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HOME SWEET HOME

Elrond let the gang decide when to leave, providing hospitality and medical care until they're ready. When the quest calls to them and they know it'll tug them along soon, he makes sure each is fully supplied and armed with weapons of their choosing, some custom made. They each have a pack, food supplies, and extra clothing. All of them get offered sturdy boots, even those who have stranger body types like Filbo.

He gives the group four copies of a book transcribed with the prophecies that had been brought to Rivendell, to be studied and interpreted on their journey.

Those who mentioned knowledge of the One Ring are briefly pulled aside away from the guests at Elrond's Council. They're implored to keep it secret, for the knowledge of Frodo's task could lead to people trying to steal the Ring when he's on a journey to destroy it.

Crowley is also released from the dungeon, with Elrond apologizing for the Elves' caution. It's at least clear he's been shown some of the same hospitality. He's healed up, well fed, and clothed in replacement clothes just like they all are.

Elrond's final goodbye to the whole group is warm and genuine.

"Namárië. It is a word we use for greetings and goodbyes. It means 'be well.' Whether you seek to help this world or try to find a way home, it is our hope that whatever paths you tread fly beneath your feet, and whatever obstacles you face are quickly overcome."

A pause.

"It would be easy to try to make you feel that the hopes of those in this new world go with you; but such burdens should only be carried by those who choose it. The Green will not admit it, but they have done you a great wrong. If you try to only find your way home, it's justified, and I hope you do find it."

Yes, there are prophecies, but making people do something by force is wrong, and all weary travelers deserve to find their way home. After a brief time of saying any goodbyes, they get to make their way to the other side of the valley. On the other side of the pass is the castle the Green spoke about.

The castle is a Frankenstein monstrosity that seems cobbled together from many buildings and machines. The second the last of the gang piles inside, it starts moving, massive legs clanking along. But where it's going is unknown. At least that means they have time to explore, rest, and get settled.

There are many mystical objects and mysteries within. One half of the castle seems to be a strange frozen realm of faerie, with strange sights to explore. But even the warmer side of the castle has its oddities. Magic waterfalls that show memories, and a scrying pool that shows frozen images of home, locked to the times each member of the squad left theirs. There are magical doors that lead to sights beyond the imagination, strange collections and even entire small realms, some beautiful, some dangerous.

The three magical creatures, Jonald, Ronald, and Rolkien constantly get underfoot trying to get the group settled, but refuse to talk about their former master, seemingly hurt at his leaving the castle.

The castle also seems to like assigning roommates for some of the group, making it so doors only open to their assigned room anytime they try to go to a place to sleep, even teleporting to them to the room if they fall asleep elsewhere.

It's a strange place, sometimes dangerous, sometimes annoying, but at least they have even more time to rest, train, plan, and prepare. They will have a few weeks to adjust to their new normal.

Then...who knows where the road will take them.
OOC DETAILS
❧ Prompts. The mods aren't doing prompts, but players can check out the page on the Moving castle for inspiration. The castle has many mysteries and oddities and absolutely anything can be behind the magical doors.

❧ Food and water. The castle seems to have an internal pressurized water supply and food is plentiful...for now. The food supply will not last forever but some food was left behind by the castle's previous occupants. There there's enough for a long break without hunting. There is some fresh food that's rotten and needs to be thrown away but whoever lived here clearly knew how to keep food prepared. There are cooking oils, flour, and sugar for bread and baked goods. There is jerky of various types of meats, dried fruit, sun-dried tomatoes, stores of nuts, jars of preserved fruit and jams (and empty jars to make more), and hard cheeses that need only a little mold cut off them to still be edible. Some of the jars have confit, meat cooked and preserved in lard, or garlic preserved in oil. A small root cellar has a few barrels of potatoes, parsnips, and onions.

It also has some barrels of beer and bottles of wine.

There are also dried herbs hanging in bundles from the kitchen ceiling, jarred pickled vegetables, and vinegar for pickling more. There are also fresh veggies the group can harvest together. The gardens will not be infinite in supplying the group but luck has it that many vegetables are ripe for harvest right now. The squad can pick juicy tomatoes, green beans, peppers, carrots, radishes, blackberries from a small thicket, squash, and plenty of zucchini. The garden does need tending to stay healthy. Aside from harvesting from it, weeds need to be pulled, beans and tomatoes need to be trellised, spoiled veggies on the ground need to be tossed away.

❧ Bathing. There is no soap other than what the Elves may have given them but there are hot baths. The water has to be heated on a fire down the hall and carried to the tubs.

❧ Weather/Atmosphere: The air outside and inside is on the warmer side. Even though the stone is cool, the cooking fires warm the air to something comfortable. The air outside in the gardens is warm and sunny, with the occasional cool breeze due to the altitude.

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Ask us anything here!

psst, the link to the castle page in OOC Details is borked

Fixed! Thanks.

[Placeholder.]

[Tim's been hardcore avoiding him. It's obvious and Kon's been trying not to stew on it.]

[Trying and failing.]

[As he busies himself with exploring or gardening, he thinks about what Dick told him. "That sort of accidental touch? Especially to the face? Can be considered...an expression of romantic interest."]

["Reverse your positions and consider the same things, only reversed."]

[And he thinks about Tim, sounding almost ferocious. "Swap his powers for mine, because I’m not losing him again."]

[Desperate. "I can’t do it again. You don’t know what it was like. I had to stand up and 'say a few words' over and over and over and act like I wasn’t dead inside, so you can stand there and tell me that I have to do it again?"]

[Hopeful. "You’re stifling feelings about me?"]

[Tim makes sure he stays hidden and Kon knows it'll be impossible to find him in that large a castle. He's a freakin' ninja when he wants to be.]

[Their room seems to have been assigned to Tim and himself but he knows that's not enough to draw him there. He'll just sleep in some random perch like a little gargoyle.]

[So he tries to just go about his day, explore and adjust, and then go to sleep that night. He's not expecting to wake up the next day with Tim snuggled close, his arm around his bare chest, his own arm wrapped around him.]

[He makes a little squeak of surprise, high pitched enough most people wouldn't expect it out of him, but also doesn't move away, let go, or try to push Tim away.]

[Elle's had some time to process everything that happened back at the meeting with Elrond and the Green, which means she's had time to come back around and remember what she overheard Kon and Tim talking about.]

[Tim shut down, hard, but Kon didn't. And with the problem being with Tim, she's not sure if he has anyone to talk to. Dick, maybe? But he's Tim's brother, so that might be weird.]

[Either way, there's no point in pretending she didn't hear what she did. So now she's going to find Kon and offer to talk about it.]

Elle was relieved when no one confronted her immediately after the meeting. She should've known better. Stacia heard everything, so it was only a matter of time.

Not that she's surprised when Stacia manages to corner her while exploring the castle. Just resigned. She really doesn't know what she's gonna say.

"Hey, Stacia."

Elle may know why she's here but that doesn't mean she's going to make it easy.

[Tim's been avoiding Kon, and Elle knows why. She doesn't think there's much she can do about that, but she does want to help where she can. Even if that's taking away a single burden from what seems to the an endless amount on Tim's shoulders.]

[He's been making an effort to stay away from people in general. Unfortunately for him Elle can track him pretty easily. He's covering up his trail for Kon, not those in the group with enhanced senses or who've trained in tracking.]

[When she does find him she makes sure to have her steps be audible and to leave him an exit route. He's probably feeling emotionally trapped enough, he doesn't need to feel physically trapped on top of that.]

Hey.

[He's outside gardening when she finds him. He clearly knows what he's doing. There's a pile of weeks, ripped up a little too vigorously, like he was taking things out on them. There's also a little basket with rotten vegetables taken off the ground so it doesn't rot near the plant stalks.]

[He's spread wood ash in a few places and has started doing a little pruning.]

[He notices her.]

Hey, Elle. You doing okay? I know all that stuff with Gaia was...a lot.

[It seemed like Gaia had let her down. Personally.]

[Oh! There's a garden! That's helpful. She'll have to look around it later. Before she left her old Sept she had been learning how to tend the rare and otherwise extinct plants. Maybe some of them will show up here.]

[Her instinct is to shrug it off and say she's fine, but she stops herself and genuinely considers his question.]

I'll be okay. I've had some time to start processing and figure out how I feel about everything.

[She kneels down near him and starts helping him prune.]

How about you? Things got intense, and not just with Gaia. You holding up alright?

["And not just with Gaia."]

[He pretends that's all it was about. The insults.]

I'm fine. Trust me, it's not the first time I've ever had somebody treat me like I'm not a person over the clone thing.

I've been called a gene scrape, a cloned piece of trash, and "abomination" has come up more than once.

But "spare parts" is definitely the fan favorite.

[He doesn't sound that bitter.]

[He knows his value.]

[He twirls his garden trowel in a circle.]

You learn to shrug it off.

[Elle nods. The situations are different but Garou have thrown plenty of names at her face and behind her back because of what she is. "Abomination" is a common one for her, too.]

Yeah. Doesn't mean it's fair, though. Or that it's easy. [She's speaking from experience.]

[He shrugs one shoulder.]

The part that was always the hardest was other clones were usually involved, and they were either being mistreated or about to be.

Sometimes I was the only one there that was able to stand up for them.

[God, did he come out of the test tube with a heart of gold?]

Sometimes it's easier to take the hits when you're shielding someone else.

[Story of Elle's life. Doing what needs to be done because she can't trust that someone else will. Because no one else will.]

[Speaking of people who're ready to throw themselves in front of a bullet...]

Is Tim doing okay?

[He came out with part of a heart of gold but had to gild the rest of it himself.]

[He tenses up at mention of Tim, but then keeps at his gardening.]

I don't know. He's been keeping to himself.

I think he's mad at me.

[Elle purses her lips. Tim seemed more scared than anything, but she doesn't know him well.]

I'm not gonna pretend that I didn't overhear some of the stuff that was said at the end there. I can put the pieces together.

[A pause.]

Tim might be mad at you, I don't know. He might still be processing what happened that night; everything with Elrond and Gaia and an emotional conversation.

How do you feel about it?

Like I already said, I'm okay.

Ish.

I've fought pretty hard to not take it to heart. All the... the feeling bad about myself stuff. Which is hard to do with my background.

[He doesn't elaborate. He changes the subject and bites his lip.]

But you're not talking about that are you. You're talking about all the stuff he said. Aren't you.

[Elle smiles a little guiltily.]

I figured you were managing that when you were willing to walk back over there.

[Away from Tim, she doesn't say.]

But you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.

[She wants to make that very clear. This is an offer to listen and, if he wants it, to help him process.]

[He breathes in, and out, focuses on the soils on his bare fingers. He's used to not using gloves due to the invulnerability, has grown to like how it feels to get his hands dirty.]

[He'll need them to tend to the blackberries but it's okay here, tending to the tomatoes.]

I'm cloned from the superhero everyone looks up to, Superman. That's where half my DNA came from.

The other half came from the supervillain that secretly interfered with the project that created me and spliced his own DNA in. Lex Luthor. Superman's archnemesis.

He's one of the worst people alive. Before he got outed as a villain he wound up president for a while and used it to do awful stuff. Now he's, like, the guy that brings villain teams together and leads them.

So when I found out, it was like... I knew I could either turn out like the world's greatest hero or its worst villain. Like...some of that clone stuff, where I had to look out for people? He was behind it.

[He finally looks up.]

Tim's my best friend. He kept my secret, 'cause I wasn't ready to tell Superman or the other heroes yet. But encouraged me to tell people and accept support, because I needed it, because he thought I deserved help, because he still had faith in me. He knew it didn't mean I was doomed to be evil.

But Lex also had implanted this...control programming. He eventually activated it and I hurt a lot of people. My teammates.

[His brow furrows.]

Tim. He's just... he's just a normal guy. No powers. I shattered his arm like his bones were made of chalk.

But even after that, he still had faith in me, refused to let it change that we were friends. He still treated me like I was good. And then I died, which hit him hard. His life...hasn't been easy, in a lot of ways. I'm not saying anything more than that because it's his business.

And then I came back. And now...I dunno.

It's confusing.

I'm so sorry.

[She reaches out a hand to put on his bicep in comfort, if he seems okay with it. Elle can't imagine. No wonder his newfound powers freak him out so much.]

He cares about you. A lot. Anyone can see it. There's a chance he never properly processed losing you, if other stuff was happening. [Tim doesn't seem to be the "deal with your emotions" type.]

And now you're back and he has a bunch of emotions that were backlogged before and are happening now and he's confused because you're here, so those emotions shouldn't be.

[Elle may be getting a little too analytical. She tries to reign it in.]

If it makes you feel better, I don't think he was mad. I think he felt vulnerable when he hadn't put himself in that position on purpose.

[.....Which is something that Elle doesn't know anything about, of course.]

[He accepts the arm touch. He'd even put his other hand over hers if it wasn't filthy right now. Instead he smiles a small grateful smile.]

[He's definitely feeling the friendship.]

You may be right. He...

He tends to look at things like they're all problems that need to be fixed.

So...the problem got fixed right? I stopped being dead.

But that doesn't change the fact that he felt grief and pain. Made even worse since he's already felt a lot of it.

[He stops gardening for a second.]

And there might be more to it than that, but I feel like I'm going crazy and probably imagining it.

Edited 2022-03-27 06:43 (UTC)

[She gives him a light squeeze and smiles back.]

I doubt you're imagining it. If you've noticed a pattern there's probably something there.

[Kon may play into that hunky farm boy persona, but he's smart. Elle wonders if he ever falls for his own act. It can be hard not to, sometimes.]

[Kon's learned not just the ins and outs of farming, he's learned how to garden too. All for the same reason: with Pa gone, it's just Ma and himself now. Sure, Kal'll fly in sometimes to help with busier times of the year, but he's got a dual life of being a hotshot reporter and Superman. And also a wife to provide attention to.]

[On the weekends Kon has the Titans, but on weekdays he only has high school, which he puts barely any effort into anyway. So he's learned to farm to handle as much of it as he can, and he's learned how to tend Ma's sprawling garden. Her joints aren't what they used to be. As Kon works on the castle garden, even he's finding it a little hard to be on his knees for so long, now that he doesn't have the invulnerability.]

[Also its hot. At about this time, Ma'd be downright psychic and walk him out a glass of lemonade. She was so caring and thoughtful like that.]

[Boy, he hasn't had a lot of time to think about it but he really misses her. She'd be the perfect person to talk to about the weird dark powers. And the Tim thing.]

[Kon whips off the outer tunic-thingy the Elves provided him and starts doing it all in just the flowier shirt underneath. Much better. Krypto immediately takes the tunic in his mouth and leaps around, dancing out of reach.]

What? No! Krypto, give that back!

[Kon puts down his trowel and dives after the dog, missing and landing heavily in the grass.]

[The dog leaps out of reach and goes over to a flower bed and starts digging, clearly intending to bury it. It's obvious the dog has something like an actual sense of humor because it looks like he's grinning.]

[Kon beats him to it, snatching it back.]

Look, buddy, if you're bored, you can help, okay? See this patch of dirt? Help me dig it up and loosen up the dirt. I can plant seedlings from some of the spoiled stuff and try to get new sprouts coming up. We've got a lot of people to feed.

[Excited to help, especially since he's being told it's okay to dig, the dog immediately goes over to the patch of untilled soil and starts digging.]

[Kon can't help but smile at his silly dog, even as he rolls his eyes, and goes back to work.]

Edited 2022-03-27 10:56 (UTC)

[Kon sits there for a little, working his jaw.]

There's stuff I can't talk about that's making me wonder.

[He can't tell someone Tim's butted heads with (or against, really, because it's getting pretty one-sided) about the attempted cloning the same way he can't tell anyone about Cassie and that weird cult, something she'd eventually opened up about. That is so deeply personal.]

[And he gets it. Who knows how he'd have gone off the deep end if he'd been in Tim or Cassie's place? Both of them lost a boyfriend or girlfriend. Both of them lost two of their closest friends. Tim's lost even more.]

[Plus, that'd just completely out Tim as a superhero because what civilian can get access to cloning tech?]

And then there was all this? Just him being like... he can't lose me again and for a second he looked hopeful about something I said...

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