[open] arrival

[cactusy]

Who: Sameen Shaw & OTA
What: August 2024 TDM prompts, getting bearings
When: Mid- to late August
Where: Milton and the surrounding environs

arrival / you lying next to me TDM prompt

It doesn't make sense for this to be real, Shaw thinks, because reality rarely involves falling asleep in a New York City flophouse and waking up completely alone in the middle of nowhere - but it also doesn't make sense for it to be a simulation, because the simulations hadn't worked like this, either. That means that this is more confusing than unsettling - and all that confusion does is make her angry.

No enemies are in sight, which is a bust for her; it means she can't jump right into a shootout, take down some kidnapping bad guys, and get some answers. She does keep her handgun out and at the ready as she walks along, keeping up a brisk and steady pace in an attempt to ward off the chill that she can already feel seeping through her tight jeans and leather jacket. It just figures that this crap had to be pulled on her when she was woefully underdressed for winter weather - but she can at least count herself lucky that she'd passed out fully dressed. As much as this sucks, she knows it would be downright impossible if she were barefoot and wearing PJs.

Luckily, she spots the far-off lights of town in a matter of minutes, which spares her from having to cross her fingers and pick a random direction to walk in. She has no illusions that this place is going to be either safe or full of friendlies, but considering the lack of immediate options at her disposal, she can't afford to be picky. She'll sneak over and scope it out, do some recon, and get a feel for what's going on before she makes herself known. Whether she approaches as a civilian or as an agent going in guns a-blazing will depend on what she finds.

Or that's the plan, anyway. What actually happens is that she tromps across a small frozen pond that's been completely hidden by drifting snow, and the ice underfoot only makes itself known when it cracks unceremoniously under her feet, depositing her into two feet of slushy, marshy, freezing water.

Methuselah's feast TDM prompt

One way or another, Shaw will find her way to Milton. Maybe whoever helps her out of the water takes her there directly, or maybe they warm her up elsewhere and she makes her way to town on her own later. Either way, she eventually ends up in a free bed in the Community Hall, where she'll crash for ten or twelve hours straight.

Shaw herself isn't sure how long she sleeps, but it's comparatively warm, and there's no immediate, obvious danger, so she'd guess that it's a good long while before the smell of fish stew wakes her up. After that, barely a minute passes between her opening her eyes and dropping herself down into an empty chair at the feast table. Questions later. Sustenance first. She's halfway through with her bowl of stew and plate of grilled fish before she looks up for long enough to turn to one of her seatmates.

"So - where are we, and what's with the old guy?"

hot springs

Freezing cold water is fine for sponge baths and washing clothes, but for someone who just recently took an accidental bath in a pond and isn't looking to repeat the experience, the hot springs sound a lot more enticing. Shaw makes her way there a few days after her arrival, the blanket from her bed wrapped around her shoulders (she'll want a way to dry off and warm up before redressing, she figures). Once in the cave, she sets the blanket aside, the strips down bare and walks directly into the water, letting out a heavy, relieved sigh as she settles herself down on the rocky bottom and sinks in almost to her nose.

"That's more like it," she murmurs, more to herself than to anyone else that might be nearby. After a moment or two, though, she does glance over at her fellow bather. "Guessing the conditioner in town's all out, though."

[OOC: Feel free to reply with either prose or brackets; I'll match format!]

Comments

you lying next to me

[thedreamer]

The Doctor's been staying close to Milton these last few days, though truth be told, he's always on the move. It's a long enough journey between Milton and Lakeside that his body won't tolerate going back and forth every few days like he'd vastly prefer to, but he's too stubborn not to stay on the move as much as he can. It doesn't matter that he's been here for months now, he'll continue to struggle with accepting the limitations of this body of his that's — for all intents and purposes — more human now than he'd care to admit out loud.

He's been busy recently investigating the earthquakes; having made rudimentary seismographs, he's been calculating the strength of the quakes, the distance between them, plotting the coordinates on maps he's made. Trying to find a pattern, anything that would connect to the ominous warning of, the grave is opening. He's near enough — jotting down notes to himself — that he hears a crack, an unmistakable sound that's become far too repetitive lately. He won't wait to hear someone call out for help, in case they're incapacitated, so he's on the move immediately, tucking his notes and his pencil hastily into his backpack and jogging towards the source.

"Hello! Hang on a moment, I'll have you out." He stops a few centimeters away, kneeling lower to the ground and feeling with his hands for the thickness and integrity of the ground beneath him, trying to judge just how close he can get to her himself. Under his breath, he mumbles, "Poor choice of words. As if you can hang on to anything at all right now, that's what's got you there in the first place. But!" His movements are hurried even as he chatters, and he quickly shrugs out of his warm, heavy coat. Just in case he gets wet himself, he wants something dry left for her, at least. Now he inches as close to the edge as he can get, holding both hands out, intending to grab her if she's able to reach back for him.

"Now there's something to hang onto," he smiles softly. Yes, even at a time like this.

[cactusy]

It's a good thing he's close enough to hear the cracking, because she doesn't scream: she goes down with nothing but a sharp intake of breath, followed by an involuntary gasp once she hits the shock of the water. The pond is, technically, plenty shallow enough to stand up in, and there's no sort of current to content with - but with her limbs immediately numb from the cold and the slick ice and snow giving her nothing to grab hold onto as she tries to pull herself up, she's struggling.

When she spots the guy jogging over, she tries to call out to him to warn him not to step on the ice, but the wind is still knocked out of her, and all she can manage is a gaspy little dhaaaah. Once he's closer, though - once he's talking to her, saying things that she can technically hear but nevertheless isn't really taking in at the moment - she's able to manage something more substantial.

"Careful," she gasps, though she does reach for his hands with both of hers, using them to pull herself out of the watery hole. "S-stand back, use a-- a branch-- if it starts t-to crack-- got it?"

[thedreamer]

Careful — ha. He considers the word insofar as being something uttered by her. Cataloging it as an adjective distantly known to him. This man has rarely (if ever) been careful a day in his life. Nor does he care to consider his own well-being or self-preservation. Carefulness is extended towards the safety of others, those around him.

"Noted, but trust me, we'll be fine, the pair of us. And I'll spare any unsuspecting branches from a duty they didn't ask for. That pond's no good for anyone or anything," he rambles, yes, but he's also staying right where he is, near her, to make sure she's steady.

"There's an unbelievably cozy, very dry and obnoxiously puffy coat with your name on it only ten paces away. You'll look dreadful in it, it's delightful. Almost there," he encourages. It's just another day ending in Y. He'd be more worried if he wasn't absolutely convinced — perhaps too smugly — they'll have this whole situation sorted in only another moment or two when they're on completely solid ground and she's in drier clothing.

[cactusy]

Coat. Dry. Those are the words that reach her the best and hit her the hardest, and she makes a wild grab for it as she surges forward, stumbling as her legs threaten to buckle under her, the fabric of her jeans already starting to freeze stiff. She makes it seven paces, but makes up for the rest with a lunge, successfully snatching the coat and trying to pull it around herself.

Feast

[desperate_times_right]

Chloe doesn’t like hanging out at the hall very much - last time she’d been in here someone had pulled a gun on her - but her supernaturally enhanced stamina leaves her constantly hungry and she can't resist the siren call of free food.

She's on her second bowl of soup when the woman across from her speaks up.

“The town’s called Milton. Northern Canada somewhere. The old man says he’s a local. Doesn't live here in town, though, and won't give us his real name.”

[cactusy]

Don't worry, Chloe, Shaw's gun is currently disassembled and drying under her bed. You're good.

She thinks this answer over as she chews, swallows... and then momentarily (momentarily) sets her fork down.

"You got any idea about the endgame here?"

[desperate_times_right]

“Nothing concrete,” Chloe sighs. That would be too easy. “You heard that voice when you got grabbed up, yeah? That thing is the Darkwalker, and it and its fucked up little buddies over in Lakeside do not like us being here. I figure whatever brought us here did it because the Darkwalker can't just eat the world if there's outsiders here.”

[cactusy]

"Sounds like a load of crap to me," Shaw says heavily, with no real energy in her voice. "Folie à twenty, or however many people we got here."

Hot springs

[meadqueen]

“I don't know what that is,” Randvi answers mildly. “It's for bathing?”

Undressed in the water, she isn't as obviously displaced in time as she tends to be in her light armour and fox fur. However, healing scars mar the right side of her face, neck and shoulder, and a gauze bandage covers her right eye, even while bathing. A grey puppy hovers anxiously on the edge of the spring at her right side, visibly nervous about the water.

[cactusy]

"It's for keeping your hair moisturized," Shaw replies, though she's not looking at Randvi as she says it. She scoots a little closer to the edge of the pool, holding out her fingers for the puppy to sniff. "The minerals in hot springs dry out your hair and skin."

[meadqueen]

“I see.” Randvi still oils her braid when she can, so she hadn't noticed.

She makes a small gesture above the water and the puppy surges forward to sniff and lick the offered fingers.

“My name is Randvi, and this is Ulfrùn. If you have already met Diefenbaker, she's his daughter. She is training to help me travel more freely.”

[cactusy]

"A smart little girl," murmurs Shaw - allowing the licks without complaint, and wiggling her fingers to tickle the puppy under the chin. Almost as an afterthought, she adds, "I'm Shaw."

Sorry, Randvi. Dogs are always a bigger draw than people, at least at first.

"So, she's gonna become a sled dog or something?"

[guidemyway]

Ruby's pretty occupied with her own dish when Shaw speaks up. She raises up one finger to get her to wait as she stuffs her mouth one last time. A few moments of chewing and then swallowing later and the teenage girl looks over with a smile, and a little bit of uncertainty in her own tone.

"Uh- Well we're on Earth for one. In case you're from somewhere else." She had to clarify because she wasn't from there.

"Outside of that we're in a place called Milton in Canada. I have no idea where that is in reference to anywhere else around here though."

[cactusy]

Shaw has fewer compunctions about eating with her mouth full, so she doesn't bother to swallow her next one before saying, "I'm from New York". It's... mostly intelligible. Maybe less so for someone who has never heard of New York before.

She swallows, then continues.

"So, what, you're an alien? 'Cause you look pretty normal to me."

[guidemyway]

See. This was Ruby's kind of people. She does blink with a little bit of surprise when she says New York.

"Oh! I have heard of that one. There's another guy around who's from there too." Look at her, paying a little bit of attention to things.

"Kind of, sort of I guess? I mean. I'm a human and all that. But I'm from a place called Remnant. I don't think it's anywhere near here." She says with a little bit of a shrug.

"The stars and moon are all wrong for one. But- Apparently that's a problem with this place in general."

[cactusy]

"They looked pretty normal to me, too."

Not that she's any kind of astronomer. Later on, when it's fully dark out and she doesn't have hot food in front of her, she'll have to take a second look.

"So, uh--" She wipes fish juice off her mouth with the back of her hand, squinting slightly at Ruby. "You seem pretty calm about all of this."

Says the woman who's kept up the same quasi-monotone for this entire conversation. Stones and glass houses, Shaw.

methuselah's feast

[notarat]

Billy isn't even judging the other for first deciding to focus on the food here, really. It's the main reason he's here for the feast too. Who wouldn't want to enjoy some good food while they can actually have it in this remote place?

If anything, he looks more surprised at her looking up and actually speaking than he did about her quickly eating that food. Or maybe he's surprised she's only questioning any of this now.

Not that he's going to comment on the latter. Billy knows to be polite out loud.

"He is the one who brings the food here when new people show up."

.. maybe not the most elaborate explanation, but you know, this is clearly Methuselah's main function in Billy's mind.

[cactusy]

"Anyone ever die suddenly after eating it?" she asks, right before taking another big, unhesitating bite.

[notarat]

...

He's definitely staring for a slight moment. Mostly because of the sheer contrast between her words and her actions. It's not something Billy sees all that often - a caution in one, and then a total lack of caution in the other..

"Would that not be the sort of thing one would ask before eating it?" He can't help but ask - though he still sounds likely he's asking it relatively politely.

Hot springs

[solitarysoul]

"Oh," Levi says as he comes up near the hot springs. His coat is off but that's as far as he's gotten. "I didn't know anyone was here. D-do you mind company? I won't look."

He is, in fact, very clearly not looking. Eye contact is a problem for him too, so he's mostly looking at the air above her head.

[cactusy]

"It's fine," she says, and though her flat, subdued tone might sound like sarcasm, she genuinely means it. "They're just boobs; they won't hurt you."

Still, she sinks a little lower in the water, more for his sake than for hers. The kid looks college-aged at most, and the fact that he's embarrassed rather than leering does earn him some points.

"Kinda surprised this place isn't more crowded, actually."

[solitarysoul]

"I-I didn't--I mean, some people don't like it when someone looks." Or some guy looks. He goes and puts his coat and rifle down against a rock and starts to get undressed.

"People come here from time to time. I wouldn't be surprised if there were usually people here but only one or two at a time."

hot springs

[copacetic]

Jane doesn't move when Shaw arrives, except to open one eye and make sure it's not some creepy, pervy dude. Nope. Just the chick from the forest. With the old lady? She seemed chill, so it's whatever. Jane gives Shaw a small, two-fingered wave before relaxing back into the water, eyes closed. She doesn't say anything else until Shaw speaks. Then she laughs a little.

"Yeah, well, if you find any, let me know," she said. "The last time my hair looked this bad I was in rehab."

[cactusy]

"The number of people here who don't know what conditioner is tells me we're not going to see any for a while," Shaw says. "Luckily, my hair always looks this good."

Her tone is dry throughout; it's more a joke than a proper brag.

"You been settling in? Find any more psychadelic soup?"

cw: off-color humor

[copacetic]

Jane smiles, and it's not even fake this time. An involuntary twitch of her upper lip. To be fair: Shaw's hair does look cool.

"Yeah, well. Considering how many people here are from 18-whatever? I'm just gonna be happy if they don't give us all dysentery." She looks at Shaw, and then herself. She rolls her eyes at the other woman conspiratorially. "Or try to take away our right to wear pants."

To the question of if she's settled in, Jane looks a little more uncomfortable, but she's not about to unload all her woes on someone who she's still newly met. "I've been okay. What about you? You don't look like a hunter."

Then again, the older woman has been full of surprises so far!