(open) | Making My Way Downtown

[portolan]

Who: Balthier portolan, David helpdesk_hero, Otto doctopoda, MCU Peter tinglsense, Diana monomachy, Bucky sinistral, and anyone else who wants to play
What: House guests, dates, work, shopping, idk he’s learning to be a person here
When: Late March / Early April
Where: Excelsior, mostly Balthier’s house and place of work
Content Warnings: Will update as needed



[ OOC: I’m happy to match brackets or prose and have no actual preference. Will match your top-level style. ]



I. Purveyor of Fine and Rare Goods | OPEN | The Antique Store

[ The shop is majestic, with antique wooden floors covered in antique Persian and Navajo rugs. You can find anything here from Revolutionary War Era candlestick holders to a 500-year-old desk to legitimate medieval earrings. There are also less…traditional goods, if you know how to ask. Magical items. Strange technology from other universes. Whether you’re just browsing the collection or looking for something specific, Balthier will gladly greet you, probably in something antique or outlandish himself.

Between customers, he can usually be found drinking tea, doing work on his laptop, drawing, or occasionally playing with tarot cards. He might also wander across the shared hallway to the contemporary art gallery next door, which sells Warhols and Lichtensteins on the regular.

This is a long established Society shop, so it’s also not uncommon for guild members to stop by. ]


II. Finally Some Peace and Quiet | Closed to David | Balthier’s House

[ It’s a little strange, having the house empty with none of Eddie or Peter’s things downstairs. He’s maybe a little glad Eddie is staying longer, a little sad Peter’s gone. It’s nice in the evenings to chat with them, to always have some sort of life in the house.

But it’s nice, too, with everything tidied and quiet and something he’s brought into the space. There’s already a fire started in the living room, the heat turned down low in anticipation of tonight’s fire filling the house, as it was designed to do 130 years before.

He gets antsy in the hour leading up to David’s arrival. The house is already clean, so he brings down a sketchbook, but mostly finds himself pacing to check that he has everything: tea, wine, his room in order, music, supplies for the fire.

Scions, this is the most nervous he’s been to see David since this all started. ]


III. Oh No, Not Again | Closed to Bucky | A Park in Excelsior

[ Last time Bucky and Balthier tried to get hot beverages and go to a park, they ran into a man who could command birds to attack people. That had been a nightmare to sort out, and they’d agreed to try hot beverages again. One way or another a month had passed, but here they were.

Coffee and tea in hand, they make their way again to a local park. The weather is a lovely 55, the sun is shining, they’re just getting settled in conversation when a giant, pink, stuffed jackalope the size of an SUV comes hurdling onto the scene. ]

You have to be joking.

[ He’s had, like, a quarter of his tea. Come on. ]


IV. Science Dad | Closed to Otto | Balthier’s House

[ Otto was kind enough to come spend the afternoon looking at Balthier’s bike in the garage downstairs. Sufficiently tired from their efforts, the two retreat upstairs for some tea.

The main level of the house has a galley kitchen next to a formal dining room, which sports a regal antique table and a China cabinet. Balthier puts the kettle on then retrieves two teacups out of the China cabinet from a set that’s white porcelain trimmed in gold. ]

Caffeine or no? And are you hungry?

[ Hosting is as natural to him as speaking. It’s honestly nice to have an excuse to do it with someone new. Peter and Eddie are both out this afternoon. ]


V. Junk Food and Feelings | Closed to MCU Peter | Balthier’s House

[ Balthier had noticed Peter’s absence regarding the haunted house incident and had shown up to try to save the kid. He wasn’t the one who found Peter, but he was glad someone got him out, and that much more relieved he’d taken Balthier up on crashing with him for a few weeks.

But he hadn’t quite been himself since the incident. So when Peter discovered one day that Balthier has literally never tried junk food and was insisting Balthier had to remedy that, he gave Peter a wad of cash and told him to go buy a spread (with every intention of making Peter keep the extra cash).

So now they’re in the living room as Balthier is investigating the brightly colored packaging with an increasingly perplexed expression on his face. It makes terrible noises when touched and all of the snacks smell slightly chemical. ]

This is standard fare here?


VI. Get In, We’re Going Shopping | Closed to Diana | The Mall TM

[ The third or fourth time it comes up that Balthier doesn’t actually own casual clothes, he decides maybe it’s time to fix that. His boyfriend has been busy, and he doesn’t particularly want to go alone, so he texts his only other friend who is not remotely from this time to go shopping.

So now they’re at some huge mall in Excelsior, boba tea in hand, trying to decide where to go next. ]

I have been here three months and I still do not understand why casual clothing is so beloved on this world.

[ Look, yes, it’s comfortable, but Scions above he can’t tell half of it apart from pajamas. He just wants to go to a formal party. A gala. A musical performance. Somewhere that he isn’t aggressively the best dressed person. ]

VII. User Error | Closed to Stephen | Balthier’s House

[ A few minutes after Balthier sends an affirmative text, there’s a knock on the door. He abandons the notes and computer work he was doing upstairs to answer. He was not expecting Strange to be on the other side, though now that he considers what he knows about the man, he should have. ]

I see traffic was terrible.

[ He steps back, inviting Stephen into a restored 19th century townhouse mostly furnished with antiques. There are some pillows on the couch because Peter has been staying here for a few weeks, but it’s otherwise extremely tidy and quiet, like stepping back in time.]

VIII. Wildcard | Open

[ Feel free to top level something unrelated, or hit me up here or on plurk (portolan) to chat. ]

Comments

[portolan]

[ Balthier gives a steady smile back. He usually enjoys the shy ones who like antiques. ]

Feel free to look around. If you'd like a particular era or have any questions, let me know.

[ Which is code for I'll come up behind you and tell you about a piece if you hover long enough. The shop has a lot of 18th and 19th century objects, but there are some pieces going as far back as Classical, and there are definitely some interesting 20th century pieces. ]

[exasperation]

[ ripley's smile becomes a little steadier. ]

That's amazing, thank you. I didn't think there'd be a shop like this, in this . . . uh. World?

[portolan]

[ Ah, new Society member, perhaps? ]

Neither did I, but my world doesn't look much like this.

[ He offers it casually, comfortably. He has a way of putting people at ease. Necessary when he pirated and ran cons. ]

[exasperation]

[ ripley gives a weak chuckle. ]

Mine is so I guess it's been both . . . good and bad for me. I'm too quiet for these places.

[portolan]

[ Balthier closes his laptop and returns it to behind the counter. ]

Oh? I haven't heard that one yet. Though do give it a few weeks and I suspect some disaster will befall the city again. They seem to do that periodically.

[exasperation]

Yeah, that used to happen a lot too. Though usually between superheroes and super villains.

Has . . . any of that happened here?

[portolan]

I am perhaps not the best source of information, as heroes and villains of this sort are new to me.

But yes. Nothing large and organized that I can tell, but Confluences have a habit of producing new metas, and some of them decide to harass locals. Nasty fellow a month ago who was running around putting filters on people that made them behave absurdly.

My experiences have been more rogue powers and magic than any intentional clashes, though. But I haven't been looking to get too involved.

[exasperation]

[ sighs. so the unusual. he misses the sphinx now. at least she was orderly ]

Sooo, it looks like we'll get caught up in it no matter what. Good. To. Know.

[portolan]

You could always move to Kansas. My understanding is it's quieter there.

[ In every possible sense. It sounds horrid. ]

[exasperation]

[ ripley chuckles. ]

I could never handle farm life.

[portolan]

That makes two of us. I'm Balthier, by the way.

[ He holds out a hand. He's wearing business casual today, but in that gesture there's definitely some gentleman-pirate-from-another-time showing through. The accent, too, isn't from around here. ]

[exasperation]

[ balthier. sounds fancy. kind of . . . game of thrones ish. what house with balthier be in — okay, no he's getting distracted. shake hands, you fool. ]

Uh, right. I'm Ripley. Ripley Arkwright.

[portolan]

[ He is fancy. ]

So if you're here and I haven't met you before, I'm assuming you still have guild credit.

[exasperation]

Yes, for like . . . a month?

So I'm making the most of it. Apartment, furniture, streaming subscriptions . . .

[portolan]

I bought a lot of nice clothes and furniture before they revoked mine. Absolutely no regrets.

Although, what is a streaming subscription?

[ The only media he's really consumed is Peter showing him YouTube and TikTok highlights, and when his boyfriend shows him movies. He has no media habits to speak of. ]

[exasperation]

Oh, for watching movies and tv shows?

[ he hopes he's explaining this well. ]

You can do it on your device.

[portolan]

On the laptop, right?

[ He gestures to the machine. No, he hasn't figured out phones can do that too. He also has 0 social media accounts and hasn't figured out the network.

So he's doing great. ]

[exasperation]

Yes, but also phones or tablets. Any device with a good wifi connection and app, usually.

[portolan]

Truly marvels of technology. We had flying crafts, and internal communications, but nothing like this.

[exasperation]

I mean. It's great but I don't know how marvellous it is.

Or . . . beneficial.

[portolan]

I enjoy looking like less of a fool and being able to navigate [ Though he'll have less need of the maps in another few weeks here. ]

Any particular reason I should be wary? [ He knows about the tracking possibilities and someone's seen to that for him.]

[exasperation]

Of streaming services? Not if you want them to know you really like certain tv shows and movies. I mean, they track stuff to sell you stuff, but you seem smart enough to avoid that problem.

[portolan]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I am also tracking your behavior to sell you 'stuff.'

[exasperation]

You are?

[portolan]

[ He chuckles. ]

We are in a shop. I do generally sell things.

[ He hasn't done that much tracking yet. But he always keeps an eye for people's tastes. ]