( open ) I knew the waiting had begun

[rightly]

who: Steve Trevor & YOU!
what: Steve's arrival at the Quarantine.
when: August 20th-30th
where: all around
warnings: none expected
note: feel free to poke me @ extreminator or PM if you'd like a more specific starter or have another idea for a thread!


I ▹ ARRIVAL & RECOVERY ▹ HOSPITAL

[ It's a sudden feeling to him, like being pulled violently by a rope tied around his neck. Steve finds himself gasping for air and choking on the first breath that fills his lungs. Feels like a very first breath too, it hurts and makes his throat and lungs burn, his vision blurring as if confronted by light for the first time too.

It's not heaven, he reckons that much. No sort of afterlife, period. Everything here is far too overwhelming, confusing and painful for this to be supposedly what comes after death, and after he's revived and tended to, put back to sleep again so he can have some rest, only to wake up later on, mostly alone on a bed in a communal room, he soon realizes where he is.

A hospital. He's not a stranger to them, even if everything in here is completely foreign to him. The furniture is strange, the windows and the sight beyond them boggling, the various machinery and wiring too confusing and overwhelming. There's a box by the corner with moving pictures, with the very faint sound of voices and music filtering through, but it's nothing he understands.

Honestly, he doesn't understand anything at all, ranging from what this place is, to how did he even get here. But it's not like he can do much more than just lie and wait for the doctors to let him leave— well, he could leave, but at least for the first few hours, any attempts to even get up aren't very successful, and he ends up stumbling until he's leaning against the bed, finding himself forced to sit back down on it. ]

... crying out loud...

II ▹ EXPLORING ▹ STREETS

[ To say that the city's foreign to him is putting it very mildly. Once he's released from the hospital, and is actually capable of standing on his own two feet, he immediately decides to explore the Quarantine, as if that alone will suffice to learn everything he must about the city.

He's soon proven wrong, of course. Between the cars and bikes driving by too fast, the overload of information at every corner, and the odd fashion choices of almost everyone walking up and down the streets, it's not long until Steve looks like a headless chicken walking about, looking this way and that, stopping every so often and just standing in the middle of the street, staring at a screen playing out some moving picture on a store window, or a woman's skirt that just happens to be a little too short.

It's not particularly difficult to bump into him when he's out and about, and he'll immediately turn to face the person who's just walked into him, lifting up his hands to help just in case they lose their balance. ]

Sorry— sorry, my fault. Are you alright?

III ▹ GETTING LOST ▹ STREETS

[ It's also not too terribly surprising that, after long periods spent roaming the streets and parks outside, Steve finds himself losing his way on more than one occasion. As the days go on, he starts to memorize some paths and is able to place himself a little more easily, but he still realizes he needs some help to find his way back a few times, and although his pride keeps him from reaching out immediately, he eventually accepts defeat.

Approaching anyone who seems at least vaguely friendly, he smiles, tipping his head slightly. ]

Excuse me. I was wondering... could you point me in the direction of the community housing?

IV ▹ WILDCARD ▹ ANYWHERE ELSE

[ Between looking around various places for a job, having to look for shops where he can buy a few new clothes, or simply relaxing or settling in for a quiet night reading at the balcony of the 7th floor, feel free to bump into Steve or cross paths with him just about anywhere! ]

Comments

[rightly]

[ Right, because that's not strange at all. Even when the claws retract, there's still blood on her hands, and Steve keeps staring at her knuckles like he can't quite believe what he's just seen. Granted, he knows to expect strange and different people around here, but that's still... she's just a girl. It's a little much, is all. ]

Yes. [ He nods as he answers. He can understand some Spanish, enough to know what she's saying, but not enough to answer in kind. Still, she was speaking English before, so he figures she'll understand him well enough.

Cautiously, he gestures towards her own hands. ] Are you?

[shoplifter]

[... Oh, yes. She looks at the back of her hand, then wipes it off on her jeans.]

... Yes.

[She pulls a new piece of gum from her pocket.]

You should be careful.

Some people like their food a lot.

[rightly]

[ Wait, there did the blood even come from. He's pretty sure she didn't actually hurt the guy. ]

Yes, I can tell. [ He huffs faintly. ] But it was an accident. I didn't mean to.

[ And really, it seems like such a silly reason to want to punch someone. Particularly when Steve offered to pay for a new sandwich.

A thought occurs to him then, and so— ] I could have... handled it myself. Of course. But— thank you anyway.

[shoplifter]

[...........................

She quirks her eyebrow at him, unconvinced.]

[rightly]

[ And he lifts both his eyebrows, shrugging. ]

What? I could.

[ Don't you judge him, young weird clawed girl. ]

I'm Steve. [ He almost offers his hand out of habit, before remembering she's just a kid. And also those claws were a little intimidating. ] What's your name?

[shoplifter]

Laura.

[She offers it briskly and without much warmth -- clearly, the kid isn't used to introductions, or even social etiquette in general. She slips an earbud on from her iPhone and considers him and his lifted eyebrows. She glances away, smacking on her gum, uncertainty crossing her features.]

... Laura Howlett.

You are new.

[rightly]

[ Steve waits when it looks like the girl wants to add something else, almost opening his mouth to speak again when she adds to her name. He offers a light and brief smile instead, nodding. ]

Alright— Laura. I am, yes. [ Wonder what gave him away. ] What about you?

[shoplifter]

[Alright, you got her there. She gives a nod.]

... This month.

They say this place is a good place to live. Better people.

[She doesn't seem completely convinced, but... it hasn't been too bad so far.]

[rightly]

We're both new, then.

[ Him more than her, though. It also doesn't help this place is so different from what he's used to. ]

It depends on where you come from. I've met a few better people so far. A few... not so much. [ Case in point, what just happened a few minutes ago. But at least there's no war here. ]

What is it like, where you come from?

[shoplifter]

[What's it like...? Well, this is coming from someone with tinted glasses, so to speak.]

... Dangerous. There's a lot of fighting.

But Vegas is — pretty. There's a lot of lights and colors.

[rightly]

[ Steve lets out an amused chuckle. At least he recognizes the name, so that's a start. ]

Really? I don't remember it being a very colorful place. Not that I've been there much. [ He hesitates a moment before asking. The girl seems bright, but she's still a kid, and Steve isn't all that sure she'd understand the reason for his question. ]

Do you know what year it was, where you came from?

[shoplifter]

Only at night.

[She doesn't wonder why he asks that, because she has to assume he's unsure of their timelines. While she hadn't... particularly thought much on differences in year, she also isn't surprised at the thought. Once you teleport from one world to another, anything seems logical.]

2029.

[rightly]

[ Steve thinks it's like here, then, with the widespread electricity, more street lights turned on during the night. Las Vegas was nothing like what it is for her, back in 1918, but then Steve has no way of knowing that. ]

That's a long time ahead for me. [ A time he would never reach, and would have never reached, even if he had lived. ] I'm from 1918.

[shoplifter]

[She's pretty detached from history; she knows very little of it, of the technological advances, of the things that have happened since then. She's a smart cookie, sure, but when she's never really had a history book in her hands, she's fairly oblivious about how crazy this place must be to someone from 1918. That said, she knows just how to get clarity.]

Is it very different?

[rightly]

Yes, very. [ He nods, prompt in his answer. ] Some things more than others, but I'm slowly getting used to it.

Is it very different, to you?

[shoplifter]

[She considers it all, takes it all in with a sweep of her eyes.]

A little bit.

It's... greener.

[Most of the places they'd driven through were all full of cement or full of desert. There was no real in-between. There are other little things, too, but that was her biggest thing to notice. The greenery. It feels so much more alive.]

[rightly]

Yes? For me, too.

[ Not that they don't have parks and plenty of forests and wide open fields all over the world, but his last memories aren't filled with that. There's not a lot of green to be found in the midst of a war, save from the uniforms of soldiers, and even those had long been covered by a layer of dirt that turned them brown or grey. ]

I like it. It's very peaceful here. [ Comparatively speaking. And when he doesn't have some fella trying to kill him over a sandwich. ]

[shoplifter]

[She gives a nod.]

People don't chase you. Or want to fight.

... Most times.

[She's got to say, it's not too bad. Less bloodshed, less concern of people's reactions.]

[rightly]

[ He huffs and grins at that because... well, he sure was almost chased down the street, so. ]

Yeah. Most times.

[ He tips his head at her. ]

Would you like a sandwich? [ Well at least he'll be offering it to someone who deserves it more than that jerk. ] Or an ice cream? [ Kids like those, right? ]

[shoplifter]

... I should be asking you that.

[She is never gonna turn down ice cream, but she can't help but poke at him first, okay?

She smiles, just faintly, and it's not long.]

I will show you around. Toward places with ice cream.

[rightly]

Why? I'm the one who's in your debt.

[ For saving his butt, basically. He also may be wondering who is even responsible for her and if he should take her back somewhere but it looks like she's used to taking care of herself, so. He won't ask, for now. ]

I'd like that. Thank you. [ He gestures down the street. ] Lead the way.

[shoplifter]

[She nods slightly, before turning and starting in the direction of the ice cream shop.

Beginning of a beautiful weird friendship, obviously. Come along, Steve.]