Sameen Shaw (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cactusy) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
singillatim2024-09-02 11:52 am
cactusy) wrote in singillatim2024-09-02 11:52 am
[open] arrival
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!]
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!]
no subject
no subject
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.
no subject
Take your pick of reasons, Billy.
"But mostly, I was joking."
no subject
There's a very slight pause, but then he's already saying: "I suppose that explains it."
But in his head he's definitely still thinking about the rest of what she said. About what it could say about her. He isn't too sure yet, but it is leaning in different directions, especially when Billy's mind is always so busy with over-analyzing things.
"But-- no, the food should be fine. Though many.. unfortunate things happen in this place, none of them have ever happened during the feast, as far as I am aware." Thankfully. It's kind of nice to have one good thing to rely on here, especially when it involves food. "Though I must admit all of us know very little about the man outside who brings the food," he continues to offer her.
no subject
What he plans to do with it once he has it is another question.
"So, uh-- tell me about these unfortunate things."
cw: vague narrative mention of period-typical sexism
Well, if this place has proven anything to Bigby, it's that most people aren't so delicate. Not even women. So even though he pauses for a very brief moment, it doesn't take that long at all before he starts describing them.
"People often die here. Which would not be unusual for such a remote and cold place, I suppose, but.. It's different than that. We are purposefully being picked off by some sort of.."
His voice trails off this time, and Billy frowns like he's having trouble picking the right word for this.
".. creature, if you could call it that. The Darkwalker."
no subject
"Not the first time I've heard that name," she says. "Funny, though; from what I hear, both it and us have the same goal."
Namely, their departure from this world.
no subject
It's said a touch dryly, but nothing too extreme. Considering he doesn't know her all that well, it feels easier to stick to a tone that's relatively more polite. Even if a slight exasperation - with this place, honestly, it doesn't seem to be aimed towards her at all - is starting to shine through.
"Not to mention that some of us have no choice." If she has heard of the Darkwalker, surely she has spoken to some people here already. This topic might not come up as easily as the Darkwalker itself, but Billy does know it's important for quite a few people here.
Maybe not her though, with what she's saying.
"Because some people here have nothing to return to. Some of us are dead."
no subject
"You look pretty alive to me," she says - not dismissively, and not automatically disbelieving him, but still inviting more of an explanation.
no subject
Look, it's just the truth! He would find all of this very ridiculous too, if it wasn't for the fact that he has experienced all of this himself.
"I died back where I was before I ended up here. But rather than staying dead, or going to whichever afterlife people might believe in, I found myself waking up in the snow here."