WEEK ZERO: MINGLE

[retellers]

WEEK ZERO: MINGLE (43 remain) Rise and shine, gremlins. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it's the start of a new week. Speaking of new, if participants turn on their PHS, they'll notice another section available. There's also an alert for a new message, titled TEAM ASSIGNMENT. Opening it will reveal which Leader they have been assigned to. Furthermore, at the corner of the PHS screen is an icon of an animal, depending on who their Leader is. It is visible only to them and no one else. That's not the only change, though. Participants may not notice at first—or perhaps they will?—but sooner or later, they may realize that they're... missing something? Strange. Three Leaders can be found around the area, open (?) to approach. If participants want to speak to them more privately, or to an absent Leader, it looks like they'll have to go through another channel. Which is to say, the Planetarium is now open! Finally, for the rest of the week, the participants will inexplicably have the urge to be physically affectionate. That person you just met days ago? Time to cuddle! This complete stranger you ran into? It sure is tempting to hold their hand. This urge can range anywhere from minor to impossible to ignore, depending on the situation. Enjoy your bonding!

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Comments

[frostythehitman]

...Fine.

[ He lowers it slowly. ]

But the second I think you're gonna try hugging me or whatever, it's going right back up.

[reconnective]

[and he immediately runs to hug him.


except no just kidding he's good on his word and even shoves his hands into his pockets. no touchy. it's tempting just to do it anyway, but no touchy.]

Is it really so bad? How often has that happened to you this morning? [someone please explain to him that this possibly is not actually normal.]

[frostythehitman]

[ He grunts and looks away. ]

I'm not a huge fan of hugging people I don't know. Any amount of it is unwelcome.

[ Which is to say, he started out touching a horse tail without even realizing it and is so mortified at the idea he might do something like that again he doesn't even want to allow for the possibility. ]

[reconnective]

[fair enough. not everybody's a hugger.]

Maybe you should put a sign on your shield, too. Just in case. [speaking of.] It's a cool shield by itself though.

[frostythehitman]

...A sign's not a half-bad idea. If this goes on for more than a day, I'll think about it.

[ At the compliment, he pats the shield a few times with a small smirk. ]

I don't usually use it for fending off hugs.

[reconnective]

[he'll nod because that seems fair, but yeah, shield. he's definitely changing his focus now.]

What're you usually fending off? Is it your main weapon?

[frostythehitman]

Not really. It's technically not even mine--it just. Came with the job description. And I don't have that job anymore.

I used it for everything. Protection from gunshots, hits, blasts...it's also a weapon. If you get the angles just right, you can knock several people out in one go with it.

[reconnective]

[he wants to get closer to see but he's genuinely concerned he will get knocked in the face with it, so while it looks like he's going to take a step closer in the end he stays rooted in place.]

That's how Goofy uses his, too. A lot of the time he charges at our enemies but it can do all kinds of stuff to help us in a fight. Even if you don't have that job anymore, isn't it still yours if you have it?

[frostythehitman]

[ who the fuck is goofy

also: this kid fights? he does not look like he fights. he looks like he's a kid model for LL Bean trying to be what ????? thinks the youths call "scene." ]

I'm not supposed to still have it. Hell, I was never even supposed to have the job in the first place--it was only made for one man anyway, I was just a temporary stand-in.

[reconnective]

["You were just the delivery boy."

hm. familiar. and also bad! but it's easy enough to shrug instead.]

Yeah? So what happened to the other guy that you had to be a stand-in anyway?

[frostythehitman]

He died.

[ shrugs. ]

...He's fine now.

[reconnective]

You mean like he came back from the dead? Or he never died at all? [this really probably isn't an appropriate thing to ask a near-stranger but here he is. asking anyway.]

[frostythehitman]

[ It's fiiiiine, this was like 15 years ago now! Both ????? and Steve have died like another 5 times since then. ]

Came back from the dead. I think. It was pretty confusing and I wasn't really there to see it myself.

[reconnective]

That would be pretty confusing. But some dead guy can't just come back without warning and tell you to give his stuff back. [please be nice to steve.] I dunno. It just doesn't sound very fair.

[frostythehitman]

[ Hey! HEY!!! He will not tolerate any shittalking of Steve Rogers!!! ]

He didn't. He actually insisted I keep the job. He only took it back when I couldn't do it anymore myself.

[reconnective]

[well that's a little different.]

So what now? If you're not doing that job anymore, what comes next?

[frostythehitman]

[ He shrugs. ]

Went back to my other job. It's basically the same thing anyway, just with less bright colors and costumes.

[ and, y'know, a little more morally dubious. ]

[reconnective]

And a different shield? [he's trying to puzzle out what this guy's job might be without outright asking.]

[frostythehitman]

...Ah, the shield is really more tied to the job than anything. I don't use it now that I'm back to my old job. I was never really one for shields anyway.

[reconnective]

Fair enough. [he says this but he also thinks that this guy knows what he's doing well enough to have a proper grip on it. that counts for something.] Does your other job have something else you use instead of the shield? Or is it just your hands?

[frostythehitman]

Usually some kind of gun at minimum. I use a lot of different tools depending on what I need to get done, but guns are usually in the mix.

[reconnective]

So what I'm getting from all of this is that a ton of us showed up here without our usual weapons at all. Weird. [but that's also good to know.] Guess that explains why you were looking for a knife to shave though.

[this man is resourceful.]

[frostythehitman]

I didn't have my weapons on me just before showing up here anyway, but good to know they wouldn't have made it to this place anyway.

Knives would make a good substitute, but these are just cooking knives. I only went looking for one because I wasn't gonna go around with half a beard.

[reconnective]

Yeah. I've been asking around and a lot of people are missing ones they had on them at the time and even ones they didn't. But some people do, so...who knows?

[it's a crapshoot.] What're you gonna do when it starts growing back though?

[frostythehitman]

[ shrug ] Maybe let it grow out. I don't hate having a beard--I just can't go around with half of one. I'd look like a lunatic.