When You’re Down And Out | OTA

[deepbluerevue]

Who: Grace Holloway (deepbluerevue) & sundry (You)

What: Grace’s return to Pumpkin Hollow

When: November 9th to 14th (roughly)

Where: Downtown and the Oak & Iron

Warning(s): Rapture in the late 1950s into the 1960s was a tough place to live, but Grace is unlikely to bring such things up of her own accord.

DOWNTOWN PUMPKIN HOLLOW (after Grace has been to City Hall)

Winter is rapidly approaching Marrow Isle, and anyone with the wardrobe to do so is bundled against the weather. The middle-aged woman in a new arrival’s garb, on the other hand, has her girlishly-round jaw clenched against the cold, the hand not holding her cane tucked casually in her pocket. She doesn’t look overwhelmed, per se, but there’s a definite air of measurement as her eyes flick over each shop in turn. Particularly, she seems to assess the newer shops, and those selling clothing.

If one had to guess, one would probably say the woman is in her late thirties, perhaps early forties. The few lines on her face speak to some time spent frowning and a lot of time spent smiling. Her coily hair is expertly coiffed into a simple, protective updo. When she shifts in her simple boots, her left leg seems a little less able to bend at the knee.

Given how uncomfortably chilled she looks, she’ll probably move into a shop soon.

(This is a great opening for a clothier!)

THE OAK AND IRON (after Grace has gone shopping)

It’s not quite dark, so the Oak and Iron still has plenty of custom, though people intending to spend the night at home are starting to trickle out. On an end of the bar with a good vantage point, a middle-aged woman clad in a white linen blouse, a light brown waistcoat, and a long brown skirt sits with ankles crossed and nurses a glass of wine. A few people seem to double-take on seeing her, going over for a few minutes of conversation, to which she smiles, clasping their hands companionably or nodding or something similar.

Someone with a guitar is strumming out background music, and the woman politely applauds every finished number.

WILDCARD

For other ideas and ways to exploit Grace’s disorienting return, PM me!

Comments

[deepbluerevue]

Grace makes a noncommittal noise. “Well. It is what it is. Not much to be done.” She glances sideways at him. “Now, when you say ‘horrible events’ of ‘late’… things were already getting frightening last I was here.”

[imjustaman]

“Very true,” he acknowledges with a nod.

He frowns at this. “What was happening then?”

[deepbluerevue]

Her hand moves as though she’s about to rub the bridge of her nose, but it unnecessarily adjusts a few strands of hair instead. “Oh, goodness. There were a bunch of creepy little tree creatures running around, and the River Walker, and the Pine Devil, that bugger nearly caught me…” She’s started ticking items off on her fingers. “A damn crab infestation… There was that awful dancing plague, I was laid up for days from that, something to do with a ‘demon king’…”

[imjustaman]

"... A dancing plague?"

A heavy sigh. "Demons are still causing problems, unfortunately."

[deepbluerevue]

Grace closes her eyes briefly. “Young man, you better be funning me. That plague was well bad enough. It made people dance until they were restrained or until they dropped dead.” She gestures at her knee. “I don’t even dance much in the normal course of things!”

[imjustaman]

“That sounds truly horrendous. They aren’t doing things such as that now; they seem to prefer forcing people to experience their worst fears and memories, over and over. Many of the people just finished such an experience.”

He had been spared, and he still felt guilt that so many had suffered while he had not. But he had suffered plenty during some of the other problems.

[deepbluerevue]

That… that stops Grace right in her tracks. “They’re what now?” she says, after a moment of bewildered silence.

[imjustaman]

“I don’t know how they’re doing it. Some type of dark magic. I believe this last experience was trapping people in a dreamlike state, from what little I’ve been hearing. They mostly seem to prefer not discussing it. Trapping people in dreams was also done in January. In March we were forced to perform our worst memories as an opera, for an audience.”

[deepbluerevue]

“What the hell,” Grace says blankly. Her smooth demeanor has loosened and is flopping down like a poster with a corner loose. “Good gracious. Did that happen to you? You alright?”

[imjustaman]

"I experienced the problems in January and March," he says. "I am ... as alright as one can be in such circumstances, I suppose."

He is very concerned about a coworker of his, on the other hand, who has been struggling most of the year and is very much not alright.

[deepbluerevue]

“Damn,” Grace says, with great feeling. “Well. I wouldn’t blame you if you weren’t alright. That’s a trial and no mistake.”

[imjustaman]

"Thank you. It has been ... difficult, to say the least. I would like to say there won't be any further mishaps of the kind while you are here, but I am afraid there likely will be. Some of the demons have been supposedly killed, but it seems there is always another to take over."

And he is still skeptical that such beings can truly die.

[deepbluerevue]

Grace contemplates her wine, then drains what’s left. “I’ll brace myself, then. Damn.” She frowns. “They can be killed, though?”

[imjustaman]

"That's the claim, although I don't know if I believe it," Sephiroth says. "It makes very little sense to me."

[deepbluerevue]

“I don’t know anything about them at all,” Grace says, “so I’ll take your word for it.” She sighs, and politely flags down the bartender for another glass of wine.

In the meantime, she turns to him more deliberately. “But we’ve been talking a whole lot about myself. What about you? You arrived in the last few years?”

[imjustaman]

Hm, Sephiroth thinks they've been talking more about himself and his experiences here than her. Intriguing. A way to deflect from talking about herself, perhaps? Well, he'll play along, if so. He doesn't want to pry into anyone's life if they'd rather not share.

"I've been here a year," he says.

[deepbluerevue]

“An old hand, huh?” Grace teases. “Showing newcomers the ropes? It’s awful nice of you to be making people feel welcome.”

[imjustaman]

He smiles. “I do what I can.”

He remembers how sad and confused and reeling he was to end up here right after becoming sane again.

[deepbluerevue]

Grace looks around for a moment, at the Oak and Iron brimming with people. “Do you work here? I’m hoping I can start performing again sometimes.”

[imjustaman]

“I don’t; I’m a law enforcement officer,” Sephiroth says. “But I don’t imagine you would have trouble getting re-hired. People here seem happy to grant jobs to people.”

[deepbluerevue]

She nods as though his job isn’t a surprise. “That’s something I really like around here,” Grace says thoughtfully. “They say they want workers, and then they actually mean it.”

[imjustaman]

"Yes, the people are the best thing about this world," Sephiroth says. He likes most everyone he has met. "It's so much different from back home."

[deepbluerevue]

Grace snorts, shaking her head a little bit. “Yeah. Back home… I don’t know. Can’t help but feel now like it wasn’t ever going to turn out well, a city stacked full of fanatics.” Her mouth twists bitterly at the last word, then smooths out. “What’s back home like for you?”

CW: Mention of past child abuse

[imjustaman]

“That sounds terrible,” Sephiroth frowns. “That is always a recipe for disaster.”

He sighs. “Back home … a cruel and greedy company was the world’s government. They did anything they had to in order to have what they wanted, from starting wars to experimenting on people before they were born.”

[deepbluerevue]

“I’m sorry to hear it,” Grace says. “That’s awful. Crooks can run a place right into the ground…” She grimaces. “Let alone… the whole world?”