And we begin to fear, that an unfeeling oracle will say

[fridgetothefire]

Who: Anya (fridgetothefire), eventually Lucifer (thelightbringer), and OPEN
When: Way forward-dated to a few hours before dawn on Edited: Friday, March 16. So yes, during the Darkness. [Forward dating this a bit further to work around the Crowley-death plot fallout]
Where: OUTSIDE. In Sector 4.
Summary: Anya runs away from the baseball diamond before a greeter finds her. Horrors ensue. If your muse could plausibly be outside, feel free to run into her, though she'll try to hide from everyone right now.
Warnings: Powerless human out in Darkness, so yeah, could get ugly. Thoughts of suicide will probably be mentioned.



Her first thought, through the stunned pain, is that she must have missed something. She did something wrong, she pissed someone off. Maybe someone who could transform into a cyclone. She blinks, tries to lurch to her hands and knees, and promptly throws up her lunch.

She wipes away the acid, and her ears are ringing in the quiet, waiting for the derisive sneers of weak, human, disgusting, but no one speaks. The light is wrong. It's flat, artificial, and not too bright, casting sharp, inky shadows, even though a moment ago she was sitting by a window in early afternoon. She blinks, wiping the bile from her mouth, and forces herself to her feet. And she is - nowhere at all she recognizes.

Her heartrate skyrockets, pounding in her ears like booted footfalls echoing down the stone corridors of her father's base, and she has no idea whether the surging in her chest is elation or terror. She wonders if there's even a difference, right now. She's somewhere else. Outside that stifling mausoleum. She's somewhere she absolutely shouldn't be, and it doesn't matter where, not to her, not even remotely. The only thing that matters is not getting caught.

Something, someone, brought her here, either one of his followers or one of his enemies. Either way, Anya wants to lose them. So instead of following the few lights to the likely-looking shelter of the dugout, she stumbles along the fence, clinging to the shadows where she can, until she finds a place mangled and rusted through enough for her to slip out into the streets. And she thinks, with the ineffable certainty of a teenager, no matter what's out there, it can't possibly be worse that what she's left behind.

Comments

[thelightbringer]

"Pragmatic. I like that."

Except he couldn't really let her die, not while knowing who she was.

"I think you'll find this place more welcoming indoors?"

[fridgetothefire]

"Why would I?" she asks. "I mean, seriously. The only reason anyone who lived in a place like this would open their door to a stranger while these things are out would be to prey on desperation."

She doesn't say it in anger, or bitterness. That's simply how things are. Anya hasn't expected welcome from anyone since she was four years old.

[thelightbringer]

Lucifer watches her with an utterly unreadable expression.

"I meant there's a shopping mall these things can't get into. You're right; there's no reason to go begging strangers for help. You'll have your own apartment around here somewhere until you get a job. Or maybe it's only for a week or two, I didn't use mine."

[fridgetothefire]

"Do...shopping malls do that?" She frowns for the first time, hating to admit ignorance, but needing to know. And slightly defensive, "Why would anyone just give me an apartment?" It sounds far too good to be true, like bait, more ridiculous than being snatched by Canada and monsters rolled together. She's met monsters before, after all, and teleporters.

[thelightbringer]

"Not usually. The buildings here are usually Darkness proofed...the mall is open all night, and they like their paying customers in one piece." He leads her along and holds the door for her.

"They have 'starter apartments' to keep newcomers off the streets. We don't know how many or how often we'll have people coming in, so..."

[fridgetothefire]

She hangs back, wary. There's a tension in her shoulders that says she really wants to cross her arms, but that would make it harder to carry the makeshift iron bat.

"Why are you helping me?"

There isn't a speck of trust there. Not because he said he was Lucifer - just because he's a person, apparently being nice.

[thelightbringer]

"So that later if I ask you to do something, you might consider doing it. If you have a place to hide my dog, an apartment where I can store supplies..." He shrugs. He's being bluntly honest with her on that front; he won't tell her about Erik just yet.

"If you say 'no' I'll just find someone else. Let's call this networking."

[fridgetothefire]

There are a dozen things that come to mind. But I'm nobody, first among them, and she doesn't really believe him about the apartments either, not after seeing bums get eaten on the street. But there's no reason to make him think she's less useful. And she knows, realistically, that she won't last long out there. After a split-second, she decides to take the chance. She shrugs as she walks inside, keeping the bar for now.

"Sure. I'm good at things like that. Useful background stuff." She looks around at the mall, not bothering to disguise her curiosity.

"So how'd we get here, anyway? Canada, I mean." If it's Canada. Though the time difference fits neatly enough.