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Daycycle 122 [ January 15 - January 21]

daycycle 122

[Jan 15 - Jan 21]

[OOC Plotting for this Dacycle can be found here.]

Early, Early Morning [0200 - 0400]
At approximately 0200, several explosive devices planted in Technical Services by PURGE will detonate, damaging several memobanks. In a rush to prepare for the morning upload several Technicians will mistakenly put the wrong memories in the wrong banks. They will catch their mistake before the final upload, but as a result several memories will now be shared across different alpha citizens' consciousnesses. These memories will be experienced as dreams and characters will retain knowledge of them when they wake.

Memory Swap Pairs

Adam Parrish - Derek Hale
Zatanna Zatara - Oliver Queen
Steve Rogers - Ronan Lynch
Katniss Everdeen - Matt Murdock
Morgana LeFey - Tony Stark
Clint Barton - Allison Argent
Isabelle Lightwood - Lydia Martin
Buffy Summers - Barry Allen
Emma Swan - Parker
Cisco Ramon - Gracie Cannell
Natasha Romanoff - Jack Harkness
Primrose Everdeen - Alcide Herveaux

Room 1101 will be woken up at 1200 when a squadron of Internal Security Gray Ops come to arrest Bucky Barnes for treason. He will be led away at gun point and his roommates, Ronan Lynch, Adam Parrish and Oliver Queen will be immediately taken into IntSec for questioning. They will be questioned about the activities of their former roommate for several hours before being sedated and returned to their room before 0500. Bucky's roommates will not remember his arrest or their questioning when they wake, though they may feel the lingering active effects of the sedative for several hours into their day.

The memory of Bucky Barnes having ever been present in Alpha will be erased with varying degrees of success from all those he came into contact with.

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

No Specials will be selected for a mission today.

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

At 0900 it will be discovered that the shooter from Steve Roger's assassination attempt has, ironically, been assassinated along with her guards in Armed Forces the night before. The letters mod will be left written in the shooter's blood along her cell wall.

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 be at 1900 in the Commissary and will be overseen by Clint Barton. Izzy Lightwood from Medical Services has been assigned to assist him in giving a demonstration on basic first aid and wound care.

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

She doesn't always go to the citizen improvement activities. It isn't necessarily a lack of interest as so much an overall desire not to participate. Tonight is different though. There's too much on her mind and she wants a distraction. There had been the strange dreams that might actually have been someone else's memories. And then there had been the kiss Derek had given her before leaving, acting as if it were the most natural thing in the world. There's too much on her mind and all she wants is a distraction.

(Besides, if the Hunger Games are any reminder, a first aid class could be useful.)

What she doesn't expect is encountering Derek there. It makes it difficult to focus on Clint's lessons and she hates herself a little bit for that. But he had kissed her like Peeta would do when they had been pretending to be in a relationship, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Only thing is, Derek wasn't pretending. He wasn't trying to calm her down. He had just kissed her like this thing between them might actually be real.

Despite herself, she steals glances at him a number of times during the activity. She should talk to him, shouldn't she? It's the adult thing. Better than ignoring. Katniss tells herself that again and again until she finds herself approaching him at the end of citizen improvement. She smiles briefly as she greets him, "Hi."

Derek, on the other hand, is still trying to shake off the rest of the day and while he's trying to pay attention to the class, he's only catching half of it and not noticing really anything else going on. It's frustrating to be this lost in himself because Derek knows that being unaware of his surroundings makes him vulnerable but he can't make himself shake it enough to be more vigilant.

So when he hears Katniss's greeting, he startles a little and looks over sharply by reflex even though he recognizes her voice. Seeing her face settles him instantly and he relaxes visibly. "Hey," he replies and Derek returns the smile. "Did you just get here? I'm not gonna lie, I am not going to remember a word of this tomorrow...and I actually, for the first time, kind of feel bad about that, actually," he admits in a whisper so as not to disrupt the class.

"Sorry I bailed earlier, I had to finish those reports for the study; I'm turning everything in in the morning," he adds apologetically. Derek does feel kind of bad about leaving her alone up there almost all day, but his project is important for everyone and he's sure she understands. Or he'd like to think she does.

For most of the day, she's been just as unaware of her surroundings. She's been too lost in thought. The strange nightmares had turned out to be another man's memories. A man who had apparently suffered her usual nightmares instead. All of that had made her think back to the initial discussion of glitches and how she wanted so badly to believe those memories were only glitches. The nightmares form last night make her almost believe in glitches again. But if everything she knows is the result of a glitch, then how can she explain Prim being here?

There's been a lot to think about. Derek's kiss hadn't helped much.

"I've been here for most of the class," she whispers back, not wanting to disturb Clint's class either. It's why she had waited this long to approach him anyway. She shrugs in response to his apology. That he had left early hadn't mattered. Katniss understood that he had to get everything in order for his study. "You had to do other work to do. Did you get it done?"

When she says she's been here for most of the class, Derek feels guilty all over again. He'd come in late; why hadn't he noticed her? Had he really been that far up his own ass and that lost in his own thoughts that he'd completely missed Katniss when he'd come in? He really hopes that by "most" she means that she came in late, too, and hopefully later than he had. At least then he's just unobservant and not a complete asshole.

He nods. "Yeah, I finished it," he whispers. "I'll just turn it in before I head to breakfast in the morning. Then, I guess, we hope for the best."

Not that he has high hopes. Derek has a feeling that even though he's stacked the deck in his favor, the Computer is equally as likely to take his findings and make a necessary change as It is to scrap his findings and pretend he never did the study at all to maintain the status quo. He hopes his work actually accomplishes, but he isn't going to hold his breath. If he gets him nowhere, though, Derek already knows he'll be less and less engaged in this place than he already is. The people are the only thing that keep him from hating this place to its very core. The fact that they took away his wolf is the only thing that keeps most of the Alphas alive, at this rate, because he's angry...all the time. Except when he's in bed with Katniss and there are only so many hours of the day they can get away with that.

Unfortunately for Derek's guilt, she had been here for most of the class. Katniss might not be good at letting people in or making friends, but she does believe in a clearly defined system of reciprocity. Clint had put up with her nightmares in the short duration they had spent as roommates. The least she can do is show up for the class he's giving on time.

He's had a lot to do today. Katniss doesn't blame him for not noticing her in the crowd of people. Besides, she doesn't expect him to notice her every time they're in the same place. She isn't exactly certain what they are to each other - if there's anything there aside from friend. Derek isn't an asshole. He's been anything but to her in the entire time she's known him.

"Let me know?" Katniss asks, uncertain if he'd let her know the outcome unless she did ask. She wants the odds to be in Derek's favor. Whether or not the Computer believes his findings though, she's proud of him. Taking a chance like that isn't easy. Taking any kind of chance isn't.

She glances up at Clint as he wraps up the lesson and then back at Derek. The people here mean the world to her, too. She wants the best for Prim and for the few that she slowly started to befriend. She wants the best for Derek, too. He's too much like her, with the odds rarely in his favor. He deserves something good. She takes a breath. "I can go with you. If you want."

With a nod, Derek answers her question without even thinking, because he doesn't have to. "Yeah, of course." She's the first person he'll tell. Then Buffy and Alcide. Then Natasha. ...and that pretty much is his entire circle of social integration in this place so far, which is fine. He guesses. Derek doesn't need people, at least that's what he likes to tell himself.

When Katniss looks up, so does Derek, just in time to see that the lesson is being wrapped and Derek's attention moves back to Katniss. At her offer of solidarity, Derek smiles a little. "I thought you said authority doesn't mesh with you," he teases playfully as he pushes himself to his feet and offers her a hand to pull her up as well. If the class is over and neither of them are really paying attention anyway, there's no point staying for anything extra, is there?

"If you want to come with me, that's fine. I'm going in the morning, first thing. Dropping off the paperwork and going to one of the confessionals to give my results," he explains.

Katniss smiles almost immediately at his response. She can't help but feel pleased that he's willing to share his results with her. Yeah, she's helped him rig his study and because of that, probably does deserve to know how the review goes. But she'd like to think that he's telling because she's Katniss and he's Derek and there's some weird thing between them that makes her feel a little more at home here.

"It doesn't," she agrees, a serious note to her voice. Katniss has many shortcomings; her inability to obey authority is one of those things high up there. Taking his offered hand, she stands. He's teasing her and she wants to tease him back but discussion of authority keeps her from being jovial. "But if you wanted the moral support..."

Katniss shrugs as she trails off. Her cheeks flush a little and the ghost of a smile crosses her face. "You support me. It wouldn't be right if I didn't help you in return."

Derek's smile is a little more sympathetic than anything else when she offers still to go with him to support him when she's clearly uncomfortable with where he's going and why. So, he shakes his head a little and gives a soft laugh.

"I think the fact that you helped me with my study by giving me subjects and that you're willing to come with me even though I can tell you really don't want to is plenty of support, Katniss," he says sincerely. "If you want to come, I'd love for you to come, but I'm not going to feel like you're abandoning me if you don't feel comfortable. I'm really just dropping off the results and giving a report in the confessional, it's okay. I'll let you decide, but I don't want you to think that you have to come for me to believe that you've got my back on this," Derek explains.

He leans in to whisper in her ear, then. "I already know that you do and I appreciate it probably more than you realize."

She catches that sympathetic look from the corner of her eye and for a few seconds, isn't exactly sure what to make of it. He understands her, yes, but does he feel sorry for the kinds of things that she's been through? Or does it mean that he just understands how difficult this offer is for her? Katniss would like to think it's the latter option and that he does understand how difficult the offer is.

Katniss still remains doubtful as he speaks. It's not until Derek whispers in her ear that she feels a sense of ease. She lets out a breath. It comes out more shaky than she expects it to be and she suspects that it's the way his breath tickles her ear that causes it. She's aware of how close they're standing and while it's one thing to be close at night, during the day it feels like something else. Like his kiss in the afternoon.

"I don't want you to feel like I'm a burden," she says quietly. "I should do more if..."

Frowning, she trails off. Katniss suspects she knows the words she was going to say (if this is a relationship) but she's afraid to say them. It makes her think back to that kiss this afternoon. They need to talk but not here. "Can we go someplace private?"

Derek looks confused by Katniss's concern, because it had never crossed his mind, in the current context. Or ever, actually, come to think of it.

"Yeah, absolutely," he says, nodding and gathering up his things. "You're not a burden, either," he adds and then gets to his feet. Without saying where they're going, he takes her hand and starts in the direction of the empty warehouse he'd found. He'd taken her there before, to tell her about his plan for this study when he'd originally gotten the green light to conduct it.

As they're nearing it, he speaks up again, giving her hand a little squeeze. "What's up, everything okay?"

It's on the tip of Katniss' tongue to protest. To tell him that she is a burden. That he should've listened to her a while back when she told him that she wasn't good. She somehow drags people down with her. He's got to see that. He's got to see how much of a burden she really is.

She stays quiet until they're actually in the warehouse. Today's been a long day. Her thoughts have been anything but quiet. Matt's memories. Derek's kiss. There's so much going on and she doesn't know what to make of it. Having Derek do so much and Katniss do so little? That doesn't help her sense of self-worth either. She's a burden. She's no good to anyone. She kills.

Once inside, Katniss takes a few steps away from Derek and looks around the empty warehouse. She doesn't want to speak but this was her idea, wasn't it? She should say something. Katniss looks back at him, a thoughtful frown on her face. "Why did you kiss me this afternoon?"

There are a lot of other things she wants to say too. Like the man in her dreams is real. But this seems as good a place as any to start.

Katniss doesn't answer right away and Derek feels worry settling in the pit of his stomach as they close the gap between themselves and the warehouse. Derek pulls the door open so that they can go inside and he looks around quickly to make sure they're not being watched before closing the door behind them.

Then, he looks back at her and her question is a surprise. It shouldn't be, but it is. His jaw goes slack for a second while he tries to decide if he should apologize before finally coming out with, "should I not do that, anymore...?"

It's a stalling question, sure, but he's also trying to gauge whether she's upset about it and, if she is, he'll apologize. "I don't know, I didn't really even think about it, I guess..." He shrugs and gives a weak but incredibly sheepish smile. "Sorry...I'll pay more attention, if you don't like that."

"No," she says quickly, then blushes and scowls at herself for being so eager to experience more of his kisses. It's different when he's trying to calm her after a dream. Or at least that's what she tends to tell herself. Those kisses have a purpose: to remind herself of who she is and to ground her in reality. More often than not, they're not even kisses that could be seen as romantic. This afternoon had been different. That had been the kind of kiss that someone gives for no other reason than they want to. Because there's something between them.

And she's gone and messed it all up, hasn't she? His surprise reminds her of the surprise she had felt after he had kissed her goodbye. Katniss hadn't meant to offend him. She isn't angry. Mostly, she's just confused. They never actually talked about anything more than the fact there was something between them. Right?

Katniss takes a deep breath and shakes her head. "No," she repeats. "It's... it's not that I didn't like it." Because she did, otherwise she wouldn't feel so embarrassed by that. She continues talking, stammering out the words as they come to mind. "It's... I didn't expect it. You know, the public part. The part where it felt... normal?" Like we're something more?"

Her immediate response doesn't actually help Derek because the color in her cheeks contradicts that negative response word and Derek pauses, waiting. He should wait, right? Before he decides how to respond to her? Because right now, he's not really sure that he understands the "no" properly and if there's one thing Derek isn't, it's That Guy who takes no for a yes and does the thing anyway. So he waits.

When she goes on, the no becomes more clear with extra context and he smiles a little. Maybe it's his turn to blush a little bit, because he really did spring that on her and he hadn't meant to, it had just...felt like the thing to do at the moment and he'd put exactly no thought into it before, during, or after it. Now he kind of wishes he had because she clearly has.

"Are we not?" he asks and it isn't coy or worried, it's matter-of-fact. They're friends, sure, but he's friends with Buffy, too, and he doesn't sleep with her in his arms every night or kiss away her nightmares when they come. What he and Katniss are is absolutely something more than friends and probably always has been, whether either of them want to put an actual label on it or not. He knows this. She must also know this. They're just both gun shy when it comes to admitting it aloud, which is fair. It's entirely fair, really. "I guess it just feels like a natural progression even if we don't call it anything, I don't know," he admits.

Katniss has never been all that great with her words, unless in a moment of impromptu passion. Like in District 7, when Cressida had her address the camera after the Capitol's fire bombs had destroyed the hospital. She tends to be even worse when it comes to her emotions. Derek might be figuring that out because he doesn't say anything right away. Not until she's done puzzling out her words. It might also just be that he's a good guy.

It surprises her how nice it is to see the understanding appear on his face. She likes that blush and she likes the smile even more. He's right when he counters her question with one of his own. They are something more. They probably have been the second she started slipping into his bed at night. All of this should be reassuring, and on some level, it is. On another, it's terrifying. People get hurt when you let them in and even if they never call it what it is, the potential still remains there.

"I've never really done this before," Katniss admits awkwardly. Whether she's mentioned it before or not doesn't matter. It seems important to remind them both of that now. "At least not with anything real. I don't know the progression involved. Or, I guess, what it's supposed to look like when it's not for a game."

She's still naive and inexperienced on so many levels. Lately, Derek seems to be pushing that. Katniss doesn't mind. She just needs explanations.

Perhaps the reason Derek is so comfortable with the fact that Katniss struggles to voice herself is because he's only just recently started to be able to kick that same affliction. He thinks with his emotions and he acts accordingly; he's seldom been terribly vocal which has been cause for a lot of destruction in his wake and it's taken him most of his life to realize it. Now, he's trying to change. Eventually, he thinks, she'll probably get there too, for her own reasons, and until then, it's all right. He seems to be doing just fine so far remaining patient enough for her to clarify herself before jumping to respond when he's still a little unclear and she seems to be doing just fine making sure to be more clear when asked. This works for Derek.

Derek huffs a soft laugh and shakes his head. "Oh, I didn't mean to suggest that there's, like, an official sort of progression that happens in relationships, or whatever it is you'd like to call us. I just meant, for us specifically," he says, shrugging a little. "It felt right." He'd be lying if he said he didn't feel a little bit concerned, though, that she's never been in any kind of "real" relationship because it makes him wonder if he's pressuring her without meaning to and whether she's bending without realizing it.

"We don't have to...I mean, I don't have to do stuff like that anymore if it makes you feel uncomfortable, you know what I mean? There's nothing defined here. I'm going by the seat of my pants just as much as you are, and I'm not going to be offended if you tell me to chill out. I'd rather you say it than endure something that makes you uncomfortable just because you think you have to. Then I would be uncomfortable," he explains.

They have so much in common and that had been so crucial for Katniss in opening up to him. She could see herself in him, in those decisions that he made and the tragedies that he suffered. The more they talked, the more she felt it unlikely to be rejected by him. Now, weeks later, it's become more than that. It's the patience he shows her. The fact he isn't one of those guys that take no to mean yes. And the promise that maybe she can be more like him someday. He's gone through crap just like she has. Look how put together Derek seems now.

When he corrects her thoughts on progression, Katniss ducks her head in embarrassment. Of course she'd known that - to some degree anyway. But everything with Peeta had been an official sort of progression as they played for the camera and President Snow. It's unlikely the Computer cares about what any of them do in their free time, so long as they continue their jobs. Could she make herself look any more naive or stupid?

"That's not it," she answers quickly. Because her words seem to be doing such a crappy job explaining herself this afternoon, she reaches for his hands to place them on her hips. This way he knows she's not uncomfortable with anything he does. If she were, Katniss would have no problem telling him to stop. "I'd tell you if you did something I didn't like. Trust me," she continues dryly, "I have no problem objecting to things I don't like."

Katniss frowns for a second, trying to figure out her own thoughts and emotions. "I think you surprised me. With everything going on on today, with those other memories, I didn't expect it. Most..." She trails off as her prudish nature gets the better of her for a second. Katniss rolls her eyes at herself. "Most of our kisses haven't been where others can see them. And they're usually to comfort me."

Katniss moves his hands to her hips and Derek gives her a little smile. Her predilection toward using physical gestures to communicate when she becomes concerned that her words aren't doing the job has always been endearing to him. He follows her, most of the time, even if it takes him an extra minute to get there, but she always seems to default to supplementing it like this and he thinks that's sweet.

Derek moves one of his hands off her hip and up to hold the side of her face as he smiles again. "I know. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take you off guard like that. But if you don't mind it...I kind of like it," he points out. "It doesn't always just have to be because you're upset or scared. Sometimes it can just be because I like you and I want to. Or because you like me and you want to," he adds, letting her know that if she ever feels inclined to initiate in the same way he had this afternoon, she's welcome to do so.

It's a habit that she's never noticed. But it would make sense. She acts, especially in moments of anger or frustration. This is a different kind of frustration that prompts her physical actions now; frustration at her self rather than anger at another person or institution. Regardless, it prompts the same response. Action. Words are never enough.

His smile causes Katniss to smile back at him. She leans her cheek into his hand and nuzzles it for a second. Now that it's nearing its end, this conversation doesn't seem nearly as intimidating as it had during the Citizen Improvement activity. She had been overthinking this whole situation, hadn't she? But talking is good, and it's getting surprisingly easy around him.

Her smile turns a tad mischievous when he suggests she spontaneously kiss him because she wants to. Katniss would think by now that liking him is a given. Then again, it's so easy for her to be wrong about these things. She turns her head to kiss his palm and then looks up at him.

"Like that?" she teases.

There's something about Katniss's naïveté that manages to make itself both intimidating and incredibly endearing. It's a lot to think about knowing that she's never done anything like this before, especially with the age gap between them and everything they've both been through on their own, because that sort of means he holds an awful lot of responsibility that he might not normally want to hold so firmly in his hands. But at the same time, Derek gets to see a part of Katniss that he's pretty confident no one else does, like that mischievous smile and the way she looks up at him after pressing her lips to his palm.

He laughs a little and nods, tilting his head down a little to be closer to her. "Yeah, that's a pretty good start," he teases back before he closes the gap between them and presses his own kiss to her lips. It's quick and chaste, and then he looks back at her, still smiling.

"Are we okay, now?"

Her naïveté is something Katniss has never liked. It had helped in getting her picked on during the Quarter Quell by some of the other Victors. She blushed easily. Was uncomfortable around nudity. And she had been all too aware of that one time she and Peeta had gotten carried away during the Quarter Quell and how confused that hunger had left her after. Now, she worries that her naïveté will be more than Derek wants to deal with. Katniss isn't certain how much older Derek is than her, but he's clearly older. He's also had far more experience with these things than Katniss has ever had. Why would he want to put up with her?

She likes that he teases her back and when he presses his lips to hers, Katniss doesn't hesitate to kiss him back this time. Although she smiles in return, there's sincerity in her eyes that makes her own smile a little more solemn. She nods. "Be patient with me?"

It's the way that she smiles back at him after returning his kiss that really cinches it for Derek. It's okay that she's less experienced than he is and that he's older than she is, because he can be patient with her and she's willing to take baby steps. That's all he needs.

Rubbing her back with one hand, Derek smiles back at her and nods. "Yeah. I can do that."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Daycycle 122 [ January 15 - January 21]

daycycle 122

[Jan 15 - Jan 21]

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