1st Heart

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

[And all of a sudden, there is a man on the plane. A man that has been here before, but doesn't recall it. He's frozen in mid stride, hand stretched out as if he had been holding onto something, looking as confused as he ever has.

Slowly, he unfreezes and walks forward, until he reaches something he can touch. Making sure it's there. Or he's here. Or whatever. An anchor for senses and nothing more]

Now I've seen some pretty weird shit. Kinda stuff that a man might spend his whole life trying to reason with. But I think this...this might just take the cake.

[He reaches for his piece, gripping the handle and pulling it free from his holster then letting his arm hang at his side. He glances from side to side. Slowly, just trying to make sense of it. And he gives up pretty swiftly when he realizes that making sense of THIS wasn't gonna happen. Not yet.

He releases the object he had gripped and turns around, reaching into his pocket and pulling out some cigarettes. He lights himself up one, then observes once again. What happened to that shop? Why was he suddenly in this...place? And of that matter, what was with the random shit scattered about. His grip relaxes momentarily before tightening again, and he begins to walk in any one direction. If he's lucky, there will be people here.

And if his luck is anything like it usually is, they'll be shooting on sight. He's used to that.]

Time to find me the wizard. I'm no Dorothy, and I ain't got the time to dick around in Oz.

Comments

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

...Jackie? That was your name, right?

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

[dot dot dot Nope. Doesn't know you. Then again, his name does get around]

Yeah, that's right.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

...My, it's been a long time! I can't even remember when I last saw you here!

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

It must have been, seein' as I can't remember that last time I was here myself. Care to refresh my memory a little?

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

...You...don't remember? I mean it's been a long time, but...

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

[He shrugs once]

It sure does seem like it. Not for lack of trying, mind you.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

{She frowns a little, disappointed} Ah...Well, welcome to the Astral Plane, I guess.

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

[He cocks an eyebrow and taking a quick puff of his cigarette off to the side. Second hand smoke, isn't cool yo] Thanks. I guess.

Now, I don't suppose there might be an easy way of explaining all this, is there? This really doesn't look like the kind of thing I'd try to forget, and that I did is somewhat concerning.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

Well, there is something. Someone here made these little flyers, and they explain it better than I can.

{She points in their general direction} They're over there.

Edit spaaaaaaaaam X_X

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

Thanks. [He looks where she points, and almost immediately feels like an idiot. How the hell did he miss those? He strolls over and grabs one, turning it over and over in hand.

This place needed it's own brochure to explain it. This was not the best of signs. But read he did in quiet. Then he read it again. And then he read it again]

Jackie, of all the stores in Manhattan, why'd you have to go and walk into that one? What the fuck.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

{She follows after him, just laughing a little}

It's alright. It's new here. Ne, but it's not bad here. I like it.

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

[He turns his head and looks at her over his shoulder]

Sorry, but this ain't the kind of place I tend to think of when the phrase "not bad" pops up. Now, ordinarily, I'd take your word for it...but this is nothing ordinary.

[He pockets the brochure before turning around completely]

Now that that's out of the way, I never did get your name.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

My name is Diva.

{She curtsies politely} It's nice to meet you. Again, I guess.

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

[Awfully polite, this one.]

Yeah, it's a real pleasure. All over again.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

Well, it really isn't that bad here. I've made lots of friends here, so that's what makes it nice, to me.

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

The friends are all well and good, it's the other things that leave me uneasy. "Mergers", and walking into people that aren't there to the rest of the world. The real weird shit.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

Well, those aren't really that bad, either. No one at home notices them.

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

Maybe not, but they'll sure see me interact with whoever isn't there.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's why you talk to people from the Plane in private. Then it's not as odd.

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

We'll see. Private generally isn't as private as a guy like me would care for. But I'll worry about crossing that bridge when I come to it.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

You certainly don't have to worry about it right away. It takes quite a while to happen.

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

I suppose that's as good a silver lining as I'm gonna find right now.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

You get used to it! It's just weird at first, is all.

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't doubt that. I've got a pretty good track record with weird.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

[laughs] You're definitely no Dorothy -- I ought to know, she's a companion of mine.

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

That right? What's that supposed to make you then? Sure don't look like a lion, a tin-man or a scarecrow.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

'Course not, I'm a Doctor! The Doctor, actually. Nice to meet you!

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

Sure, why not. I'm Jackie.

Seein' as you're the doctor around here, mind telling me what I'm on? Cause all this...it doesn't make a lick of sense.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

[rolls his eyes] You're not on anything, except the floor of the Astral Plane. Hang on, my brother had some brochures made...[and after digging several random things out of his pocket, he produces this brochure (http://community.livejournal.com/shifted_ooc/227739.html#cutid1), and hands it to Jackie]

There, that ought to explain the basics.

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

Well, isn't that a relief. [Sarcasm, we can has it. He says nothing on the eye rolling and takes to the brochure giving it a quick once through.]

An out-of-universe experience. Maintained by forces unknown. Involving secret organizations. And nut jobs vying for the right to rule this plane?

You're right about one thing, this ain't no bad trip. Couldn't make this shit up if I tried.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

[laughs] If it helps, you can get home easily enough. All you've got to do is think about it, and walk. [Nine demonstrates by taking a step and disappearing -- dropping off the Plane. A moment, later, he's back.] See? Easy.

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

Seems too easy, but hell, beats tapping my heels together. [And, sure enough, he pauses to get his thoughts together and takes a ste-pop.







pop-p back into the Astral plane. Yeah, he's gonna take a second to enjoy that cig he's got, looking a little bit more than just confused right about now]

Okay. That's...I got no idea just what that is.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

[smirks] The Astral Bar's that way, if you need a bit of help in the processing department. [he points it out helpfully]

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

[He makes note of it, nodding once in response.] Maybe later. I'm not exactly the type of guy that needs to wet his whistle in order to make shit make sense.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear it! 'Sides, it's not so confusing once you get the hang of it. Been coming here for...nearly a year now, myself. Blimey, has it really been that long?

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

Then it looks like I'm going to need to settle in for the long haul. [He looks at the brochure again. After a thought, he holsters his gun and turns his hand to pulling the cigarette out]

This ain't so bad. Just weird is all. Go in expecting some kind of store, and next thing you know, you're standing in...this.

[charmandsmiles.livejournal.com]

Just gets weirder, but you'll get used to it. It's not half bad, though. ...Mostly.

[stronguponme.livejournal.com]

Mostly?