001; open;

[aintyourdad]

Who: Joel and YOU?!
Where: Outskirts of Aldrip
What: Joel isn't pleased to be here. He's especially not pleased that someone knows a lot about him, and has it all written on a piece of paper.
Warnings: Nothing yet, aside from Joel's general assholishness.

[ Joel approaches the town carefully. It's long, long habit - infected are dangerous, sure, but people are what you really need to watch out for. People are capable of anything.

And this town? It's way too fucking good to be true. It's just... there. Out in the open, no defenses, no lookouts, no patrols. He doesn't trust it. And he especially doesn't trust whoever left this piece of paper on him, with his personal information, and some kinda crime he's supposed to have committed. The first thing he needs to do is find somewhere reasonably safe, and the second thing? The second thing is to destroy this paper before someone else gets their hands on it.

Then he needs to find Ellie.

No one is armed. No one tries to attack him, or shouts for FEDRA, or anything. Not even on the outskirts of the town, where he'd expect people to be particularly wary. Somehow, despite the tension in his shoulders, despite the glares he shoots at everyone in his vicinity, someone gets him to some sort of... inn, or something? What the fuck.

He finds a table near the back, with his back to a wall and all exits firmly in his sight lines. Then he pulls the paper out, unrolls it, looks at it a moment. Crumples it up in his hand, then goes to rip it up. Except, he can't. A line of frustration appears on his brow as he tries to tear at it, with his hands, his teeth, he even pulls out a blade at one point and tries to cut it.

The only thing he gets out of the exercise is a paper cut. ]

What the fuck is goin' on here.

[ His voice is incredulous (and also Texan). ]

Comments

[touchofcashmere]

[Stede is also wandering about town, looking a little lost, a little forlorn, but he perks up at the sight of someone else...and the sight of so feral a man well- it makes everything feel a little like home.]

Oh, I only wish I knew.

I'm just as new here as you are. Seem to be. [a smile and a proffered hand] Stede Bonnet, Gentleman Pirate.

[aintyourdad]

[ Joel glances at the proffered hand (but doesn't shake it), then up to the man's cheerful face.

That is a collection of words that probably makes sense, but Joel is confused nonetheless. ]

A what now?

[ Pirates, okay, that's not really a word most people use to describe themselves these days, but it's the same thing as a hunter, a scavenger, a killer. This guy? He definitely looks more gentleman than pirate. ]

[touchofcashmere]

A gentleman pirate. [he's used to this really and instead sweeps his hands out.] Polite menace. A distinguished mad man if you will, with a great sense of style if I do say so myself. [perhaps not the most piratical sense of style, but that's why he stands out]

[aintyourdad]

[ "Mad man" is definitely apt - though Joel knows better than to just call someone crazy to their face. If he really is crazy, who knows what he could do? Best to just keep things civil. ]

...Right. I don't suppose you've seen a girl around here? About fourteen, this high, cusses like a sailor, might've come at you with a knife?

[touchofcashmere]

No...'fraid not. [he's a bit surprised at the knife part, but then thinks she might get on with Alma, despite her being a bit younger] I can keep an eye out for her though. What's her name? And what's the best way to avoid getting stabbed? I mean...I can take a sword with the best of them, but I'd rather avoid it if possible.

[usarinpa]

[ Mizuki looks far better now than when she woke up here. She has come out of the room they've assigned her at the inn, spotting Joel at the back after making her way through the lobby, and she really doesn't think anything of it. When he pulls out that familiar looking parchment, however, she raises a brow slightly.

There's another pause before she finally speaks. ]

Yeah, I had to bury mine to get rid of it.

[ Doesn't know that not even that will work! She'll be in for a nasty surprise in a few days. ]

[aintyourdad]

[ The only thing Joel can think when he sees this girl is Jesus Christ they're kidnapping kids, too?

Whoever is behind this is seriously fucked up. It makes him scowl. And so does what she says. ]

That's dangerous. Someone could find it, dig it up. Then they know things about you.

[usarinpa]

[ Mizuki is 18, thank you!!! and doesn't seem at all shaken by this warning. Very little scares this girl, and while it's not like she wants to advertise her crime like a damn Wanted poster or something, the rest of it just seems mundane. ]

Clearly someone already does.

[ Who's "someone"? Who knows. ]

...If they go through all that trouble to dig it up, they can have it.

[aintyourdad]

Then they have power over you. It's not something you should be giving away.

[ He's very matter-of-fact about all this. It's bad enough that someone knew enough to write the papers out to begin with. ]

Unless you know the people here better than I do.

[twelfthsong]

[ The Doctor can and has been a suspicious man depending on the circumstances handed to him. And while he hasn't encountered this particular set of circumstances in this incarnation of himself, he had landed himself in prison once before (long story, but he did that one on purpose) and the environment there was 100% worse than wherever they are now.

All of that is to say that he's taking this better than most people probably are. He's holed up at a nearby table Joel pouring over several different books and scribbling down notes when he hears the war on paper happening at Joel's table. Should he know it's a rhetorical question? The jury's out on that one, but either way he'll speak up in a very dry, Scottish accent. ]

The answer to that question depends because I just saw a very sad attempt at trying to rip up paper that can't be destroyed. [ At that he waves his pen lazily in Joel's direction. ] But I'm guessing you aren't referring to that.

[aintyourdad]

[ Joel looks up at the voice, and fixes the older-looking man with a long, hard stare.

Finally he sighs, crumpling the paper again and shoving it into his backpack. ]

Paper isn't indestructible.

[ So what this thing is, Joel doesn't know. He's not into theorizing. He'll try to burn it later, though, probably. ]

[twelfthsong]

It can be when you add various components to it. Or magic if you want to distill it down into something more simple and infinitely complex at the same time.

[ He says it like a man who has unfortunately tried to set it on fire, not out of frustration or ire, but simply because it was a very logical thing to do when you're running tests on something. ]

I'd venture a guess that you don't really care for what's written there?

[aintyourdad]

[ Magic. Jesus Christ. If these people have magic, maybe they should've magically fixed his world instead of kidnapping him from it? The sound he makes is skeptical. ]

It's nobody's business, is what it is.

[ Whoever he is, whatever he's done, he doesn't owe anyone an explanation for. ]

[starguy]

[ Peter's a lot less suspicious of strangers -- at least on a backwater planet where he probably won't run into anyone he knows. So naturally he's looking for a place to sit and information to grab when he spots a very irate-looking guy near the back.

Angry dudes usually know what's up, right? And he's got a piece of paper too, how bout that. Sure, he's got the look of a guy who might gut him, but that's never stopped him from striking up a conversation before. ]

Yeah, they've got some hardcore paper here, that won't work.

[ Peter smiles and sidles up to Joel's table, taking a seat across from him. He eyes his knife, but it sure doesn't stop him. ]

Your guess is as good as mine, though. I don't usually get kidnapped with a bunch of other people like this.

[ "Usually." ]

[aintyourdad]

[ Joel does not get up to leave when the other man sits down. He doesn't tell him that seat's taken or anything. He just kind of radiates big "fuck off" energy. ]

Me neither. Also not great when the victims have weapons and can run around.

[starguy]

[ Peter can definitely feel that "fuck off energy" as he props his elbow on the table for the sake of gesturing while he speaks. ]

Right! They didn't even take our guns or anything!

[ He says this with some surprise, and also while pointing at the very space-looking blasters at his hips. ]

Like, if "they" really think we're so bad, they sure didn't staff this place like a jail. There's booze, for one thing! It's all super weird.

[aintyourdad]

[ Those guns look really fucking stupid. Joel wonders if they even work.

Whatever. He's off to speculation land, regardless. ]

Probably want us to drop our guards. Maybe they want slave labor.

[grappler]

[Vi looks like she's been snoozing nearby when Joel walks in, chair on two legs as she leans against the wall with her hood over her head.

but then she hears the commotion, and an eye opens and glances over at Joel.]

Bullshit, that's what's going on.

[#deepthoughtswithvi]

[aintyourdad]

Yeah, I noticed.

[ He huffs out an exasperated breath and shoves the crumpled-up paper into his backpack. ]

You been here long?

[grappler]

[she shakes her head.]

Showed up with all the other people who just appeared here. Long enough to think it's all bullshit, short enough to not know anything.

[she sighs.]

Which sucks.

[aintyourdad]

[ Joel grunts faintly - whether in agreement or simply acknowledgement, who's to say? ]

So they just decided to do a mass kidnapping, all out of the blue?

[ SEEMS SUS. Not that anything about this situation isn' sus. ]

[inemeraldfaith]

[Aerith has handled a good majority of this with what others will likely perceive as a dangerous amount of nonchalance. The day in which she's sharing inn space with Joel is probably going to be another one of those demonstrations on her part. She hasn't wasted much time in trying to chat up the locals. It's her own way of attempting to get information while making positive impression, which she still believes to be important, if not crucial for survival.

Of course, they haven't been... as helpful as she'd like. They seem very happy to talk about what they do, the various shops they run in town (peddling their wares, even), where they get food, and some of the areas that lie outside of the town (perhaps things to beware of?).

When she hears Joel's rough voice, she turns her attention from the inn clerk that she's been chatting up and gradually makes her way over to him. Folding her hands together, she considers frowning, but then settles for wearing an even expression instead. 'Smile and the world smiles with you' is probably not going to work on him.]

I'm trying to get some more information on that, but I can't say I've gotten any that most of us would consider useful. It'll be okay, though. We just need some time to get answers.

[Optimism might not work either, but she at least has to try.]

[aintyourdad]

[ It'll be okay. Jesus Christ, where do these people come from? It's like watching one of those kids' shows Sarah watched when she was little, back before anyone ever thought the world could end. Even back then, when some of the world was all right, and made sense, it wasn't entirely true. Even back then, the world could be shitty. Now? It'll be okay is the most trite shit anyone could possibly say.

This girl is twenty years too late for it'll be okay.

Joel sighs, crumples the paper up and shoves it in his bag. ]

Have you ever been kidnapped?

[inemeraldfaith]

[Why, yes. Yes, she has. In fact, he's so pointed about it, that she almost has to wonder if he knows something that she doesn't. He's hit her situation almost a little too on the nose, and likely he doesn't even know it. However, as she does when she's up against a question she doesn't want to answer, she settles for the characteristic habit of evasion.]

Is that how you normally start a conversation with someone? If so, I'm going to assume you get some very strange looks in return.

[She gets the unspoken point here, however. When she willingly gave herself up for the sake of Marlene, she isn't sure she thought it'd be okay, per se. She'd thought she'd find a way out of it. Somehow. Someway. But she isn't the surrendering type.]

[aintyourdad]

It's how I start talking to someone I've just been kidnapped with, yeah.

[ He raises his eyebrows. Judging by her non-answer, he's gonna guess that yes, she has been kidnapped before. Which is actually a little surprising - from what he's heard from some of the other people here, he wouldn't have expected many of them to go through things like that.

He'll also refrain from informing her that he's been a kidnapper more than a kidnappee. ]