tabularasa_rp | open | i hit the bottom but I'm on the mend

[it starts with Damien just needing to get away. between what he saw of other people and what they saw of him, the last however long has been a bit much, and he needs some time to get his head on straight, so he goes for a walk. best laid plans of mice and men being what they are and all, however, he doesn't get very far if only because, for the first time since it's been here, he notices the L]

[he stops, staring at it, and then like he did with the Merlaut, immediately makes a beeline for it, limping as far as he can in its direction. he has no real reason to try and beat everyone else there (never mind the fact that he hasn't, not by a longshot), but it's a piece of Chicago, of home, and that counts for a lot. as does the idea that maybe, if it's somehow working, he might be able to get somewhere in this godforsaken place without having to wait on Kaiba finishing up the ramps]

[and to no one in particular, as he stops at the top of the stairs, a little breathless, he notes:] My God. It's Husker Station. [kind of implies that this is from his world, doesn't it? feel free to ask him about it -- or anything else, while he pokes around the train and its platform]

[ Raihan hasn't done much exploring out in the world since the memory exchange - he'd managed to check out the underground mall... school... thing... but most of his time had been spent in Hammerlocke's ruins, looking for clues about why everyone might have had that strange vision. he hasn't found anything yet, but after what feels like days of searching, it's about time for a change in scenery.

Raihan and Duraludon have been here for a little while, investigating the station briefly before checking out the interior of the train. the sound of someone's voice catches both of their attentions, both of them peeking out of an open set of doors to see Damien poking around in front of them. ]

This place is yours, then? [ "yours" meaning "from your world", of course, but that probably goes without saying. ] It's pretty mundane... but I guess that's a good thing, with the way this place can muck things up.

[Damien glances over, frowning as he tries to place Raihan (he's seen him around, but he's not sure they've actually spoken before now), and then nods]

It is. [a beat] And as far as I can tell, it hasn't been bastardized by something else. It's just Husker Station, just the L. [the Red Line is missing, as far as he can tell, but -- still. it's still the L as he remembers it] I keep expecting to be able to see May Stadium beyond the trees.

[he glances away, that said, as if he's checking to make sure it hasn't just appeared in the last however long. alas, it hasn't. ah, well]

[ similarly, Raihan has at least gotten glances of Damien but hasn't yet taken any opportunity to introduce himself. he's gotten used to people coming to him first - if his height didn't catch people's eyes immediately, Duraludon certainly did. but seeing as everyone here is in the same boat, what harm is there trying to get to know everyone? ]

Let's hope it stays that way! It'd be nice to have a train line to get around... not that these cars look like they're going anywhere. Talk about a tease.

[ there hasn't been any sign of things budging since Raihan got here, and without any signs of technology working the way it should, he's not expecting it to anytime soon. but saying all of that feels needlessly pessimistic, so he keeps it to himself as he hops out off the train with his hands stuffed casually in his pockets. Duraludon follows, carefully hopping onto the platform. ]

What kind of stadium was it? [ he's vaguely curious; surely it wasn't one for Pokémon battles like Hammerlocke Stadium was. from the sporty-looking uniform number emblazoned on his uniform shorts, Damien might be able to parse why he's interested. ]

Edited 2020-10-09 05:00 (UTC)

[Damien hasn't been actively avoiding him or anything, the opportunity to approach him just hasn't really come up until, well, now. no time like the present, though!]

Believe me, I know. [he'd love it more than anything if the train would actually run. it'd make getting around easier for him especially, when he's the reason Kaiba's building the ramps in Mount Silver in the first place. it's hard out here for a disabled man]

But it was a baseball stadium. [he pauses, looking Raihan over] Do they have baseball, where you're from? [he figures the uniform is for whatever Pokemon fighting sport thing goes on in his world, but it occurs to him he has no concept of what other sports they might have -- or what Pokemon training and battling really entails, actually]

Edited (html fail. sorry.) 2020-10-09 22:08 (UTC)

[ he's noticed Damien's leg brace by now, and it makes him wish that he could call on Flygon more than ever. having a flying Pokémon would give him so much more freedom... he's starting to realize that he'd taken it for granted before this.

he smiles a little wider, mostly because while it sounds a little silly at first, it's not a bad question to ask. competitive Pokémon battling is definitely the most popular sport around by virtue of its unbeatable hype, but it's not like it was the only option for sporting entertainment. ]

Yeah, we have baseball. It's not really my region's thing, though - football is where it's at, as far as human sports go.

[ from his accent - which Damien will understand as unmistakably English - that actually might make sense. baseball was definitely more of a Unovan pastime, and Raihan finds it ridiculously dull. ] My stadium's not exactly in the best state for anything right now, but I reckon we could fit a diamond in there eventually.

[ he's speaking, of course, of Hammerlocke Stadium and its ruins. he'd already gone into talks with Tifa and Cloud about making it a multi-purpose space, so why not fit another sport into it? ]

Ugh, football.

[he's not a fan. though ... ] Though are we talking football where you touch the ball, or football where you use your feet? [because yes, he does sound British to him, so he's imagining soccer, as opposed to American football, now, and that's -- slightly better]

[ the other man's disgust gets a chuckle out of him. with how popular Pokemon battling is and his own position in its professional scene, it almost feels strange to talk about a different sport. ]

The one with your feet, obviously! You wouldn't catch me dead paying any attention to Unovan football. [ he's not as outwardly opposed to it, but brute force isn't fun to watch. ] I don't even think we have our own teams for it... guess it didn't really catch on.

[ the audience for human sports, as large as it is, dwarves the attention that professional Pokémon battling gets when League season rolls around. they have the rest of the year to garner their audiences, but when it's time for Trainers to take on the yearly League Challenge, it's all anyone can talk about. ]

American. [a beat] It's American football, where I'm from. [and another] The one with your hands. The one with your feet is European football.

The former's more common, where I'm from. [probably because he's American, from Chicago] I think there are soccer teams, for the Olympics, but ... [but he shrugs, rather than finish that statement, and offers Raihan a wry smile. why are they even having this conversation? never mind the fact that he sort of started it]

Huh... [ a beat of his own. ] No kidding.

[ that's... really interesting, actually. he wants to ask a little more, but it feels like a lot to get into for a conversation between people who don't know each other's names yet. which means, of course, that Raihan will have to rectify that! with an interested smirk, he crosses his arms in interest. ]

I don't think I caught your name, by the way!

No kidding.

[he can read that interest on Raihan's face, and while again, talking about sports really isn't his thing, he does love hearing himself talk -- and exchanging information, and he's sure he'll have questions for him, too, as they go. he's about to call him out on that, then, so they can get to the good stuff, and then Raihan mentions the whole name thing]

[he barks out a laugh at that. how long did he and Seto go before they actually got around to exchanging names? how many conversations did they have?]

Damien Brenks. [a beat] And you are?

[ hey, that's definitely something they have in common! human sports are totally lame, but he'd gladly chat about competitive Pokémon battling if Damien is interested - either that, or their mutual disdain for American-Unovan football. either way, he's definitely filing that away in the "weird crossovers between worlds" folder of his brain. he's hearing of more and more of them lately... ]

Raihan! And my partner, Duraludon. [ he points a thumb over to the steel creature, who simply stares at Damien. life is hard when you don't have cheeks to smile with... he's trying to be friendly, honest! ] Nice to meet you.

[ he's maybe a little younger than Kabu, from the looks of it... he may not be as outwardly feisty as his Fire-type specialist colleague, but he's clearly opinionated! that could be the makings of a fun guy. ]

Have you met any of us Pokémon Trainers yet? [ if he hasn't, allow him to be a stellar first impression. ] Most people I introduce myself to around here just end up staring Duraludon up and down.

[Damien, surprisingly, has not been staring at Duraludon. if he hadn't met Toshi, Izuku Midoriya's gryphon-manticore-thing, while they were both still here, he might be, but he's learning to take things in stride. that in mind, he nods to Duraludon in greeting -- that seemed to work with Toshi. hello there, dragon thing]

Not personally. I've seen you two around, though -- and that blonde boy. [he's talking about Blue, and while he probably knows him by name, if again not personally, he has a habit of referring to people by what they look like for other people's benefit. never mind the fact that Raihan probably knows Blue by name]

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rotomphone - 2020-11-06 01:47 (UTC) - Expand

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abeautifulgame - 2020-11-09 22:50 (UTC) - Expand

[This little slice of the city was something that Lysandra from the past to the harpy girls, something that she might have seen in an old movie or book but it was at least a general place she knew.

And though she hailed from a city to the south of Chicago that was less than a two decades old, but had been there several times in all her 19 years of life. It certainly didn't look like this in the year 2100, but the style was close enough to ping a slight tinge of sadness in her heart.]

Hello there![she waved with one her wing/arms] Do you know anything about this place?

Edited 2020-10-07 12:56 (UTC)

[he turns in the direction of the sound of her voice, and -- well, you'll have to forgive him for taking a moment, for staring. he's seen a lot of weird shit, around here, true, and it's all sort of becoming par for the course, but it's a little jarring right now, butting up against the mundanity of the L station here]

[that girl is a bird-harpy-thing]

[to his credit, however, he doesn't stare for long, forcing himself to look away after a beat, back to the train itself. after another, he hums to the affirmative] It's a train station, from my world. And for once, it doesn't seem to be bastardized by something else.

[not like the Merlaut, which was just a hotel, not an apartment building]

[Lysandra took the staring in stride and merely smiled back at Dameien. She was used to looks like that by now. Being the only harpy in this strange place, she stuck out like a sore thumb. Especially against the rather normal backdrop of the railstation.]

That's what I thought.

[She took a short look around before speaking again]

You know, this looks a lot like a place I know pretty well!

[And that gave her an idea.]

Um...You wouldn't happen to be from the Chicago-land area would you?

Edited 2020-10-08 16:09 (UTC)

[immediately, his attentions snap back to her, shock written on his face. delight follows, along with a bark of a laugh. he touches a hand to his chest]

The Loop.

[which is one of the main neighborhoods of Downtown Chicago, so yes. he's from Chicago-land. he's from Chicago, full stop]

I take it you are, too?

[Well this was exciting! Lysandra almost instantly perked up at the news.]

I am actually! Well not the city itself, my family's apartment is about an hour south down the highway. But I've visited quite a few times over the years.

[Which brought up another question.]

What year is it where you are from?

Edited 2020-10-08 16:24 (UTC)

Beecher?

[it's a good guess, he thinks. Beecher's about an hour away from Chicago, accounting for traffic, and just down I-57. it's also the first town south of Chicago he can think of, period, but never you mind that part]

[and either way, regardless of her answer, his own remains the same] It was 2013, when I ended up here. [a beat, then] November. [which is why he's dressed like he is. sure, it's not cold here, unless you get into the snow on Mount Silver, but it's not hot, either, and it's just sort of -- force of habit, at this point]

Joliet is the nearest city to me. Though based on the year you came from, I'm from an area of the state that didn't exist yet.

[Just in the past few weeks Lysandra had learned Hell, magic, and more were all real. The year being different from person to person seemed simple and logical by comparasion.]

It is the year 2100 back home for me.

[he shakes his head a little -- a confirmation that he doesn't recognize the name of the town she's from. he starts to ask how there can be an area of the state that doesn't exist, then, and then stops, floored by the idea that she's from almost a hundred years in his future]

[when he recovers from that, he barks out a laugh]

Well, at least the L survives.

Its a nice place. I'd say you should visit if you get the chance, but I'm not sure if thats possible.

[She was a bit used to responses like that, but a laugh certainly was better then a look of despair or worry.]

It did! I'm pretty sure the people in the city would be so mad if they tore it down.

Probably not.

[he'd have to live another eighty-some years, to make it to 2100, and even if that were possible (unlikely, given that he's already almost fifty), it's not probable, given what was going on for him back home. he's probably not going to make it another eighty-some minutes, assuming everything's just as he left it, if and when he ever gets out of here]

[rather than point that out, however, instead he continues with:] I'm going to guess we're not exactly from the same reality. [since, again, she was wings for arms]

I think you're right. Everyone I've talked to who is from some version Earth says they've never seen a Subspecies Human like me. I don't know if that is because the year isn't right, or they'll just never exist due to big differences between where we're from, but I think that's ok. Things are "complicated" back home.

[Really complicated actually but hey, at least Damien knew what Chicago was.]

[he and Akechi have developed a kind of litmus test, to figure out if his version of Earth lines up with someone else's, and Damien may come back to that, just for funsies. (he's already pretty sure their realities won't line up, but it can't hurt to know for sure.) for now, though, he just arches his eyebrows, then lowers them in rapid succession]

Complicated, how?

[he might also come back to the idea that he's never seen anything like her before, either, but -- well, one thing at a time, and 'complicated' is what he latched onto]

the chicago l station

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