Settling in...sort of [Open to all]

[imatwat]

Owen wandered aimlessly around the big house that was meant to be a temporary home for those without lodgings and then finally sat down on a random sofa in the living room. He idly wondered if someone should start a fire since it was getting a touch chilly, but didn't bother to get up again. Instead he just sat there staring at the grate, lost in

Comments

[his_sarah_jane]

It was a rare day indeed when Sarah Jane decided to walk into the house. She had never been fond of it, ever since she wound up in the future before parts of the universe ended. Too much confusion, what with future and alternate selves. And too much of a reminder of the life she had left behind.

But she needed clothing and there was only so much on the Doctor's TARDIS. In the end, she decided it would be cheaper to raid the house that had belonged to her future self.

She hadn't expected to run into anyone else though. It was to be a quick trip before she returned to the TARDIS to see if the Doctor needed any help.

Curiosity got the better of Sarah, though. Usually did. "New?"

[imatwat]

"If new means not knowing what the bloody hell is going on while everyone else is acting like it's just summer camp. Then yeah, I'm new." Owen answered tetchily. Then deciding that he couldn't afford to completely alienate everyone, he softened his tone a bit. "I take it this isn't new to you though. Don't suppose you could fill me in on what's what? No-one's been particularly forthcoming. It's a bit surreal, actually. One minute I'm on Argolis and then the next I'm back on earth, I'm officially dead, months have gone by and the universe is collapsing. It hasn't exactly been my day."

[his_sarah_jane]

Her mouth opened to retort immediately. Even if he was new, there was absolutely no reason for him to snap at her like that. Even when his tone softened, Sarah Jane still watched him warily.

"I have some idea," she answered honestly as she leaned against an armchair. "And no matter how surreal it is, it's very real. Haven't you talked to anyone? You found this place, didn't you?"

[imatwat]

"Let's see. Got stranded in some middle eastern arabic country. Talked to some people on the communicator device I found in my pocket. Very informative. Got picked up by someone called Manisha and dropped off here with a good luck, be seeing you. Registered my name and serial number with the notebook keepers. I've exchanged words with a few people, but I can't say I've actually talked to them." He might as well have been reciting a shopping list with the matter of fact tone he used. Except for the comment at the end which was somewhat of an admission of his general wanker-ish attitude.

Since the woman appeared to be willing to listen to him, Owen let himself continue, giving voice to some of his earlier misgivings. "Apparently I'm one of the chosen ones to help right the universe. That I was called here for a reason, whatever that means. I'm much more comfortable with saving lives on a smaller scale, personally. And I don't believe in destiny."

[keyofmgy]

Jack had come into the house to see if there was a corner of it he might be able to claim for his own. Big property, a lot of police boxes around, but there was still a fair number of people outside. Some of them might already have claims on the proper bedrooms.

He felt hopelessly uncomfortable, too, which he hated considering he was back on his home planet for the first time in a handful of years and he was wearing his favorite suit. Only, he wasn't supposed to ever come back to his home planet, he was at least ninety years forward of his own time period, and his favorite suit was a giant glaring indicator of that.

The expression on the face of the guy slouched in front of the fireplace more or less matched his mood.

"Afternoon," he said, not sure if he would get a reply. "I would say "good" but I don't think it is one."

[imatwat]

Owen glanced up at the newcomer. He was wearing a suit that looked out of place for the time period. Well, that was par for the course, wasn't it? "Afternoon." He finally offered back.

Then, noting the fact that the bloke wasn't looking particularly chipper either he nodded as well. "Wouldn't say it was one to write home about, that's for sure. So, are you one of the conscripted as well? Seems there are people who are in the know and other's who don't have a bloody clue. Which are you?"

[keyofmgy]

He stopped and offered a wry smile. "I haven't a bloody clue. I thought I had left all this space travel stuff behind me. Instead, one moment I'm walking home, the next, I'm here. You?"

[imatwat]

For some reason it made Owen feel more at ease to know someone else was as bewildered by it all as he was. "Sounds about right. I was offworld searching for --" He paused, and picked at the armrest of the sofa for a moment, "something I'd lost, when the next thing I knew I was back on earth. On a different bloody continent. And I had this in my pocket." Owen produced the communication device he'd used and held it up for him to see.

[drelizabethshaw]

Liz was still finding it rather hard to adjust to the clothing of this time period. Although, yes, she had walked around in occasionally indecently short skirts back in the 1970s, that had been different. She felt oddly exposed here. But Jo had gone to a lot of trouble helping her select her new outfits, and the scientist felt obliged to wear them.

She'd been here a while now, but, for some reason, had never actually had the time to explore the house itself. Too much time spend in the TARDIS, or off on alien planets with the Doctor.

Even if that did make it an understandable oversight, Liz surveyed her jeans and blouse critically in her bedroom mirror and decided to rectify the problem.

Upon moving inside, came across a rather lost looking man staring absently into the fireplace. She wondered if greeting him would be inappropriate, but decided to give it a try.

"Hello," she said, genially, "Are you new here?"

[imatwat]

"If I had a fiver for every time I've been asked that recently..." Owen turned to face the woman who'd intruded upon his thoughts. "I'd be a very rich man." Then he cocked his head to the side. "Well, comparatively speaking, since I haven't even got a bloody sixpence on me at the moment."

He looked her up and down a bit. "And since you asked me if I was new that must mean that you're from the time before when you all screwed it up. Am I right?"

[drelizabethshaw]

"I'm sorry," said Liz, but she was smirking and didn't look particularly sincere. "You'll find the novelty of meeting people from different time periods and different universes never quite wears off. Where are you from?"

Her smirk didn't even waver when he asked about the time when they all 'screwed it up'. In fairness, she hadn't actually been around for that long - only a few months - and therefore hadn't been able to do much to help. But the Doctor - her Doctor, and several others - had, as had Jo and Sarah Jane and the other people she considered friends. She found herself feeling rather protective.

"We did our best," she said, "Do you really think you could have done any better?"

[imatwat]

"I'm from Cardiff, actually. Though originally from the London area. Not sure which universe. But I seem to have jumped a few months ahead." He answered, deciding not to bother trying to be cryptic in his reply. The woman seemed friendly enough. "And you?"

He frowned slightly at the next comment and shook his head. "No. Probably not. Only, the fact that you lot blew it means that I'm stuck here, where I don't belong."

[literaryloser]

Fitz is doing as Fitz does- wandering aimlessly. He's somehow found his way to the living room- and, well, misery loves company. Besides, this was the only non-Doctorish bloke he'd seen so far- besides Harry Sullivan and Saxon, and the former seemed like he definitely wasn't Fitz's sort, the latter...well, he was a politician.

"Think the fireplace is gonna run off, mate?" he asks, as he flops onto a convenient chair.

[imatwat]

Owen glanced over at the newcomer who seemed the affable sort. With the kind of scruff that he sometimes found attractive in a bloke. He turned back to the fireplace.

"You never know." He deadpanned. "I was thinking the rest of the universe might've got stuck up the chimney. Like a reverse Saint Nick or something."

[literaryloser]

Fitz scratches his head. "I figure it's behind the washer- y'know, wherever the socks go."

[imatwat]

"I did suggest behind the couch. Seems the first place anyone should look, right?" Owen smirked a bit and turned to look at his companion with more interest than before. "So. Are you one of those Doctors who come from Galliwhatsit?"