[OPEN] For Want Of Some Ruby Slippers

[atypical_echo]

Who: Mark Bryant atypical_echo, Sephiroth unkindled_madness, Open
What: Getting Lost In The Multiverse
When: August 12th through 17th
Where: The Multiverse (each starter has a link to information)
Content Warnings: If needed


I. Surely I'm Only Dreaming| Open | Premise & Setting

There he'd been, minding his own business as he worked at the small table in his new shitty apartment, flipping through photos to review his final image selections for the disastrous wedding contract. And then...

And then he had awoken in a park, out of nowhere. A beautiful park with fountains and staircases and so much he didn't really know what to do with. A woman with vividly crimson hair and a gentle smile talked and talked and Mark was just in too much shock to listen, even when a small man (was that a literal hobbit?) had rushed up, handed him a gray satchel, and left. In it, keys, a tiny bit of money, and a flip phone.

"Okay, but who even uses a flip phone these days?"

Well, it's not the first random place he's been dropped in, so he supposed he could do his best and keep going. So Mark started walking. And soon had to jump out of the way of a giant fucking bird that someone was riding.

"Someone pinch me. I think I'm sleeping."

II. Unda' Tha Sea! | Open (CW: Panic Attack) | Premise FAQ

It had taken him days in that last mess of a place to find the break in space-time. Of course Mark hadn't been looking for it. But it had called and with the shivering sense of right calling to him, and Mark had gone toward it. Which was why he had awoken in a strange bunk bed in a strange place. An abandoned seeming place, for there was no sign of residents in the strangely rounded dorm.

Of course, Mark had then come outside and... Well, he'd made the mistake of looking up. Looking up high above where there was a shine where the sky should have been. Glass. Distant glass. A dome. And...

"Oh fuck," he gasped as he looked upward. "Am I...?"

Underwater. He was trapped in some fucking dome underwater? In a panic, Mark found himself running forward, finding a glass tunnel. Through there, another dome, this one looking like a central square with a market. Or what would have been a market if anyone were around. Instead it was... empty. There were lights, there was air, there were even a few trees growing up in places that were clearly meant for him. But otherwise.

"No," he said, already starting to hyperventilate. "No. No no no no no."

He was panicking, shaking, his heart racing like it was going to beat right out of his chest. No.

"Please, I can't be alone. I can't. Please," he said, his voice raising to a shout, "is someone out there!?"

III. Let's Go To The Mall | Closed to Sephiroth

He just wanted to go home. Was that so wrong? Perhaps it was, because here Mark is, slamming at the doors of the food court, trying to get out. Which, of course, he couldn't. Ever since the latest portal had dropped him here, he'd been stranded. Which had been almost eight hours now.

"Let me out!" he shouted, still slamming his fists against the door. "Oh come the fuck on. I don't even like malls! The chairs in the food court are sticky! The fashion is from the nineties. I look horrible in grunge styles!"

There were people staring at him, of course, from the different food stalls. Mark didn't care.

"I swear to fuck, there is less interesting happening here than in Regency Britain!"

Comments

[unkindled_madness]

Sephiroth regards him coolly.

"Would you prefer to split up, then?"

[atypical_echo]

What? Mark looked scared at that.

"Hell no, man. This place could be dangerous."

[unkindled_madness]

"Then I suppose you'll have to tolerate being abnormal, for now."

[atypical_echo]

"Atypical," he says, sighing. "That's what we call it. Not Meta. Atypical."

Clearly it wasn't an 'atypical' that came up with the group name.

[unkindled_madness]

"And I wouldn't call myself 'metahuman,' but here we are."

He turns to move on, back into the mall proper. "Perhaps a name would be better."

[atypical_echo]

"I suppose here we are."

Wait, a name? Oh shit, Mark hasn't offered one, has he.

"I'm Mark."

[unkindled_madness]

No, he's been very rude. Sephiroth doesn't usually have to bring this up himself.

"Sephiroth."

[atypical_echo]

Listen, he didn't even THINK about it because, hey, he's been tense and scared for the better part of a week now.

"Guess my social skills still aren't up to par after, well, everything. Nice to meet you Sephiroth. Cool name. Pretty unique compared to mine, at least where I come from. Guess Sephiroth could be as common as 'Bob'."

[unkindled_madness]

Okay. He might appreciate having his name called 'cool' instead of weird or having a nickname forced on him immediately.

"...it's true, I've never met a 'Mark' before."

[atypical_echo]

Why wouldn't Mark call it cool? Three syllables? Rolls off the tongue in what feels like an avalanche of beat. It fucking rocked. Could be menacing, could be whispered fondly, but CARRIES FUCKING WEIGHT.

Though he looks at Sephiroth in shock.

"Really? It's not that uncommon on Earth. Especially in America, where the Metas seem to be. I'm sure there are other Marks. And come on, I sound like someone just took a pencil to a piece of paper. Who's that? Oh, that's Mark. See? No power."

[unkindled_madness]

He snorts.

"I've been on Earth not even three months. If it's a common name, I'm sure another Mark will patronize the library eventually."

[atypical_echo]

Wait, seriously?

"You work in a library and haven't met any Marks? I don't even know what to do. My life of common name has been a LIE!"

[unkindled_madness]

Is he being melodramatic on purpose or is he just Like This?

"Perhaps it's what differentiates your Earth from other versions of it."

[atypical_echo]

He is so just like this. It's just life he supposed.

"Maybe. Man, so weird. But hey, they still have Singing in the Rain."

[unkindled_madness]

"...yes, I suppose there's no one to stop you from doing that."

He doesn't realize it's a title.

[atypical_echo]

"Huh?" Mark said, pausing to look at SEphiroth. Did... Did he not know?

[unkindled_madness]

"If you want to sing in the rain? You need only wait for favorable weather."

[atypical_echo]

Nope, mouth is just hanging open in shock.

"No, it's... It's a musical. Okay, you work at a library. Do they rent DVDs?"

[unkindled_madness]

Oh. We're talking about popular culture.

"Yes. Are you going to insist it's a masterpiece?"

[atypical_echo]

Oh come on, of course he is. In fact, he looks aghast that Sephiroth wouldn't think that's a given.

"If you don't like it, I'll buy you a pizza."

[unkindled_madness]

Musicals are not high on his list of things to familiarize himself with.

Neither is pizza.

"...I'm not certain whether you intend that as consolation or punishment for having 'poor' taste."

[atypical_echo]

"My taste is amazing," Mark insists. "But I'm saying if it's not your cup of tea, there you have it."

[unkindled_madness]

"I've seen little evidence of that. I would prefer a literal cup of tea to the pizza."

[atypical_echo]

Wait, what?

"Dude, you've had pizza, right?"

[unkindled_madness]

"Yes. I didn't care for it. It's quite... greasy."