genessia | arriving [action]

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arriving [action]

Who: Jade Harley and/or you!
Where: The Bay
When: April 19th
What: Jade Harley's makin' her way downtown. Or you know. Her way out.

--

Jade whined grumpily as she opened her eyes. Yikes, how long had she been out? She probably fell asleep at her desk again or something.
But this definitely was not her room. And this was far too comfortable to be her desk chair. She shifted herself into a sitting up position, feeling a weight drop to her legs. A box...
This whole thing was troubling. Where on earth as she?
If even earth. If Sburb taught her anything...
She tucked it under her arm and held her skirt up as she stepped into the water and out the entry way of what she assumed to be a cave.
Well, wherever the hell she was now, it was for the best to make due, right?

She decided to sit down on a bench and open up the box. A necklace, some phone looking device, a piece of paper, a fat manilla file. Apparently, wherever she was, it was Genessia, and she was being welcomed to it.
There was so much information, she found herself overwhelmed. She had no idea where to even begin. Something about the phone being her communication, something else about her getting a job and buying a home and something about the necklace being used for transportation. God, could she go back to sleep and wake up at home on her island? Was this another crazy dream? Was this Sburb all over again? All Jade could manage now was squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to take the overload of information in.

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Even for someone like Jefferson who had come to almost expect constant new and strange scenarios, this one played out especially strange. No matter how often he told himself he was out of the business of hopping portals and dropping in on new realms, it seemed like it just wasn't something he could get away from. Maybe it was some sort of fate devised punishment for the mistakes he had made in his past. He shook his head, already tired of thinking about all of the thoughts scattered about in his already unstable mind.

He had been hovering about near the Bay area for some time, keeping a close eye on who else might emerge from that strange cave. When he saw the silhouette of a young girl emerging from the darkness he foolishly let his heart hope for just a moment -- but no, it wasn't her. Of course it wasn't her. He returned to fiddling with the communication device like nothing had happened, but he couldn't help but notice how long the girl had been sitting on that bench on her own. He didn't like that.

Hoping he didn't seem conspicuous, he stood in front of the bench and gestured toward the empty spot.

"Is this seat taken?" He tilted his head slightly, somehow managing to keep his tone even despite how not okay he was with any of this.

Oh.
When she felt a presence near to her, her arm hair stood on end. She shifted a bit to the left and motioned at the empty spot next to her.
She didn't really have anything to say for once. She was gonna sit here and try and thumb through all these papers and information.
Then again. Maybe this guy knew what was going. Maybe he could give her some pointers to get around.
Or maybe he was just a weirdo with an interesting looking hat.

Jefferson nodded his thanks before quietly sitting next to her. For the first few minutes, he wasn't sure of what to say either. He just... couldn't let her sit there alone. He stuffed his hands into his pockets for a few passing moments, but decided against it. That would make her uncomfortable. After a bit of fidgeting, he leaned over just slightly and flippantly pointed at the items she was holding.

"I can't figure it all out either." He shrugged lightly, the statement oddly candid for someone like him. "You'd think they'd make it a little easier on us pod people."

"I don't know why I'm here," she murmured out. Generally Jade was full of excitement and enthusiasm, but her voice was so soft, any friend of hers would be sure to ask if she was feeling unwell. "And there's so much to read here. I feel so overwhelmed. But I've survived something like this before so I should be able to manage."
Her eyes fixated on the hat that was atop his head. She shouldn't stare but it was so interesting.
"I just don't know where to start. Like, so I have money. What's the most important thing? Am I gonna have to fight for my life soon or something? Should I buy a sword or a gun? Just go for food? That's the kinds of questions I have."

He furrowed his eyebrows as she spoke. The instinct of fatherhood in him wished he could comfort her, but he knew he couldn't push it. Still, he kept her eyes on her, absorbing her words and thinking carefully on them. He had a lot of questions too, but maybe not as many as she did.

As far as answers went... well, he had about roughly 0% of those, too. That was an exaggerated percentage, sure, but he may as well have known nothing for all the more things made sense. His jaw jutted to the side just a bit as he wracked his brain for something to say. Anything to help.

"It's okay to be overwhelmed." He spoke calmly but looked down as if something was on his mind. However, he quickly readjusted his gaze. The truth is he wasn't taking things so well either, but for the sake of this girl he didn't want to show it. So he wouldn't.

"But personally?" He began, snatching the hat from his head and spinning it on his finger, "I wouldn't be too worried. I always have a few tricks up my sleeve."

He tossed his hat up in the air, leaning forward so that it landed near perfectly on the top of his head. He tilted it back with his index finger, forcing a smile that he hoped looked as genuine as he meant it to. It was obvious that she had been looking at his hat, so maybe bringing a bit of levity would calm her nerves. Or freak her out. That, unlike his hat, was still up in the air.

"The name's Jefferson, by the way." He held out his hand to her, but not in an expectant way. If she didn't want to shake his hand she certainly didn't have to.

That was a pretty neat hat trick.
When he introduced himself, Jade's eyes darted down to his hand, and she reached to shake it gently. "Jade," she spit out, adding onto her statement, "J names are pretty cool." A smile began creeping onto her lips, and she began feeling just a little bit more at ease with this whole nonsense. At least for now anyway.
At least if anything, she knew she wasn't the only one who was lost as heck around here. The people in the distance seemed to know what was going on, albeit she couldn't make out their faces, just their bodies.
"Did you get all the same papers I did?" Gulping, she realised how stupid what she said was. "Right, right. You basically mentioned you did. So of course you did. Sorry!"

"They are pretty cool, huh? We should start a club." He wasn't sure how he sounded so calm compared to how he felt, especially considering how he had felt nearly out of his mind not so long ago, but somehow talking to Jade made him feel more like himself.

He couldn't help but think that she likely wasn't that much older than his Grace. Her eyes reminded him of Grace, too. It was that look of a similar sort of innate kindness that they shared.

"Don't worry about it." He shook his head, the play of a real smile reaching his face. He could relate to the way she was prattling on more than she would probably ever realize.

"I wouldn't mind asking you something though, Jade, if you don't mind." He ventured, pulling the strange necklace from his pocket. He held it up by the chain, the green hue of the stone shining in the sunlight. "What color did you get?"

Dave's been here a while (one month, three weeks, two days, seven hours, twenty-eight minutes, sixteen seconds. seventeen...eighteen...nineteen...) The only person he knew was Porrim, but only vaguely from the dreambubbles and he wasn't sure he had her name right. They've only interacted prior to being here for however long (forty-eight minutes, thirty-three seconds). Everyone he's met has been great, sure. But seeing his friends again would make being here a lot easier, even if it's still up for debate being here doesn't throw them all in a doomed timeline and now he's screwed.

God, he missed Jade. Normal Jade. He only got to talk to her in the past three years for a hot minute (seventy-two seconds). When she's spotted sitting on that bench, he forgot everything else he was about to do and beelines for her. Her eyes are closed. Of COURSE her eyes are closed. It's probably for the best because he ran and nobody should have seen that.

"Are you sleeping on a fucking bench?" He stands directly in front of her. Hands are stuffed in his pockets, eyebrows raised, tiny smile tugging at the corners of his lips and begging to break into a far bigger one.

That voice. Wait a minute.
It COULDN'T Have been. But that was such a Dave thing to say...
"I'm not asleep, I'm--"
When her eyes fluttered open and met with Dave's, albeit bespectacled as always, her mouth stopped working and her brain shut off. Dave Strider was here? How? When? Were John and Rose too? Was Sburb back? God no don't let it be...
"I'm not asleep, just overwhelmed and needed a breather!" Her voice was far more excited than she expected it to sound. Dave Strider in the flesh once again, and in this place? It was relieving and also terrifying. "W...Do you know what this place is? Where am I?"

"Right. Yeah. A breather." Quotation marks around "breather" implied. Dave slips his hands out of his pockets, holding one up slightly to wordlessly try and get her to slow down, calm down. He articulates with it after.

"Genessia. Some normal seeming city. It's got uh-- four attached cities which have zero stylistic consistency. We're all kidnapped by some unseen ominous fucking figure from different universes but allowed to roam free in this place. Been pretty chill the whole two-ish months I've been here outside of a few incidents caused by other people in the same situation. I'd say whoever did it doesn't want to do something extra evil unless they're waiting for something like some fucked up doctor with a bunch of lab rats he fed a bunch of experimental drugs that don't kick in right away. But. Yeah. I got nothin'. Basically everyone here knows jack shit. Sorry." He pauses, adding as an afterthought. "It's not the game, though."

"It's not the game."
Those four words were perhaps the most soothing things Jade could ever hear. It wasn't the game. She was still safe.
Jade stood up from the bench, placing the box on the the bench. She felt tempted to reach out and touch Dave, to assure he was real, but she didn't. She held off for now, rubbing her arms nervously. She wanted to hug him tight, tell him she was thankful that he was here. But for now, no. Nothing. She'd just stand there and smile.
Nevermind.
The feeling of running up to him and squeezing him tight against her person flooded every other thought. All she wanted was a hug.

Dave follows the box with his eyes while when moves it, mouth opening to say something more. A lot more but he doesn't know where to start. Questions, most likely. More information. A patented Strider ramble of it all because there's so much Jade talking to catch up on and absolutely nobody else really gets it here. He showed up here in his cape. With a sword. When was she from? Is she okay?

He doesn't know if the hug he gets ambushed with answers that last question or makes it more important. He makes a little sound in alarm - an 'oh.' After hesitant moment of being tense, hugs her back just as tightly.

Hugging Dave and being hugged was the best damn feeling. She had longed for those hugs. Especially now, in this moment.
"Where do we go from here, like where do I get started?"
All that info was somewhere in that paper probably, but having Dave explain it to her like she was five was so much easier on her and her psyche. "Can you at least tell me that much or am I sunk there too?"

They can just talk while hugging. That's fine. She's going to have to let go first. She opened the floodgates on affection - at least as far as hugs are concerned in this moment. Being hugged is a rare and really fucking enjoyable thing and Jade hugs are so warm. He doesn't even care if he finds public displays of affection awkward. She probably needed one. Or twelve. Infinite hugs. She needed the hug, not him. He's good.

No. He needed it.

"Nah, you're not sunk. I've got you on this. I'm a fully prepped welcome party. Shit. I've even got party hats. You're gonna get a sweet help tutorials where I play the role of a far more useful version of that asshole googly-eyed paperclip. The one that's all 'It seems to me like you're trying to grasp a hold on your life? Might I suggest getting a fucking job, loser'." That doesn't actually answer her question.

"We can go find you some place to call dibs on first. Or you can just squat with me at Porrim's B&B until I actually do that myself." Note to self: eventually pay that troll for taking up more than a month-long residency in one of her rooms.

"Excuse me?"

Airy had walked up to the girl, knowing that her eyes were closed, that she was probably mid thought with something and that she was probably being really rude by interrupting her. But this was important. It was hard to explain why it was important without sounding like a lunatic but she'd figure that part out as she went.

"Not to bother you but you haven't seen a pen that looks like this around have you?"

Airy held the watermelon looking pen between her fingers with a hopeful expression pulling across her lips.

Jade blinked away the fog clouding her eyes the moment a voice was heard. A brunette girl with striking eyes stood before her, and she perked up immediately.
When it came to her question, she stared awkwardly before saying "no, unfortunately not." She hadn't even noticed the pen in the girl's hands. Too tired, too overwhelmed. She was lucky she was able to grasp the concept of being a human, nonetheless the concept that there were other humans, and pens, around.

Edited 2016-04-20 02:36 (UTC)

Airy's lips curled into an awkward smile. "That's okay. I don't think anyone has. It's my fault for losing it in the first place." She had the pen she was holding but it was a replica and writing with something that could disappear at any second was troublesome.

"I'm sorry for being rude. I'm Airy. What's your name?"

She hadn't picked up on anything being wrong just yet.

Levy had a pile of books in her arms which was usual considering she'd been coming from the library. She spotted the girl sitting on a near by bench and instantly pegged her as someone new.

With a warm smile she stepped up next to Jade and spoke. "Do you need help?" Her tone was soft and gentle.

It was jarring waking up in a world like this, more so without anyone that you know around. She assumed that this girl hadn't figured out about the phones or their function yet which meant that she probably wasn't in a happy place and didn't enjoy the reading material provided. She's only heard complaints about that anyway which makes her wonder why no one has updated it. She wished she was a better writer or she might be inclined too.

Did she need help? Uh, yes.
She didn't verbalise that just yet, but then again, she'd never get things resolved if she didn't ask.
Better late than never she supposed.
"Just a bit," she said with a smile, and a nod. "I'm a bit confused why I'm here, to be honest! Before I fell asleep, I was on my island where my grandfather and I live. Then I wake up here and I don't remember getting on any planes or anything of that nature."
Her eyes darted to the box in her lap, where all that stuff that she had just looked at was. "Oh. And all this stuff doesn't make sense to me either. I'm a lost cause!"

Levy's expression softened and she moved to place her stack of books on the bench next to Jade before taking a seat.

"It's a lot isn't it." She understood, she'd been lucky when she first arrived. "Let me see what I can do to help. I've been here for a while now. We don't actually know how we get here or how to get home but there is a group working on it. The cities are relatively safe though there are some things you should probably know."

She looked up at Jade wondering if she was going to fast. "Want me to keep going or do you have any questions?" She can keep talking if it helps but it might just overwhelm Jade more.

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