oo1 ✦ let’s begin.

[richesse]

[ There’s a whisper through the murmur, more a breath of feeling than a fully formed thought. It’s sweet, and warm, and laughing—though it is not gentle, nor kind.

A voice follows the whisper, chased by darkness and shadows, the very suggestion of a nightmare. ]

Do you think we’re still dreaming? Or is this a living nightmare?

[ a hum, and another brush of teasing laughter, there and gone like a brief burst of memory, the last moment of summer that you can taste on your tongue before it’s irretrievably gone. ]

You’ve changed, haven’t you? We all have. What are you thinking, right now…? Who are you?

What are you?

Comments

[pointedlook]

Let me get this straight—you want me to show you how to control the dream environment, in exchange for a promise to save me like some kind of damsel, and then don't want to specify how you'd be capable of backing your claims?

[ Can you feel his utter disappointment and disbelief, Lortel? His words taste like the metallic tang of copper, the low level simmering of swiping blood off your teeth with your tongue. ]

I've been offered better trade agreements from six year olds.

[richesse]

[ he’s no easy mark. not like some of these other easily taken in fools.

Lortel beams, bright. ]

You’re a tough customer. I can appreciate that, as a businesswoman.

I’ll decline, then. If you change your mind, I’ll always be here.

[pointedlook]

[ Okay then. Normally, he'd get curious and try to pry for more information, but, he thinks he's wasted enough time here. ]

Suit yourself.

[richesse]

[ curls her hands behind her back. ]

Where will you go?

[pointedlook]

Weren't we done, just now?

[ Can she feel the judgment packed into the arch of his eyebrow? ]

[richesse]

Aren’t we still two people lost in the middle of the apocalypse? They say there’s strength in numbers, you know.

[ she can.

she thinks it’s very cute. ]

[pointedlook]

Who says I'm lost? I know exactly where I am and what this place is.

[ New York City is no mystery to him. ]

It's only strength in numbers if the members are equally capable. I don't know what you can or cannot do.

[richesse]

Do you?

[ oh my. how intriguing. ]

… information is my real specialty. Intelligence gathering. [ a slight smile. ] I’ve already started working, you see. I know of others that could be allies. I know of others with powers we can use. I also know where safe refuge is, and where you can find warm clothing.

[ she rattles it all off casually. one must work quickly when one is deposited directly in the middle of an apparent apocalypse. ]

[pointedlook]

Yep.

[ Maybe he's being purposefully obtuse now. Just a bit. ]

"Safe refuge" isn't a guarantee in this kind of situation. If I want warm clothing, I can raid some Midtown hipster's closet or find the closest Uniqlo.

[ It would do in a pinch, at any rate. ] How can I trust your intel?

[richesse]

How can I trust yours?

[ folds her arms over her chest, fingers curled around her elbows. ]

We’ve got to start somewhere.

tmfw I almost used Andrew cuomo's resignation as proof

[pointedlook]

Give me a piece of intel, something I can verify.

[ Here, this is his proof, for her to check on: ]

This city has a shopping plaza, Rockefeller Center, where they put up an enormous Christmas tree every year. It'll be in the paper, New York Times, during the first week of December.

[ One year, there was even an owl in said tree. ]

[richesse]

[ …

Arthur will feel a brush in the murmur. though Lortel does not open her mouth, he’ll hear these words, whispered right in his ear: ]

how much have you played with our strange connection?

[pointedlook]

Jesus fucking Christ—

[ That's elegant. Okay, deep breath. This isn't extraction, even if it feels like it, somehow. It's close enough that he can work within the confines. And apply some dreamshare etiquette, maybe, for all that exists amongst the connections he doesn't want to strangle. ]

Can't find it in you to warn a guy, first?

[richesse]

Haha!

You did say you wanted verifiable proof.

[pointedlook]

I was thinking more in the line of: X person has these powers, which are useful. So I could find them and cross-reference.

[ NORMAL INFO GATHERING THINGS, LORTEL. ]

Not—whatever the hell that was. Useful, I'm sure, just not without a whole hell of a lot of regulations.

[richesse]

Oh my. And here I was going to tell you more, but it seems that was enough.

[ … ]

A man named Ignis has the ability to manipulate time. Tell him I sent you and he will be willing to help you.

[pointedlook]

I wasn't asking you to spill your guts. Information has a price, I'm more than willing to acknowledge that.

[ It's not usually easy to gather and collate everything, to become a repository whose memory or connections others lean and depend on. So, in the interest of playing nice, he's not going to shake this girl down for everything she's learned already. Not without something to trade. ]

Alright then. [ Maybe "willing" to help is a stretch, but he doesn't know Ignis and his life choices. ]

[richesse]

[ he’s a smart man. Lortel can appreciate that. ]

Does that mean we have a deal?

[pointedlook]

You scratch my back, I scratch yours—tentative, but, yeah.

[ He still has to confirm this information about Ignis, at least. But, the groundwork has been laid. ]

Where'd you end up? I don't know every nook and cranny, but I'm familiar enough with this place to give directions.

[richesse]

The nearest cross street I found to where I woke up was 5th Avenue and 34th Street.

[ right in the heart of midtown. not that she knows what that is. ]

There are quite a few clothing stores, but I haven’t found much in the way of food or weapons.

[pointedlook]

Oh, Midtown.

[ Right by the Empire State Building, really. He stares off for a few moments, mentally re-mapping that area from his memory. ]

Head south on 5th, you'll hit Koreatown. Should have a whole bunch of restaurants in that area. Or, well, there were.

[ Like this, who the fuck knows if there's anything left. Or how much of it is edible. ]

Weapons will be harder to come by. Might be able to grab a couple sharp kitchen knives, though.

[richesse]

[ Lortel beams. immediately actionable intel. this was worth her while, after all. ]

Anything is better than nothing. I’d also like to find a hospital, and maybe a museum or campus.

[pointedlook]

NYU Langone Health and Bellevue Hospital, they're practically on top of each other. Head east on 34th until you hit the river, they'll be hard to miss. NYU doubled as a medical school.

[ That counts as a campus, right? NYC didn't have space for an actual campus, like a Yale or Rutgers. ]

Depends on the kind of museum you're looking for; the Morgan Library is a few blocks north on 5th and...I think a couple avenues east. If you keep walking on 5th, though, you'll hit museum mile.

[richesse]

That’s perfect! [ rather sunny. she’s pleased. ]

Come find me in a few days. I’ll be sure to reward you for your help.

[ glances at him, smiling, cheerful even in the apocalypse. ]

Do you know where you’ll go?

[pointedlook]

Dare I ask what the reward is gonna be, or you gonna be cagey about that?

[ Y'know, in case she thinks he forgot about that whole thing. ] Dunno yet. I'd rather get a better idea of the landscape and what we're working with, before I make a more formal decision.

[ Some kind of place that would provide him with research, first, probably. ]

Do you?