[[open] Said the more I sing this song, the more I feel your love is breaking me

[arrowinmyheel]

Sonny is in the alley beside the Crowbar. It's late in the evening. He is wrestling a small, spiky object into a box while simultaneously drinking from a bottle of whiskey. He would do this inside but the thing has a tendency to drop its spikes, and it gets to be a real pain in the ass to sweep. The Crowbar is approaching a certain two year

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[askthemoon]

Remus can't sleep; he's been on edge at night since he arrived, having skipped three-quarters of the moon's cycle. He's trying not to let it get under his skin. There's only three days left, and then he can get back on track.

He expects the cafeteria to be empty, when he enters it -- it had been when he came, not much later than this, last night. He doesn't recognize the woman sitting there, and she looks busy enough with her own thoughts, so he prepares to go about fixing his own tea without bothering her, simply nodding and smiling in her direction if she looks at him.

[smithnjones]

Martha looks up from her drink when someone enters. It isn't as though she recognizes him, of course. Remus is much older in the movies than this fellow after all. She has a slow drink of the Irish coffee and then smiles back at him. It's a point of hers to meet everyone in the Tower at some point as she is in charge.

"Hello there," she says easily, drink in hand still. "Having trouble sleeping too? Insomnia seems to be rather common in Chicago. Can't say that it's surprising in the least."

[askthemoon]

"I haven't been here long, but I must say I'll be surprised if anything is truly uncommon in this place." He shakes his head, still not entirely used to the oddity of having found himself in this place, and realizes he still hasn't answered her question. "Yes, I was."

He glances over before he steps into the kitchen. "Can I get you anything?"

[smithnjones]

"That's a rather accurate way to think about this place," Martha admits with only a slight frown, and she nods at the answer. If he's new to this place, it certainly makes sense that he'd have trouble sleeping. "If it ever gets too bad for you, I've got... things that can help you get sleep. In emergency cases." Addiction possibilities are high.

She shakes her head. "No, thank you for asking. I've got an Irish Coffee. Caffeine's a rubbish thing to have at this time of night, but it's my comfort drink. Always has been. So you're a new wanderer then? Assuming that's what you mean by being new to this place."

He could also be an angel or demon who moved to Chicago, but not many people move to Chicago anymore, well aware of its problems.

[askthemoon]

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you," he says, surprised by the offer -- but then, he supposes the act of ending up here makes everyone part of the same community, in a way. "I think I'll be fine, once I finish adjusting."

He nods at her question, leaning against the wall. "Yes, I am. I found myself here about a week ago. Bit of a shock; it was almost three decades earlier and a different continent, before I stumbled through. And you? Have you been here long?"

[smithnjones]

"Yes, it usually takes a month or two to adjust," Martha says in honestly, not that she wants to make him feel as though he'll have to wait a long time. She doesn't want to give him or anyone else the wrong impression.

She drinks from the cup in her hand, glancing up at him. "A week. So you are new. I'm Martha Jones. I... run things around here in a sense. If you ever need anything, feel free to ask."

The question makes her pause as approaching this what-would-have-been her anniversary puts it all in perspective. "You could say that. About three and a half years."

[askthemoon]

He only nods at her estimate, having expected as much. Ending up in a different universe isn't something that's designed to be easy to deal with.

"That's quite a while. Though I suppose that makes sense, if you're in charge." He smiles. "I'm Remus Lupin. It's nice to meet you, Miss Jones."

[smithnjones]

It isn't at all. She remembers thinking back to three years ago, round about then, and she'd walked into the cafeteria of the Conrad with a wanderer who was new and couldn't sleep. There are some basic things in Chicago that never really change, it seems.

"Yes, I believe I'm the wanderer that's... been here the longest," she admits. It's certainly possible that someone has been there longer, but they're not in the community, not in the Conrad or the Tower so she doesn't know for certain.

And the name makes her freeze and she has to smother the squee in her head at the thought as to who this is. She can't quite keep the bright smile off of her face, unfortunately, but she does manage to keep her voice level. "Hello, Remus. It is very nice to meet you as well. I hope... you're settling in well here then?"

This must be wonderful news for Harry. She hopes that they've already run into each other, but clearly can't risk asking.

[askthemoon]

"Did it begin three years ago, then?" Remus asks, before he catches himself and shakes his head. "Sorry, I'll keep the questions to myself. I haven't managed to research what's happened here quite as much as I'd have liked to yet."

Her reaction is unexpected, but not quite enough to gain a comment, so he ignores it to answer her question instead. "I am. It's all still quite new, but I'm beginning to get used to it." He glances into the kitchen, and looks back at her with a small smile. "Would you excuse me for a moment?"

[smithnjones]

"No, it's actually been going on for quite some time. The Rift activity in Chicago specifically? It started three years ago," Martha tells him and then she laughs gently. "I don't mind at all. It's good to find out as much as you can in this universe. There are enough surprises as it is even when you're familiar with it."

She is very pleased that he doesn't comment on her enthusiasm but nods at the question. "Course I will. Don't let me hold you up."

As soon as he is 'excused', she will squee and flail quietly to herself.

[askthemoon]

"I hoped showing up here was the biggest surprise. Are there more to look forward to?" Despite the question, he sounds good-natured about it. At this point, it would take an awful lot to outweigh the blessings of being here.

He's only away a couple of minutes -- with magic, the water doesn't take long to boil -- before he returns, with a tea tray for himself and a small plate of biscuits that he sets down in front of Martha. "I know you didn't want anything, but I thought perhaps you wouldn't mind me joining you if I brought something anyway."

[smithnjones]

"There are plenty more, I'm afraid. I think showing up may still qualify as the biggest, but it's difficult to say objectively," Martha admits, and it's not hard for her to tell that wherever he has come from (and knowing his history, this isn't surprising) is worse than Chicago.

She laughs gently and nods, looking happily at the biscuits on the plate. "I wouldn't have minded you joining me if you'd had brought nothing to offer, but the plate is certainly a plus. Thank you very much."

[askthemoon]

"You're welcome," he says, sliding into the seat across from her and making himself comfortable. After a few moments of silence and fiddling with his teacup, he looks up at Martha, offering her a smile. "So, if you don't mind my asking, when you say you run things here -- and I assume you're talking about the Tower? -- what exactly do you mean? I wasn't aware there was any sort of hierarchy in place."

[smithnjones]

Martha has a slow drink from her cup, and she is quiet while he is, paying no mind to his fiddling with his teacup. There is still a part of her attempting to suppress her squee. She smiles back when he smiles at her.

"I don't mind you asking," she assures him. "It's not so much... an actual hierarchy so much as... Torchwood owns the Tower, and I'm more... the person that wanderers look to if they need something. Torchwood enforces. They do the dirty work, the darker things, and I am who people can come to if they need something or have a problem."

So so late sorry. >>

[askthemoon]

"Quite a responsibility on you, isn't it? Do you have a team that you work with, or is it all on you? Or are you part of this -- Torchwood, right?"

He is quite possibly going to keep asking questions until she starts looking annoyed by them. It's information, after all, and information he probably can't find in a book at that.

It's okay! <33

[smithnjones]

"It is a bit, but I share it with others. There are plenty of people who've signed up to offer their expertise," Martha says, and then she smiles at the question about Torchwood.

There had been that moment after the Conrad fell that she'd asked Jack to be a part of it, but he didn't think she should be.

"We work together, but we're... separate. They're the protectors of the Tower. They do the dirty work, and I handle being the one people see, the one they can come to."