(Untitled)

[bernicesurprise]

She stumbled out of the pub into the cool night air of Dellah. There was one good thing she could say about the people here at St. Oscar's - they knew how to mix a hell of a drink. The trick now was remembering how to get back to her rooms. Why couldn't she have just gone to the Witch and the Whirlwind? If she'd stayed at her local she would

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[wizard_alive]

She'd only seen people literally fall out of space a handful of times, off the island. Here, it was usually in the general spirit of Hidebehinds that people appeared. The small creatures were always behind the viewer, and much like them, the appearances on the island were always out of the corner of your eye, or taking place in the space of a blink.

However, Nita actually saw the woman appear - or plummet, as the case may be, into the sand. "Hey!" She scrambled to her feet, almost tripping over the blanket she'd laid out to look at the stars. "Are you okay?" Obviously not, but at least she wasn't injured, right?

[bernicesurprise]

Benny heard a voice call out from somewhere in the semi-darkness asking her if she was okay. Were they for real? Of COURSE she wasn't okay. She'd just been pulled out of her own time and space to goddess knows where and she really, really wasn't in the mood for ANY of this.

She turned to face the approaching figure and took a deep breath, ready to give them a serious piece of her mind. But just as she was about to launch into her tirade she stopped. Was that a young girl? Huh. Benny wasn't quite sure who she was expecting to see, but this young woman certainly wasn't it.

"Yes, I'm quite alright. Thank you. Aside from the whole 'being snatched in the middle of the night and deposited on some mysterious and sandy beach' situation. Mind telling me why you brought me here? No. Wait. You know what? I don't actually care why you brought me here. Just send me back home and we can forget this whole thing ever happened. Do we have a deal?"

[wizard_alive]

"Well, if I could, I would. I'm not the one who brought you here." Nita bent, and forced herself not to brush off the other woman's clothes.

"I'm Nita Callahan, by the way." She smiled, trying to seem as friendly as possible. Mostly because this woman seemed more then a little... stressed. Which was understandable, except that she didn't seem to think she was dead, like a lot of other people. "Where were you, if you don't mind me asking?"

[bernicesurprise]

"Pleasure to meet you Nita. I'm Bernice Summerfield. Professor Bernice Summerfield of St. Oscar's University on Dellah. And you're telling me you really didn't already know that? Damn."

Benny had hoped to resolve this situation quickly and be back home in bed before the sun came up. Now, that was looking like it wouldn't be a possibility. Bugger.

"Mind telling me what you do know about my predicament?"

Benny stood up and started brushing the sand off.

"Oh, and perhaps you could point the way to the nearest toilet while you're at it. I really could do with a pee."

[coffee_sir]

Banon, as she was much quicker than her owner, found her first. She and her owner had been taking a midnight stroll thanks to nightmares Ianto would never admit to. But the second the little corgi had caught a scent of someone or something ahead of them, somewhere beyond where the path ended at the beach, she had taken off without hesitation.

Not expecting any trouble at this time of night that he was sure Banon could get herself out of (just as easily as she got herself into), Ianto kept his pace, following his dog but not seeing what had caught her attention.

Bounding over the sand, the dog greeted the woman with a sharp bark and desperate pleas for attention in the form of jumps and licks.

[bernicesurprise]

Benny was wandering down the beach, trying desperately to come up with some brilliant plan to get herself out of this ridiculous situation, when she could have sworn she heard...barking. Well, that was unexpected. Not that anything she'd encountered so far could be considered expected.

She turned toward the sound and yes. There it was. A dog! And a rather adorable one at that. It ran straight up to her and started jumping and licking in that overly excited way of all small dogs. She kneeled down to pet him and began babbling to him in the tone of voice that one generally reserves for addressing babies and anything small and furry.

"Who's a sweet doggie, you? Yes, you! You are a sweet, sweet little dog. Or at least I hope you are. You aren't actually a hell beast or alien devil spawn come to eat my soul are you? No. Of course you're not. You're too cute to want to eat souls."

[coffee_sir]

Ianto caught sight of the woman in the moon and starlight, or at least enough of her to know that she wasn't anyone Ianto knew of. Which meant she was probably new. That wasn't a guaranteed fact, but Ianto kept his eyes open.

A few jogging strides brought him close enough to speak. "I wouldn't put it past her," he said laughingly. Having put some practice into making his tall, solid frame seem unimposing, Ianto greeted her with a grin and didn't expect her to start. "But at least she hasn't eaten one yet. Hello."

[bernicesurprise]

"Well, that one good piece of news at least." Bernice turned her attention back to the dog for one last fur ruffling pat. "I'm really not up for fighting off hell hounds at the moment."

Benny stood up then to get a better look at the man who'd come with the dog. Rather harmless looking, but she wasn't ready to let down her guard just yet. The dog might not be a minion of some evil alien force out to destroy all human life, but that was no guarantee this bloke wasn't. "I take it she's yours then?"

[unit_girl]

The island at night used to be a nice, peaceful place. These days it was, well, more peaceful, but that was because it was more dangerous. Much as she didn't want to be murdered, Jo had seen far worse horrors, nearly been killed a number of times and besides, it was a rule she didn't want to follow.

It meant, though, that she was surprised to find someone alone on the beach. "Hello," she called. "Are you out for a walk?"

[bernicesurprise]

"Ha!" Benny barked a laugh at the question. "You could say that."

Bernice took a closer look at the woman who'd just approached. Not bad looking. Rather pretty, actually. Benny could think of worse people to meet on a deserted beach in the middle of the night. A lot worse.

"I'm professor Bernice Summerfield, and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing here. Other than hoping this is all some kind of extremely vivid hallucination brought on by exhaustion and too many questionable alien martinis. I'm expecting to wake up any minute now, in my own bed, with a raging hangover. And you are?"

[unit_girl]

"Jo Grant." She grinned at Bernice. "Do you often hallucinate desert islands when you're drunk?" Bernice must have just arrived here. Which was actually quite exciting - just about everyone else Jo had met had been here longer than her. So it was different not to be the new person.

"I don't think I'd want to," she continued, on the theme of hallucinating desert islands. "It would be a bit of let down when you woke up."

[bernicesurprise]

Bernice laughed again. "To be honest, no. My drunken hallucinations usually involve a lot less sand. And more showtunes, oddly enough. But that was the best theory I could come up with on such short notice. I'm not exactly at my best."

Benny gestured down the beach in a silent invitation for Jo to join her on her walk along the shore.

"So, I take it you didn't just fall out the sky tonight?"

[sortofaman]

The Doctor heard that voice and startled from where he'd been walking Atalanta. (Bloody dog, bloody wanting out at bloody late hours.) The day had been rough for a Sunday--stepped up security, autopsy reports, and he still had to prep for class.

Of course this kind of thing would happen.

He squinted and wandered closer. Maybe he was just imagining things. "Beg pardon?"

[bernicesurprise]

Bernice was lost in thought, trying to work out a way...ANY way in which this situation made sense. There had to be a pattern, some reason why she'd been brought here. She just had to think. Had to work the puzzle out. She was so caught up in it all she almost didn't hear the man approach her. She could just make him out in the dim starlight. Tall, skinny, ridiculous hair, and looking nearly as confused as she was certain she did.

"Yes? Is there something I can help you with?"

[sortofaman]

"Are you all right?" the Doctor asked, clearing his throat somewhat as his voice cracked. "You look a bit...well, lost, I suppose. Down the rabbit hole, more or less, you know. Welcome to Tabula Rasa."

Yes, he'd have to reveal himself sooner or later--he was far too well-known not to. But not yet.

[bernicesurprise]

The man's forced casual manner was setting off all kinds of alarm bells for Benny. She wasn't sure what was going on with him, but he seemed a lot more awkward than she thought the situation warranted. Maybe he was the one who'd brought her here? Possibly. At the very least he knew something about all this and even the smallest clues might be valuable.

"Thanks." She replied. "And yes, lost is one way of putting it. Though I prefer to think of myself as relocated under duress."

Benny got a little closer to the man so she could get a better look at him. "I'm Bernice Summerfield, by the way. And you are?"

[camdenrefugee]

Marwood didn't usually wander around at night. Wandering around at night was something you did with a friend, preferably when both of you were completely wrecked. But even though Marwood was alone (and far too sober for his tastes), he could only take the hippie commune for so long.

The rather aimless lady on the beach made a lovely distraction from his sobriety and nicotine cravings. "Ah, hello," Marwood began, trying to see if it was anyone he recognized. "You all right there?"

[bernicesurprise]

"No. To be honest, I'm not all right in the slightest. I'm exhausted, I'm apparently stuck on some mysterious prison island for goddess knows what nefarious purpose, I have no idea how to get home..."

Benny stopped walking for a moment and did a rather bizarre and not entirely dignified shimmy.

"...and I'm pretty sure I've got sand in my knickers. Please tell me there is somewhere around here a girl can get a drink."

[camdenrefugee]

"What?" Marwood was nonplussed. In fact, it was likely impossible to become any less plussed than Marwood. "How on earth did you...?" Get sand in your knickers? was the logical conclusion to that sentence. However, at the very last minute, Marwood's good sense overcame his logic and manually overrode his vocal chords, insisting that he did not want to know that badly.

"Ah," he tried again. "There's the Hub. Where you can get a drink, I mean. I can show you the way. Unless... wouldn't you rather get some sleep? If you've just arrived, you must have gone fucking spare- I mean, a-a rather nasty turn."

[bernicesurprise]

Benny yawned once, long and heartfelt, and rubbed her hands over her eyes. She really would love a drink, but he had a point. She was completely knackered.

"Yes, well. That would be the sensible thing to do, wouldn't it." She took a step closer and offered her hand. "I'm Bernice, by the way. Bernice Summerfield. And sleep sounds like a wonderful idea. Thank you."