opinion to only a nose wrinkle. "Lead the way."

The truth was, Anakin would mind if Mr. Fell and Anthony found the pub an offensive representation of British culture. He put no emotional stock it the likeability of american bars.

He reached down and grabbed his backpack, hoisted it, and then nodded towards the door before starting that way himself.

He waited until everyone was outside and walking before answering Anthony's question.

"I can focus on one person or a crowd, but I really only... uh, read something if it's a strong emotion, and they have to be close. Otherwise it's just white noise... So you're getting memories?"

Oh, he didn't say anything about the choice in pub aloud... Though he gave Mr. Fell a very familiar feeling look that said he very much could say have it if he wanted to. Only he didn't really want this meeting turning into a debate over the merits of American-British pubs.

Anthony shoved his hands into his pockets and walked along with the group. He too had planned on staying at the meeting longer but why say no to a drink? He could always return later or even the next day.

"That's what I've been told. After the first one a bunch of goons showed up, told me about the meetings, and... here we are."

The air outside wasn't exactly refreshing because as soon as they stepped out into the open a truck drove by and decided to belch a cloud of black sooty smoke. Crowley sniffed as he talked, almost absentmindedly to himself.

"Is it possible to have more than one past life? Are there multiple lives back there? How many could a snake have had? I guess I will have more... though I hope the rest don't require silk stockings. Things run like anything! Could have made a wiser choice on lipstick too..."

Maybe Aziraphale was a little smug to have won (even by default of trying not to turn this conversation off the rails), but to be fair, the whole non-argument was a pleasant, comfortable thing.

He fanned away the exhaust from the lorry with fussy annoyance and double-stepped a little to put himself back on pace, turning a glare up at Anthony.

"Silk stockings?! You didn't mention stockings and lipstick! I thought we were comparing notes! When did you get more memories? Was I in any of these?"

He reigned in his alarm enough to explain to Anakin, in the calm, measured tones of someone trying not to have a spousal disagreement in front of a third party, what the bright young man had probably already guessed: "Anthony and I are in each other's memories. We were supposed," he added with accusatory emphasis directed over his shoulder, "to be telling each other these things."

Anakin turned around so he was walking backwards, this way he could see both Mr. Fell and Anthony.

“Another pair,” he said, eyes full of interest. “I get memories that match another person’s. Do your memories make you feel things? Like, one moment you’re fine, the next you get a memory and suddenly you care about someone you’ve never meet before?”

dimitri asikainen | ota

Aziraphale | OTA (Mid-Late Month)

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