Buildings and bridges are made to bend in the wind to withstand the world...

[shealone_stands]

A car loaded with teenagers pulls up in front of the Conrad. Finding parking in downtown Chicago is never easy, and Buffy is not willing to wait. She springs out of the car and races into the lobby - only to realize that while she knows the basement is where they keep the wanderers, she has no idea how to get there. Um.

The Doctor is wandering

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[beanshield]

Bean is on her way to a specialty bead store downtown and, as ever, has gotten lost. You'd think that with a dog with her at all times she'd have developed a better sense of direction by now. But, oh well. Getting lost is like an adventure!

She is currently standing on a street corner, looking in each direction. Potato the German Shepherd is sitting beside her, looking a little mulish. Bean spots the Doctor, faintly recognizes him and trots on up.

"Um, excuse me sir, but, um, do you know where The Bead Gallery is? I could have sworn it was like around here somewhere but I think I got turned around or something..."

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor blinks as he's approached, but... well. He can't exactly turn away a lost young woman asking him for help. He glances around with a bit of a frown, running a hand through his hair. "Ah... can't say I've seen a Bead Gallery around here, no. Sorry. I'm not much for beads, though, so..."

[beanshield]

"Oh..." Bean looks slightly crestfallen. "It's so dumb, I've even been there before. I know it's next to a Starbucks! Which...well, doesn't help at all, huh. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm rambling and I probably shouldn't be telling this to a stranger anyway. Not that you seem like the bad sort of stranger! Um, unless you are. Um! Sorry!"

Bean shuts up.

[thatsortofaman]

"Well, I'm... fairly certain I'm not the bad sort of stranger. What is the bad sort, anyway?"

The Doctor's kind of a sucker when it comes to tinehgirls needing help. And she just looks so disappointed, and hey, he's wandering around this area anyway... "Are you sure it was a Starbucks? Not... some other coffee shop? An exploding one, maybe?"

...the Doctor's too familiar with that sort of coffee shop. He'd be bored by a plain old Starbucks.

[beanshield]

"Um! Well. I guess the kind who would like, kill me or something. Or send me in the wrong direction!" Someone needs to get her priorities straight.

She blinks at him. "E-Exploding? Well! There's that one coffee shop and I know it exploded a couple of times, but is it really just called the exploding coffee shop? That is so crazy and epic! But um, what was I saying. But yes, I'm pretty sure it was a Starbucks or, um, it was a big chain one I think. I think." She looks at Potato for help, but unfortunately, Potato is a dog.

[thatsortofaman]

"Well, it is an unofficial name," the Doctor says with a grin. "Technically it's just 'The Coffee Shop', but they may as well put the exploding bit on the sign now."

He frowns a bit to himself, tracking back in his head, and as he does, he reaches out to scritch behind Potato's ears. The Doctor's a sucker for dogs too. "I think I saw one... um..." He pauses, glancing back down the street for reference. "This way."

He starts off toward a nearby corner, beckoning for her to follow. Don't worry, Bean, he's not going to lead you into a dark alley or anything... just possibly in circles. But he means well.

[beanshield]

"D-Does it really explode that often?" Bean asks as she moves to follow. He seems trustworthy enough! "Thank you for helping me, though! With three people looking, we'll definitely find it!"

Potato accepts the scritch rather demurely, sniffing at the Doctor's hands. His ears prick a little at the distinctly foreign scent, but the Doctor seems safe enough to be around Potato's human.

[thatsortofaman]

"Oh, ah..." Pause. "Only a little. I stopped it from exploding once! ...and then there was the meteor." But really, no one could have anticipated that. "Occasionally, I think, is the word. Not often."

That is not as reassuring as the Doctor seems to think it is, but when his life involves so many explosions and apocalypses and aliens and monsters, it's to be expected that his perspective on the matter might be a bit warped.

[beanshield]

"Oh. Well. I guess 'only a little' is okay. I guess that adds excitement. I mean, so long as people aren't dying all the time. Then it's just sad!"

Bean bounces a little and looks a bit closer at the Doctor, tilting her head.

"Um, you look really familiar. Can I ask your name? I'm Bean, by the way. Um...did I say that already? I'm sorry, I have like, the attention span of a goldfish."

[thatsortofaman]

"I'm the Doctor," he says, flashing a quick grin at her. "Nice to meet you, Bean. That's an interesting name, though... well, I suppose I'm not really one to talk about interesting names, am I?"

He's not going to pursue why he looks familiar to her. Sometimes that would turn out well, but it was usually in his own universe. Here in Chicago... he usually doesn't want to know these things.

[beanshield]

She giggles a little. "A lot of people think that. And this is Potato, so we're Potato and Bean, which makes us sound like dinner or something."

The Doctor. She knew he looked familiar. Bean utters a little squeak but covers her mouth to stifle it. After Batman, she has promised herself that she wouldn't break anyone's minds by telling them that they're fictional. After all, it's no fun being in a city full of fictional characters if they all know they're fictional, right? And the Doctor being her makes sense, considering Torchwood is here and--if what Bean heard about that trial is correct--Jack Harkness as well.

"It's! Um! It's nice to meet you, Doctor!"

She desperately, desperately wants to know if his TARDIS is here, but she contains herself.

[thatsortofaman]

"Hello, Potato," he says, waggling his fingers at the dog. He likes dogs. Much more trustworthy than cats, and anyway, he used to have a dog. Of a sort. ...okay, it was a robot.

He blinks a bit at Bean's reaction, raising an eyebrow in your direction. "Have you... heard of me, then?" It's not uncommon in this city, given the events he's gotten tangled up in, but...

[beanshield]

Potato sniffs at the Doctor again, his ears twitching a little as he tries to identify the weird scent. He makes a sort of grumbly sound. How dare this man have an unidentifiable scent! The nerve of some people.

"Oh! Um." Bean isn't usually all that good at thinking on her feet, but then she comes up with a decent enough excuse. "I've heard you mentioned before. Um, cause I was sort of helping those Torchwood people that one time, and I think I must have heard about you then."

[thatsortofaman]

The Doctor shoots Potato a look somewhere between amused and reproving. Hey now, just because he smells a bit different, there's no call to make that noise at him! It's not like he smells dangerous or anything... he assumes. He's not exactly sure what dangerous smells like, after all.

His attention is quickly drawn back to Bean, though, expression sliding back into a bit of a grin. "Ah. 'Course." Pause. "What's a girl like you have to do with Torchwood anyway?"

It's not that he dislikes Torchwood! Far from it. It's just... well... they're Torchwood.

[beanshield]

Potato just snorts and gives the Doctor a condescending look right back.

"Um, well." Bean blushes a little. At least she doesn't have to keep this part a secret. The Doctor can't possibly be with the CLF, after all. If he is, then this world is just too cruel. "I was sort of, um, making amulets for them, sort of."

[thatsortofaman]

"Oh, were you?" the Doctor says, perking up and momentarily forgetting his staring contest - or whatever it is - with the dog. "That's brilliant, that is. What sort of amulets?"

The Doctor... likes shiny things, and he's never met any native sorcerers. He's kind of fascinated.