[OPEN]

[cantgetanyworse]

WHO: Jane Porter & YOU
WHERE: De Chima
WHEN: 28th - 30th
WHAT: Firstly, the moon is back. Secondly, religious crises are had. Thirdly, what are these awful rocks killing off all the plants?
WARNINGS: Will update as/if needed.

---

a; the moon! | 28th

[It's not as if she makes a point of being outside late at night, and certainly not after dark, but today happens to be a day when the bookshop was open particularly late, followed by her employer politely but firmly asking that Jane draw a few pictures for some pieces of card he wanted to put up around the shop to encourage people to look closer at the books that don't sell as well as others.

She had thought it a better idea to stay behind to do that, as there could be too many distractions at home.

The moon has been made conspicuous by its absence for a while now, so when she notices that the light in the street is silvery, when she looks up and sees it hanging there again as if it had never left at all, she can't help but grab the arm of the next person passing at such a late hour and point up excitedly.]

Look! The moon is back!

b; be gentle, we're having a religious crisis | 29th

[She is standing outside a church.

She hasn't gone inside yet. Jane is standing just far enough away for it not to look too strange, but she's been standing there for long enough now that it's probably being noticed. She looks up at the building, nestled unobtrusively between a sandwich shop and a small supermarket, and her lips press into a thin line.

A religious crisis of any kind isn't something that has ever bothered Jane Porter. Far too concerned with her work, with helping her father with his research, religion has never taken a place in her life. And yet... now she's actually met an angel, and a demon, and she finds that this, of all things, is what starts her questioning. She steps forwards, though only one step, and instead of going to the door diverts her track to a bench not far outside, where she sits and sighs as she braces her elbow to her knee and puts her chin on her hand.]

Oh, this is just silly. [She says out loud, her lower lip moving into a brief pout.] You're not going to find any answers in there, Jane, are you?

[And then she fishes her phone out. Fidgets with it. Perhaps she should just give Aziraphale or Crowley a call, instead..?]

c; white kryptonite | 30th

Oh, not another one--

[Jane clicks her tongue in annoyance as she picks up another recently fallen rock, already happily at work killing the vegetation around it, with a pair of iron tongs and drops it into the metal bucket in her other hand. She's been working around De Chima all day, but is currently in one of the larger wooded areas in the suburbs, exploring while also doing her good deeds for the city. After all, we can't just leave all of this terrible stuff lying around to kill everything it touches!

How she's going to get rid of it all when she's done hasn't really crossed her mind yet, but she's sure she'll find something to do with it. Perhaps one of the research departments - so numerous in De Chima - would like to take it off her hands. For a small fee... perhaps, if they're willing to pay it (a bookstore clerk salary doesn't amount to much).

It's a humid day, and while it's only a little warm under the trees, the humidity is taking its toll on her. She puffs and straightens up, rubbing the base of her spine with the heel of her hand.]

I should have brought more water. [Jane sighs, flicking her hair out of her face.] What a nuisance... I'll have to go back.

[And in that moment, a small rock bounces through the trees and lands in a patch of lavender, which immediately begins to die off.]

... Is that some kind of a sign?

Comments

The Moon!

[fridgeflower]

[ Laurie's leaving League HQ and heading for the nearest 'Porter facility, gym back slug over one shoulder. She's tired, and she's only halfway paying attention to her surroundings. Yes, that's a dumb way to go about things, but it's something of a safety mechanism at this point. She's so burnt down, and nothing's changing... until it does.

She's slower to register the change in the light, and she's being grabbed before the fact fully settles. She stops short of reacting defensively. She definitely can't blame this person for being excited, after all. This is (probably) good-ish news.

She keeps her eyes on where Jane's point, and releases an unconsciously-held breath after a moment. ]

Oh. Good. [ Seems understated. ] God, I hope everyone on the base is okay.

[cantgetanyworse]

[In hindsight, she is actually quite sorry for randomly grabbing onto another person like that, but her excitement over actually seeing the moon again after its baffling disappearance overtakes her manners.

Still, she does let go. Not polite at all to keep hanging on to someone in the middle of the street like that.]

The base? [Oh, yes... there was something being said about a 'base' in the structure that had replaced the moon. Or the moon was the structure? For Jane, who is still delighted by having consistent hot running water in her own home, the idea of something like that is almost beyond understanding.]

Oh... people went up there?

[fridgeflower]

I think people went to have a look, but... [ She hasn't dug around much on that one. She'd heard the Death Star was mostly desolate, which was likely as good an outcome as they could've hoped for. ]

I meant the people on the moon research base, the people who were up on that moon when it disappeared.

[ It takes her a moment to realize that she may be dealing with a newer imPort, rather than a native or an imPort who'd been present for a decent length of time. Or she'd just mis-spoke. Either way, the sentiment remains. ]

[cantgetanyworse]

Oh!

[No, she certainly has the right idea. Jane looks up at the newly returned moon with a far more concerned expression than she had before. Her hands press together, questions pressing at the back of her throat, but it's late and she doesn't wish to be too much of a bother...

Some day, she will stop doing things that mark her as new.]

Oh, you're right... Did anyone hear from them after it happened?

A religious crisis you say?

[hadthehighground]

[Finding answers always depended on where one was looking. If Jane was looking for religious information, a church wasn't a bad idea.

But now there's someone coming in Jane's direction who looks very much like a monk with those robes and all? Perhaps some divine intervention has sent this holy man to help her? Or perhaps it's just coincident that a Jedi was passing back right at this very moment in a city he didn't normally visit.

Either way, he sees her sitting there, looking a bit perturbed. So he stops, catching site of her tattoo and thus recognizing her as a fellow Import. His own being obscured by his ridiculously oversized sleeves.]

You look as if you're having a bit of trouble.

oh i do

[cantgetanyworse]

[Jane is beginning to think she might have been better off at a library. She's about to give up and leave when a man approaches her, wearing-- what is he wearing?

It looks like religious garb, but not any she's ever seen before. Ah, well... the habits of the natives might be different to what she's used to back home.

She smiles, though it's a little tense.]

Oh, is it so obvious? [And she hesitates, because it's not really the kind of thing to put onto a stranger, but perhaps he does want to know?] I suppose I'm... having a crisis of faith.

[Or something like that.]

[hadthehighground]

Oh I see. Most everyone has those from time to time.

[He glanced up at the church, and then back to the young lady, motioning at the bench.]

May I?

[He wouldn't sit until she's given her permission.]

So, what has brought about this crisis?

[cantgetanyworse]

Two people that I've met here.

[She nods to his request - do join her on the bench, kind sir - and keeps looking up at the church. The pretty stained glass window at the top. The cross at the apex of the roof. It all seems so very... contrived.]

I was always quite sure before, but now... I have a lot of questions. Questions that I don't think anybody can answer for me.

b because he's a stalker

[goodtobebad]

There are easier ways to get rid of me, you know. "Get thee behind me" is a classic.

[ He's probably like, leaning against a tree or something. Very casual. Not being stalker-like at all. Don't worry. He's more like a demonic guardian angel or something. ]

I love one (1) demon stalker

[cantgetanyworse]

Ah!

[Forgive her for being nearly startled out of her skin. She stares at him for a moment or two, then her face scrunches into a scolding scowl.]

Mr Crowley. [Get thee behind me, indeed. She looks back at the church, and shakes her head, her expression smoothing into something more pensive.] What on Earth makes you think I'd be looking to get rid of you?

<3

[goodtobebad]

Well, either you spotted me and you decided to go hide where I can't get to you...

[ He does a sort of exaggerated "woo woo I'm a scary demon" thing with his hands. ]

...or you're looking for someone to exorcise me. I wouldn't recommend that, they almost never work, exorcisms.

[cantgetanyworse]

Or, perhaps, I didn't see you at all. I'd certainly never want to hurt you.

[Her eyebrows go up, just for a moment, then she looks at him with something that looks very much like compassion. He's done nothing wrong to her, as far as she's been able to tell, and yet this is where his mind goes first?

She pats the spot on the bench beside her, and smiles.]

Why don't you come and sit with me?

b. obviously.

[thevulnerability]

[ Chloe has pointedly avoided churches since her own religious crisis. She never believed in this kind of thing before, and having it dumped on her caused a swing right in the wrong direction. It's not as if she hasn't considered the implications but, for the most part, she's done her best to avoid it.

Besides, if she was supposed to choose sides, hers is already chosen. She figures the best she can do is be a good person and hope the chips fall in a way that helps her avoid Hell.

The irony being, of course, that Hell is exactly where the person she loves is destined to be.

She's only there by coincidence. Shopping is a necessity, and it's just blind luck that the closest supermarket is the one nearest to the church. Thus, it's also a bit hard to miss the sulking woman sitting outside of it. ]

If it's any consolation, there probably are some answers in there. They might just not be the ones you want to hear.

[cantgetanyworse]

[Jane, really, came at it from the other side. From a place of not really believing too much at all (with her mind too grounded in science) to meeting two people who had turned all of her assumptions entirely on their head. Eventually, she might have gone inside. Eventually, she would have realised that she wouldn't find what she was looking for in a building like that one.

Meeting an angel and a demon in the same day does change your perspective, when you've never really given that kind of thing too much thought before.]

I believe I might have already had those answers. [She replies, a little distantly before she looks to the other woman with a small smile.] But I'm afraid they just created more questions. You're probably right.

[thevulnerability]

There's a lot of questions. And some don't get any easier.

[ Although she's not sure what the woman has just been through, it still resonates with her. Even coming here was enough to turn anyone's belief in anything on its head. If Chloe hadn't gone through what she did at home, maybe she wouldn't have handled all of this quite as well.

She gives a longing glance towards the supermarket before she sits down on the bench. She might not be an expert at all of this, but suspects she might have more perspective just on account of her being... Her. ]

What kind of questions do you have?

[cantgetanyworse]

Oh, well, I suppose...

[She doesn't expect a stranger to sit down and listen to her, least of all on a topic like this one. It's a nice surprise for her when the woman joins her on the bench, though she still... feels a little silly.]

If Heaven and Hell are real, then-- what does that mean for the human race? I've never been terribly taken with religion, you see. I study science. [And you can have both, but Jane strayed most assuredly from one into the other and never looked back.]

But now I'm wondering... if everything I thought was true simply isn't.

ANOTHER B... since it's partially his fault

[bookshopped]

[Well, catching sight of a familiar figure is usually enough to draw the angel's attention. That it's one of the people he's taken a liking too only makes that more true.

It takes him a bit to realize that she's standing in front of a church, staring it down like she's not sure what to make of it. He watches her head to the bench, overhearing what she has to say. And maybe he's just quick, maybe it's a teeny tiny miracle, but Jane will find herself with bench company rather abruptly.]

Some people do... find answers in there, I mean. Others find comfort. Others don't find much at all. Crowley burns his feet. [He offers her a smile and shrugs.] For my part, I think what's more important is what happens out here. The choices made, the connections forged. But what questions are you looking to find answers for, my dear?

Re: ANOTHER B... since it's partially his fault

[cantgetanyworse]

[For all she knows about Aziraphale so far, she still takes it as entirely a coincidence that he so abruptly joins her. It does make her startle, just slightly, but that eases the moment she looks at his face.

And she listens, because she feels she's really speaking to an authority on the subject, here, and she has to smile (maybe with a chuckle) when she discovers that demons burn their feet in churches.

It makes sense.]

Oh... I think I really know. [That's a lie, though one born out of discomfort rather than a real wish to hide the truth. But she reminds herself he's an angel, and... she shouldn't really lie to an angel, should she.] I suppose I never really thought Heaven and Hell could be really real. And now I know that they are...

[It just... makes you wonder.]

[bookshopped]

Yes, it's quite a lot, I'd imagine. A bit like having the boundaries of where you thought reality ended shifted -- and after being brought to a different universe on top of it.

[That one got him, and still does really, because he can't feel the touch of the Almighty (the one he knows at least) in this place at all. Strange, to put it mildly.]

Do you think it changes anything in particular, knowing? After all, they've been real all along.

the friendliest of forest friends

[criminallysane]

[ Joker's been having a perfectly nice walk around De Chima, thanks. One of those clear-your-head sorts of strolls, the kind he used to take in the corridors of Arkham back before the staff figured out that those shouldn't be permitted. He's been whistling to himself, and thinking over his plans, and feeling altogether fine. And then, all at once, it goes wrong.

He's just paused to look at a particularly lovely black crystal he's spied on the sidewalk--a real doozy of a rock, the kind someone will hopefully twist an ankle on come nightfall--when he finds himself thinking of his mother. Normally, he can shove the thought of her (and all the accompanying guilt) aside. This time, however, she stays put, digging her dainty house-shoes into the carpet of his imagination and asking, in that soft, sad way of hers, whether this is really the sort of son she raised. Why doesn't he make himself useful to someone, she wonders? Whatever happened to the gallant boy she'd known, the one who was surely going to give the likes of Errol Flynn and Cary Grant a run for their money one day?

And damn it all, but she's right. He should be helping someone. He should be acting like a gentleman! Why is he tearing things down all the time, anyway? Why not build something better? Do something good, for once in his sorry life?

It's such an alarming idea--so utterly alien, and so disgustingly unfunny--that the Joker does what any sensibly insane man would do: he flees directly into the most wilderness-y place he can find in the suburbs, where hopefully he'll be able to restore himself to his senses in private before he does anything nice he might regret.

Which might have worked...had it not been for her: the very lovely, very ladylike-looking skirt he spies beneath the trees. She's just pressing a hand to her spine when Joker sees her, and the movement stops him short. Those delicate fingers. The graceful curve of her back. She radiates such an old-school sort of femininity, the kind he's long since given up hoping to see in the real world, and as his gaze drops to the bucket beside her, he knows he hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell of walking away from her.

She's clearly a lady. And he is, or was, or once hoped to be, a gentleman. Of course he's going to help her (with absolutely anything she might be doing). Before he can even try to resist, he's sauntering toward her, feeling more like Clark Gable than he has in years. Joker's expression is all helpfulness and charm, and his voice is as warm as it's ever been. ]

My dear, you are a sight for sore eyes. Why, if I'd known the woods of De Chima harbored such charming flora, I'd have ventured in here days ago.

[ He gives the bucket another glance, once he's close enough to see what's inside. ]

Collecting, are we?

[cantgetanyworse]

[She doesn't really expect to come across anyone out here. Perhaps a foolish thing for a young woman to be alone in the middle of a wood, but she's been alone in far more dangerous places before now, with far more dangerous wildlife. An expanse of trees populated mainly by squirrels seems so very tame in comparison to the jungles of Africa.

Still, it's the person that manages to startle her, though she hears his steps long before he speaks. She's aware, wary, but not too much so as she turns around to that warm voice (one she vaguely recognises, if she thinks about it) and holds her bucket with both hands.

If she has to, she can swing it like a weapon.]

Oh-- hmm, yes. [Jane hums, glancing offside to a few of the nearby dead patches of vegetation. She reaches one hand up to tuck her hair behind her ear as the compliment registers, and she chuckles.]

I just think it's a terrible shame to have all these things lying around killing off the plant life, don't you? They don't seem to be reacting to me, just to the plants.

[Did she touch one to test this?

Maybe.]

[criminallysane]

[ On the list of Things Joker Thinks Are Important, dead plants rank somewhere right around "Harley's birthday," which is to say at the very bottom, well below both "Fun Facts about Elvis Presley" and "Nouns Used to Describe the Various Working Parts of a Ventriloquist's Figure." If Ivy was here, the plant-killing crystals might have some value as a gag gift, but as things stand now, Joker couldn't care less.

Except that she cares. And isn't that what it means to be a gentleman, anyway? To prioritize the lady's concerns over one's own, and to gallantly assist her with even the most pointless of tasks if she deems them necessary?

Especially when said lady seems to have no qualms whatsoever about handling potentially toxic crystals. Now that's the sort of gal he can respect! ]

It's nothing sort of a tragedy, that's what it is. [ He says this firmly, as if he believes it wholeheartedly. ] But one we'll rectify in no time; don't you worry.

[ Joker gives her his most reassuring smile, the one that tends to make people who actually know him nervous, and offers a cordial half-bow. ] The Joker, reporting for clean-up duty, miss. [ His eyes lock onto hers, and for once, they're as kind as his smile. ] That is... If you'll have me, of course.

b!

[gigue]

[Vanya hasn't left Maurtia Falls much since settling into the apartment she was assigned. She's generally a homebody, even on her good days: but here she has nothing for her anxiety (which she's starting to think may actually be a necessary thing), and nothing to really do with herself. It's getting hard. So one day she decides to brave the porters - it's not the first time, she just doesn't like how annoying it can be for the unregistered - and go somewhere new.

She regrets it almost immediately, of course, but the embarrassment of turning right around and having to face the same security guards is a little much. So she forces herself to explore, if exploring looks a lot like walking with her head down for an hour.

So, learning nothing about the city, but at least stretching her legs a while, Vanya stops on a bench to fiddle with her device. She's pretty sure none of her siblings live in this part of the country, and - well, she hasn't really made any friends yet. That's kind of par for the course, with Vanya.

She notices when someone else sits, though really, Jane could be forgiven for not noticing her - that's pretty par for the course, too. But when Jane speaks allowed, Vanya blinks, thinking she's being addressed.]

I'm - I'm sorry?

[cantgetanyworse]

[Sunk into her own thoughts, she barely notices that someone's sitting beside her, and only turns her attention that way when Vanya speaks. Belatedly, she realises that she was talking to herself, and lets out a quick, embarrassed laugh.]

Oh! Oh, no, not you. I was just talking to myself.

['Which doesn't make me sound crazy at all'. She resists a strong urge to roll her eyes at herself.]

I've had a strange, complicated month.

[gigue]

[No shit is what Vanya immediately thinks, but she's got the tip of her tongue between her teeth to keep any of those sharp impulses quiet. She smiles quietly, one of those this-is-what's-expected-of-normal-humans smiles that she learned after leaving the Academy, and nods.]

Yeah. [She doesn't say I know how you feel, but the weight of it is in her tone.]

Are you - new, too?