controlledvariable: (Batgirl -- just like flying)
(ง︡'-'︠)ง ([personal profile] controlledvariable) wrote in [community profile] tushanshu_logs2012-08-24 04:55 am

Don't run away. 'cause that's the deal with it

Characters: Stephanie Brown and you! Also Brandon I guess.
Location: Earth Sector, Metal Sector, everywhereelse Sector.
Situation: A day in the life! Feel free to pick from one of the many places mentioned in the log, if you want, you can put time/place in the header!
Warnings/Rating: Vague references to physical/sexual child abuse.


Life is weird.

Steph tries to keep that in mind as she deals with her new existence in Tu Vishan. She's met aliens, she's travelled to magical dimensions to punch witches, and she knows people who have travelled through time, but somehow none of that compares to the current situation. A city on the back of a giant turtle is just taking it one step too far, and when the hostility of the locals is added on top of that, Steph ends up spending her first night sleeping underneath her bed, with the blankets pulled down with her like a nest. It's a coping method she developed when she was eleven, and this is the first time she's had to do it since coming back from Africa. But she manages to sleep without dreaming, so it's worth it.

Upon waking the next day, she resolves not to let the fear and weirdness get to her. It's a hostile environment, but she spent most of her life living in a hostile environment, and at least now she has allies (friends might be pushing it) in the form of Bruce and Damian, and she's going to work on befriending the other superheroes that have been brought here. If the Kedan turn against them en masse, she'll be ready, but until then she's not going to let fear control her.

The first thing she decides to do is shopping. She's already bought one set of clothes, but she'll need at least one more, and probably a set of shoes that aren't her Batgirl boots. Being in the Earth sector makes that a easier, what with the fact it's a textiles based area and she spends a few hours in the morning walking through shops, finding the cheapest places to pick up what she needs, and then lingering at the more expensive places over nice fabric and sewing machines. Logically, she knows she can't afford to splurge on a machine before she gets a job, but that doesn't stop her wanting one; in the end she just buys needles and assorted thread, hand-sewing will take longer and won't look quite as nice, but she'll survive.

When she passes a little stationary shop, she goes in to buy a notebook and some pens. For all her training, Steph has little experience in maintained fake identities, and she doesn't want to risk getting caught out in a lie by anyone here. Her best bet is to keep everything written down, in code of course, so that she can keep track of the identity she's building for herself in the city.

Her next stop is a market in the Water Sector - after someone in one of the clothes shops recommended it to her, and after a rather considerable walk - to pick up some basic foodstuffs. It's not often she only buys groceries for a single person, and the thought hits her with a wave of homesickness. She treats herself to some chocolate in between buying serious items like bread and vegetables, and spends the rest of her time at the market popping pieces of the confectionary into her mouth and trying to decide if it tastes that different from chocolate back home. (The results are inconclusive; she'll have to buy more later to test again). When she's done, she runs the expense of hiring a small rickshaw so that she doesn't have to trek all the way back to her suite.

By the time night falls, she's ready to go out again, dressed in the black lycra underlayers of her Batgirl costume, and the hooded cloak she made herself during the day.

For the first time in a very long time, Steph goes dumpster diving. It's something she learnt a long time ago out of necessity, and with the city the way it is right now, after the attempted executions, she wants to get back into practice, and to search out the best spots in Keeliai. If push comes to shove, she wants to know where she can get food for free, and she wants to know before she gets desperate. It rankles a little that she has to, and she does her best to stick to the shadows and stay hidden, out of fear that another "foreigner" will spot her; she's seen how quickly people's opinions can change when they discover someone is willing to eat discarded food. (She has a lot of arguments about how it can be perfectly sanitary and actually nice if people know where to look, but she wishes it wasn't necessary).

She doesn't take anything, because it's going to be a long night, and she doesn't want to be carrying food around for it, but it settles her nerves to find a few good spots. Restaurants and grocers are always fairly reliable when it comes to throwing out edible food, as are bakeries, though often she's found those donate their leftovers to shelters, because while a self-respecting baker won't sell day old bread, there's actually nothing wrong with it. She could go around her neighbourhood in less than hour and come home with a few days worth of meals for herself and her mom, but it takes her longer in Keeliai, despite the fact she sticks only to the Earth sector for the first night.

After around two and a half hours, she brings out her grapple gun and moves on to more general reconnaissance. It's rare for her to work anywhere but Gotham, where she grew up, the streets that she knows like the back of her hand, so she knows that learning the lay of the land in Keeliai is important. As much as she hates to admit it, even to herself, she could be trapped for a long time, and it's going to be vital to be able to navigate through the city quickly and easily.

In moments of freefall, where the wind rushes past her before she catches herself with her line, Steph is confident she can survive this.
sharpes: (pic#4490405)

Re: → Brandon

[personal profile] sharpes 2012-08-24 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, so the message actually sort of surprises him. He's not sure why, but it does. He isn't used to follow through.

... If he's being perfectly honest with himself, he doesn't even like follow through. It's dangerous, and it's-- it's just dangerous. Brandon doesn't really like dangerous. If it's for the cameras? Sure, fine, whatever, have at it. But the second the danger's real, the second his life could come crashing down around him... he bails.

He always has.

That's why Osborn had his number. Sure, he was a jerk. And if Brandon could meet him again he'd punch him right in the face, but he-- got him. In a way that Pym and Tigra and all the others don't.

Brandon knows he's a coward. Standing his ground... he's never had a reason to do it. He's never had anyone he cared enough about, never had any kind of cause that resonated with him. Starving orphans in Africa? Whatever, man. Not his problem. He'd rather run.

Unless he's in control. Like the night with Hood. The one that got him expelled from the Academy, and the reason he's not ever going back. It felt good. Doing that... hurting that guy...

Pym was right to worry. They all were. How many people are actually willing to come after you when you can do ten times worse than anything they can dream of? Not many people know what electricity actually does to the body. How it burns up from the inside. So maybe it's only a split-second, but in that split-second all your nerves are heated up to several thousand degrees. It's permanent, debilitating.

And the smell--

Well, there's a reason he doesn't like having things charbroiled.

He's thinking about it, hands stuffed in the pockets of his pants as he heads to meet Stephanie. What is he doing? He must be crazy. Then again, what about this place is normal?

She's not there when he arrives, so he just leans against a tree to wait, lost in his own thoughts.
Edited (runaway italics tag omg no ) 2012-08-24 05:30 (UTC)
littlecousin: (dress code? who cares‚ i'm hot.)

Water Sector

[personal profile] littlecousin 2012-08-25 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
When she's in this sector, Nita uses the canals to get around, but not by boat. Far too slow. She puts the aquatic half of her heritage to good use, zipping along under the surface at speeds that really shouldn't be possible, but a lot of what people from her universe can do is impossible.

At her destination, she rockets out of the canal a good ten feet into the air, trailing a spray of water behind her, and hangs there for a second, dripping, before coming to a gentle landing on the street. It being the Water Sector, the surrounding kedan merely look mildly interested until she touches down, and then return to their business.

"Hi!" Nita waves cheerfully to Steph. You have pink skin, so you must want to be friends, right?
b_ad_a_ttitude: (No planes. Not even paper ones.)

Earth Sector/Daytime

[personal profile] b_ad_a_ttitude 2012-08-25 09:22 am (UTC)(link)
Initially, B.A. wants to wait a while to see if anyone is going to respond to his shout-out over the console. He explored his new suite; more space than he's used to, but there's really not much to see. After 15 minutes, there's no response and nothing else to do in the suite, so an impatient B.A. heads out for a while.

The clothing shops nearby remind him that he doesn't have anything to change into, so they seem like a good start. He'd grown up in a rougher part of Chicago, so he keeps his money right where he can feel it, just in case. It doesn't take long to figure out that there's not really anything in a style he'd usually wear, but anything clean would be a step up from his current outfit. The ocean hadn't quite washed out the smell of sweat and gunpowder. He takes his time to browse around, and any over insistent salespeople get a glare and perhaps a snarled "Back off, punk".

If Steph doesn't see and/or approach him first, B.A. will take note of the other non-Kedan. The Kedan had said he wasn't the only one, but it looks like there aren't many of them at all. He watches her for a few minutes, as discretely as he can for being the only human in the street.

b_ad_a_ttitude: (MacGuyvering a car)

[personal profile] b_ad_a_ttitude 2012-08-25 10:10 am (UTC)(link)
He turns to face her when it becomes obvious that she's heading his way. Though he keeps up the level stare, he stays relaxed. She doesn't look like trouble, and when she speaks-

Well. Not what B.A. was expecting, but he can appreciate the bluntness. "Less than a day. You?"
sharpes: (pic#4490392)

[personal profile] sharpes 2012-08-25 07:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay, so he doesn't actually jump and shriek like a girl, but he does just about smack her in the face with lightning. It is in fact conjured and in his hand, a little crackling ball of white-blue energy, and he--

just.

Stares at her a moment.

"Oh my God why would you do that? I could have killed you!"
littlecousin: (*43)

[personal profile] littlecousin 2012-08-26 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
"I like it." Nita's used to being stared at. Back home she ended up in the tabloids a lot. She extends a dripping hand, because clearly no one minds shaking and coming away all wet. "Nita Prentiss."
littlecousin: (...and?)

[personal profile] littlecousin 2012-08-26 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
"Ha!" Nita flicks her long ponytail back over her shoulder. "If I ever get that boring, leave me out for the tide, 'cause I'm done." Of course, she lives in the Water Sector, so her impression of kedan is slightly skewed from the relaxed vibe of the place.
b_ad_a_ttitude: (What'chu talkin' bout Murdock?)

[personal profile] b_ad_a_ttitude 2012-08-26 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
Another newbie. Not really someone to ask about what things are like around here, then.

He agrees with a nod and a grimace, looking at the wares of the closest clothing dealer. "Yeah, but I bet nobody got to pack a bag before coming here."
b_ad_a_ttitude: (Aw yiss)

[personal profile] b_ad_a_ttitude 2012-08-26 10:13 am (UTC)(link)
"I guess I got lucky." He's quietly thankful that he was caught while in combat gear. Who knows if/when he'll need a gun or body armor, but they're stashed away in his suite if he ever needs them.

Sewing does sound like a useful skill to have. "I'm gonna have to just suck it up and buy something from one of these guys. At least it ain't gonna be the dumbest lookin' thing I ever wore."
sharpes: (pic#4490407)

[personal profile] sharpes 2012-08-26 07:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"You don't say." His voice is hard and obviously angry, but it's-- out of fear more than anything. Hurting people who deserve it? That's one thing. Accidentally almost frying people with ball lightning is another entirely and it's not a road he ever wants to go down.

Not because he's necessarily afraid of harming people. But because he's afraid he might like it. Zapping Hood felt good. Felt natural and right, like it's the sort of thing he should be doing with his life, and -- wasn't that what the Academy was supposed to be preventing, anyway?

Not that they're here. Not that any of them are here. They couldn't stop him if they wanted to. And what the hell did they know? They expelled him. Obviously that means they think he's already beyond saving.

He scowls and stuffs his hands in his jacket pockets, shoulders hunched.

"Get out of that tree before you hurt yourself, will you? God, are you five years old?"
b_ad_a_ttitude: (Fools need pitying)

[personal profile] b_ad_a_ttitude 2012-08-26 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Did this really happen only a few days ago? Being warped onto a turtle in a different dimension royally screws with your sense of time. "Just the other day, I was wearing one of those huge African robes, with a matching hat, and-"

It's really a shame that he can't mention the even funnier part where he then had to convince an airline employee that he was a Rabbi because his and Murdock's fake passports had been mixed up. Then he would have to explain why he needed a fake passport, and no one needs to know about B.A. being wanted by the U.S. military.

"- that style definitely didn't suit me." There was a slight pause between the start and the end of that sentence. Just B.A. remembering how ridiculous the outfit was, or needing a second to find a non-suspicious end to the comment? Who can say.
withoutaworld: (taken out of context I must seem strange)

Nighttime

[personal profile] withoutaworld 2012-08-26 11:28 pm (UTC)(link)
It's the movement she notices first, that particular arc of motion that comes from leaping into thin air, falling before the line catches and swinging back up... It's so familiar, something she's been missing at her side since she got here, and Rikki pivots on one foot as she touches down on one rooftop, turning to follow before she actually makes a conscious decision to do so.

It can't be Anya. Anya's not here and she doesn't really want her to be. She knows that, God, she knows, but what if...

It's not Anya. The flutter of blonde hair, as soon as Rikki gets close enough to see more than a flicker of movement and a silhouette against the backdrop of the city's lights, is confirmation enough, and she'd expected that - but Rikki's heart still drops a little.

She tries to ignore it, changing her course again to head for a higher rooftop where she can watch from a safer distance rather than pursuing directly. She's not Anya, but she's also not one of the rooftop gang Rikki's become familiar with, and seriously, how many costumed types are they going to drag in here? It's starting to get a little alarming.
sharpes: (pic#4490385)

[personal profile] sharpes 2012-08-27 01:16 am (UTC)(link)
His expression twists into a scowl. "It's not like you need to apologize to me. Just -- don't do it again."

The mask slips, and the worry bleeds through in his tone. "You must not spend a lot of time around superheroes. We're a jumpy bunch."

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