a new journal is full of possibilities

[skyti]

 There are few things Atreus loves more then listening to the stories of others and writing them down.  Okay, okay he definitely loves his parents more.  That's a given though.  Also wolves are cool.  He sure does love wolves.  He's quite convinced he'll prove his father wrong one day and teach himself how to turn into one but that day's sadly a long way off probably.

Writing in a journal though! Back to that! He loves writing about his adventures and and every tale he comes across, and he's wanted to write down his findings of the Nexus too... but he thought it'd be appropriate to have a separate journal for here.  There were so many people from so many different worlds! He figures it'll be really easy to fill up a lot of pages really fast.

That's when he discovered the stationary store.  Which is probably one of his favorite places he's found here so far.  Dozens of different journals in different sizes in so many colors with so many pictures on the covers.  And the writing tools! Markers, pens, colored pencils! In any and every color he could possibly imagine! There were other even more ADVANCED materials like stickers an washi tape but he was honestly starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

So he ended up leaving with a truly epic looking journal with a wolf on the cover and a small package of pens in an assortment of colors.  He's investigate the other materials more thoroughly later.

As he walked he flipped open the journal.  The pages were empty and pristine.  There's a bit of a thrill whenever you look at blank pages like that.  What will eventually fill them? He knows the first thing at least.  He selects a pen and writes in runes 'Tales from the Nexus' and smiles to himself.  That feels right.  Not to just... get those tales!

"Excuse me!" he hails a friend or a friendly looking stranger, or just someone INTERESTING looking as they pass by, "Know any good stories?"

Comments

[delphicbooksandbaubles]

Aal's black-furred ears perk up, and then scents the air excitedly with the wag of her tail as she pads on her paws toward the familiar sound and scent..And ooh yes it was one of her newest favorite persons. Her tail wags even more raptly as she rose, in a cute hello sort of way, "Roo?" She tilts her head curious and intrigued.

Before grining warm and friendly. "Oh Ello there Atreus, How ya been? Good, I hope and why ..yes several..is there any kind, in particular, you were hoping for?" She asks in return as she nears him and then glances about for someplace for them to sit if he likes.

[skyti]

"Aal!" He smiles brightly at her. She's also most definitely on of his favorite persons around here! And not just because she can turn into a wolf though that certainly helps.

"I've been good. Mostly," there was that brief run in with Baldur that was concerning but hopefully he won't see him around too often, "Maybe a story about yourself? I thought it might be fun to collect a bunch from people around here! Everyone's from different worlds... it's an opportunity that I really can't miss."

[delphicbooksandbaubles]

She grins in a rather doggish like way then predatory. Though she still tries not to show too many sharp teeth at the young man. She "Woofs" happily in response especially at such a nice greeting. As she trots closer her tongue lolling for a moment her tail picking up speed. She weaves a little closer to his legs before she gets ahold of her self and her instincts. Though if he's amenable she'll likely lean against him in a friendly way at least. Not sure how he feels about hugs in general yet..Let along 'doggy' like ones.

A part of her is very much, giddy 'Puppper!'while the other is more..whoa there. kiddo regardless of species..boundaries..calm down..slow. "Hi hi." She chimes with an excited little wiggle. Cause more canine-like thoughts of, {Friend..play? help? I can help yup yup.} Start dominating her mind for a few moments at least.

"That's good." She murmurs glancing up at him in the adoring fashion only dog eyes can truly achieve though some..humans can get very close to it..One of her soft spots in fact is when her beloved husband does such..or any young ones..ok young ones in general even. But that's another matter. Ahem..but woe betide anyone trying to hurt such.

She blinks and squints, her ears twitch forward and then back, "Mostly?" She half asks half prompts. What is this 'mostly' words were..kinda her thing..typically. She blinks , squints looking him up and down and sniffing softly in concern. "Oooh, that's." Something in her softens even more.

As far as she knows no one's written about her in a book or..Anything close to it..Her ancestors on both sides have mentions and footnotes the world over she's sure. But herself..She swallows a small lump of bittersweet torn emotion. "I'd be honored." She murmurs softly..With little wiggle at the other part. "Ooh yes, that does sound fun indeed.." Nodding in agreement. "I used to love to collect stories and recipes when I got to travel to various realms myself."She informs him warmly. "Perhaps we should find a more comfortable spot?" She looks around especially if they could catch/find some of the others. She didn't like the idea of him being by himself with some folks even if he had his bow etc.

[chiaro_oscuro]

"That's a nice journal you have there, Atreus. I like the wolf on the cover." When Ben Solo approaches Atreus, he kneels to get a better look at the journal and his friend's supplies. "You and I both have an affinity for them. An interesting coincidence. It's no surprise that we get along." He shows Atreus the flask buckled to his side, with the image of a wolf on it.

By this point, Ben's come to see Atreus as something of a younger sibling. The boy's a capable fighter and a quick thinker, as Ben can testify from their encounters with draugr and cannibals in Atreus's world. Besides which, the two of them make a formidable team. He's wandering when he catches sight of Atreus with the journal.

"Telling stories? I could tell you one or two - I spend a lot of time in the Grand Library and know some good ones. Or I could tell you a story from my adventures here in the Nexus. Maybe both, if you would like. Saving stories you hear from people here is a good idea."

[skyti]

Atreus has always wondered what it'd be like to have a sibling. And Ben has certainly become a wonderful brother in arms at the very least, fighting along his side feels almost as fluid as it does when he fights with his father. Maybe he'll tell him someday he secretly has a second son. Not much can ruffle Kratos' feathers but that might a bit!

"Well wolves ARE the best animal so it just means you've got good taste," he nods in approval, "I like what they symbolize too. In tales sometimes they represent violence and destruction, but more often they're a symbol of loyalty, wisdom, and courage! Good things to have if you ask me."

Plus like. They just LOOK awesome.

"I think I'd like to hear about on of your adventures here if you don't mind. To start with at least. I really want to write down as many stories about the people here as I can. It feels like it's important. Sometimes stories are all we have of people... And maybe when it's full I can bring it to that Library."

[chiaro_oscuro]

"No wonder we get along." Ben laughs. "There are a few old stories about wolves, but it never seems to go well for the wolves there."

The mixed symbolism of the wolf - powerful and brave, but violent and destructive - is something that Ben himself can relate to. Both sides are part of him, though he works to bring the positive side to the forefront and keep the negative in check.

Ben never had a brother or a sister, but he feels a sense of protectiveness over Atreus when they fight together. The first time he went to Atreus's world was an accident. After that, not so much. It gives Ben a chance to test himself against real enemies with real stakes, with no anti-violence field to get in the way.

"All right. I'll tell you a story from when I was new to the Nexus. How's that idea sound to you, Atreus?" Before moving into the Nexus proper, when he was still nervous about interacting with its population, Ben spent his time lurking in the Wilds and the Underbelly.

[tr1ckortreat]

Loki heard the familiar child's voice and looked around and then down at the form of the little boy warrior. Atreus. Of course it was and why was he holding some sort of book? The god's eyebrow raised at the question and he could not just walk away from such a curious question.

"Oh, I know lots of good stories. It depends on which you'd like to hear since some can be a little bloody and explicit. Not the sort of thing for a child to hear."

Of course he was teasing lightly since he knew Atreus was some sort of warrior and had probably seen his fair share of battle and blood. It depends on what sort of story he wanted to hear, whether it be tales of battle or tales of mischief. Loki also had lots of those.

"Or, would you rather I tell you a story involving mischief? Those I have many in regard to my centuries of being the god of mischief."

[skyti]

He snorts a little at that. He's certainly seen far more blood and battle and the just plain morbid then most other kids his age. Heck one of his traveling companions is a severed head! Who also happens to tell very good stories. Many of which are also very bloody.

"Always with the mischief, huh?" he cocks his head to the side and taps his pen on his notebook page. An almost alarming consistency among those in this place that call themselves 'Loki'. He's not sure if he should be concerned for his own future or not.

"All right! Let's hear one of those," he grins and pauses a moment to switch out his pen colors. While he liked the red one it felt thematic to use the green for this one, "Tell me your favorite one."

[tr1ckortreat]

Where to begin?

The child wanted to hear one of Loki's favourite stories so be it. He would hear one that was close to his heart and also close to his memory before being pulled to this place. The truth would be told no matter how harsh the ending, since the boy was innocent and Loki was in a good mood. Lying to this child just felt wrong and now that he was in the Nexus, he felt some good rubbing off on him.

"Alright. This is a tale of metal men, green monsters, outer space aliens and a chariot ride around New York."

Loki was in half a mind to not tell the story of the Chitauri invasion since a lot about it stung, yet maybe getting it off his chest might help him heal faster. Defeat had a lot to answer for.

"A giant chasm had opened up within the sky of New York, a Midgardian city, sending down the alien Chitauri invasion force, unleashed by my hand and the mighty sceptre I wielded in my right hand. A bright blue glow emanated from within the end of the sceptre; the Tesseract's power, alien energy commanding anyone under my will that I touched. I orchestrated the take over of Earth, bending the mortals to my will, forcing them to kneel, since they craved subjugation."

He watched Atreus, wondering what the boy thought of the story so far. Loki continued.

"I rode my Chitauri chariot through the streets of New York before ending up on the Avenger's tower. My plans were going well until Earth's Mightiest Heroes showed up in force. The Avengers. A man encased in red and gold iron armour forced to stop me since it was his tower I was standing atop. Iron-Man. He and his large green monster friend threatened to end me. The Hulk. Then, my brother, Thor, with his might hammer, Mjolnir, aimed to smite me down in the air with the power of thunder."

Loki felt a pang of anger well up inside of him but it was soon quenched when he closed his eyes.

"I was overcome, my plans in ruin and the Chitauri destroyed by the might of the Avengers. My body thrown through the tower's window and I ended up being smashed into the hard floor by the Hulk monster. The dullard creature's strength overpowering my own."

That part caused a wave of emotion to rise in the god but he stilled himself. The memory of the event still raw in his mind.

[silverseamariner]

"That's a good idea you have there, lad. A book. I've been keeping notes here myself, of the creatures I see and the places I visit. But a book of stories is interesting. You must have heard some good ones."

skekSa catches notice when Atreus signals for her, turning to face him. She sees the journal and listens to his request, sitting to bring herself closer to his eye level. Stories. That's a good idea, collecting tales from the people here. With so many peoples and cultures represented there must be many to tell.

"You're looking for stories, hmm? Well, you've come to the right Skeksis. Over the thousand-or-so trine I've been alive, I had plenty of adventures. Perhaps you'd like to hear some of them, young one? Swordfights, battles. sea monsters? I imagine you have stories to share, too. So how about we trade - a story from you and your world in exchange for a story from me."

[skyti]

He makes a show of pausing to mull over her request, tapping his chin in a thoughtfully exaggerated matter before smiling broadly.

"I find your terms acceptable, Captain," he declares. A story for a story. Sounds fun. He feels like she's the sort that seen and been through it all though. He'll have to think of a really good one to tell her. He has a few already that are quite spectacular. But some were kind of painful to talk about.

After a moments thought he pulls his old journal out of a pouch on his belt. Unlike his new one this one is battered and worn. It's seen some things.

"I could tell you the story of how my father and I fought the dragon Hræzlyr," he flips through the pages and lands on a journal entry and drawing of a ferocious looking dragon.

[silverseamariner]

A story for a story. It's a good deal, in the Mariner's opinion. Stories are information - even fiction says things about the people and culture it came from.

"I thought you would," says skekSa. She's not the kind of person who gives things away for free, usually, but she's happy to trade. Trading - goods, information, protection - is one of the ways she builds alliances with people.

The Mariner watches Atreus take out a journal and show it to her. She's impressed, coming to get a closer look.

"So you fought a monster." She looks the dragon over - she can't get a sense of its size from a picture, but she's imagining a creature near the size of Vassa, her ship. "Tell me that one, lad. That sounds like quite the tale."

[ziggyplayedguitar]

Interesting looking would be a nice comment from his own experience on his Earth. Ziggy is tall, waifishly skinny, with fantastically bright red hair (eyebrows and eyelashes too), red makeup, and two-toned blue eyes. He was a genetic anomaly so things were exaggerated in his features. In his own world there was significant commotion over the fact most people couldn't immediately tell if he was a male or a female. Today he is sporting a white silk suit and platform sandals with his red acoustic guitar strapped to his back. Getting a look from a young boy as if he is 'interesting' is the norm.

The politeness gets his attention first, then the question. "I do. I write them."

[skyti]

Certainly an interesting person! But Atreus has met a lot of very unique individuals. He counts among his personal friends such characters as a severed head, a giant snake, and a dwarf with entirely blue skin to name a few. This is not to say he doesn't have questions! And his father isn't here to hold him back either.

"You do? You're a Skald then?" his eyes light up. He's spent most of his life in the middle of a forest, far far away from most society. But he's heard of Skalds before! Supposedly they crafted the most amazing stories, "And also, what's that bird on your shirt? I've never seen one like that. And does the symbol on your forehead mean anything? It looks like the Sun!"

[ziggyplayedguitar]

"I don't know the word Skald?" Ziggy was ok not knowing words. He picked up human languages rather quickly but was nowhere near knowing all of them or the more obsolete or colloquial words. "I'm a singer and songwriter."

The question brings his eyes down to the shirt and a bright smile when he looks back. "The Fenghuang or Hou-ou; it's the unity of the male and female and the cosmos."

The bird had personal meaning for him that he wasn't about to go into with a stranger but he has an obvious fondness for the symbol, symbolism in general. With the stream of questions he figured it best to give more information. Many of his fans were younger so he's very used to questions about how he lives and dresses. Here in the Nexus though, he feels safer to talk about things he couldn't on his own Earth.

"The circle?" He reflexively reaches up and touches it before speaking. He knew his mother's people had been to Earth, given humans their first languages but it wasn't until he arrived and saw the similarities that the concept sank in completely. "It's like Ensō in human culture. It's part of my beliefs that symbolizes enlightenment, grace, strength, simplicity, elegance and the completeness of the universe."

and he doesn't even know it's a Loki sort of. :)

[haveyoucheckedallrallies]

Thor's just arrived back in Nexus today morning. Hm, there are some unfamiliar faces here now, it seems.

"That's an impressive journal, boy. This wolf, I like it. Looks fierce, though a bit sad, I don't know why. Mayhaps it's hungry. Anyway, what do you write inside?"

Hmm, stories? Thor grins.

"O, yea. I do know impressive stories aplenty, and will gladly share some with a young adventurere such as yourself."

What? The strange boy might be a young adventurer.

[skyti]

He looks up at the rather large stranger. Huh. Almost as big as his father. Which in itself is impressive. Kratos is a huge man.

"Thanks, I've always admired wolves. They're my favorite animal," he smiles looking down on his journal. It's such a realistic image too! It almost looks as if could leap right out of the cover.

"A story about an adventure sounds good," he has certainly become somewhat of an adventurer himself. He's traveled to many different realms, and seen many fantastic things, "One of your own?"

[primelogic]

It's easier to hail some of the Nexus' residents than others. Some busy people may not so much as look up from their business power walk through the streets. Others, like the elderly gentleman sitting on a sunlit bench with a book in hand, are much more apt to notice Atreus' call.

Though he may look somber the old man carefully looks over Atreus before gesturing toward him to approach.

"I suppose that depends on what manner of fiction you find compelling, young one." He gestures to the other side of the bench. "What kinds of stories interest you?"

[skyti]

"I love stories of any kind really," he replies and takes a seat next to the old man, journal balanced carefully on his lap, "But I like the non-fiction sort the most. Everyone has a story or two, and sometimes those are way more interesting then something that's been made up."

And he imagined someone this old MUST have a bunch of them. Not... that he's going to be rude and say those thoughts exactly like that.

"Do you have one like that, Sir? One of your own, that you'd like someone to hear?"

[the_rebel_son]

Among the angels Lucifer is the one that was, potentially, the most fond of children. He was the father of angels, or at least that was the title he had earned as a king. Aside from being on the excessively tall-slim side at 6 and a half feet tall, he could be mistaken for a human with a sense for nice suits, today's is a three piece crimson red, with a darker red vest, and even darker, near blood red, shirt. Could be human passing if it wasn't for the four huge white wings on this back.

He stops abruptly in his walk to buy flowers, a daily task for Lucifer most of the time. "I know all the stories." He smiles proudly at the boy. "At least in my creation, and I am learning those from others."

[skyti]

Wow... What an elegant person. Atreus' first thought is that this must be a Valkyrie. It's the wings that make him think of it. But well... the Valkyries were all female, and spirits, and they had those crazy masks. And tended to be VERY aggressive when trapped in a physical form so... this probably isn't a Valkyrie.

"All of them?" he asks, torn between awe and confusion over what sounds... well he doesn't want to say fake but, "Wouldn't that be impossible?"

[heart_of_a_witch]

The girl he's hailed looks human, and about fourteen or fifteen years old, although she's short for her age. If he's sensitive to such things, there is a thrum of subtle natural energy in her; some kind of witch with a powerful alignment to weather and wilderness. She looks pretty average, though, just a girl with short blonde hair, a black peacoat, striped socks, a backpack...

She blinks at the cover of the journal he's got with him slowly, then breaks into a little grin and flips her bag off her back so she can reach into it. From within she pulls out a book about the same size and shape, but with a distinctly different cover. "I use mine for poetry," she says, holding it up so he can see.

"But it sucks, so don't ask to read any. What kind of stories are you into? I might have something."

[skyti]

Sensing magic and the flow of natural energies is definitely in his realm of capabilities, so he can pick up on something about her. There's a feel around her that reminds him of Freya, the witch of the woods. And Freya is good people, he hopes this girl is too.

"You can't just tell me you write poetry and not let me see!" he laughs though he doesn't pry much more then that, "Kidding. That's a cute cat though."

Her poetry is safe. For now!

"What kind," he hums a little, "I love all kinds really. Even my father's and he tells TERRIBLE ones. I guess I like the ones that really happened the best though. Everyone has at least a couple things in their life that thrilling, or funny, or weird, you know?"

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

Matt Murdock needs not see the child waving him down to know he's being spoken to, though perhaps Atreus might not realize that at first, with his eyes hidden behind wine-dark glasses. He pauses nonetheless, his face not quite pointed completely in the youngster's direction, but unmistakably paying attention. "I know a few. Are you collecting them?"

That sounds like the ruffling of empty pages, and he can smell the pungent aroma of fresh tooled leather and the milder scent of ink. What's on the pages, of course, he can't really guess, but context clues seem to lean that way.

[skyti]

He looks curiously at the glasses, not necessarily because he's made any kind of connection or assumption. He's just not overly familiar with that kind of accessory and they look useful. The dark glass looks like it could block out the brightest of the sun's rays at mid day. Some kind of... sun glass.

"I am!" he nods enthusiastically, smoothing a hand over the journal's cover, "I've got a few from people already but there are still plenty of blank pages just begging to be filled!"