synflux | 01.

Entry tags:

wuthering waves: rover

01.

WHO: Rover and you!
WHAT: Monthly log
WHERE/WHEN: Various locations throughout the month.
WARNINGS: Will update this as they come up.

01. Generic starters - throughout the month - various locations in Neo-Tokyo

[ rover is doing her best to get to know her location and the people in it! if you come across her during your wanderings, feel free to say hi.

some places she can be found in:

a. shrines - shinjuku wandering around and checking out the set-up in the temples. the set-up is much simpler than what she'd seen in the gorges of spirit with jue's memorial.

b. LILICO game centre she's good with any of the games that require strength - first person shooter, fighting games, that kind of jazz. rover is also into puzzle games; the area she's in is most definitely designed for seniors and younger players, but she doesn't care. she'll finish that puzzle game.

c. tokyo bay a fun, solitary place to drink boba in is the top of some debris while watching the waves come in an out of the bay. she's just staring off the distance, mulling over her thoughts. she half-expects the rolling clouds to bring in some rain, and even stares up at the sky now and then to see if it's going to happen; but it doesn't, so she just remains on her perch. ]

02. Generic base shenanigans - meeting with teammates, others, etc.

[ a. redemption meet and greet. say hi! rover doesn't sleep well, she'll be out and about in odd hours of the night or early hours of the day. you can find her in the cafeteria, greenhouse, or just catch her before she's headed towards her quarters.

b. random otherwise feel free to send her a text or give her a call to say hi. same with A, she'll be out and about during odd hours of the night or early hours of the day just in different places. ]

03. Closed starters

[ in the comments with headers. ]

04. Game event (15 July)

[ link to her toplevel; feel free to drop by. ]

05. ETC. - other toplevels throughout the month that are OTA

[ feel free to tag. your character can assume they've come across each other during the downtime, had smalltalk, and at the very least exchanged names. rover is rather amiable.

- DATING LOG: toplevel
- HOT OR NOT: toplevel

if you want something custom, feel free to message me and we can work something out. ]

contact: PM or plurk @ ilium.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Have you been adjusting to it well?

( His own tea gets pulled a little closer, fingertips on the porcelain. That little raised eyebrow is curious enough, but he doesn't ask. He's well aware of how different the worlds are, just because hers is a familiar sounding one doesn't mean it is. Neo Tokyo is different from the Tokyo Geto knows after all. He's also met more than enough people that come from strange circumstances, he wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

Like always, questions crowd. He'd like to know who she is, what she is. They're concerns for the man Geto was before though, there's little way of finding out without revealing too much of himself. It's fine, he can stay mild. )

At least the people here are mostly welcoming in LILITH's company. I'm sure if you were struggling there'd be someone to help you out.

[ she rebuffs him with her gentle voice: ] I've no complaints. And I'm not in a hurry to discover what things are like when it gets busy - I'm sure the opportunity will come soon enough.

[ so that leaves dead time in the middle for herself: to discover neo-tokyo, to make friends, to figure out how she wants to arrange this new life that she has. having no constraints means that she is the master of her time; easy enough to decide what's important and what's not on a day to day basis. it helps she's by herself and needn't bother anyone with her presence.

rover leans over the table, her chin placed over her hand. to her, he feels like a puzzle, stubborn in its own inability to be solved. she has to turn him over carefully. ]

What do you like here so far?

Fighting monsters.

( It's delivered with a smile, mild and unbothered. There's no real answer to her question. There isn't anything Geto particularly likes. He appreciates some things, maybe. He's not dead. But there's nothing he has enjoyed. It feels like too weighty a responsibility, this second chance, too much time with the things he's done and no way to move forward. If he had it his way he'd never have woken up here at all.

An end, snatched away.

But he's better at schooling his expression, he thinks. He's sure that reality doesn't show through. ) It's a little like what I would have done back home anyway. We didn't call them kaiju, but I'm used to protecting others. It feels good to stretch those muscles.

That's quite the task. [ rover takes a sip of her tea and asks, ] What about your daughters? Did they help you, as well?

[ something is nagging at her mind with his words, a strange question that she can't quite situate at all. she feels like the problem is staring her at her face but she can't grasp it just yet.

best not to rush it, she thinks. it will come eventually. ]

I did notice your skill back at the beach. I would love to test that sometime, if you don't mind.

[ anyway, it's not like he's busy. ]

( He smiles a little at the mention of the girls, tilts his head fondly. It still hurts to talk about them here, especially when he will never see them again ( unless LILITH intervenes, but he doubts that ). Still, he's as close to a father for them as he can get, he's allowed to be attached, speaking of them aloud keeps them close. ) They do. They're committed to the cause the same as the rest of our family. But they're also teenage girls.

( Faking a grave expression at that, like they're more fearsome than the curses he has to fight. )

Usually their time is better spent arguing about who owns what top and whether or not their idol bias is better than their sister's.

( A huff of amusement, a sip of his tea. Rover's next comment has something curious and assessing crossing his face, a single black eyebrow lifting. It's not entirely judgemental, Geto of all people knows not to judge a person by their looks. The strongest jujutsu sorcerers are often the most unassuming. Still, it's a little funny, and interesting, that she might. ) Oh? You want to spar?

I do want to spar. If you'll have me.

[ she thinks over the fact that he must miss his girls a lot, it's his only family, after all. and then she realizes, shortly, what was puzzling her. he had briefly touched on it. she's glad she didn't have to mention it.

rover glances over at him from her cup, finishing her tea to the dregs, before she replies, ]

... It must be hard, not having a cause to dedicate yourself to in here.

[ and that's it, isn't it? the job is the same, after all - kill monsters, ensure the safety of neo-tokyo, for better or worse. but it's one thing to accept that as your fate and another to have it forced upon you. she thinks of jinhsi and the quiet way she's resigned herself to the life of the magistrate - it's not something one asks for, but taken upon like a burden. she had taken that wholeheartedly.

choices had a way of dictating life, and life is very long. and what does geto have? she's not sure. listening to him, she's not sure she can map out something similar with him and jinhsi. 'surviving' is the answer he given to her, so rover wonders if that's enough to live off of, here. for her part, she doesn't know if she could, if she were in his situation.

but she also doesn't know him well. ]

( There's something careful in his gaze now. If she wants to spar that implies she has some kind of skill, he doesn't think any old person would look at him and decide they should try and fight him. If that's true and she's something it would be a way to figure that out. Human or not, the constant question. )

It's been a while, but all right. We can spar.

( He's sure he'll have to pull his punches regardless, but that's a thought for another time. At his lack of cause he makes a small noise, takes another sip of tea. )

It's not feasible here either way. I'll adapt. ( There are no curses, and the humans far outmatch the jujutsu sorcerers. He still seethes with hatred most days, but those facts keep him from wanting to act out against his own inaction. ) LILITH keeps us busy either way.

- a while? [ well, a couple of months, as he'd said to her before, but also, he was about to die in his own world. and she doesn't think geto's pride would allow him to die without a fight. rover is coy as she notes, ] But you're not yet dead here. I don't think that's because you're avoiding danger at all.

[ maybe he is dangerous. maybe he is strong. and that's good enough for rover, because then she can test herself well and see how much of her abilities have taken a hammering from arriving here. how exciting.

she pours herself another cup of tea from her teapot. ]

I hope you find something worth enjoying here, other than fighting. Adapting, surviving, however you want to phrase it - life is surprisingly longer than one expects.

( Her first comment has him snort. It's absolutely not that. Geto is one of the most famed Curse Users of his world. He's not easily cowed. ) The kaiju are hardly a fight worth mentioning most of the time. With the exception of the worm, and that was only due to sheer size. I just haven't had anyone worth fighting.

( Satoru, maybe. But they've avoided that by the skin of their teeth, somehow using their words to hurt rather than their firsts. Maybe it's only a matter of time though.

He mulls it over for a long second, warming his palms against the cup, before he turns his attention back to Rover. )

What do you do back home? ( Tongue-in-cheek. ) Therapist?

Well, I don't know what you mean by someone 'worth fighting'. But I definitely won't let you win easily.

[ as for her 'job', rover just laughs at the remark. ] You don't believe it?

... in all honesty, I don't know how to answer that. I do a lot of things to make money: a few odd jobs here and there to help out folks in the city, killing monsters, helping to get rid of gangs that cause trouble. I suppose you can call me a mercenary, just with a wider scope where missions are concerned.

I should have known. LILITH doesn't bring just anyone to fight their battles for them.

( And it's interesting. It's not exactly what he expected, but in the grand scheme of things it does make sense. He has yet to meet someone unused to a battle. Sipping his tea, he runs his gaze back over her, more curious this time. Perhaps she is stronger than she looks. )

Monsters?

The job here is familiar to me - Jinzhou is also suffering from a plague of monsters from the various changes the planet is suffering through. To keep it short, the chaotic energy reverberating from the disruptions of the world sometimes gets a physical form, termed as tacet discords, which are monsters, who feed on each other's energy to evolve and become stronger.

Not everyone can kill them, so Resonators like myself often get called to subdue them. [ rover tilts her head and thinks about what else can she add to it, and finally just says, ] While it's the majority of my day-to-day tasks, it's not the only way I earn money. I live a rather transient life.

[ and it's strange to wake up from one world to another, still with the same demands: to be strong, to fight monsters, to fight on the side of an organization wanting to keep the peace in the world, no matter what it takes. it's so painfully familiar. ]

( Ah, that has something going sharp in Geto's face, a little more solidly focused, a little more alert. Planetary suffering is not quite the manifestation of people's ill-feeling but it is close enough to have something go tight and twisted in his gut. He keeps hearing the same old story from so many different people. It makes him angry, it also makes him tired. )

Funny. ( Said in a tone not so very, his teacup placed down so that he can rest his elbows on the table top, chin in one palm. He keeps his voice calm but there's an earnest appeal in the tone regardless. ) You're a resonator. I'm a jujutsu sorcerer. You have monsters, I have curses. Are people thankful to you, Rover, in your world? Do they know what you do for them? Are you very overworked?

[ ... what strange questions, rover thinks as she drinks her tea and mulls her thoughts. she must've struck something with geto when she'd mentioned the similarities in their worlds, and he must've gone through a rather difficult situation being a sorcerer to make such connections. ]

... well, I'm known. [ a pause. ] I don't fully expect people to always thank me for my work, especially when I'm not the only one who's been working tirelessly to protect everyone. In terms of expertise, I'm not even the most skilled. My other companions have more time in the field than I do, and I would defer to their research and skills all the time. I wouldn't call myself overworked, but I work hard enough. I'm strong enough to resolve issues on my own when I can, but if I need help, I'll definitely ask for it.

Resonators can live very long lives, and people's memories are short. While I'm grateful I can make a difference in people's lives, I don't believe I'm owed thanks. In my experience, for better or worse, the world will decide how it intends to move on without you, despite your contributions and sacrifices. [ she pauses as she thinks of the different factions in jinzhou, and of jue in the mountain, and then adds, ] Your appearance becomes a slight discordant tune - one of many.

That's what I believe, anyway. [ it's probably the longest she's ever talked to anyone since she's arrived. though to be fair, she never had much of a reason to bring up her past, and also, it just didn't matter here as much - until it did. ]

( Very long lives. Geto was lucky to reach twenty-seven, had he stayed in the school he might have met the same fate as Haibara, dead long before. He wonders if Rover considers herself lucky, but it isn't a question he voices. Instead he listens to the outline of her world, the smallest of frowns between his brows. )

I'm glad you don't have to work alone.

( It isn't necessarily what he intended to say, but it comes out anyway. Sometimes Geto wonders what might have become of him had he not been sent on so many missions alone. Would the break have happened either way? Or would Satoru have noticed the rot long before it took hold? It's an aimless thought, he'll never get to change it. Instead he focuses on something else, regarding Rover evenly. )

If it moves on without you then why even help at all? You're fighting monsters, that doesn't come without a cost. Unless, in your world it does?

It's not always like that. There are many things I have to do alone. But I'll take whatever's offered to me freely.

[ rover runs a finger over the edge of her cup, and when she speaks she does so slowly as she tries to gather her thoughts into something coherent for geto. she's not nearly as duplicitous as he is, so at least it doesn't sound like she's avoiding the question; more like it's complicated for her and she's trying to do her best to be coherent. ]

It hasn't come with a cost for me, [ rover starts with that, because it's true. ] but it's not the same for everyone else. Unlike other Resonators, I can keep on killing and fighting because the chances of me Overclocking - which is when a Resonator pushes themselves to their limits - is rather low. [ another pause, and then she adds, ] Or perhaps we just haven't discovered it, and now I will never know.

Part of the reason why I keep fighting is because the Tacet Discords - our version of monsters - keep getting stronger, more complicated. We know so much and so little. The scope of the damage is wider, the effects more destabilizing than it just being contained to one place. Imagine a planet losing a third of its gravity. Or an entire forest turned into mould. Blizzards that seem to never end and turn into spring. An entire battlefield of souls, trapped under a rain that never falls down. The destruction is slow, but it paces forward. We have to keep fighting, because extinction is otherwise inevitable.

( He makes a noise, a low hum of it. He can understand her point. If curses were so strong they would ruin the planet he would do something - he still does, or did, he had four thousand under his command before the Night Parade, a ceaseless consumption of filth just so they would be tamed. He can tell himself it was entirely to get more power, but Geto has always been capable without. He cannot fathom a world like hers. It sounds like a nightmare. )

You're strong then. ( And that's always been important. Even here he still pushes himself to the limit. He wonders if she came by hers naturally. The Gojo Satoru of her world. ) No wonder you're here.

( Another soldier, but at least one he almost feels a little more sympathy for now. )

[ rover shrugs. ] We'll see how much of that remains here. I've already felt some differences.

[ she wonders about him, how he seems like a kindred soul. a man whose experiences bear a similarity towards her own that she can't help but feel curious about him - inclined to ask, to learn, to find out more about his own experiences. how unfortunate that they found each other. choices are easy to make until you realize that life is long.

rover looks at him carefully. ]

Did you work alone as a sorcerer?

I can't imagine the task gets easier here or in any world.

( That's somehow even more interesting. Internally he wants to scoff at how easily Rover offers up her new weakness, Geto has been playing his own fairly close to the chest. He hasn't even mentioned to Gojo that his curses have changed. It tells him something, but about himself or the woman that's still to be found out. Instead he focuses on her question. )

Not always. When I was younger missions would usually include a partner. The stronger I grew the more I would work alone. I have people to help now, but old habits die hard, isn't that what they say?

( He doesn't exactly need anyone else. )

I'd accompany the girls, if I thought it was a useful learning tool. The more inexperienced too. But usually alone, yes.

Loneliness is a terrible habit.

Did you learn anything from it?

[ or the fact that all he does is survive. in a rather grim way, rover can see that that's the problem, actually; because he has, unfortunately. he survived.

now what?

she doesn't know if geto has an answer to that now.

she supposes that strength is a noble pursuit, but if geto is mostly alone, then ... she doesn't even know what he pursues it for. it's a strange hobby, overall. another one of his mysteries. ]

I'm not lonely.

( It's a mild protest, and one he thinks falls a little flat. Because no matter what he'd filled his life with back home he's certain there remained a part of him that was. Ever since Riko Amanai died there has been a part of him that remains unreachable. Satoru might have been able to, but Geto had cut that off at the pass so thoroughly, so effectively that nobody else has ever been able to make the attempt. No one else could ever know him as well.

It still burns all these years later.

Geto holds back a sigh, gaze dropping to the dark depths of his tea. ) You have to learn to rely on yourself. Nothing is permanent, no matter how hard you try. Loss is a part of a jujutsu sorcerer's life. It is better to learn that early on and prepare yourself for it. But I am lucky. I have people. I have my family. I go out in the field alone because it is easier to do so, but I can go home to them in the end.

( A pause. )

Or I could.

[ guy who's only ever described himself in a state of loneliness says he's not, not really. she lets the weight of his words hang in the air, echo in how awkward they sounded in the pause.

you would have to be someone absolutely obsessed to be alone to have that kind of determination, she thinks, to walk a single path. either you were feared or hated. a danger to yourself or to others. threads she doesn't want to untangle right now. they were complicated, dense, interconnected. and she's not in a hurry. cutting the knot with a knife would render the thread useless. rover just nods at that; she won't contest it any further. she just drinks her tea. easier to answer everything else, offer a story of her own. navigate him like a current. ]

... these are similar lessons I've learned in our battles.

I have made a promise to a dear friend, that if he ever dies, I am to plant flowers he likes, in his memory, at a place overlooking the city he loves. [ she pauses as she thinks of the general, and then says, ] Of course, I wouldn't have let him die either way, but I intended to keep the promise for him, since he asked it of me.

It's a simple enough gesture that I can do it here myself, if it comes to that.

[ and that's the lesson in itself, too. loss doesn't have to be borne by one person. ]

Edited (icon) 2024-07-30 12:36 (UTC)

That's a nice idea.

( At last, a little sincerity in his tone. ) It is always good to have something to hold on to, afterwards. And perhaps even if your friend is still alive you would like something to remember them by while you're here. LILITH might be amenable. They don't seem to mind nostalgia.

( He found two photographs in his room after all. )

In fact, possibly they utilise it. But flowers couldn't hurt.

It's something to ask for.

[ beyond just weapons, and whatever else can be asked of LILITH in this situation. a dearth of things that one never knew they could ask for - she sees the appeal in staying. if she could have small comforts, who cares how long it takes for her to return? it feels like the situation of many a soldier out in the endless night.

they have their comfortable silence, for a little while, rover happy enough to drink her tea, until she asks again, ] How did you become a sorcerer?

You're born with it.

( He does not count the Zenin girl, he will not. ) Usually at a young age a cursed technique will show. If you're from a major clan you will have been trained from birth to hone your skills in advance of this. If you're not, hopefully one of the schools finds you. It can be frightening, seeing things that no one else can, and not knowing why.

( It had been, for him, even more so due to the sickly nature of his cursed technique. But he doesn't seem to mind it. At least not on the surface. )

And you? Are you born with your skill too?

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