i'm the drudge that goes again and again [open]

[hauntedsavior]

WHO: Anna Lehmann and you!
WHERE: All around the city
WHEN: Throughout June
WHAT: Birthday stuff, event stuff, it's a catch-all, who knows
WARNINGS: Swearing, weed drugs, alcohol, monster blood, slight body horror but more psychologically?, will keep this updated

a. upload me to the robot brain [apprassage, 6/4, closed to Astin]

Come over.

The message gets sent out early, maybe around 7:00AM, when Anna wakes up and it feels like her legs have completely fallen asleep. She can't even kick out of her sheets. Fine, god, she'll do this the old-fashioned way—

And she sees it. It's started. Her legs look fucked up, unnatural, and she bends forward at her waist and runs her hand over the smooth black material on her right leg and the patches of skin on her left and her breath hitches because she still has breath to hitch. It's not done.

Her hands reach behind her and fumble for her phone. Shortly after the first message, she tries pulling herself up to a sitting position on her futon and her legs just feel like dead weight. None of it's really hit her yet but it's sure as hell going to. Another desperate text gets pounded out.

Not a request.

b. loosen up, time to drop [apprassage, on and around 6/16]

Christ. 27. Well, she can't say she expected to make it this far. She's taking the entire 16th as a personal day, staying inside and only leaving the complex if she absolutely has to go out and get something. She's been pushing herself far too hard lately and she just needs time to relax so she doesn't burn out in a different way. Maybe Astin's on their way over. Maybe Rose, maybe somebody entirely unexpected. She doesn't know and frankly she doesn't really care.

At least by now she's mostly used to being part robot. There's still... feeling in her legs, and her brain is starting to connect the dots there and register them as her own. It doesn't hurt, and she can walk just fine. Hell, she feels like she could walk for miles without even getting tired. But she could still use some time to unwind. Which means getting impaired to her comfort level and trying to relax.

c. the robot's here if the robots paid [all districts, all month]

This is her city. It's always going to be her city. And if Retrospec needs her help to bring it back to the way it should be, it's an easy fix. She's doing everything she physically and emotionally can, based off Zee's suggestions, in each district of the city. Catch her in Enprise delivering packages to people on her own two (robotic) feet, or run into her shoplifting in Chata! Sneak up on her doing some vigilante gardening in Viea Village! Challenge her to an eating competition in Tisse! The choices are yours and yours alone.

((if it's in blue or green, that's definitely something she's doing this month and is totally open to jump into. yellow ones will need some OOC discussion, and red are things she wouldn't be caught dead doing.))

d. fuck shit up, don't forget about it [outskirts, all month]

The problem with getting a couple new limbs—well, replacement limbs—well, one of the problems—is that they really need some breaking in, don't they? And lucky Anna, because she's fixing to break some things. She'll more likely be on the paths that would normally lead to Pesgare or Magatus, taking out some of her extremely complicated emotions on the encroaching monsters there. It's not often that a bloodstained swordswoman with what appears to be way-too-high black stockings shows up and starts killing things, starts severing limbs. But hell, if it's a war they want, she's good at that.

?. nonagon infinity opens the door [additional top levels to come as things happen]

Comments

[servileness]

Like an adult. Neither of them are put together enough to be competent adults no matter what they want and no matter how hard the try. More and more, it gets easier for Clover to say to going out for drinks. At least this time, she has the guise of birthday celbrations and "helping out Retrospec".

She knows Anna's birthday is near, too, but Clover's life hasn't been as organized as she's liked for months. Despite being a hot mess, she's still always prompt. A hole-in-the wall isn't her ideal place, but beggars can't be choosers and they both aren't rich.

"Anna," she says for a greeting, sliding onto a seat next to her. "Happy birthday."

That's a good attempt at being some kind of cheery.

[hauntedsavior]

"Likewise. Sorry I missed the day of." She's not going to open with what happened; that's really more of something that gets gently led into. Her lager is mostly gone by now, but even if it weren't she'd be ready for more.

"What's your poison?" she asks instead, wasting no time. Her elbows are on the bar and she looks about ready to clamber up over it if she has to get to something that's back there and out of reach—or to walk around the bar like a regular human being would, but she's only half of one of those.

"Feel free to splurge. You deserve it."

[servileness]

"Please don't stress about it." She hasn't reached the point of pettiness that she resents people missing her birthday, at least not yet. It's a faint worry in the back of her mind, but for now, she has enough awareness that it's fine.

"Did you choose this bar because it's run by people off Retrospec?" On one hand, Clover can't blame her because she knows they both aren't anywhere near rich. On the other hand, she still wants to attempt to be a good person—to seem like a good person, at the very least. Anna may not be wasting time, but Clover is.

She also can't say she deserves it, but she refrains from saying that. She can't be that much of a downer when this is supposed to be some kind of birthday celebration.

[hauntedsavior]

"I picked it because it'd be private," she replies simply. That there aren't any people behind the bar is a side effect of that decision. "Relax. I'm still going to pay for it when we're done. I just didn't want to deal with... you know." What a bar is normally like? Some delinquent she is.

Her boss and her clients might be gone from her job, but that also means her landlord's gone. And since Retrospec likes dragging ass so much, maybe she's being a little irresponsible with her money. "Now, come on," she starts, getting to her feet entirely and deciding that this whole thing is stupid; she should probably be behind the bar if this is how it's gonna work. "You got a signature drink? Anything you've wanted to try?"

She's not great at mixing drinks, but as long as they have recipes, she's picked up enough from Jill (down at the bar she usually goes to) to figure it out.

[servileness]

Clover does not know what Anna means by "you know," but she appreciates privacy. Clover always appreciates privacy. (This is why she appreciates Anna more than Lina right now.)

"I don't. Not anymore." She may be drinking a little more often lately, but her heavy drinking days are in her past. She wants to keep it that way. It's one part of Rose that she doesn't want to imitate. "I'll try your usual."

She'll keep it simple for Anna.

[hauntedsavior]

Sounds good to her. Anna's leaning pretty heavily on the bar, but only after the first few steps, once her legs seem to disagree with her for the first time. Bad time, bad place for her body to still be getting used to these changes, but that's another reason she prefers the privacy.

"Got it," she says once she's behind the bar, and grabs the darkest rum she can find and a bottle of ginger beer. It's not hard to mix the two over ice and add a lime wedge to the rim of a chilled glass, so while it might not necessarily be her usual, the drink she hands over to Clover is the easiest thing she can put together with any confidence.

"Dark 'n Stormy," she says. "One part rum, two parts ginger beer. Closest thing to my usual that I trust myself to get right." Besides, Anna doesn't want to get Clover fucked up. She respects her and her choices. Without wasting any more time, she starts mixing up a second for herself.

[servileness]

Does she be tactful and wait for Anna to bring it up first, or does she get straight into it and point out that something seems to be painfully different about Anna?

Clover takes the drink an tries it. It's not terrible. She can live with it. "I like it." Something in between a lie and the truth.

"Since it's been a little while... what's new with you?" She may as well get this over with. That's at least a question that can be navigated with half-truths. She phrases it to give Anna an out if she wants to take it.

[hauntedsavior]

Hoo boy. Just coming out with it, huh? Well, Anna knows Clover is smart and probably saw her force herself to where she is behind the bar, and that's probably an opening to talk about it. And that's what this whole thing is for, right? Catching up over drinks. Being friends.

"Not much." She says it like she's about to launch into some of the most scandalous gossip known to man, but her hands are working on fixing herself a drink (maybe with a little more than one part rum in it) and her face is almost devoid of expression. "Drunk texted your sister. Planted some flowers. Oh, I have robot legs now."

Probably good to just get it out there.

[servileness]

Clover almost chokes on her drink, and she leans to look over the bar. That would definitely explain Anna's movements.

"Is it only your legs?"

That's concerning and somehow sooner than Clover thought it would be, but who is she to judge about how soon it is when she received her inhuman strength and agility a couple months ago?

[hauntedsavior]

Anna won't show the black material underneath her jeans to Clover while she's standing up, but if she decides to come back to the other side of the bar and sit back down on a stool, yeah, she'd be glad to. Instead, she meets her friend's gaze as best she can and answers that pretty important question.

"For now. I don't know how long it'll take for the rest of me to change." She finishes pouring her drink and puts down the ginger beer, leaving her with a glass that she's trying very hard not to slam back. "At least my brain knows they're mine now. One guess why I had to miss your actual birthday."

The answer is "because her brain thought her legs had been fucking severed", of course. "That's been my month so far," she says in the driest voice possible and starts taking a drink.

[servileness]

"It's been an eventful month for you." Clover's own changes weren't quite so severe, not that she could tell, and nothing quite as noticeable robotic legs. "I'll leave money so you can have a few more drinks."

Even if Anna's brain recognizes her legs now, having that stilted movement especially after she told Clover about how much she enjoyed the literal and metaphorical feeling of freedom flying with wings gave her— A few more drinks is the least Clover could offer to help. She can't relate on the losing limbs front, only the losing humanity one.

[hauntedsavior]

"I appreciate it, Clo," she says once she's done with her drink and it's back on the bar. She folds her arms and leans forward on the bar, careful not to disturb either of their drinks or (more importantly) get into Clover's personal space.

"But if I get wasted, I'm gonna have even more of a problem getting home. Besides," and her eyes trace the edges of the far wall. "Who's left to write your paychecks?" She's not proud of how blunt that question is, but she's trying to find the answer to the same question and feels like she'll have to leave it rhetorical.

"I'm not putting you in the poorhouse 'cause I forgot how to walk for a few days." Which, yes, was hell to deal with for a lot of reasons, and if she hadn't had Astin to help her out then it would've been much worse. She's in a slightly better place than when she'd had that breakdown, but she'd have to be. "Anyway," she says. "How are things with you?"

[servileness]

"I'm sure someone on the network still tries to be an Uber or Lyft driver for part of their livelihood," Clover says after taking another sip of her drink. Honestly, now would probably be the time to increase their chances of increasing their income without a wider pool of available drivers in the vicinity. If Clover were more cunning, that's what she'd consider doing for more money, if she could afford a car.

"You wouldn't be putting me in the poorhouse. I know how to budget, and part of the reason I became an RA was to help with my budget." Free room and board is hard to beat, and she doesn't mind the workload that comes with it. "I can at least pay for one of your drinks. Is that a fair enough compromise?"

Clover looks down at her drink and swirls it. How does she answer how are things with her? "Things could always be better. I got into an argument with one of my sisters. I'm doing what I can to get my other sisters back from however the layers made them disappear. The usual."

It's not the usual.

[hauntedsavior]

Okay, maybe Anna's being a little too concerned about things—Clover's right. It's not as desperate as it could be. And she really needs to trust that Clover knows what she's doing leagues better than Anna herself ever did. Without saying much else about it, she'll accept the one drink, which at least fulfills Zee's request here on top of everything else they're doing here today.

"That so?" she asks. "Glad I can help out." She's working towards the same thing, of course, but knows damn well how important every Geteilt is to each other by now. And speaking of, she's about to take a wild guess that she's about 95% sure she's right on.

"Didn't think Jasmine had time to get into arguments with people." Her voice isn't... bitter, or accusatory, and thoughts like those aren't even crossing her mind. She knows that Jasmine has stuff of her own to take care of, and again, she also knows there's family secrets she doesn't get to know about.

[servileness]

Anna should never trust that Clover knows what she's doing because it is going to become more and more of a lie, but if that's how Anna will think, Clover will be grateful for it. Believe all her truths and her lies, and Clover won't have to think too hard about what a terrible person she is.

Clover looks up at the ceiling before she answers carefully, "Jasmine is passionate once you crack her composure. Of all of us, she has the strongest beliefs, the strongest ideals." It will take the most to break Jasmine, Clover thinks, but if Jasmine ever does, it will be the most implosive breakdown. "Did you get into a fight with Jasmine, or did you mention Rose around her?"

Is this confirming or denying which sister she had a fight with?

[hauntedsavior]

Yeah, none of what Clover is saying is a surprise—and maybe Anna should take that kind of thing more into account instead of just calling Jasmine, in the words of her own drunken texts, "the one who doesn't like me". It's always more complicated than that. It's also not exactly an answer, but whatever, Anna was being cagey in how she brought it up in the first place.

"No, we're cool. That's another weird thing that happened, though," she says, leaning in a little more while her legs shift behind the bar. Remembering the tone of that text conversation, Anna's going to have to be careful about what she shares—she did also say that anything Jasmine told her died with her.

"I brought up me and Rose, and we actually had, like, a reasonable conversation about it?" Don't worry, she looks as confused as that sentence sounds. "Like, the kind where it made me realize I needed to say some stuff to Rose that I hadn't said for the better part of a decade. Felt fuckin' weird."

I'M SO SORRY I THOUGHT I ANSWERED THIS DAYS AGO

[servileness]

Is Jasmine learning to forgive Rose? Or...

"Jasmine can be reasonable. I doubt she'd try to project her feelings onto you." It's hard to say anymore when Clover doesn't know how her sister is handling her memories. The only one who's been open about it is the sister she had a "fight" with.

"Did you manage to talk to Rose after that?" Does she want to know what Anna needed to say? That's also hard to say. Is she starting to care less, or is she trying to afford Anna some privacy?

OH MY GOSH you know you're good don't worry

[hauntedsavior]

"Yeah," she offers freely. Whether Clover's giving Anna privacy or just doesn't care, it's not like Anna can shut up when it comes to Rose lately anyway.

"I apologized to her for... you know, blaming her for everything that happened with my family after we started dating." Blaming Rose for turning her gay, were the words she'd used. "And she apologized for some stuff that she blamed me for, back around when we broke up." But that stays quiet, of course.

"We were both drunk off our asses, but it's in text form so neither of us can take it back." She grins at the idea that either of them would and looks back down at her drink, idly swirling it in her glass. "Felt kind of nice to talk about things that weren't Retrospec's fault, you know? Something we could actually do something about."

[servileness]

"You both have receipts, but at least they're positive ones even if you were both too inebriated to be functional." Honestly, they should both stop turning to drink to distract themselves. (A hypocritical thought since Clover has given in and gone out for drinks when it's been too much. A hypocritical thought considering what they're both doing now.)

"It does sound..." What does she even want to say here? It's envious, but she'd never admit that. "Pleasant that you two were able to discuss that. Touching on life before Retrospec sounds like a dream." She takes a drink to swallow her lies. "I'm glad you could resolve things with Rose. I hope that helps the both of you before Retrospec inevitably makes things worse."

She sounds so genuine for passive-aggressively tacking on something negative on the end. It's awful, and as soon as she realizes what she said, Clover hates herself a little more.

[hauntedsavior]

Anna won't bother picking apart the things Clover says. There's no reason to believe she's being insincere (or at least, not as insincere as she's actually being), and this is supposed to be a nice evening, anyway. Besides, she thinks, anyone would get sick of hearing her talk about how much she cares about their sister without talking about them.

So she's going to change that. "It really never stops, does it? You feel like talking about the latest way this stupid app wrecked your life?" It's a guess, but one she feels confident about. Passive aggression can sound a lot like regular bitterness to somebody who's lived a life steeped in both.

"Open question. You don't have to say yes." Her back straightens as she stops leaning on the bar quite so much. "I just like talking to you about it."