powerdealer: (10 | Angry | Brooding)
Seth ([personal profile] powerdealer) wrote in [community profile] applesaucedream2014-05-19 03:47 pm

[open] Locked within a room of memory, locked up away with no light of day

Seth sits in his bed, back against the wall, facing the door.

This is not his current room. No trace of the sleek, clean style he favours. No decorations, no furniture at all except for the bed. The walls are brick and stone, the floor dirty cement, the air musty and heavy, with just a hint of smell from the sewers coming from the toilet in the corner. There's a constricting feeling of anxiety and dread, his attentions focused on the heavy, bolted door.

There used to be books and writing equipment at least, but they took that away before they returned him here. They even took away his nice blanket. It's funny the simple things you get attached to when there's nothing else.

Any moment now, he knows, one of the rebels will come through that door and discipline him. Tell him he'll do as they say, or else. He wonders what it is he did this time. There's been quite a few times over the more than three months they kept him here that he didn't want to do what they told him to.

He's had this dream before. He doesn't quite know it's a dream yet, but it'll soon come to him. And while it's not a nightmare that makes him wake with a start and a strangled scream, it's the sort that weighs heavily on him the entire following day, like a weight on his chest, making it hard to breathe, making any small room feel like a trap.

The door opens, and someone steps in, the door closing heavily behind them.

[This is a recurring dream for Seth, so he can have a different visitor on different nights. If you tag in, merely pick a date.]
jennifer_strange: (neutral - pondering)

[personal profile] jennifer_strange 2014-05-24 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
Jennifer frowns, though it's not directed at Seth (who looks as if he might keel over at any moment). The picture he's painting is all too plausible, and she's glad she was able to help get him out of there. Given what he's been through, she's not sure if she'll be able to convince him to join up with Romac… but for the time being, it's more important to evade recapture. Once the rebels find out he's escaped, they won't be happy about it.

"Well, I'd say we should head somewhere more public, but…" she looks down at the Quarkbeast, devoid of any disguise and panting cheerfully, its numerous fangs on display. She doesn't even have a leash for it. "Normally I put silly little jackets on him so people assume he's a dog."
jennifer_strange: (this is important)

[personal profile] jennifer_strange 2014-05-24 05:22 am (UTC)(link)
Jennifer chews her lip for a minute and gives Seth an assessing look. Could he pull that trick off again without collapsing? As the Quarkbeast finds a discarded soda can and cheerfully crunches it up, she says, "My flat's in the upper East side - Carnegie Hill. Could you get us there?"
jennifer_strange: (neutral - watchful)

[personal profile] jennifer_strange 2014-05-24 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
For a few moments, it doesn't look as if anything is happening, and she's tempted to call it off. She doesn't want him to have an aneurysm while trying to use a power that doesn't technically belong to him. But then the wall opens up, and she tosses a, "C'mon, boy," to the Quarkbeast before stepping through herself.

It's weird just stepping into her neighborhood from somewhere else entirely, and it takes her a few moments to get her bearings. Once she does, she realizes they're only two blocks from her flat - not bad. She turns back to Seth to check his status. "All right?"
jennifer_strange: (mild alarm)

[personal profile] jennifer_strange 2014-05-24 06:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"… Uh huh." That's not what 'okay' looks like. Jennifer approaches Seth and drops into a crouch to put her a bit more on his level. "Can you stand? I'll help you," she offers, reaching out to take his arm. "My flat isn't far from here." And she imagines they'll both feel better once they're indoors.
jennifer_strange: (acting manager)

[personal profile] jennifer_strange 2014-05-24 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
It isn't far, but it's slow going. Or it should be. The time it takes to get from the alleyway to her door seems to blur, but she doesn't really think about that; she's more focused on fishing her keys out of her pocket and getting the door open.

As she pushes open the door to let the Quarkbeast precede them inside, she says, "Avoid the bookshelf. My flatmate's a little shy. And just… little. In general."
jennifer_strange: (worried about you)

[personal profile] jennifer_strange 2014-05-24 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"Sure." She leaves him next to the couch and heads for the little kitchen so she can pour him a glass of water. He probably needs more than water, but they can start slow. "Here," she says, offering Seth the glass. Then, she fetches what looks like a chrome muffler from the top of the fridge and sets it on the floor for the Beast. It settles down cheerfully enough, tail wagging as it plants one scaly paw on the muffler and commences licking it.

Beast taken care of, she leans against the counter and watches Seth. "Are you hungry?"
jennifer_strange: (neutral - listening)

[personal profile] jennifer_strange 2014-05-25 06:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"Rifties should look out for each other," she replies simply. Being a rifty isn't quite on par with being a foundling (if only because everyone has to know what you are before they can stigmatize you properly), but she feels a similar sense of camaraderie with the rifty population as she did with other foundlings back home.

After a beat, she adds, "And I'm not very impressed by the rebels." Not that she had any firsthand experience with them before today… but what she's learned since meeting Seth isn't encouraging. It's one thing to allow someone's powers to inform what they do for you, which seems to be Romac's approach, and quite another to lock someone in a cell so you can exploit them to your heart's content.
jennifer_strange: (troubled)

[personal profile] jennifer_strange 2014-05-25 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Jennifer furrows her brow at him, and the Beast raises its head and gives it a quizzical tilt. "… Is that a problem?" she asks. It's a baffling question on several levels. What's so bad about Romac? How else does he think a teenage rifty managed to land her own flat in Manhattan? More to the point, though, she'd like to think she hasn't given him any reason to suspect that she's going to hurt him. If that was the plan, she would have sicced the Beast on him already, and an invitation to her flat definitely wouldn't have been in the cards.
jennifer_strange: (serious)

[personal profile] jennifer_strange 2014-05-25 09:24 pm (UTC)(link)
By now, Jennifer's well aware that the rebels have been sowing nasty rumors about Romac. It seems a bit strange that Seth would buy into them, though, considering how said rebels treated him.

After some consideration, she says, "If you'd rather I didn't, I won't." She doesn't like the thought of Seth being on the run with no resources, but what's the alternative? Trying to haul him to HQ against his will? As if she even could, considering the rift power he currently has.

"I mostly help process new arrivals," she adds, both to calm him down a little and excuse herself for letting him run off into the sunset (if that's what he's so determined to do). "It's not my job to drag in every rifty I meet."
jennifer_strange: (friendly)

[personal profile] jennifer_strange 2014-05-25 11:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"A few months." It's a welcome change of subject. Given how twitchy he got when he realized she worked for Romac, she doubts further discussion about the factions would go anywhere pleasant. And while she's not exactly afraid of Seth - it's hard to be scared of anyone when you have a Quarkbeast for a pet - she doesn't want to give him any reason to be afraid of her, either.

She tips her head towards the Beast and says, "The Quarkbeast and I came through together. What about you?" If his accent is anything to go by, he's from the UK as well. Probably not hers, but still.
jennifer_strange: (neutral - gentle)

[personal profile] jennifer_strange 2014-05-25 11:29 pm (UTC)(link)
She winces in sympathy. Most non-foundlings aren't accustomed to dealing with conditions such as the ones in that cell, so those three months can't have been comfortable for him. And it's disconcerting to think that he'd been stewing down there for as long as she'd been in this universe.

"He's sweeter than he looks," she says with a wry smile. The Beast wags its clubbed tail a few times and lets out a cheerful "Quark!" Jennifer continues, "Quarkbeasts are nonevolutionary animals - one of several invented by wizards in a sort of contest." Even with the increasing crackle, it's hard to imagine having enough to just invent animals. "The Mighty Shandar invented Quarkbeasts - and he won."
jennifer_strange: (eyebrows up)

[personal profile] jennifer_strange 2014-05-26 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
"A bit, yes." Not as different as someone might expect, given the magic and dragons and all. "The technology is similar, but everything back home runs on electromagical energy, and it had been… declining for a while." She shrugs, then asks, "What about your universe - are the Kingdoms united?"