a shame you seemed an honest man

[meanwhileback]

So Penelope is in Xanadu today looking somewhat less chic than usual. For anyone who knows her, this would be cause enough for concern, but when she lights her cigarette and takes a drag, the way her hands shake is more than a little unsettling in itself

Comments

THNMY slenderman can't stop bruce and penny okay

[obscuronoctis]

Somehow, amidst all the insane shit that's happened in the span of time in which Bruce has known Penelope, she's managed to neglect to mention that dead people stalk her. Maybe it didn't seem relevant, or maybe she thought some rich guy who's probably participating in a real life Fight Club wouldn't understand or care (which ... fair enough, really). But now he knows, and he is pretty damn concerned.

Which is why he's here, like he said he'd be.

Despite having no idea about dead people. Still.

"Hey."

ain't nothin' gonna break their stride. NOW IT'S IN YOUR HEAD

[meanwhileback]

"Hey." Penelope exhales a cloud of most probably extremely noxious smoke, but is kind enough to do it in a direction other than At Bruce's Face. This is because she is a caring friend. (Right.)

"I'd ask if you think I'm nuts or something but whatever, I actually don't care." She does, it's just that whether he believes her or not isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things, where things outside of her control or comprehension are trying to kill her.

GDI ANNA

[obscuronoctis]

"I don't think you're nuts, Penelope."

If she was a Gothamite and telling him this at home, maybe he would - but really, it's not like he has room to talk about relative sanity even there. Here, though, seeing what he's seen, between elder gods and being abducted by aliens and alternates stalking him into bathrooms and Enfys existing at all, it's not that much of a stretch. It just irks him, because he hates knowing she's mixed up in this when she should really be designing and bitching about assholes and doing her nails, or whatever it is normal people get to do.

"You ... want to talk about it?"

It also irks him - a lot - that this is probably going to be outside his realm of experience and thus leave him with doing little about it besides holding somebody's handbag while they take an axe or a ritual to the problem. It means that his capacity for help is probably going to be relegated to 'being there for a friend', and he's really terrible at that. But he's here. Awkwardly. For you, Penny.

HAHAHA YOU HAVE NO CHANCE TO SURVIVE MAKE YOUR TIME

[meanwhileback]

"What is there to say that I haven't already said? It's pretty self-explanatory." This is sort of muttered in the vague direction of the ground, because Penelope is, not subtly, frustrated with her own situation. It's one thing to have freaky shit going on in her periphery, where it doesn't effect her life, but since it's started bleeding in, it's quite clearly jolted her.

"And besides that, somehow I doubt you've got much to say on the subject. No offense." Mr. Bruce "Terse As Fuck" Wayne.

[one_drafted_man]

Uh. Holy shit, dude. I've heard some fucked up shit over the years, but that could possibly take the cake.

Anyway, your options...

• You could possibly hire a bodyguard (or more than one, like from an agency or something), but that shit could get expensive, and depending on how commonly known shit like undead stalkers is in your world, you might have difficulty finding one who'll believe you.
• Alternately, you can look into increasing your own ability to protect yourself. Self-defense classes, protective clothing, weaponry that you should probably make sure to also take classes on how to properly use, etc. Possibly less costly, and I'm personally in favor of people being able to defend themselves in general, but the learning curve means a while where you may still have problems before you're equipped enough to handle it.
• You could possibly consider relocating to another universe. It's not a great option, but it's available as a last ditch. It doesn't even have to be permanent; you could check into a hotel (or even do that in the Nexus/

[meanwhileback]

Okay, one: I am poor. Also I am apparently the only person who can actually like... tell that these people are anything other than normal? Like they're just faces in the crowd and nobody else can tell there's anything wrong with them. So that first option is definitely out.

Option two is problematic mostly because they are already dead how the fuck do you hurt someone who is already dead. And even if there was a way, which honestly I am not about to experiment with and find out, I am a small-ass person and I am pretty sure my cat is stronger than I am.

Option three is out of the fucking question because my family is here and I'm not leaving them behind.

And I mean what the fuck am I supposed to do, I'm a fashion designer for god's sake. I work retail. I reiterate, what the fuck.

[one_drafted_man]

Hm. Okay, lack of funds do make at least some of these options less viable, I will admit. I also totally hear you on how this situation is totally fucked up and that you shouldn't have to deal with it. The thing here, though -- and I'm sorry if this seems harsh or whatever -- is that it is your situation, and if you want to come out the other side of it alive, you will have to find a way to deal with it, even if it means becoming resourceful in ways your current profession didn't previously prepare you for

[meanwhileback]

Woo, okay. Penelope sort of feels a little bit bad for this girl who appears to have tumbled directly out of some kind of fetish video and into Xanadu. Maybe she makes a good living that way; she's not judging. Especially if she can help somehow.

"Um, like a year and a half ago? And no it was like pretty spontaneous. I just started noticing these people around, just faces in crowds. Then there were more and more of them... I don't know. It's been getting worse. I feel fucking paranoid."