closed + open | yo, girl, keep it together

[couldbebeautiful]

WHO: Veronica Sawyer and the residents of De Chima #3. then you!
WHERE: De Chima and then the other porter cities
WHEN: May 2nd, then the rest of the month
WHAT: Veronica settles in.
WARNINGS: PTSD, depression, references to murder and attempted school bombings and assumed suicide, references to unhealthy relationships, self-loathing, hallucinations of murdered classmates. opt-out post is here. permissions for power is here.


[closed.]

[Veronica stumbles through a haze for most of the day, her file clutched in hand. The military woman had given her a sad, sympathetic look, as if she'd known just what Veronica felt then, is feeling now. Or isn't feeling, except in the vaguest, most distant way. Surprise, she thinks. Shock, at the date. Relief that her heart is beating, her lungs still breathing. Disappointment that she's somehow here instead of hell.

Granted, Florida had been her first sight, and that's its very own special brand of hell, but she hadn't exactly lingered. She might hate herself, but not that much.

Anyway—De Chima. It's a little more quiet than Heropa, with its crowds and all their jostling, and near the suburbs it's even quieter, so much so that Veronica can hear Heather Chandler, loud and clear, just behind her.

I recommend snapping off the window locks, she says, voice hoarse from the drain cleaner. After all, it worked so well for you before, didn't it?]

Just—shut up. [She's too exhausted to argue with her own hallucination right now, too shell-shocked by her own death and how she was brought here, battered and bruised. She looks less like shit now, at least, hair combed and eyes less wild, but still haunted.

She takes Heather's advice, anyway. The door's locked, and Veronica lost her key somewhere along the way, so she lets herself in through the window. Nobody's home yet, anyway, and Veronica's grateful for that much. She doesn't know if she can muster up the strength for talking right now.

Well, that and she's thirsty. She pulls out a cup, washes her hands, and ignores Heather's suggestion of drain cleaner (for the irony!), and sits down at the kitchen table. A memory echoes, JD saying the sky's gonna hurt when it falls, so you better start building some walls—

The sky just fell.

She holds her hand out over the cup, palm facing down and thinks, make me a Big Gulp make me a Big Gulp very hard. What comes out of her hand instead is a blue-colored slush, filling the cup to the rim.

God, the irony. But she's thirsty, so she rummages around for a convenient straw to stick it in the slush and starts sipping, till the pain of the cold flashes and she gives a yelp, hand coming up to press against her temples.]


[one: second time around vintage clothing]

[Eventually, she feels almost human again, enough to start going to school and her actual job. Jesus Christ she has a job, and it's at a vintage clothing shoppe, and all of the vintage clothes there are exactly the kind of clothes she and her classmates wore.]

Holy shit, I'm vintage. [She giggles at her own joke, because it's either that or have a hysterical breakdown. She's on her break, catching up on the history of the world she's living in now, and writing her observations in a notebook. Occasionally she looks up with her brows furrowed, as if thinking something over, like a turn of phrase or an event that passed differently in her time, but mostly she's got her head down writing. Say hi.]

[two: other cities]

[The great thing about having access to a machine that can instantly teleport her from one place to another is that she doesn't have to get herself a ride and pay astronomical fees anymore. Also, that the machine exists at all in the first place. That's incredible too.

Anyway, she wants to know more about this brave new world she's found herself in, so she grabs a book and her new diary in her free time and goes exploring. Mostly she doesn't try to reach out to people just yet, she's not quite up for social interaction today, but the chance to travel's pretty awesome, she has to admit.

She'll be back in time for her next class, she's sure. For now, she sits down somewhere scenic, with a cup full of orange-flavored slushie, a history book and a diary. She's practically begging to be disturbed here.]

[three: wild card.]

[If you have any other scenarios in mind, lmk and we'll do a thing! hit me up with a PM or at robbstark and let's go.]

Comments

[candor1]

[Cassian was just returning to 003 (still working on effortlessly conjuring the word home) when his hand paused on the doorknob. He checked in with all his senses and ambient available data. What he was picking up, he couldn't quite bring to the conscious fore of the brain… but he instincitvely switched to stealth mode anyway. Opened and closed the door silently. Kept his footsteps also noiseless as he surveyed the house. Neither Jyn nor Kay should be back yet… but it was as if there were a new gravitational presence…

A yelp from the kitchen.

He freezes, automatically half-behind the "cover" of a corner. His hand starts to twitch for an object he can weaponize, but almost as quickly, he lowers it, empty, back to his side. No.

But he still continues the sneaky approach.

He gets a look at the newcomer in the kitchen. Takes a quick risk assessment.

Then, still just outside the doorway, deliberately puts his foot down on a creaky floorboard to catch her attention.]

[couldbebeautiful]

[Veronica shakes the pain off relatively quickly, and thinks she can almost understand why JD was so drawn to slushies. They're not healthy, and they sure as hell don't taste that good, but that jolt of cold is probably the first thing she's actually felt since coming here. She wipes off her hand on her skirt—

—hears a creak.

She grabs hold of the cup by instinct, ready to throw it and the slush inside at whoever's there, before she remembers how she got in and forces herself to relax. Okay, Veronica, calm down, you're fine, it's fine. Things are—not okay, but they might get better. Might, she bleakly thinks. Better chance they're not.]

Uh—is anyone there? [Sloooowly putting the cup down and standing up, heart racing a mile a minute.] If you're my roommate—I'm sorry I broke in, I lost my keys. I'm—I'm the new roommate? Veronica.

[candor1]

[He moves into view through the doorframe without yet coming through, keeping his body language unthreatening and ducking his head to look as uncertain as she sounds. …Not that he isn't; just a conscious choice to also look like it.]

Hello. Sorry to… yes, hello, Veronica. Cassian. Roommate one of three.

[Though he doesn't show this part—it isn't her fault after all—his chest suddenly feels a bit constricted. With tension and a bit of… though he doesn't like feeling it even indirectly near her, anger. Not that he ever should have expected otherwise… but somehow his own assignment to fortuitously be with Jyn had made him… not believe, perhaps, that he really had to expect they'd have to share the space with someone they didn't already know. It feels… a bit violating. Like their sanctum, this life being for the benefit of them getting to have more life, together, is… …it's just… no matter how much he tries to resist superstitious thought, apparently he'd been doing it, and this puncture makes everything suddenly feel more tenuous.

(Not to mention, Jyn and Cassian are inclined to stay private, and the idea of exploring further potential intimacy with someone else around… bad enough when the prospect was Kaytoo…)

But again. Not the fault of the person—Veronica—in front of him. And if he chooses to deal with it later, after learning the full reality of the situation, it would probably be aimed elsewhere anyway.

And for now, this is another imPort, and Cassian will make himself useful if she wants it. He steps slightly into the room, altering the incline of his head now to indicate her, and the question.]

Are you all right? I heard a cry.

[couldbebeautiful]

I'm fine. [She gestures to the cup.] Just—brain freeze. [She shrugs, as if to say, you know how it is.] I figured it wouldn't hurt to test out my ability.

[Even though it did. Sort of.]

Cassian, huh? [She tries her best to relax, calm herself down. This is her roommate. He doesn't look like someone who would hurt her, he seems just as surprised as she is.] Who are the other two?

[Might as well get to know the people she'll be living with, right? She musters up the strength for a smile, even though it looks tight and comically strange on her at the moment. Or at least it feels that way to her.]

And, uh, do any of you like Slurpees?

[candor1]

[He didn't know the idiom brain freeze; it sounded like a maladaptive reaction to shock.

Which was one of the reasons, in addition to maintaining the pattern she'd established, he doesn't give full names:]

Jyn and Kay. They should be back soon.

[He wonders which method to use to ascertain her mental preparedness for a battle droid, and how if necessary to improve it.

But her unhappy smile draws his attention—a sadly familiar endeavor—as well as yet another unfamiliar term. He adopts (more successfully) a guileless expression.]

I don't know what that is.

[couldbebeautiful]

[The weirdest thing is, it kind of is. At least for Veronica.]

Okay—hey, could you let them know I'm here? So no one accidentally brains me with a mug. [That'd be one hell of a way to go out, she thinks. Heather, the all-mighty Heather, forever seventeen and never any older, would call it ironic and laugh.]

They're flavored slush. Drink enough in one go and it feels sort of like someone drove a cold dagger into your skull. [She shrugs.] You can usually get them at 7/11 but. Apparently, I can make them for free. [A moment's pause, then:] You know what 7/11 is, right?

[Because if he didn't know what a Slurpee was, then she's not too sure.]

[candor1]

I will.

[He'd been about to launch in on the subject of Kay, but… He's seen many strange, counterintuitive pasttimes in many, many beings, but choosing to feel as if stabbed through the brain…? What kind of cult…]

Other than numbers?




[OOC: He'd intend to warn her about Kay, but since I see other threads where that didn't happen, perhaps the thought gets driven out of his mind by… other stuff? ;-) ]

[reexamined]

[Maybe the level of sci-fi Veronica was encountering didn't quite hit home yet. Maybe it was just like a very weird dream so far, but was at least mostly settled in a good familiar form of what she knows as "reality."

And then there's a seven foot tall robot bending over a little bit so he can step into the kitchen, and stare at her like she has the gall of being the weirdest thing in the room.]

Who are you?

[couldbebeautiful]

[Veronica looks up and.

Just. Stares for a second. Her straw drops from her hand, which has suddenly gone limp. Her eyes are wide and her jaw drops just slightly, as if unable to completely process that there is a seven-foot-tall robot in front of her that is asking her who she is.

She closes her mouth. Opens it. Closes it again, as if she isn't quite sure what to do with a robot right out of sci-fi movies. She's only just managed to adjust to everything else so far, and this is something else entirely. Finally she says:]

I'm Veronica. I'm the new roommate. [It's admirable how steady her voice is in the face of a goddamn robot.] I, uh. I lost my keys so I picked the lock. Sorry about that.

[reexamined]

[Kay tilts his head back a bit, assessing. Of course, given that it's government housing, they could assign whoever they wanted here. Including random young human girls, who are already dropping things on the floor, like straws and jaws.]

Did you break anything?

[He is, at least, glad he still has this effect on people. He likes being intimidating, to a certain degree.]

[couldbebeautiful]

[Random young human girls from the late eighties who have never in their lives figured they would ever meet an actual robot. On the bright side, she is definitely feeling that surprise in an immediate Jesus shit this is happening way.]

—nope. Everything's right where I found it. [She holds her hands up, for Kaytoo to see that she hasn't taken or broken anything. One of them has faint traces of slushie on it.] Um, Cassian said there were two of you, so—which one are you, Jyn or Kay?

[reexamined]

[God, he wishes he could lie convincingly, even if only for a second, and say he's Jyn, just to see what would happen.]

I'm K-2SO. Kay is a nickname.

[And now she's going to be using that nickname, even though he doesn't know her. THANKS, CASSIAN!!]

I suppose I should say welcome, if you'll be living with us.

[That is notably, not a real "welcome."]

What's on your hand?

[Weird blue stuff?]

[couldbebeautiful]

Thanks. I feel very welcome.

[Not. She feels like an intruder—Cassian did not say anything about Kay being a robot. That's the sort of thing you tell roommates, and the sort you keep from people breaking into your house in the hope that said robot scares them out.

She blinks at her hand, then wipes it off on her skirt.] It's my superpower. I make slushies.

let me know if okay/if you want me to edit!

[kestreldawn]

[When Jyn comes home from work, she finds herself mentally drained. Not because any of her tasks are difficult (they're the exact opposite, honestly), but because of how utterly mundane and monotonous it all is. It sucks the enthusiasm right out of her. She spends most of her walk home thinking about what other job she'd want to pursue instead, trying to block out the random thoughts she'll pick up on the way every time she passes a stranger, and thinking about how strange this all is - life with Cassian (that they get to have a life together), life with K2, being alive, being here. It's what requires the most mental agility in her day, and she finds that it energizes her by the time she reaches the door.

This particular time, however, she catches thoughts of someone she doesn't recognize (not like that's all that alarming) - except, it's coming from inside the house. She catches, the sky's gonna hurt when it falls, so you better start building some walls .. but has no idea what it means. She has no idea whose voice is in her head now. She has no idea why it would be coming from the other side of the door.

Something about something called a Big Gulp (???) slips in there as Jyn discreetly opens the door, barely pressing it closed behind her. She drops her satchel down carefully next to it, reaching down into her boot for the knife she's kept there since she'd first trained under Saw. Habit. Security. Familiarity.

Brandishing it in one hand, she creeps over towards the source of the sound - the kitchen. She hears and feels the pain in her mind's eye as she reaches the doorway, lunging into view with a stomp of her foot, knife pointed directly at -

A girl. A girl with her fingers at the side of her head, eyes scrunched and face contorted with discomfort. Jyn lowers the knife, but keeps it in-hand and at her side. There's no taking chances.]

Who are you? What are you doing in my house? [What a strange thing, to be able to call something hers. Of course, it doesn't just belong to her - there's Cassian and K2 to think of, but she doesn't hear any of their thoughts swirling about in her mind; they must not be home. And for that, Jyn exhales a quiet sigh of relief.]

[couldbebeautiful]

[Veronica yelps again, this time out of fear rather than the brain freeze, holyshitholyshitholygoddamnfuckingSHIT. Somewhere in the background of Veronica's thoughts, and somewhere behind her as Veronica scrambles out of her chair and throws her hands up, Heather Chandler drawls, And here I was starting to think you were looking forward to dying.

Veronica ignores her, with only the barest of glances acknowledging the presence of a girl in a red nightgown anywhere nearby, drain cleaner dripping from her mouth. Most of her attention goes to Jyn instead, Jyn with the knife and the stern voice, and Veronica wonders how she'll write this down. Dear Diary: my roommates are a literal robot, the world's sketchiest roomie, and a knife-wielding weirdo.]

I'm—I'm Veronica. I'm the new roommate. I promise I'm not here to steal anything, I just lost my keys somewhere in Florida. [By now it's likely a crocodile has swallowed them.] You're—Jyn, right? Cassian said there were two of you, and I've met Kay already [Kay the fucking robot] and could you please put the knife down?

[kestreldawn]

[The other "voice" that floats in the woman's head, that Jyn picks up on, makes her brows furrow with confusion and curiosity. Looking forward to dying? Jyn snorts somewhat bitterly; isn't that a feeling she's known all too well in her young life?

She catches something about .. a red nightgown (whatever that might be), drain cleaner .. mention of a robot, a sketchy room mate, and knife-wielding weirdo. Doesn't take much for her to surmise which she might be. Seems this person's already met Cassian and K2, which makes Jyn's teeth grit a little, until she pieces it all together -

She called them all 'roommates.' So, does that mean .. ?

The woman - Veronica, apparently - verbally confirms Jyn's suspicions a moment later, and Jyn lowers the knife almost immediately. She thinks to tuck it back into her boot, but part of her doesn't want this woman to see where it's stashed. Instead, she holds it so the tip of the blade is angled towards the floor. As non-threatening a grip as Jyn can manage, without actually re-sheathing the thing.]

So you've met Cassian and K2 already. [She tilts her head.] K2 is a battle droid. Robot isn't really a term we have back home.

But yes, I'm Jyn. [She shifts the knife from her right hand to the left, then extends the empty one towards her.] The knife-wielding weirdo.

[couldbebeautiful]

[Veronica blinks, caught off-guard by the responses to thoughts she hadn't voiced out loud. Well, fuck, she thinks, the dread sinking right into her thoughts. She does not look at her hallucination behind her, grinning with excitement at the possibility of Veronica's own thoughts giving her past away.

...but she can absolutely imagine Heather Chandler's grin, lips discolored by the drain cleaner. Leave me alone, Veronica silently tells this image of her dead best friend/worst enemy. Please, just please, for once just get out of my goddamn head—]

I didn't say any of that out loud. [She watches the knife warily, already on the edge of panic. Cassian had seen Kurt. Kay had not seen anyone, thank fuck. Jyn—well, Veronica doesn't want to have to explain her hallucinations to her and her knife.] Well, now that we've cleared that up, could you just put it down on the table, please? If that's fine with you. Look, see?

[She pulls the crude lockpick from her pocket, sets it down on the table.]

I don't have anything else on me whatsoever. [She left her croquet mallet outside anyway.]

[kestreldawn]

[Jyn's head tilts slightly as she easily picks up on the quickly sinking, engulfing feeling of dread that's now swallowing up Veronica's consciousness. Jyn doesn't see the hallucination, exactly; but she feels the fear that Veronica feels, the purposeful resistance to looking behind her out of worry of what she might see.

Jyn's own eyes flick over Veronica's shoulder, but she doesn't see anything of particular note.

She does suddenly see a woman's face - lips a strange shade of blue? green? something all together unnatural, hears Veronica speak to the apparition as if she were living. She hears her bargain with it, asking for reprieve.

The light and focus comes back into Jyn's eyes as Veronica's thoughts subside. She considers the woman for a moment, the lockpick on the table, and agrees with a short nod. She sets her knife down on the table with a light toss.] Look at it this way, at least you'll know I'll defend you should anyone actually try to burglarize the place.

[couldbebeautiful]

[She finally, finally breathes, shoulders slumping a little in obvious relief as the knife clatters onto the table. It's nice to know she's reasonable, even if Veronica's not entirely sure what kind of mess the government has just dumped her into.]

Between the ro—droid and your knife, I'd be surprised if anyone else even considers trying to break in. [Veronica does not count. Veronica has done some incredibly stupid shit.] But hey, thanks.

[She wipes the traces of blue slush on her hand off on her skirt.] Just in case, you should probably consider getting better locks. That one was too easy to pick.

1

[reek]

[ No one gets more vintage than Theon Greyjoy. While he’s been coaxed away from his armor and cloaks, the style he’s migrated toward isn’t much better. T-shirt and jeans (excellent, normal, something he’s been told is perfectly acceptable), but offset by a floor-length fur coat. Clearly a style icon.

He also happens to walk into the store just in time to hear Veronica laugh at her own joke. Always with the fragile pride, his eyebrows knit together and he shoots a suspicious glare. ]

And just what's so hilarious?

[ Says the guy who smirks at everything. ]

[couldbebeautiful]

[Veronica's from the latter part of the eighties and she thinks the fur coat is tacky as hell, when she tears her eyes away from her book to see who spoke up. She gives a slightly strained smile.]

Oh, uh—nothing. Inside joke. [She eyes the fur coat with some slight judgment.] Can I help you?

sry for the wait, friend. i had a busy few weeks

[reek]

[ Don’t make fun of him; he’s doing his best to combine the Middle Ages and the modern era into something quintessentially Theon. Fur coats just haven’t become fashionably vintage yet.

He eyes Veronica with slightly more intense judgment, eyes narrowed and cold. He’s not taking shit today. ]

I don’t know. Can you?

[ He smirks, but it’s really more of a sneer. ]

I need any black shirts you may have available.

it ok i had school

[couldbebeautiful]

I should hope so, considering it's my job.

[She can see the judgment in his eyes, and she does not like it at all. She's sure she'll be judged pretty badly anyway, but she'd rather not get it from a guy who's wearing a floor-length fur coat completely unironically.]

And you're in luck. We just got a shipment of black shirts in. [Unfortunately they all have something printed on them already, but is Veronica going to say that? Nope.] I was just about to put them on display after my break. If you want I can get you some.

[reek]

[ His judgement is really more of a defense. A “you judge me, I judge you” sort of thing, spurred on by his fragile pride and the fact that she may have been laughing at him. It’s easier to wound Theon Greyjoy than one might think. ]

If it’s your job— [ His tone is just as pointed and annoyed as hers. This is a very disagreeable young man. ] Then it would be appreciated. Though, I haven’t much time to waste.

[couldbebeautiful]

[What a jerk. Veronica smiles at him, but it's a tight, strained smile. Between the sneer and the haughty, arrogant tone, she's getting reminded of people she would really rather not be reminded of.]

Follow me, then. [She gets up from her seat, starts walking. The shoppe's layout is simple enough that, new as she is, Veronica can find the back room fairly easily, but she's a petty little shit, so she takes the long way around instead, hoping that this asshole follows her as she asked him to.]