001 - Every time that I wake it's like I only wake into a dream

[want_take_have]

[she dreamt of a picnic.

Mayor Wilkins was there. Happy. Whole. Cracking his stupid, corny jokes that should have made her roll her eyes...except they didn't. There was a nagging sense of deja vu, like she'd seen this before and it hadn't ended well, but they finished their meal and he talked with her and...nothing happened. It was perfect.

She was content enough that she laid back on the grass and closed her eyes, just enjoying the breeze against her face and the fact that, for once, she didn't have to be on edge.

When she woke, she could still feel the hint of that breeze. An illusion, of course. Something left over from her imagination, because you didn't get wind in prison cells. She kept her eyes closed though, trying to pretend, because she wasn't quite ready to let it go...except there was a dull ache between her shoulder blades that wouldn't let her fully relax. Finally, she swore, grit her teeth, and opened her eyes-





...And stared.

It takes a few minutes of quietly freaking out before she finds the journal, and a few more before she gets ahold of herself enough to attempt to use it. She was from Sunnydale...She could handle screwed up. She'd figure it out as she went. Right?

When she actually speaks, she sounds pretty chill, especially to anyone who doesn't know what she sounds like when she's wigged.]

So...not saying I totally buy the whole "this is real" thing, 'cause this is all kinds of messed up...but pretending I did...where's a girl gotta go to get a hard drink around here?

[because she really, really needed one]

Comments

[thedicearecast]

[No more footsteps?

Amelia stops and turns around, realizing she's left the woman behind. Though she knows she shouldn't find it funny, there's a faint grin on Amelia's lips--not exactly light-hearted, but bitter humor is still humor.]

Told you there was worse. I had planned on waiting until you'd started drinking to say it though.

[And then she shrugs.]

[want_take_have]

Sister, drunk doesn't mean crazy. [there wasn't enough alcohol for this]

[thedicearecast]

No. And I didn't really believe it at first either. Except it was coming from someone I know from back home--except he's from a few years into my future, apparently. Same with the other people I knew before I got here.

Don't expect it to make any sense. It doesn't.

[want_take_have]

[ugh]

Guess they got that part right, anyway. [as far as she was concerned, nothing ever made sense]

[thedicearecast]

That's the part they have nailed.

[Amelia points to one of the buildings ahead.]

That's the bar. Across the path is a restaurant, if you want to get something to eat. That road heads into the plaza; stick to the left and you'll find the clothing shop.

[And now Faith gets another smirk.] In case you've decided I'm too crazy to follow around any more.

[want_take_have]

[....]

...what about that night club? The....[some stupid name...what was it?] Cloud Nine?

[crazy or not, she wasn't worried about Amelia. Not really. But she didn't want to face Buffy, yet]

[thedicearecast]

Over the restaurant. I haven't been there much though, so I can't really tell you what it's like.

[Well, Amelia had made the offer to go. But since she's yet to be taken up on it, she'll look expectantly at Faith.]

Where to?

[want_take_have]

[she debates. It's an internal struggle, torn between a desire to be alone with her panic and the need to have someone else there to ground her. Because she didn't fully trust herself. Not that she was sure what she thought she might do, other than curl up in a ball and rock until the world went back to normal, but she didn't really want to find out.

So, eventually, she shrugs] Guess the first step is finding something to wear.

[lead the way]

[thedicearecast]

Sure. You'll probably feel better for it, anyway.

[And Amelia will resume walking. She'll point out other useful buildings along the way: the grocery, the welcome center, so on.]

You should look around every so often. Sometimes something of yours will randomly show up.

[want_take_have]

Don't really got a lot to show up. [but even as she says it, she knows there are a few things she wouldn't mind getting back. Things she hasn't seen in months. Not since she'd turned herself in]

There's a welcome center? Doesn't really seem like the kinda place you go for a bit of R&R...

[thedicearecast]

But you still have some things. [And from how Faith is acting, Amelia gets the feeling she'll need those trinkets from home.]

No. It's mostly for when new people show up; it happens every other month. You can stay there until you find an apartment or something.

[want_take_have]

[it doesn't take long to cross the square and reach the clothing shops. Faith heads straight in. It doesn't make much sense to hesitate about it now. Besides, she wanted out of this stupid sundress]

That regular?

[thedicearecast]

Yeah.

[Amelia heads in after, but stops near the door. She's got plenty of warm weather clothes--thank goodness for things getting comfortable again--so she just leans against the wall next to the entrance.]

I don't know if you've got seasons where you're from, but we're in spring--I think. [She considers it for a second.] Pretty sure. It might be summer though. It hasn't snowed in awhile, any way.

[want_take_have]

Spent the last couple years in Cali, but I've done the seasons thing before.

[thedicearecast]

Never heard of it.

[Which isn't at all unusual. Amelia's learned that outside of "Earth," which is pretty general, she's never heard of most places people are from.]

My planet's called Gunsmoke. It's a desert.

[want_take_have]

[that stops her again]

...Planet?

[yeah...you're really not convincing her of your sanity, Amelia]

[thedicearecast]

[Which is probably a good thing. Amelia's got to wonder about the people who do take all this at face value.]

Yeah. You'll see it in the book, too. People come from all sorts of different worlds.

[Said very matter-of-factly. Amelia's not going to try and convince Faith of anything, because she knows she can't. She also knows she's right.]

[want_take_have]

No offense, sister, but you ain't exactly a little green man.

[thedicearecast]

No, I'm a human woman. And I'm okay with that.

[Okay, so maybe deep down, Amelia is starting to have a little fun at Faith's expense. A little. It's still true though.]

Humans didn't start off on Gunsmoke. They crashed there a century and a half ago. I'm descended from them.

By the way, people come from different times too. Even ones you know.

[want_take_have]

[and it's that little detail that keeps her from completely writing Amelia off. Because she's already learned that, and the discomfort of it flashes across her face as she looks away and down at the nearest rack of clothing]

Yeah...I heard something about that.

[thedicearecast]

...From someone you know.

[It's not really a question, after the look Faith just got.]

From your future or your past?

[want_take_have]

Future.

...I guess. [she shrugs] And she ain't really the lying type.

[thedicearecast]

It's the same for me. On both counts.

[Which had left Amelia with some unwanted knowledge.]

You supposedly don't remember anything from here when you go home, which means you can't change anything. In case you want to ask them not to tell you anything about what happens.

[want_take_have]

Bit late for that.

So what's the point in playing mix 'n match with history? They just trying to fuck with us?

[thedicearecast]

Ah. [Well, Amelia tried.] Sorry, then.

It's about as likely as anything else. For everything that seems good in this place, there's a reminder that it's really not. No one starves or dies of thirst, but everyone gets experimented on or kidnapped or sent off to fight in a war.

[Amelia hesitates, considering, before she offers a bit more carefully.]

Or you get here and meet people you care about, only to learn they're dead.