( 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

[verflair]

[ What better way to get acquainted with the oddities of the Quarantine than with a rapier-toting cat man, right? ]

Very well then, but only if you return the favor.

[ He turns, trusting Steve will keep pace as he heads in the direction of the park. It’s a spot X’rhun rather likes, not as wild and dangerous as the forest beyond the perimeter fence, but far enough removed from the bustle and passing vehicles that he feels a bit more at ease. A little slice of home amidst the technology and chaos. ]

To start, I’m from a star known as Hydaelyn, the region of Eorzea to be specific. Were this city of my home, you would find the structures might not reach nearly as tall or contain half as much glass. The vehicles, if any, would be carts pulled by hand, or if they’re large enough, by chocobo.

I’m sure you can tell why I find myself so out of sorts in this place.

[rightly]

[ Well, that is true. Can't get much stranger than that. Probably.

He starts down the road, easily keeping up pace, as he listens to what X'rhun tells him about his world. It's all a bit too much for Steve to memorize on a first go, though, and he lets out a faint amused huff once he finishes. ]

Well, I can't say I recognize half the words you said, so yes, I can imagine why all this is so weird to you. [ He knits his eyebrows together, though. ] you lived on a star?

[verflair]

Yes…?

[ Said like he doesn’t see what’s so special about that, before it occurs to him that this must be a little quirk of vocabulary between worlds. ]

Ah, planet, I believe is the other word I’ve heard to describe one’s home world. We simply call them stars where I’m from.

[rightly]

[ Steve looks surprised and confused both for the flicker of a second, but then X'rhun goes on to clarify, and he lets out an understanding hum, nodding. ]

Yes, that does make more sense. To us a star is something else entirely. It's... something that's on fire. [ There's probably a more correct and proper way to explain this, but Steve's not a scientist. Evidently. ] Like the sun— the sun's a star, where I come from. I mean... if you know what the sun is.

[verflair]

[ He chuckles, the sound warm and good-natured. ]

Aye, I am aware of the sun. The moon as well.

What of your home? Does it bear any similarity to the Quarantine at all?

[rightly]

Well, it doesn't hurt to ask.

[ Steve smiles, ducking his head a little awkwardly. At least X'rhun doesn't seem to take the question to heart. ]

Well, we have a sun, a moon as well, and stars in the sky at night. We have streets and shops and a few buildings too, but this place is... far more advanced, technologically speaking. Things are similar on very basic levels, but there's also a lot that's different. People's mentalities too, and what's deemed as socially proper and acceptable.

[ Steve has no particular feelings about that, it's just something that's difficult for him to adapt to. ]

[verflair]

[ He cants his head a little, something very feline in the movement, though his expression is one of curiosity. ]

Oh? How so?

[ X’rhun himself has spent the last twenty years traveling, and the mentalities and social niceties of his home word vary widely from place to place. He doesn’t spare a second thought to it in a place like this. ]

[rightly]

Well, there are... a lot of minor differences. Some not as minor.

[ Steve actually struggles for a moment, unsure of how to put the thoughts to words without sounding intolerant and close-minded. It's a somewhat complicated feat. ]

People here wear a lot less clothes than what I'm used to. Women, especially— in my time it's not deemed as acceptable that women should walk around wearing so little. Everyone is also much more open when it comes to public shows of affection. Not just holding hands, but also kissing and hugging, sometimes not all that, uh... innocently.

[ There's a faint pink tint to his cheeks, and he clears his throat. ] There are also couples of men with men, and women with women, who freely engage in similar displays, when it would be deeply frowned upon where I come from. Likely outright forbidden in some places. [ He's quick to add. ] Not that I mind! I don't, not at all. I think people should very well be free to do whatever they want and no one should have any say in it. But... different times, I guess. Things just weren't as... forward, at the point in time I come from.

[verflair]

Ah.

[ More a sound of understanding than of judgement. ]

I confess, I've been so preoccupied with trying not to jump out of my skin every time one of those infernal vehicles comes roaring around the corner that such differences did not even occur to me.

It is no small thing to be able to think outside of the social norms of one's home, to find acceptance, even among bafflement. So if nothing else, I commend you for taking it all in stride.

[rightly]

What, the cars? [ Steve glances at one of them passing by, and chuckles a bit, nodding. ] They're very different from the models I'm used to myself, but at least I am familiar with the concept. That, and airplanes. I'm good with engines.

[ Makes him wonder how well he'd do with the models here. One of these days he may as well try and find out. ]

Thank you, I guess. I'm... I've just seen a lot of things, even before coming here. Strange things I'd have thought impossible. Seems a little silly to not accept that mankind will change, after my time. If anything I only regret that some change has to come so slowly, and after so much suffering.

[ And sometimes, not even after that suffering. Alas, the world's not a perfect place. ]

[verflair]

[ the corner of X'rhun's mouth quirks upwards in a small smile. There's something about this man that he instantly likes, though they are little more than strangers at present. ]

Such is the way of the world, unfortunately. Still, it takes a certain kind of man to embrace that truth.

Might I ask what it is you did before arriving here? For a living, I mean.

[rightly]

[ First impressions can be very decisive like that. Sometimes knowing a person for the first time is all it takes to know their nature. Not always, sadly— some are good at masking their true nature, but Steve is nothing if not truthful, even if he might be very secretive when he wants or needs to be. Sometimes even without realizing it. ]

I was a military aviator. I flew airplanes during the war, though I also took part in some land-based missions. [ Too used to keeping anything else a secret, Steve doesn't even think to add more to that. ]

[verflair]

[ A frown flits across his features for the briefest of seconds. He should not be surprised to learn that war is a reality for many, no matter what world they hail from, but to hear it is disheartening all the same.

Best not to dwell on it. ]

Forgive an old man his ignorance, but what is an... "airplane"? We've airships where I come from, which are just as they sound: ships that travel through the sky instead of the water. Are they similar?

[rightly]

I would say they're similar, yes. I'm not sure how high up your airships can go— I've heard and read about certain ships here that can go high enough to break the atmosphere and travel across the void of space. To see the stars, visit other planets... they can go much farther than I could ever even dream of, with an airplane. There is only so high they can go, and they can't be taken so high to where there isn't breathable air, or where it's too cold for an engine to work, or a person to survive.

[ He pauses to give X'rhun the time to process all that. ] What are your airships like? How high up can they go, or how fast can they travel?

[verflair]

Ah yes, someone explained that to me before. I believe they’re named “space ships”. Airships seem to be closer to your airplanes in concept, though I’m no expert in magitek by any stretch of the imagination. I couldn’t tell you the specifics of how high or how fast they can go.

[ He gives a little shrug, something apologetic in his expression. He could go on and on about a great many things, but magitek isn’t his realm at all. He knows the basics, he knows how to best fight a suit of magitek armor, or how to sabotage a vehicle if needs must, but that’s where his knowledge stops. ]

There are large passenger ships, meant to ferry others, or smaller personal models though those are somewhat of a rarity. Neither of them are terribly common by any means. Most of the travel in Eorzea is kept to ships of the seafaring sort or by foot or mount.

The chocobos I mentioned? They’re large flightless birds, domesticated and trained to bear riders or pull carts.

[rightly]

Right! Those. I haven't seen any here, but I've seen pictures. There are also... movies with them. [ A popular shortening of 'moving pictures' he still finds a little weird to use. ] But there seems to be a consensus that space ships where the means through which the people who built the Quarantine got here in the first place.

[ It's impressive in its own right. Space travel is only theoretical where he comes from, a pipe dream at best. And even then, a trip would likely not take them far away enough to settle or colonize a planet or a moon like this one, not anytime soon. ]

I... what's magitek? [ Steve can almost imagine the answer, from the word alone. Something of a mix between magic and technology. He'd have called it impossible before coming here, but now... well. He'll have to learn to accept a lot that's new and different and seemingly impossible to him. ] We have animals like that too, but usually they're cows, horses or mules. Nothing like birds or anything of the sort.