(Untitled)

[dovehearted]

Who: dovehearted and OPEN
What: She needs the score. It's better to get it the old-fashioned way.
Where: Level 4, locations noted in log
When: Saturday
Warnings: eta: Character is from 1931; expect accordingly.

Comments

[flashy_magic]

Passing a girl he was pretty sure he'd never seen before, Drake paused and asked, "Hey, are you new here?"

[dovehearted]

Lua hadn't known what to make of anyone here that she'd seen: so strange, all of them. This guy was strange in a kind of familiar way, though, enough like Graham to make her think she knew how to handle him. She looked up at him out of the corner of her eye and nodded, giving him a little I'll pretend I'm okay, but you know I'm really not smile as she did.

One question answered: she wasn't supposed to be here, as far as she could tell from what he was saying. The only thing for sure she'd figured out in eight hours was that she was on a boat, but how had her room gotten there? How she wasn't dead? Anyone's answer was as good as hers.

[flashy_magic]

"Um...do you know why you're here yet?" He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say, but if she was worried, and she seemed to be, she was probably an inmate like him, so he felt like he should explain things.

[dovehearted]

She shook her head. It sounded like he did know, which was something, so she straightened up to listen a little more closely. "You do?"

[knowsthepeople]

Patrick is actually instantly reminded of a girl from the neighborhood. Kara Rider had been a couple years behind him in school, but he'd known and liked her and she'd be about this woman's age by now. Of course, she's not Kara, but she does look pretty lost, and he knows he's never seen her around before.

In all likelihood, considering there wasn't a flood on or any other disaster actually happening (to the best of his knowledge), that meant she was a new arrival, and the uncertainty meant she was probably an inmate, which meant she'd been killed only to end up on the Barge, and what she probably needed right now was some reassurance.

"You alright?"

[dovehearted]

The last thing Lua remembers is fighting for breath as clouds darken over her eyes and the wind and the train's force whip past her. She's been trying to convince herself last night was just a dream she remembers a lot of, but it's been hours and he's still not back from wherever he was and all of their place except that one room is gone. But she tells the guy "Yes" anyway, since if you say no someone will try and get why out of you.

"Seems like it's pretty crazy here," she offers. She can't ask him "where am I", or he'll know what's up. Even if he already does know.

[knowsthepeople]

"It can be, yeah." His tone was gentle, and he walked over to sit down in one of the chairs near her, but not close enough to be encroaching on her space.

"Anyone give you the talk yet?"

[dovehearted]

She shook her head with a look of you gonna give it to me? in her eyes. There had bee that girl from last night, and the kid a little while ago (it was funny to think of him as one, since he was probably older than her, but he made her think of someone much younger), but the girl didn't trust her enough to talk straight and he hadn't seemed to get what she really needed to know. This one seemed kind enough. Too nice to be a guard, so probably more likely to give it to her without all of the crap about how she was scum and needed to listen to what he had to say.

[expectremorse]

Mark Hoffman is six years old.

Thanks to Martha he finally had age appropriate clothing and had resolved to spend the day in his room where he read books and did his best to occupy himself. He shook off the urge to play with toys for most of the day-mostly because he didn't have any.

This was awful. He didn't have a warden, he had nobody to stay with him or keep him entertained and he missed company.

That hurt. He missed company. That hurt more then anything.

He had hated being young. He was fat and whiny and had big ears and all of the children picking on him. There was more to that, but every time he tried to think about that, he wanted to curl up and cry.

He blamed whatever the bastard had made him drink.

At some point however, he had to leave. He had to go to the bathroom and he was starving.

So he was wandering around with his hands in his pockets peering around corners looking for people he knew.

[dovehearted]

Oh. It was a kid almost-hiding from her, and a real young guy, too. He looked lost in that special "I know where I am, but I don't know what to do" way that she thought she'd left behind a year ago, and she couldn't help but wince a little when she recognized it. She flicked her eyes over at him as if to say hey, come on over here, but didn't try to smile. She remembered being that age, and it felt like adults were trying too hard if they did. Maybe he was just as bad off as she was, or maybe he'd be blunt with her the way they were sometimes.

[expectremorse]

Hoffman saw her staring and frowned. He turned away and wrapped his arms around himself. He dropped himself into a chair and picked up a book.

Mentally, he was fine. Which was good. He flipped through a book idly, resting it on his tummy.

He really was trying to keep a low profile.

[dovehearted]

So was she. It was safest just to listen, speak when you were spoken to and get your answers then, and the kid needed his mother, not some lady he didn't know.

But there were kids here. Whatever boat this is couldn't be that bad a place.

[lifeafterhope]

The third or fourth time the door opened, Vanessa was standing outside it, leaning against the wall opposite and watching to see who her new neighbor was and why exactly moving into the Barge had required so much door-slamming.

While she didn't exactly look outwardly annoyed, she didn't much look like the welcome wagon, either.

[dovehearted]

The hallway outside her room never changed, no matter how many times she looked. It wasn't supposed to be a row of doors like a hotel, but she didn't even know what was real anymore. She'd thought last night was real, but she'd woken up five hundred miles away... he'd know, if he'd come back. He was out so late.

If you felt pain when you hurt yourself it wasn't a dream, right? This time, as the door swung open, Lua stuck a finger in the doorframe, only to leave it hanging open when she saw the woman standing outside. She couldn't look back, more out of embarrassment than anything else; she hadn't expected other people here. "Sorry to wake you up."

[lifeafterhope]

"You didn't." Not being predictable in her movements meant keeping odd hours, so she'd been up anyway - and besides, aside from others' schedules, day and night didn't mean much when you couldn't get into the CES.

Her new neighbor didn't look like much, really, as things on the barge went - no bulging muscles or seven foot height or anything like that - but that didn't necessarily mean anything. "The others might be sleeping." Not that she cared about them.

dresses or fanservicey armor btw?

[dovehearted]

A couple years younger, a little higher-class than her, but meant some kind of business, and Lua didn't know what kind. Definitely not someone to explain herself to if this was real.

She ran her fingernails inside of her palm before speaking. The scratch was just enough pain to tell her the truth, and she couldn't think too hard about what that meant right now, just had to be careful. "Mhm. Should have thought about that.

"Sometimes you forget about other people," she added, shrugging one shoulder.

[future_games]

Isaac doesn't get out of his cabin often. He prefers it there on the sixth floor in his little cluttered room, away from all the things that go on around the Barge. Unfortunately, he does have to leave for a few hours every afternoon to work the lunch shift in the dining hall.

He's on his way back down to his cabin after his shift when he passes by the common room. Normally he wouldn't stop, but despite the time he spends alone, Isaac recognizes the faces of those who have been on the Barge for awhile. He doesn't recognize this girl, but he is incredibly familiar with that type of body language.

"Are you alright?," he calls softly from the doorway, true concern in his voice.

<3 Isaac

[dovehearted]

Lua's starting to get an idea of where she is and what's going on around her, but it's better not to hide at first when you're alone like she is (and she knows she's going to be alone here, as much as that tears at her). Besides her and the girl from last night, she's only seen a lot of men in this prison, and when she hears Isaac call out to her, she looks him over and starts to piece him together. Some kind of Spanish or Mexican, surprisingly gentle for someone here, maybe a little shy, observant enough to realize she's a new face. Probably one of "them" (like she is, now). "Could be better, you?" she answers, trying to play it safe.

It's strange to realize she hasn't really seen any guards, but she hasn't gone too far yet. Maybe they only come out when you do something stupid, though how they'd know about that she doesn't know. She'd at least like to know why she's here in particular.

:D He has to talk to people SOMETIMES. Don't you feel lucky?

[future_games]

Isaac is a cautious, hesitant man. He's been used and abused so many times by this point that he's grow to be wary of all people. But this woman's attempts to hide all true emotions about being thrown into this place without an escape remind him too much of himself.

He lets his guard down just this once.

"Could be better," he echoes with a faint smile, taking a hesitant step into the common room, hands in his pocket. "You've only just arrived, haven't you?," he guesses. "I don't recognize you."

[dovehearted]

Her guard stays up. Lua never knows where to start with the quiet ones. They don't give enough away for her to know if they're playing the same game she is. "It's my first day," she answers, looking down. She's already heard the story about the place, but if he wants to offer his version, that suits her just fine.

If not... that's fine, too.