(Untitled)

[practiced]

DATE: November 4th, midday.
CHARACTER(S): Sansa Stark and anyone who happens across her | OPEN
SUMMARY: Question: how does a medieval princess adapt to life on the prairie? Answer: not very well.
LOCATION: Independence, Missouri.
WARNINGS: Curtseying. Lots of curtseying.
FORMAT: Paragraph to start. Responders get to pick their poison!

Comments

[yokoonomuch]

[ It's stupid, but she's still really worried about her biology quiz. In the realm of "Things that Should be the Priority Right Now," biology quizzes probably don't even make the top ten anymore, but it's still something there in the back of her mind, a buzzing insistence that she doesn't actually have time to wander around because she has studying to do.

But Annie wanders anyway, if only because even a few hours hasn't turned the wagon area into less of a mess of people trying to figure out what's going on. She's halfway waiting for the moment when she wanders off the movie set and everyone yells "Surprise!" (not that suddenly waking up on a movie set is actually any less disturbing).

Annie's thinking so hard that she almost literally bumps into the girl outside the bakery. Only a short stop and a quick step backwards prevents the collision. ]

Oh, sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going. [ For the first time, it occurs to her that maybe she should not be doing that if she doesn't want to get lost. Embarrassed, she tucks hair

[practiced]

[ Sansa startles just as easily as the strange girl with the pleasant smile does. Nervously, she touches her hair, then her sleeves, smoothing each in turn as if somehow the repetition of such a gesture will suddenly conjure some sense of comfort and calm. It doesn't, of course, but she doesn't anyway. (She hopes and she hopes, even when she knows not to. It is the source of Sansa's strength and her secret torment.)

The smile is returned with one of her own. Graciously, she gives a little curtsey even though the girl does not bear any trappings of nobility or high birth. Just because she was lost and without a tether did not mean Sansa could forget her courtesy. No, if anything, she needed it now more than ever. ]

Please - there is nothing to forgive. [ Her words are sincere, but halting. ] If you are as lost as I am there are many things here to distract the eye and hold the attention. Worries and distractions.

I have come to no harm and neither have you and so, no amends must be made. [ Sansa nods. ] Truly.

[yokoonomuch]

[ The curtesy surprises Annie enough that she automatically hops back another step to make sure that the girl has enough room to pull it off. She seems good at it, though, well-practiced, and not in as much danger of accidentally tipping over as Annie would be if she tried.

At the same time, though, she's seen more than enough strange things today that she doesn't let herself get too hung up on what the girl is doing and tries to pay attention to what she's saying. ]

You're lost too? [ she asks, surprised. She actually just assumed from the fancy, old dress and the fancy, old manners that maybe this girl was one of the few people who belonged here. ] This place is weird. Like uncomfortable music video from the 80's weird.

[practiced]

[ The girl is odd, Sansa decides, but no more odd than anything else she has come across today. Tales of strange lands with even stranger names. Armor that walks without a soul inside it. Cats that speak as if they were wise and whisker-chinned maesters. In comparison, the girl is almost commonplace, but still Sansa hangs on her every word - as if somehow the answer to all of her question lay somewhere in between all the phrases.

It doesn't, of course, so all she finds are more questions. Large-eyed, Sansa tells her, her voice dropped to a low, quick whisper: ]

I woke in the back of a covered cart with naught save my clothes and this. [ She lifts her hand and pulls back the large sleeve of her dress to reveal the communication device around her wrist. ] A shackle to bind us, no doubt. It speaks when spoken to, and sometimes even when not. And if you listen, you will hear them, the voices of others who have been taken, like us. From lands so exotic and far as not to be believed - not even Nan and her tallest tales could

[yokoonomuch]

[ It's about the most complicated way to say "These watches are smartphones" that Annie could possibly have imagined. The logical part of her brain is still trying to resist the idea that any of this is happening, which makes it tempting to think that this girl is just playing joke on her or doing that thing that Abed is always doing where he adapts to the needs of some narrative only he can see.

But Annie can be adaptable too. Not as easily and not without some self-consciousness about doing it, but she can. She's learned to accept that sometimes "a ghost did it" is the logical answer to a problem, so she can learn that sometimes you wake up in the 1800's and sometimes you talk to a girl who is genuinely from a period piece. This stuff happens. ]

No, I'm from a little town called Greendale in the, uh, kingdom of the United States of America. [ She taps the gadget on her wrist. ] We're a lot more used to things like this than things like this [ she gestures to take in their whole ye olde surroundings ] where I come from.

[practiced]

[ Sansa's eyes light up in acknowledgment. Even though she feels as if very little has been accomplished since waking, in truth, she has spent most of her morning committing things to memory. Names of strangers she meets, the stories they tell her, the people or places or things they are searching for amidst the dust and churning crowds. Mostly, though, she has been watchful, frightened to steal a peek of a familiar, golden head or the sharp glint of light upon polished armor.

Joffrey and his guardsmen - if they were here, no doubt they would look for her. What was the petulant king without his ragdoll to vex with all of his poor humors? she thinks, unkindly, then pushes the thought away. ]

They call this kingdom America. And these lands Mi- [ She has to pause to recall the name correctly ] Missouri, I believe

[yokoonomuch]

[ One of the first people Annie had stopped and questioned (extensively) had given up that this place is called Independence. Of course, that was back when Annie was still trying to decide if she was dreaming or if this was all some City College stunt. Now that she's trying to accept what's in front of her, even if she really can't understand it, she had to revisit the idea that this really is Independence, Missouri. ]

It's funny, [ she says in a quieter, more thoughtful voice, staring down at the thing on her wrist again. ] I'm only a state and a half away from home, but it still feels really far away right now. [ She's sounding wistful, she realizes, and wistfulness is no good because it is impractical and unproductive. You don't get things done by sitting around and being wistful. She gives her head a shake and presses her lips together in a firm smile. ] But not as far away as you are, I guess?

[practiced]

[ Sansa shakes her head and her mouth purses in an attempt to echo the girl's smile. She seems to positively resolute in it that Sansa has no choice but to believe that she's strong. ] Home is of the head and the heart, I think. How far it seems is measured not in distance, but in longing.

[ This is a lessons Sansa has learned well during her time in King's Landing. Who was she to judge this stranger's heart, or the path of her life, the places it had lead her both to and from. Perhaps she will tell me, if I am gracious in asking, Sansa thinks, but such things are like secrets and she has done nothing to earn them from the odd girl with the strong smile, so she says nothing. ]

[yokoonomuch]

[ Annie's smile goes softer, and she dips her head a bit in a nod of acknowledgment and agreement. ]

I think you're probably right. [ She brings her hand up to chest level and closes it into a small, determined fist. ] But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that longing after things isn't going to get you anywhere. Longing after things only gets you two months behind on your rent, trying to see how much you could sell part of your kidney for on eBay. [ Tangent, Annie. That's a tangent. ] You have to make the best of a bad situation and work for what you want instead, especially if that's getting home.

[practiced]

[ Half of what the girl says is a muddle of words both familiar and unfamiliar to Sansa and so she leans forward in her listening, as if this somehow would make her statements more intelligible (though, really, it is not a matter of volume, but content that is the problem).

Still, despite all of her confusion, Sansa thinks she understands. There is no denying the look on the girl's face, the determination of her fist now held to her breast. She reminds me of Margaery, Sansa thinks briefly and then smiles sadly at the thought of her distant friend (no, sister).

She nods. ] You seem to me quite brave, miss. So many of the others have given over to despair already and yet, you stand strong.

I will not lie, it is enviable, though I hope you will not begrudge me such envy, for it is kindly meant.

[yokoonomuch]

[ Annie makes a modest, little waving motion with her hand, but the smile on her face is proud and suggests she really wouldn't mind if Sansa continued to tell her how great she is. ]

I wouldn't begrudge it, um, [ and then Why not?, she thinks, and dips into a brief, uncertain curtsy of her own, ] m'lady. I'm not trying to be brave. I just think you can spend a lot of time complaining about where you are and wishing you were somewhere else but when you're done, you're still going to be where you are. [ She thinks, briefly, of Jeff, but it makes her a little sad right now, so she doesn't linger. ] Want to try to make the best of things with me?

[practiced]

[ She's as wise as she is brave, Sansa thinks and then briefly wonders what perils and hardship this girl has had to face in order to muster such courage. If you were with me in King's Landing, perhaps I would learn how less to fear my fate.

But such rumination is just that, and Sansa brushes it aside lightly with another dip of her head and swish of her skirt. ] I am Sansa Stark, kind stranger. Daughter of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell. I have made acquaintances with what time I have had here, chief among them a man of the sea. His name is shipman Jonathan Hollom, and he has taken up the task of escorting me through these unfamiliar lands.

I would be honored were you to join us. For whatever companions you choose to take up, I have no doubt their strength will be fortified by your presence.

[yokoonomuch]

[ Annie's lips twitch on the edge of having her smile twist into a smirk, but she reins it in. It just strikes her as funny that they might get caught in a curtsy-off (which she would lose, and Annie hates losing). She dips into another anyway because even she knows you can't do a formal introduction without one. ]

I'm Annie Edison, daughter of some people you probably don't know, most recently of Greendale Community College. I don't have any official companions yet, but the way I understand things, forming a ragtag group of unlikely heroes is sort of how these things are supposed to go. [ She wishes she'd paid more attention to the actual rules of Dungeons and Dragons when Abed explained them. ] There are tons of strange people to choose from. I'm sure we'll find more eventually.

[practiced]

Annie Edison of the green vale, now surely you jest. [ Sansa laughs unexpectedly and quickly covers her mouth with a hand to stop the sound. First memories of Margaery and now echoes of Jeyne Poole fill her, painting themselves onto her newfound companion. Her hair was brown and her face was pretty. Was there any wonder why Sansa thought of her two dearest friends so readily? ]

I am not a hero, however unlikely. Nor will I ever be. My heart is but a small, caged thing, and little birds are too readily crushed by the on-coming wind if they are not mindful of where they fly.

[yokoonomuch]

[ Impulsively, Annie steps forward and loops her arm under Sansa's. It feels right and friendly, like when she and Shirley are headed off somewhere to gossip, but she casts a few cautious, sideways glances at Sansa's face as she does this to watch for objections. ]

You shouldn't think of it like that. Little birds just have to be smarter than the other birds and figure out ways to fly without getting crushed. Big birds get to be lazy. Little birds can't be. It sucks a lot of the time, but it's the way things go.

[practiced]

[ The gesture startles Sansa but not enough to make her draw away. Just a surprised intake of breath, a lift of her eyebrows, followed by a very tentative relaxing of her arm, which remains in Annie's grasp. She is so very bold as well, she thinks and then ekes out a small smile. ]

You are not a small bird, are you, Annie Edison of the Green Vale? Nor are you a large one. You are, I think, somewhere in between - clever but bold, a meeting of strengths.