[ Scott attempts to make this anonymous... and fails, but it is locked from the person he doesn't want to see it the most: Allison Argent. ]

Say your girlfriend's mom tries to kill you but she gets -

[ Bitten? No, too obvious. ]

- infected with something really bad and life-changing by someone who saves you from the situation.

The infected mom chooses to kill herself because she thinks it's easier on everyone to die.

If you'd stopped seeing your girlfriend like her dad told you to, you wouldn't have given her mom a reason to kill you, she wouldn't have got infected and she'd still be alive.

Or if you never got rescued... you'd be dead, but your girlfriend would still have a mom. [ And having a mom is important, right? Even if she tried to murder a sixteen year old boy whose only crime was falling in love with her daughter. ]

Is it your fault her mom is dead?

[ Because this isn't a hypothetical situation and Scott will continue to feel guilty until someone talks some sense into him. ]

A job. I need one. Right now.

[ he was perfectly content to bum around a bit longer waiting for something perfect to fall into his lap (which was realistically never going to happen), but recent developments have made that plan no longer as appealing.

namely that somehow xander harris managed to land a job nearly right away, and angel remains an unemployed bum. ]

Doesn't really matter what it is. [ a pause. ] As long as it's... not something stupid. [ okay, so maybe it matters a little. ]

[ It's been about five minutes since Conan's bracelet has gone off with the SOS alarm, alerting all bracelets in the city and opening up what basically amounts to an enormous conference call following the video.



Thor does not look happy.


Actually, he looks rumpled and a little fluffy, squinting unhappily at the video feed. Someone was trying to sleep!! ]

Okay. So. Button on the back of the bracelet and gem on top of the bracelet. Hold them both at once. Big SOS distress signal. Everyone hears it, so don't do it unless there's something actually wrong.

[ He is the grumpiest of gods when his naps are interrupted. ]

Any questions?

Where do I even begin?

Okay. I'd like to help. I would. But, you could've asked. I did my part. I was done. Again. I had my coda. The music swelled. Look, it's not that I'm not grateful. I'm flattered you chose me. I am. But a girl could really get used to not being chosen for once.

[ can she get an amen? and now that she's gotten that out of her system... she holds up her wrist ] It's a cute bracelet. Not exactly my style... [ she could do with the messing with her powers. again. ]

If anyone has any information on a different off-ramp, I'd appreciate it. This isn't what I had in mind. I've done the falling into another dimension thing before. There's always a way out.

Also, Yg-draz-l is unpronouncable. Tell me there's another name that you call this place. An abbreviation? And tell me this whole 'make friends' thing is a joke. Obviously, there are more important things then making bracelets and braiding hair.

[ she's talking to strangers. she's going insane. ]

Who is on the other end of this thing?

[On your bracelet appears a young man, in a shirt that arouses the disturbing image of a poor old man who finally gathered the funds to retire somewhere warm walking around shirtless searching for it.]

You know, I'm not loving your timing, Gods, with all due respect and everything – don't smite me! -- [he ducks for cover giving you far too close a shot of his cheek for a few seconds, and when nothing happens straightens back up again, clears his throat and continues] couldn't you have taken me for this grand destiny or whatever before I graduated? Where were you during finals, huh? I mean come on – this is my summer vacation that never ends! And I had plans for it – not that seeing an alternate dimension in shades of grey isn't a swell way to celebrate my freedom but –

[He pauses, unsure of where he's even going with this anymore]

No, you know what? It really isn't.

And another thing - what's your exchange policy on these powers? Coz I already got charm I'd like something more useful for my effort like you know - super strength or flight or invisibility or...x ray vision. Do I at least get to keep it when I go home? And this bracelet thing too -- it's very sci-fi. [He turns it over, and you get a nice view of the sky for a moment before he turns it back] I could make a fortune with these -

I digress - if you're looking for the chosen one then sorry - close, but no cigar. So how's about you take me home and we all pretend this never happened?

It was almost seventy degrees according to the thermometer in the shop today. Spring is coming! Which might not be super exciting for everyone, but I'm not really used to the cold weather, ehehe.

[ She's sitting high in one of the trees in the park, her shoulder resting against the trunk. ]

But mostly I wanted to ask: what sorts of things do you guys do with your powers? Day-to-day, I mean. I help with a flower shop, and I'm sure Draco gets sick of all of the plants he trips over every day in our place, but it's become sort of second nature by now.

And also, has anyone taken the Elven train anywhere yet? I haven't been anywhere besides Utgard yet, and I'm trying to figure out where to go first.

[When the video comes on, Finnick pops onto camera as he smiles. He's outside walking around in what looks like the park, just enjoying moving around.]

I have a few questions for you all. The biggest one is, what type of weapons are used in your world, and are they suitable for a place like this?

Call it a curiosity.

[Looking thoughtful, he humms for a second.]

Other than that, anyone want to come and keep me company in the park? I promise it'll be fun. The more, the merrier.

[Good day Asgard. I hope it has been well, because if you're seeing this message, chances are it's not going to get better. Not if Jo's current state of really freaking pissed off spreads any. Which, really, she doesn't have a lot of reasons to be so angry. It's more of one thing happened, and from then on even the smallest things continued to worsen her mood, until she's just this little ball of 'I am going to kill everything'.

Perfect time to address the network, right?]

For one, I did not take off my freaking bracelet. So don't even say it. I'm not stupid. I know what happens. And I didn't lose it either, so don't even try with that-

[Jo shakes her head, pausing a moment because the movement doesn't help a whole hell of a lot with her gigantic headache. Ugh. First time going grey? I think so.]

Two - I'm going to assume that the Roadhouse wasn't robbed, and that Ash was dumb and did something equally dumb like offerred a lot of free stuff. Which, I'd like to clear up by saying, [Oh hey Glare of Death directed toward Ash.] that is never happening again.

So yeah, that free alcohol thing? Not actually a thing. You wanna come back you're gonna pay for it, if I even manage to restock this place... [She takes a moment to sigh and massage the bridge of her nose. Ugh. Of all the things to worry about, why does it have to be this.]

Nothing big happened while I was gone, right? No 'off to fight the giants' or huge flying dragons dropping death and destruction on the city? [That should have been titled a 'three', but Jo doesn't really care. She's absolute exhausted, still trying to regain her color and feeling and just. Everything she never wanted to lose in the first place. There's also something else there, something slightly haunting - a loss of something else she didn't think she'd have to worry about, but she's not about to address the network with it. Not now.

She's got herself under a little more control than that.]

Guess that's that. [And off goes the feed.]


( cut for filters to TFW, New Camelot + Jackson )

[When the feed starts, there's Inara sitting on her couch, nursing a cup of tea. She looks a little washed out, tired even, but such is the effect of having been gray for however long she'd been. She is slowly getting more color in her cheeks, so for that, she is most grateful.

She lowers the cup and offers a small smile.]

Nǐmén hǎo. Seems many are coming back from unexpected... uncoloring. [She frowns slightly because that just does not even sound right. But, it's what had happened to many.]

I'm not entirely certain how long I was not myself, but it would be nice to know what I've missed in my absence. Perhaps someone would be kind enough to fill me in?

[Filtered to Malcolm Reynolds and Simon Tam]

I hope the two of you are well and staying out of trouble. Perhaps we could all meet up, maybe for dinner?

((OOC: hover over the Chinese for translation :D ))

[ when the screen turns on, the man on the other end looks more exasperated than anything else. mildly annoyed, perhaps. like this is all just a big inconvenience to him that he'll surely be over and done with soon. right? that's how these things usually work, anyway. ]

Okay. I've been around the block, even been to hell dimension once or twice.

[ actually probably more than that, but who's counting? ]

But this... This is new. I mean, sort of new. Actually, now that I think about it, the details are different, but it's actually pretty similar to that one time I... [ oh wait, getting sidetracked. ] Never mind. The point is, I'm not interested. I've gotta get back to my city and to my people... last I saw of them, I'm pretty sure they were being plunged into hell. Literally.

[ a pause as he thinks for a moment... ] Alright, when I put it like that, maybe I'd actually rather stay right here. { sigh. ] But I can't do that. There was a dragon, you see? Flying around in the sky, acting like a dragon flying around my city is perfectly normal and acceptable. It's not. So I need to do something about that. Like, right now.

So... sending me back yet? Yes? No? [ he'll just... wait. hopefully. somebody please get back to him on this. ]