Mrs. Potosi had sent him on a grocery run, and, God love him, Dawson wanted to feel useful beyond being an employee. An added bonus: an extra $10 to get himself one of those microwave meals or, you know, something healthy (she added with one of those Pointed Maternal Stares), and he might have felt sorry for himself if he hadn't been so gleeful at the idea of getting his dinner paid for. There was only so much bread, water, and protein bars one could live off of.
It wasn't possible for someone like Dawson to be aware that the turn he chose to make, grocery bags weighing his arms down like the ball on the end of a wrecking machine, would be the wrong one. In the blink of an eye, he went from turning the block on a warm Wednesday evening to stepping in a puddle and quickly getting drenched by the sudden storm.
Flabbergasted, he nearly dropped his bags. Everything was fifty shades darker to boot, like night time has literally dropped on him. Dawson hustled to the nearest form of cover, in this case a stretch of clothed balcony from what was presumably a cafe. He couldn't really tell past the whole--
"What the <******** on.
lizbot
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 8:56 pm
It'd been a nice day for a run after work. Yes another run. being injured and laying about resting it off for a couple days was enough to leave America a bit stir crazy and extra active for weeks after. The added drive to get better, get stronger, practice, learn just made it buzz along her limbs all the more. At Darlene's she was a whirlwind lately, Borr and the rest having to tell her to sit down, take a moment was a near daily occurrence.
It just felt like, in order to be ready for whatever the scary side of magic sent next, she needed to be about a hundred times more able and experienced than she was now. And it wasn't just the scary s**t that moved her, she wanted to know more. She wanted to do more and explore more for the sake of simply doing those things, for truly opening up the new world she'd dipped toes into.
So when everything shifted and went dull and rainy at the turn of a corner, the change wasn't met with dismay. Not at all. Stepping out into the middle of the storming street, America held out her arms and laughed in complete delight.
medigel
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:19 pm
Not unlike a small patch of sunlight in the otherwise dark scenery, America stood out. It only took several minutes of alternating cowardice and flight response to take notice of the girl, having been preoccupied with s**t are the groceries okay.
"America, that you?" he called out from his new safe spot (an awning). "Honey, come dry yerself off 'fore ya catch a magic cold or somethin'!"
lizbot
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:28 pm
In a white tanktop and running shorts, she probably wasn't really dressed for a storm, but the girl didn't join him right away. Instead she started to beckon him out, to come play in the rain. It was only noticing the grocery bags that had her let up and go to join him.
Beaming at him, even as her body finally took notice of the chill, America rubbed her arms and exclaimed over the downpour, "It's my first time visitin' this place! Just turned a corner and here I was!"
medigel
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:39 pm
Why on earth she was smiling like they had found the perfect picnic place was beyond him. It was only then that Dawson remembered what the other people had mentioned: an other Ashdown.
Which meant more magic.
Which meant maybe more weres.
Which meant get the hell out of dodge.
"I don' think we oughta stay here," Dawson tried to say without a whimper evident, failing as miserably as even his greeting smile was strained. "Got no clue who could be lurkin' here." Except he did, and all possibilities were frightening. "A-An' I gotta go deliver these...Where'd you come from?" Maybe the portal or whatever worked both ways.
lizbot
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:52 pm
With a huff of laughter, America rocked back on her heels and waved vaguely in the direction she'd come from. "If you're looking for a way out so you can get back to work, I can try and help you find one. Might stay and explore myself, though." Who knew when she'd have another chance to wander this place, this whole other world?
Pulling out her phone, the girl was going to try texting her most reliable lifeline on all things strange and unexpected, but apparently this other world didn't have very good phone reception. Zero bars.
Time to try helpline number 2.
"Welp...uh....hrmmm...hey, if I go all blank? I'm not dead."
And then the girl gazed at the distance, not focusing on anything in particular, before going distinctly vacant. She stops talking or responding to him for several minutes.
medigel
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:14 am
Oh, good, phones didn't work here either. Fantastic. His foot tapped nervously, avoiding one of the many puddles.
"Well you sure better not be," Dawson began, turning his gaze to try and find what she was looking for. "I ain' ready t'get dumped that fast." A joke to try and ease himself. It didn't really work once America went blank faced.
More magic? s**t, not her too...
"Gahdammit, this ain' right..." Dawson shifted from foot to foot as he waited, eying every shifty movement in his peripheral as an incoming sign of doom. At the very least nothing was going to get near them on his watch, not stealthily anyway. (So he figured. False competency inflated his low ego.)
lizbot
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:42 am
Reaching out to Mr. Bitterberry was sudden and easy enough to almost startle America back into herself. The bird was crouched on a thick branch, under a small thatch of leaves. He was very still for a long while, and through his eyes she took in a vaguely familiar section of town, not far from the park she'd been on her way to before the path switched worlds.
A flash of feathers and leaves and then they were hopping from branch to branch, restless and wary. Was there something dangerous about? The jay took flight, further down the street toward several odd, bobbing lights.
Coming back to herself, America smiled over at Dawson. After a moment her eyes widened at the lack of pain and her smile grew brilliant. "There's a park not far from here, a little past that there's some things...lights of a sort? They might be a help, and if not, I'll look again."
medigel
Let's encounter ~
murmurs Wispy, faintly luminescent, and lazily draping themselves along the air like terrestrial jellyfish or large dandelion seed tufts, murmurs are the unspoken words, suppressed memories and best-kept secrets of Ashdown residents given form. They float around Other Ashdown, catching on streetlamps and tree branches, seemingly waiting to be found by someone -- and when that someone touches them they spring to life, burning the secret they hold into the recipient's mind before vanishing completely.
Murmurs tend to explode in number during holidays and other stressful times of the year, and they are also often found in clusters around what would be public spaces in the normal world, making some areas of Other Ashdown precarious to tread.
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:24 pm
Dawson gave her a dubious look over on the off chance that something had possessed her. "Uh...alright," he said with a wary nod before picking up his groceries. "Jus' stay glued t'my side, okay, hun?"
Presumably to make sure she stayed safe; the bonus was that he was scared shitless and needed contact.
"What'd you look through anyway? A magical telescope?"
lizbot
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 10:29 pm
America gave him a broad I'm humoring you hun-smile at the glued to his side order. "Sure thing, Dawson Grace." It was followed by a comforting pat on the shoulder.
The storm was letting up a little, but not stopping. Possibly never stopping from all descriptions of it. Keeping an eye out for were folks and owl people, America led him toward the spot she'd seen.
"I look through my bird friend's eyes. Some folks call it being a warg."
medigel
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Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:20 am
Dawson pressed his lips together at what was viewed as patronizing actions but said nothing about them. As long as it got them moving.
"Someone mentioned that, back at the thing. He had a bird too." Despite the magical nature of it, even Dawson couldn't help but feel a bit curious. "S'it like the one bird, or any ol' bird, or...?"
lizbot
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 6:17 pm
"Just the one!" America chirruped happily, seeming less uncomfortable in the rain than cold and soaking under shelter. "Back at what thing?"
The vague, bobbing glow was getting closer, tangled in a bush and unfazed by the rain. Above, on a streetlamp, a bluejay called out both sound and feathers striking against the dull backdrop of the other world.
medigel
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 10:23 am
"The, uh, Blackfriars thing." He still wasn't sure what to call that mess.
The chirp of the bluejay startled him, and he squinted through the downpour at the colorful little blob above them. "Huh...somehow, I ain' surprised," Dawson said, rebundling his groceries closer together like the meager brim of his cap would provide a semblance of shelter.
Nearby, a less friendly looking blob drew closer. The hairs on his arms rose.
"I-It, uh, got a name?"
lizbot
Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 8:55 pm
"Mr. Bitterberry," America answered absently as she reached up high to touch the gently glowing creature above. Dawson would see her make a startled sound before going wide-eyed and still as the thing simply disappeared.
Giving her head a shake, she squinted out at nothing, asking, "One of the mailmen has been secretly watching people's Netflix dvds?"
medigel
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2016 10:02 am
He might have said something about the cute name if God damn it woman don't touch the supernatural jellyfish--
It was unnecessary and belated, but Dawson still took her shoulder and tugged her away from the space the creature once occupied., dropping some of his groceries in the process. "What?" he asked without thinking, more concentrated on looking at a second one floating aimlessly ahead. "Jeezus, girl, you don' go touchin' s**t you don' know what it do!"
Looking to the bluejay, he said, "Mr. Bitterberry, jus' get us outta here 'fore yer girl gets us in a mess."
