[ open ] we're only taking turns

[thevulnerability]

WHO: Chloe Decker & YOU
WHERE: Around Jeapordy
WHEN: Early June
WHAT: First, Chloe is really confused about where she is. Then, Chloe encounters a crytid in the wild! Then, she goes to her first day of work and it's awful.
WARNINGS: None!

HOUSING

She's still in shock, even after she is brought to Jeopardy and right up to when she standing outside what she's been told is her new home. Chloe isn't sure what to do with 99% of the information that's been handed to her - she's suddenly in this bizarre reality where the Cold War apparently never ended, assigned to some random house in a state she's only been to a couple of times (and which, historically, is not one that has ever brought anything positive to her life), and, well, there's the whole superpowers thing, but at least she has some experience with that.

Truth be told, she has a lot of experience with a lot of things at this point. A lot of really, really weird things. All things considered, she's handling this a lot better than she did the last time everything went off the rails.

Standing in front of her new house, Chloe looks down at the pamphlet she's still holding in her hand. She flips through again, trying to figure out where she even wants to start puzzling through this insane info dump, and her gaze rests on the registration information.

She lets out a long, ever-suffering sigh. "Wild Tiger or Barnaby Brooks Jr? Are you freaking serious?"

THE DESERT

What started as a short walk to clear her head turned into an hour-long hike. Chloe had the good sense to turn around once she realized how far she was getting from her place, but she takes her time wandering home, skirting the line between civilization and seemingly endless mesa as she lets her mind wander. There was a small blessing in ending up in Nevada; even if Jeopardy was a universe away from Los Angeles, the desert is familiar to her, and sometimes that's nearly enough.

A rustling bush pulls Chloe from her thoughts and she manages to catch a glance of what looks like a rabbit out of the corner of her eye. That in itself isn't particularly interesting, and it wouldn't have kept her attention by any means if she hadn't taken a second look and realized... That's not really a rabbit, is it?

Interest officially piqued, Chloe decides to follow the jackalope for a while and see where it goes. She's not exactly sure what she'll do with the information she gets, but it's better than wandering aimlessly around town for another hour. And a woman in street clothes slowly stalking a leaping mythical bunny rabbit is totally normal around here, right?

THE MALL

Her first day on the job isn't a great one. For starters, she's remembering exactly why she was so relieved to make homicide and get off the beat - wearing a uniform sucks. To top it off, by noon she's already been flipped off by some teenagers, had someone spill a milkshake on her pants, and spent ten minutes trapped in an elevator with a wailing infant and its unhappy mother.

By 1pm, she officially hates her job.

She takes her lunch late, settling for a tasteless burger and soggy french fries in the food court just so she can get something in her stomach. Chloe is filling up her cup at the soda machine and turns around without looking, proceeding to--as if her day couldn't get any worse--pour half of it down someone else's shirt.

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry." She practically drops the cup as she scrambles to reach the napkins. "Really, really sorry."

Worst first day ever.

Comments

The Desert

[devilishly_handsome]

Anton was exploring the different cities, trying to get a feel for each of them and figure out if there was one he'd rather spend more time in, when he spots a woman following a rabbit. A rabbit with antlers.

Curious, he approaches, trying to move quietly so as not to spook the animal.

Once he's near the woman, he asks, "I've never seen a rabbit that looks like that before. Do they all look like that around here?"

[thevulnerability]

Chloe glances at him once he approaches, her eyebrows raising only slightly as she gets a look at him. It's a fleeting look of surprise, but that's it. Considering all the things she's seen lately, this guy is barely a blip on the radar.

"Not that I know of, but I just got here," she confesses, turning again so she can concentrate on keeping her eye on the animal, who has seemed to busy itself chewing on a bush. "They don't exist where I come from. Well, kind of, but they aren't real."

[devilishly_handsome]

"Oh. Huh. Yeah, I've only been here for a little over a month. I'm not really sure how this place works yet." He watches it a few minutes more. "So your world has myths about rabbits with antlers? Do they do anything special? Do they have magic? Or are they just...rabbits with antlers?"

After all, he'd expect a mythological creature to be more fantastical than the real ones, and at least where he's from, the real ones get pretty bizarre.

[thevulnerability]

"They're just rabbits with antlers. But also supposedly kind of vicious. So... You might not want to spook it. Just in case."

They don't exist which means she has no idea what to expect from one. Nailing down the real-world behavior of animals that don't exist in the real world isn't really possible.

"There's a lot of stories like that in my world, though. I just didn't really expect to find anything here. Should we take a picture or something?"

Housing

[redcosmedic]

Although Knock Out's been spending the majority of his time at his hangar -- preferring the freedom to move around in root mode as much as he can -- he still returns to Jeopardy 003 nearly every night to recharge in the driveway in alt mode. If pressed, he's not even sure he could say why, especially now that Rogue has moved out. Perhaps it's simply the familiarity? Primus, he hoped he wasn't getting maudlin.

Either way, the morning sun rises on a very shiny, very sleek looking red sports car in the driveway.

[thevulnerability]

Chloe lowers the brochure in her hand, examining the house once again and the car in front of it. It's certainly a really nice car - the kind of car that's out of her price range and that Lucifer would buy when he was bored. She's also not entirely sure why someone who lived in government housing would have a sports car to begin with.

She makes her way up the driveway and pauses next to it, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. Chloe isn't a car aficionado by any means, but she knows a nice automobile when she sees it and this definitely qualifies. She takes another quick look around before reaching out and running her hand over the hood of the car.

[redcosmedic]

"Excuse me," Knock Out said, sounding outraged, his voice seemimg to emanate from the entire car.

"What is it about organics that compels you to put your grubby handprints on a perfect high gloss finish like this? It's like you humans don't know how to look without touching!"

[thevulnerability]

Choe jumps back, completely startled. On her list of really wild things she's grown to adjust to, talking cars hadn't even come near it.

"Sorry," she offers, not sure what part of the car is supposed to be the face so she just... Stares at the hood. She doesn't want to look down the length of the car again and come off looking like a perv, either.

"I didn't mean to, I didn't think there was anyone in there."

The Mall

[reborningreen]

Oliver has been everywhere lately, working on checking everything out, even as he begins his plan to set up a business, and try to get investors form private organizations, ones he vets securely. But this, along with his registered hero status means that he is very busy going everywhere.

His stop in Jeopardy has included the local government offices, some investment services, and now the mall.

Spotting a familiar face, he sets out to say hello, a small smile on his face. Today, he is dressed in civies, but his bag is still slung over his shoulder.

"Chloe Decker?" But he is literally too close, tripping over a small cup on the ground and right into the spray of her soda cup. He looked down in dismay, then laughs.

"Its okay, really. Nothing a little detergent wont cure." He has some experience with getting out stains.

[thevulnerability]

"Oliver?"

She looks relieved, and then embarrassed. On one hand, it's mortifying that she just spilled her drink all over him. On the other hand, at least this is someone she knows and hopefully not someone who will report her to her supervisor for being bafflingly incompetent.

"You sure? Here." She gathers as many napkins as she can before thrusting them towards him. "I'm having the worst day. It's like being a beat cop all over again, but people somehow hate me more."

[reborningreen]

"I'm okay, really." He takes the napkins and gently strokes them over the soda. Thankfully, it is not as big a mess as it seems. He grins at her.

"I can imagine. This place seems to like to play jokes on us. I'm a Renaissance Faire Robin Hood Impersonator. Needless to say, I am already looking for a new job." His tone is wry as he tells her.

"How long is your lunch break? Time enough to snag some real food with someone who doesn't hate you?"

The Mall

[hisfavoriteson]

This isn't the city he lives in, or where he's been doing his shopping. But he'd been in Jeopardy earlier, doing some location shots (though it certainly hadn't been his idea to go into the desert), and had figured that since he was already here, he'd see what this place has to offer.

And of course he's found the nicest menswear store in the place, and is currently examining a rack of shirts with the proprietor, unaware of anyone walking past in the mall outside.

[thevulnerability]

Her day is finally over. Chloe clocks out, desperate to get the hell out of dodge as fast as she can so she doesn't have to think about being here for another sixteen hours. She's already puzzling out how to rearrange her schedule to make this all less torturous. She could move to tens and get three days off, but that also meant logging additional hours on the days she was there. Or she could look for an entirely new job completely. Or, the most obvious option in the case of Chloe Decker, she could stubborn her way through it until it stops sucking so much.

Thinking about all of this is precisely why she is distracted walking into the store, hoping to find some clothes to fill out her meager closet, and only then realizing she blindly walked into the menswear.

"Come on," she mutters, turning straight around to walk back out and manages, briefly, to catch the profile of a man nearby.

A familiar profile. No, unmistakable. But how? How is this possible?

"Lucifer?" Her voice comes out quiet, half-strangled, so much so she isn't sure if he is even able to hear her.

[hisfavoriteson]

One thing that angels do not have in their ridiculous arsenal of supernatural abilities is enhanced hearing, but he hears it anyway. That familiar voice, belonging to someone he'd been afraid he was leaving behind forever but had to do it anyway.

Now isn't that irony. His father spent five years trying to get him to go back to Hell, and in the end it's Chloe Decker who does it.

He drops the shirt sleeve he'd been examining and turns in her direction. He hadn't just been hearing things. She's really standing there.

"Chloe?"

@ desert

[divaricate]

You're no weirder than the rest of them, Chloe.

Wanda also enjoys frequent hikes -- except this time, after she's hiked for a while, she takes a more aerial approach, wisps of scarlet trailing behind her as she flies. When she stops just before colliding into her, she puts her feet back on the ground.

"Whoops, sorry."

[thevulnerability]

Chloe's attention is taken off the jackalope when something collides with her, and she spins around, catching the moment before the woman's feet hit the ground.

So, you know, that's a thing. Chloe's own powers haven't activated yet, at least as far as she knows, but she does look a little jealous. Being able to fly is a lot cooler than anything she seemed to be assigned.

"No problem. I was kind of lost in my own head, too." And distracted by the rabbit, who seems oblivious enough to the encounter as it goes to town on a particularly tasty looking root. "I wasn't expecting to bump into anyone out here, literally or otherwise."

The Desert!

[hellogoodhigh]

You know what else is totally normal around here?
A guy out in the middle of the desert dressed in an eclectic fashion. Dark sunglasses cover his eyes, and he wears an embroidered coat that covers his mesh crop top that barely hides his numerous tattoos and leather pants that lace up the sides. On top of his head, his only protection from the sun an oversized umbrella.

He seems to be talking to a hazy blue figure, a woman in old fashioned clothing covered in blood, when a sudden movement of the underbrush has him starting as a strange rabbit with... is that a set of antlers? It takes off in a dash, and he's startled enough that his concentration is broken, and the woman disappears.

"What the hell-?!"

[thevulnerability]

Chloe was following it closely, noticing the man and his creepy ghost companion. The jackalope spooks and dashes off and she considers chasing it, but there's really no point. It's a lot faster than her and there is no way she's going to catch it.

And even if she did, she would have no idea what to do with it.

Still, she levels an annoyed glared at the man, who is now sans creepy ghost companion, thankfully. That's one less question she is going to have to ask.

"I was hoping to follow it so, thanks a lot." She realizes that chastizing him for existing is probably rude as hell, but the jackalope isn't really the problem, is it? It's easier to be mad at that than take time having to figure out how to be mad at the whole abduction situation she's stuck in.

"Nice coat." It's not a compliment.

[hellogoodhigh]

"Oh, well, danke." He grins, and he decides to take it as a compliment as he reaches up to take off his sunglasses. Might as well get a look at the pretty (and slightly terrifying) woman who has stumbled upon his private training grounds. It's an unmarked graveyard from ye olde settler dayes, and the woman, well, a new friend.

"So- was it just me or did that thing have antlers?" He asks, twirling the umbrella in one hand as he looks for the trail of the rabbit.
"I know Jeopardy has some weird shit, but that's a first for me."

{Can't stop it, can't control it, can you feel it overloading? » June 12

[deadlycurves]

Diego has been in this place for a month or so now, so he's at the very least adjusted in a way that someone who has never known how to do anything but adapt to whatever life has thrown their way can do. He isn't settled, he isn't sure he will ever be anything like it no matter how long he's here, but he can build a routine around his days to pass the time while he's here. Unfortunately one such part of that routine is this job that he hates more than anything in the world. The one that was dropped in his lap and demanded of him that was nothing more than a slap in the face of the dream that he'd had shattered in his hands nearly a decade ago now. He's pretty sure the uniform is worse than anything else. A mockery of what he could have had, could have been, that he has to put on every day. He's there for the earliest shift, and he doesn't hate that part because at least initially there aren't tons of people and that makes the job overall pretty easy. Diego begrudgingly makes his way through the route he's meant to track and keeps an eye out for suspicious people, but mostly he's just bored. There's a persistently growing buzz or hum of some kind that Diego notices through the day. This annoying thing that is almost like a ringing in his ears, but it's everywhere somehow. Not knowing what to make of it at all, he casts it off and ignores it. He's on his way to lunch, after being chastised over the radio about trying to work through his break. He really wouldn't take it, if he wasn't in that awful spot of needing money to survive or something. He could probably find another job, maybe even one that suited him more, but he's got more things going on that take front-seat of his focus than to bother with something as tedious as a job search. As he's walking by one of the drink stations, he runs directly into a woman mid-swing out away from it and half of her still open-lid cup is suddenly all over him. "Seriously?" He snaps, not bothering to cover the sharp edges of his voice, even as she's scrambling to grab a handful of napkins. "No, stop. Just- stop." He suppresses a groan and is going to call it being nice for stopping there. It's only when he realizes she has the same uniform as he's got on that he can't seem to stop himself from saying, "Wasn't aware they let klutzes have security jobs."

[thevulnerability]

Chloe is definitely trying to figure out new job opportunities already, but she's not even sure where to start. Her current resume consisted of "actress" and "cop," neither of which seems like a good starting point for where she is now. It's exactly those kinds of thoughts that keep distracting her throughout the day and, certainly, help in her inability to not pour soda all over other people in line.

Finding her apology falling on deaf ears, she immediately prickles and shoots him a stone cold look.

"Funny, I wasn't aware they let jackasses have them, either." She pulls back the handful of napkins, instead electing to toss them onto the counter next to him. If he's going to act like that, he can clean up his own damn self. She usually has a high tolerance for bullshit, but after how the boys treated her at the station during the whole Palmetto disaster, having someone ream her in uniform is pretty exempt from that bullshit tolerance.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going next time."

It occurs to her then that maybe instead of quitting, she could just take the easy way out and get fired by having a fight with another security guard in the middle of the mall. Convenient.

[deadlycurves]

"I guess they were pretty desperate at the time," he throws both hands out in an open-handed shrug. "Not exactly my first choice career, here." he says, tugging at the collar of his uniform shirt. Both brows arch at the sudden sharpness in her words. Okay, he has to admit, that's almost an impressive record-switch of tone that he isn't used to most people out in the wider world having. "I'm not the one that's barreling over innocent passers-by in the food court, but sure. I'll get right on that."

Mall

[choosetruth]

This is absolutely not the way Georgia was expecting her afternoon to go. Her bad for ducking into the mall for a quick Coke, she supposes. It's not like she was expecting high quality anything, but she did at least think she was going to make it out dry.

She stares down at her soaked shirt and grimaces.

"Well, that happened."

[thevulnerability]

Chloe lets out the longest, most suffering of sighs.

"That was my bad. You can send me the dry cleaning bill." She tries to offer some semblance of an apologetic smile, but she's too dead behind the eyes to make it convincing.

[choosetruth]

Georgia eyes her with a slight frown. “Not necessary. I machine wash everything. How bout just buy me a Coke instead?”

Her own eyes may be hidden, but she’s always found that just makes it easier for her to read other people. The other woman is practically a billboard with how easy she is to read.

“You look like you’re having a hell of a day.”