[gathering post]

[notamod_box]

The strangest thing for many about the phonebox was the number of rooms, myriad in their uses and types, seemingly in unending supply. There were people here too, sometimes no more than voices around a corner or down the hall. Sometimes sitting in the chair near the fire that likely hadn't been there earlier. There was even talk of an entire

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[madeofblood]

Jessica's not sure how she got here or how to get out, but after the initial confusion, she's not sure if she minds either. The door she came through wouldn't open again, so she started walking, looking around. It seems like this place, whatever it is, goes on forever, but she doesn't have to worry about wandering into the sunlight just now either.

Making her way down a hall, she turns the corner into a room, twisting her hands together. Settling down at a seat at the bar, she turns to look to her side. "Mind tellin' me where we are?"

[madeofblood]

Oh, she shouldn't fall for that, Jessica knows, the self-effacing charm, the flattery. She'd be lying, though, if she said she didn't enjoy it. "A sweet Brit, talkin' t' me like this when I'm all on my own," she says. "I appreciate the company."

[its_a_gerund]

She shouldn't fall for it, but so many others have. Not everyone did, but enough that his ego remained largely unbattered. "Kind of me, isn't it? Let me tell you, it's not exactly a hard task."

[madeofblood]

Jessica laughs a little, soft, brow raising a little. "Well, it's kind of ya to make the effort anyway," she teases. If she's going to flatter her, she can't say she minds. "So you've been her a while, Dakin?"

[its_a_gerund]

"A few weeks," he shrugged, half because he'd lost track of time. One moment in Sheffield, having just made a sort of date with Irwin, the next moment looking at a blue police box in the school courtyard. Of course he'd looked inside, his curiosity near on overwhelming. Dakin grabbed for his smokes, "actually, I don't know how long anymore."

[alldieforyou]

John isn't sure whether to answer at first; the question is one he's been asking himself the past half hour, and hasn't gotten any clearer from his perch at the bar. He doesn't know if he should have an answer, and history's proven silence really is the best way to go about things when he's unsure.

"I don't really know."

He hates not knowing.

Looking over, John gives the girl a small, harmless smile. "Wish I had an answer for you."

[madeofblood]

For a moment, Jessica doesn't think he'll answer. She's ready to be irritated with him for it, but when he responds, she can't bring herself to be mad at all. Maybe it's okay, not knowing where she is just yet. She can protect herself, after all, and being out of Bill's way for a while can't be a bad thing.

"Well, I haven't got one for you either," she says, "so that makes us even, I guess. Or just lost."

[alldieforyou]

Elbows still resting on the bar, John looks over his shoulder. Turning to speak to her's given him enough of an opening to keep from looking too suspicious as he scans the rest of the room for a third time.

When he looks back at her, he's still unsettled. Knowing people is half the reason he's still alive, but that usually goes with knowing where he is in the first place.

"Nice to know I'm not alone, at least. I was starting to feel a little out of place."

[madeofblood]

"Yeah, me too." But Jessica feels just a touch out of place most nights anyway, at least in a bar like this one where the clientele seems to be mostly, if not entirely, human. She fidgets a little, restless, fingers drawing circles on the counter. She's still not all that used to talking to boys and it's not easy to drown out how hyper-conscious she is of the sound of blood and heartbeat, but he seems nice. "I keep lookin' but I don't know anyone here."

[alldieforyou]

She's nothing like Cameron or Riley, looks like just another one of those pretty small town girls John's seen and made acquaintances with before moving on down the road again. He sits up and holds a hand out. "Well, I'm John. That's one person you can say you know, now."

Stupid move, maybe, but he's feeling vulnerable and she looks it.

[madeofblood]

"Jessica." Shaking his hand, she ducks her head and smiles. It shouldn't strike her as all that sweet when any number of guys would do the same, but it does. When she pulls her hand back, it's slow, a little reluctant. At least for a moment, she's not so alone. "You been sittin' here long, John?"

[alldieforyou]

John smiles, this time for nobody's benefit but his own. "Long enough to know I have no idea where we are, but not long enough to figure anything out."

What little snatches of conversation he can hear floating around are at least enough to make him feel comfortable admitting it; at the very least, he's blending in with everyone else.

[madeofblood]

"So not much longer'n me, then," Jessica says lightly. Her life - afterlife, maybe, she's not sure - has been more than a little strange lately, and it would be disingenuous to claim this is the weirdest thing she's been through, but it's undeniably bizarre. "Nothin' like this's ever happened to me before. I feel like I oughta be more worried or somethin'."