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Daycycle 116 [ November 13 - November 26 ]

daycycle 116

[Nov 13 - Nov 26]

[OOC Plotting for this Daycycle can be found here.]
[The Charity Ball Entertainment post is here.]
[This DC has been extended through 11/26.]

Early Morning [0800 - 0900] — All Troubleshooters Report for Duty

No Special Troubleshooters have been selected for a mission this morning.

Morning & Afternoon [0900 - 1600] — Service Firm Positions
All Troubleshooters not assigned a mission should report to their Service Firm for their daily duties, unless specifically assigned a different shift.

Matt Murdock's office will be assigned to defend the most recent Specials accused of treason. He will not be allowed to contact the traitors directly, but he will be given the task of preparing his cases. He has 48 hours to prepare.

Jack Harkness has been selected to plan the entertainment for tonight's Charity Ball, thanks to the popularity of his performances during the Alpha Talent Show a few days ago. When he asks The Computer for help, several specials are assigned to him. Izzy Lightwood will be his event planning assistant and "Stiles" Stilinski will assist in MCing the night's event. Due to their popularity, all Specials will be approached about being auctioned off for dances in order to help raise money by Jack, Izzy and Stiles. They will also be asked if they're willing to take part in specially planned choreographed dances. Dance lessons will be provided for those that require them during the afternoon hours.

Evening [1600 - 2200] — Citizen Improvement
All Alpha citizens are encouraged to better themselves through Alpha’s wide variety of educational, entertainment and cultural opportunities offered each evening. Attending these sanctioned events are not mandatory, but is highly encouraged by The Computer. Citizens choosing not to take advantage of these opportunities, have a growing number of other options available to them in how to spend their hard earned credits and free time.

Tonight’s event will begin at 1800 at the Alpha Museum of Fine Art and will be hosted by The ~~Humanists~~ Alpha Society for the Arts. Tickets to the event are 1000cr and can be bought up until an hour before the event begins. Attendees have been given special permission to wear Old Reckoning clothing for this event only, as long as it is the same color as their clearance level. Specials may notice that many of the Alpha Citizen's outfits have gotten key parts of Old Reckoning clothing wrong, with buttons instead of sequins, for example, or men wearing ties that are much too long and go to their knees. Alpha's Very Special Forces will be present to ensure the safety of those attending.

An entire wing of the museum has been cleared as a makeshift dance floor. In an attached room there are several tables covered in white tablecloths and set with the crystal and china that usually only graces Violet citizen tables. Along the wall is a massive buffet made with real food and including an elaborate ice sculpture. There is a bar in the corner where Alpha's finest spirits are being disbursed freely. For the first hour, the focus is on the food and mingling. The music playing is calming and instrumental. There are some that steal the dancefloor for a slow spin, but the majority of the attendees seem reluctant to move away from the buffet.

And then at approximately 1900, Jack Harkness will take the stage and begin the evening's real entertainment.

Alpha Curfew Restrictions
All Alpha citizens should be in their quarters within the Wagon Wheel by 2200, unless they’ve been given permission from a GREEN or higher clearance level citizen. Sleeping Aid gas is dispelled each night in the Wagon Wheel at 2200 to assist citizens in getting a productive sleeping period.

Confession Booths
There are hundreds of confession booths available around Alpha Complex if a citizen would like to communicate directly with the computer. Please use these confession booths to report mission statuses, report treason or terrorist acts, unregistered mutants, confess your trespasses against Alpha Complex, request propaganda or speak with Your Friend, The Computer, at any time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Matt actually doesn't see Lydia until the ball because he's been working on preparing his case for some of the people recently accused of treason. He only has a finite amount of time and he'd actually taken a lot of it back to his room. He'd had his assistant transcribe everything onto his PDC so he can work on it later tonight in his room.

Despite being busy, he wouldn't miss this ball for anything. He knows Lydia is excited about it and he'd actually seen her in her dress before he had the implants taken out so he has an image of her in his mind, but he's anxious to see her tonight. Without his vision, it's harder to find Lydia, but he stays visible and trusts she'll find him.

It's been the whole day so far that she's gone without seeing Matt, but Lydia thinks maybe that's a good thing. Maybe the fact that she's been busy at the store and preparing to be here and that he's been bogged down with trial stuff is a blessing in disguise because it gives Matt time time readjust to his blindness and Lydia to readjust to the fact that he can't see her or look her in the eye anymore. It's never going to change the way she feels about him and she doesn't actually mind that he's had the implants removed. Lydia respected and supported his decision one hundred percent and she still does. But it would be a lie to say that there wasn't and isn't still a tiny spark of disappointment in the absence of the implants. It's better that she had the day to process and get past that feeling, because it isn't a good one and it certainly isn't one that she's proud of having had.

But when she finally catches sight of him at the ball, Lydia makes her easy directly to him, more than happy to let all of that selfishness fall away in favor of happiness to see him. He looks great in that suit, she thinks, and they look like Alpha Complex's Brangelina, if you ask her, because they're both attractive, well-dressed now, and in their own ways elite. It's one thing to feel glamorous alone, but as she joins Matt with a soft greeting and a hand gentle against the side of his face before she moves into his arms, Lydia thinks it's that much sweeter to be glamorous as a pair.

"Hi, baby," she greets, lips still brushing against his lightly as she speaks, before parting from him to smile at him. For the first time in a short while, Lydia reaches for his glasses to take them off. She'll give them back, let him decide whether he wants to hold onto them or not, but she likes him better without and always has. Some things will never change. "How was work? I'm sorry I couldn't make it up to help with your dictations. Today was crazy."

Matt had tried to make sure that Lydia knew having the implants taken out had nothing to do with her, but he'd been afraid that she wouldn't react well. In reality, she'd been nothing but supportive of his decision and it had only made him love her more. It's good that both of them had the day and the time to process, to get used to the idea. He'd voluntarily had the implants removed, chosen blindness instead of implants that he hadn't had a say in getting, but there are things he will miss about being able to see. Lydia is the biggest one. He won't judge her for feeling that loss, because it is her loss as well. That's why he wanted to speak to her before he had it done.

He tilts his face ever so slightly into that touch before she reaches up to take the glasses off. His hand slips to her waist, fingertips grazing the texture of her dress while his other hand goes to the curve of her neck so that he can run his fingers up her neck to her jaw. "Hello, Gorgeous," he tells her in a half whisper. "Very busy, but good. I've finally got a trial that I think I can do something about. Don't worry about it. You had a busy day too." He knows a little of what she had planned for today. "Did it all go well?"

His compliments have always carried more weight for Lydia because of the way that he's seen her. Before the implants and moving forward from here, Matt sees her with the tips of his fingers, with his lips, with his ears. He knows her maybe better than most people because he has to in order to see her at all. A little smile, just this side of bashful, pulls up at the corners of her mouth at his greeting. "You're gonna be great," she promises. Lydia firmly believes it, too. Something has to give. Matt works too hard and something has to give at some point; he's got to win something sometime, doesn't he? Just by sheer odds?

When he brings up her day, Lydia laughs softly, her eyebrows lifting. "Yeah, now I know how retail employees feel on Black Friday and how a salon feels on the wedding day when they close shop to cater to a huge bridal party all at once," she replies with a grin. "But you know what? It feels good. And not just because I totally made bank today. I mean...seeing all the excitement on people's faces and feeling it in the air and stuff when they came in, like something really special was going to happen tonight and they were going to be a part of it, I don't know. It was a good feeling being able to facilitate some of that to some small capacity," she admits.

It's why she's a Humanist in the first place. The day and the response to the Charity Ball itself is only validating her choice to join the secret society.

Lydia takes a step back, taking his hands in her own and guiding him toward the dance floor. "Dance with me?" she asks.

He spends a great deal of time with Lydia as well. He hopes that he knows her better than most people. "If I'm not, I'm going to make sure it's not from lack of trying," he tells her. He appreciates Lydia's faith in him. Yes, just by sure odds, he's owed a break, though he knows the odds don't always work in his favor.

"Hectic," he says as a statement rather than a question. He's never actually been out on Black Friday or been in a salon before a wedding, but he's heard stories and he can certainly imagine. "You made a lot of people happy today. Everyone is buzzing and seems to be in really good spirits. I'm sure looking good has a lot to do with that." He wants something good to happen tonight. He wants this to be the beginning of a relationship between the alphas and the specials, the start of the people here taking ownership of this place.

Matt doesn't know anything about the humanists. As far as he knows, the secret societies have done nothing but cause trouble here.

"Always," he tells her, letting her lead him to the dance floor. Once there, his free hand goes to the small of Lydia's back. He's actually pretty decent on the dance floor, even without his senses, he's got an awareness of everything around him and a grace that comes from years of fighting.

"Mmm," Lydia agrees with the statement about her day. Hectic is putting it nicely, but at least it was the best kind of hectic. She's not exhausted and drained from it; instead, she feels weirdly invigorated. "I did what I could for who I could. I had to turn away a lot of people because it was getting too late and I still had to get ready. I felt really bad," she admits. The problem was that a lot of Alphas waited until they finished their shifts troubleshooting to come down but that was when Lydia was calling it done for the night so that she could get dressed and do her makeup. Lydia Martin is all for helping people, but not at her own expense, especially when she knows that at some point in the night, she's going to have to take the stage to be auctioned off. She doesn't want to look a hot mess and not be able to make it worth her while to do it, after all.

Knowing Matt's feelings on the secret societies is part of the reason she hasn't told him about the Humanists yet. Or the fact that she's tentatively one of them. The thing is that she thinks she could probably talk Matt into joining because he feels the same way she does about the people being the important parties to take care of in this place, but Lydia knows that Matt already works hard to help people and there's no point in dragging him into something that could get him arrested for doing even more of that. She's okay with putting herself at risk — even though she shouldn't be — but she's a lot less okay with putting the man she loves at risk with her.

Someone has to be her lawyer, after all, if she gets caught and there's no one Lydia would trust more with her defense than Matt Murdock.

She smiles at his response to her request and leads him out further. Matt seems to already know what he's doing while Lydia's used to the basic hug-and-sway sort of dancing that happens in high school. Therefore, she follows Matt's lead so that she doesn't look like a rube. "You know, you're the best part of my day, Matt? Every day, you're the best part of it," she says softly.

"Maybe next time they'll make appointments and that sort of thing," Matt suggests. He thinks that's how salons and the like usually work. He's heard enough women talk to gather that anyway. In his opinion, no one should begrudge Lydia taking time to get ready for this herself. They've all been excited about this event for one reason or another.

It would probably be good for him to know that some of them do good things. The secret societies that cause trouble have just been the loud ones, the ones that have screamed for attention. He probably would be interested in joining the Humanists, in trying to do something good for this place, but he would also feel the same way Lydia does: he is the legal help, for the most part, and he has a responsibility to be there for people when they need legal help.

Indeed and he wouldn't want anyone else to be her lawyer. Though, he does hope that's not ever necessary.

He's not making anything too complicated. It's a basic box step that Lydia should be able to follow pretty easily. She makes him smile with her compliment and he squeezes her hand gently. "I can say the same for you, Lydia. I always look forward to seeing you and spending time with you, even if I'd just seen you."

"Oh, honestly, I'm kind of hoping there isn't a next time," Lydia admits. "That was fun but I'm not looking to get into styling people on a regular basis. I'd rather keep my focus on what I've already got going with the bath and body stuff," she explains. Although, it is nice to know that it's a thing she could probably get away with doing if she felt so inclined, in the future. "This was largely for promoting my store, I'll be honest," she laughs.

It's funny how easily Matt kind of crept up on her. Lydia hadn't expected her roommate to grown on her so much when he'd first been put in the room she shared with Dick what feels like a lifetime ago, but now she can't imagine things unfolding any other way. Matt is a huge part of what keeps Lydia going most days. Hearing him reciprocate that feeling gives Lydia a warmth nothing else in this place probably ever could.

Lydia presses herself closer to Matt, smiling a little and leaning the side of her head against the side of his. "Matt...?" she says softly and pulls back a moment later, unwilling to give herself the time to chicken out again, even if that means interrupting before he can answer. "...I love you," she confesses. Her stomach turns over with nervousness the second the words leave her mouth. This can go one of two ways, she thinks, but she's a little caught up in the moment and Matt's just had the implants taken out which she's sure he's a little self-conscious about when it comes to her reaction. Now feels like the time to let him know how she really feels. ...and the fact that they're in a group setting where she can disappear into the crowd if she needs to; if the response is negative and humiliating is weirdly reassuring. It gives her the ounce of courage it took to make her say it out loud in a way she couldn't get herself to do privately up to this point.

"Do one thing and do it well," Matt nods. "I can understand that and it was a good promotion. I'm sure you'll end up with a lot more business after this." He doesn't blame her for not wanting to be a salon and do makeup and makeovers all the time.

Lydia had crept up on him the same way. In fact, he'd tried to not let her creep up on him. She's too young for him, and he knows that, but she's never seemed as young as she is to him. Despite knowing that Lydia really is too young for him, she's become the best thing in his life. He's fallen in love with her, and he knows that even if he hasn't said the words.

He winds his arm around her as she presses closer, head bowing a little toward her. He makes an encouraging noise when she says his name. He's not sure what he's expecting her to say, maybe to tell him that she's enjoying herself or that she'd like him to come to her room later. He doesn't expect her to say that she loves him. Maybe it's because he knows that she loves him; it's in every action, gesture and word. The words surprise him a little, but a moment afterwards his expression goes from a little surprised to something soft, something loving. HIs smile is just as soft as his expression and his hand goes to her jaw, his thumb stroking her cheek. "I love you too, Lydia."

Not a negative response and it actually feels right to him to say. He does love her and he's known it for a while now.

"Basically, yeah," Lydia agrees. She hadn't really thought about it specifically that way, but when he says it, it pretty accurately falls in line with what she'd been thinking. "One can only hope. I'm going to be mostly breaking even on pay if it doesn't start to pick up," she says quietly. Because her daily pay is going right into Cisco and Tony's ME accounts at the moment.

For a second, the surprise that registers on Matt's face leaves Lydia struggling between worried and upset. Worried because she isn't really sure how he's going to take the sentiment and upset because she wonders if surprise means that she's been doing a poor job at showing him in other ways without the words to dictate it. But the expression softens into something more fond and Lydia relaxes into a smile.

Hearing him say it back feels better than Lydia imagined it would and she gives him a chaste kiss before stroking his cheek gently with her thumb as she holds his jaw. "You have no idea how much of a relief that is. I was terrified that you'd be freaked out," she admits.

Matt furrows his brow a little with concern when she says she's going to be breaking even on pay soon. "If you need some help, you'll ask me, right?" Unfortunately, he's not sure what he can do to help her here. He can put some money into Cisco and Tony's ME accounts if necessary, or in Lydia's account and he doesn't mind that because there's so little that he cares to use his credits for. Besides, if they were back home, he would have Lydia living with him and he'd support her until she got on her feet.

He'd only been surprised because he hadn't been expecting it. He knows that Lydia loves him; he'd thought that maybe they were a couple who didn't say those words.

His smile soft, fond. "You know, I did suspect that you felt that way," he teases her a little. "I hope you suspected I love you too. I just wasn't sure if we were going to say the words or not."

Lydia gives Matt a fond look that's slightly tinted with disapproval. She appreciates what he's offering, but she's hoping that it doesn't come to that. She's the one that took the two of them on; it doesn't really seem fair to ask Matt for money to pay them, after all. If things go really poorly, then she'll have to let one of them go back to Troubleshooting Duty until things pick up, but Lydia's hoping that the way things went today will boost sales moving forward. Not to mention that she's offered products to go into a raffle basket and she's put a makeover in the silent auction. Lydia even put herself on auction in the interest of getting her name and product out there. "I'm going to be fine, baby," she promises. "I'll figure it out. I'm okay. But I appreciate it." It isn't a yes, and that's intentional. Lydia isn't going to ask anyone for help, if she can avoid it. She started this business by herself and she intends to see it through on her own. It's the right thing to do.

A shy, but amused smile slides over Lydia's lips. She's glad that at least she's been showing him how she feels, even if she hadn't been able to come out and say so until just now. And yes, she had the feeling that Matt's feelings were the same, but feeling something and making it official by saying it out loud, well. Those are two very different things, aren't they?

"I did," she agrees with a little nod, nuzzling her nose affectionately against his. "I just didn't want to scare you away, that's all. You're stuck with me, now. I hope you know that."

He doesn't want it to come to that either. He wants Lydia to be a rousing success without his help. He's hoping that all her marketing will have the same effect, that her business will pick up. She deserves this. Lydia is one of the hardest working people he knows. He nods at her reassurance, but he's glad that she doesn't rule it out entirely. He wants her to leave her options open.

He understands that and she's right, they are two very different things. Honestly, he's not sure how long it would have taken him to say those words. It's been a very long time since Matt has said those words to someone he was involved with romantically and the last time he'd said them, the last time he'd meant those words, it hadn't turned out well for him.

He leans in to kiss her lightly, chastely and whispers to her. "There's no one else I'd rather be stuck with."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Daycycle 116 [ November 13 - November 26 ]

daycycle 116

[Nov 13 - Nov 26]

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