ataraxionlogs | twenty-sixth jump;

Entry tags:

twenty-sixth jump;

CHARACTERS: Any and all.
LOCATION: Gravity Couches and beyond.
WARNINGS: Maybe some swearing, or even some violence, and more than likely some implied (and possibly explicit) nakedness.
SUMMARY: Another month, another jump, another round of new faces.
NOTES: Your average, run-of-the-mill jump—except some characters don't seem to be waking up from stasis like they should.

Don't worry.

THEY NEEDED THE REST.

You wake up in darkness.

There's a breathing tube jammed down your trachea, and you're suspended in a tube of clear blue fluid. Upon registering your level of consciousness, the gravity couch drains the fluid surrounding you and retracts the breathing apparatus; the doors in front of you open, and you're deposited on the floor of a stark, sterile medical bay.

You are not alone.
There are others who have come before you, others who are awakening beside you. Some may be familiar to you, perhaps even friends. Others have much less amiable plans. Some are merely alien and inexplicable, but there are always those who might mean you harm.

After you catch your breath and your vision returns, you notice a number on the inside of your forearm. Maybe it's a familiar number. Maybe it means something. Maybe it's just a number. But the number—completely unique to you—is a tattoo, and it does not come off.

If you enter the room adjacent to the medbay, you will find a small locker with your number on it, surrounded by rows upon rows of identical lockers. Inside, you will find a few of your personal items, a communications device, and a ship's uniform in your exact size. The comms device is fully powered and connects directly to the ship's network; it's your only means of communication beyond physical conversation. Upon turning the device on, a neutral, automated voice will say, "Please take the blue lift to the passenger quarters." Any other attempts at communicating with the rest of the network are met only with static.

This is your welcome party.

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No, you didn't. It's very nice to meet you, Sirius. My name is Belle.

[ And she smiles brightly because - hey, friends! That doesn't mean she isn't entirely watchful of his use of the wand, tilting her head a little and pursing her lips.

All magic comes with a price.

Still, it's just tea, right? What harm could it do? ]

Have you been in this place for very long?

Hello, Belle, it's lovely to meet you as well. This place could certainly do with a bit of brightening. And I have, actually, been here very long--oh, hang on--

[It's honestly depressing, how long he's been here. But he's saved any expression of real feeling (at least for the moment) by the arrival of the tea set. There's a loud clattering, like someone is running with a tea-tray, and then it whisks into view, flying through the air. Teapot, which Sirius catches in the same way he might catch a quaffle, very professional--one teacup, he snatches that out of the air, second teacup, he catches that one as well, and hastily transfers it to his other hand so he can catch a bowl of sugar and the cream, which comes in a bottle that fortunately features a lid.

Triumphant, he turns to Belle, with all of his goods clutched close to him.]

Can you just take one of the teacups, that would make all of this a bit easier...

[ Her eyes widen as she watches the teaset appear, smile spreading across her face. Her knowledge of magic is just things appearing out of thing air when it was summoned, nothing like this floating collection. She makes sure her own is safe before she closes her locker and reaches out to help, gathering as much into her arms as she dares. ]

Is magic in your world always like this?

Like what? Like teasets sailing through the air? Not always, no--summoning spells summon anything, not just teasets.

[He knows what she means, of course (more or less), he's just being difficult on purpose, for a laugh--and he grins at her as he holds out the teapot.]

Shall I pour? We can do a picnic right here on the floor, if you like. Bit drafty, but honestly, the rest of the ship isn't much better in that regard. Fortunately my magic can also do blankets and heat, if you like, so you just stick with me and you'll be all right.

Have they got magic, where you're from? Proper magic, not the trick stuff.

In my world things can just appear... It normally has smoke, to hide the summoning. That's how Rumple and Regina always did it.

[ She frowns before her eyes brighten and she takes the teapot, pouring them both a light cup before she settles it down and strokes the cup gently. It's less precious than her own, true, but she still cherishes any kind of tea. ]

Here is fine, if you enjoy it. But - yes, we do have magic. We didn't, for some time, but then it was brought to our world through the magic well.

Rumple, he's your teacuppy boyfriend, isn't he. So he's a wizard as well? I can do things appearing as well, sort of, only without the smoke. Smoke seems a bit sloppy.

[He sits down on the floor--that settles that, they're going to have their tea party here--and takes a sip of his tea. Not bad, if a little cool. Comes of flying around in the air.]

And d'you mean an actual well? People had to fish it out?

My boyfriend? [ What's a boyfriends, master? Still, she smiles. ] He uses magic, yes. I'm not sure why there's smoke - I've never used magic before, myself. Not my own, at least.

[ Belle moves carefully and settles down beside him, her legs slotting under her - she's a true lady, you know, Sirius. ]

It was an actual well, but there was no fishing. It was magic, a potion, I think.

[Oh, don't play stupid; people don't just share significant cracked teacups with people who aren't their boyfriends. He doesn't even bother answering that one, he just raises his eyebrows a little, like, duh.]

But someone had to put the potion in the well in the first place, right. So someone had to have been a wizard from the start, or at least a potioneer, which sort of suggests wizard. This is like a philosophical question, innit.

[ She just gazes at him, completely bewildered. She honestly doesn't know what the word means! So she just blinks, tilts her head and waits. ]

That would be Rumple; he has more magic than anyone I've ever known. He created the Potion.

So he is a wizard.

[Quite pleased with his deductive reasoning, he takes a sip of tea. Five points to Gryffindor.]

Then there's magic in your world, now... but you yourself haven't got any. That's a shame.

Edited (blah blah html) 2013-12-30 15:55 (UTC)

He has magic, but I've never heard him called a wizard before. He has more magic than anyone I've ever known... People used to call him the Dark One.

[ pls don't compare him to voldemort ok thanks. She sips her own tea, brightening at the familiar taste. ]

Magic can be learned, though. I have cast a spell before, I've just never wanted to learn how to use it. I wanted adventure, not - that.

[The Dark One. His eyebrows raise a little at that. People don't just get names like the Dark One for nothing, all Voldemorts and Dark Lords aside.

But then again, does she really seem like the sort of woman that would go about with a Voldemort? There definitely is that sort of woman out there, after all. Sirius would know, he's related to one of them.]

'That'. Magic. But you get adventure out of magic, don't you?

Sometimes! But the last great adventure I had didn't have anything to do with magic.

[ At least, not until the end. And it wasn't her magic, exactly. It was fairy dust.

It's a long story. ]

Yeah? So what was it, then.

[He takes another sip of tea--but he's definitely settling in for a story now. You can't offer a story of adventures and then not tell it, it's not on.]

I helped a cursed man turn into a human again. Everyone thought he was this terrible, awful monster - but he was cursed, and could only write in an ancient language that no one stopped to listen to.

[ She copies his movements, marvelling at the taste. ]

Is there cold tea here too? I had it at Granny's once and it was delicious.

Cold tea?

[His nose wrinkles up immediately. Cursed humans that everyone perceives as monsters: yeah, normal. Cold tea... less so.]

You could let your tea go cold and then drink it if you like, but I dunno why you'd like that. If anything is monstrous, that is.

Yes! I had it at home. It was tea, but with ice in it - it was wonderful.

[ She smiles, brightening and not really noticing how - strange it might sound. She means iced tea, of course, but she was never entirely sure on the name. ]

I don't think it was tea that was left to go cold... It was made to be cold.

[It was made to be cold. Sirius squints a little. All teacups and wizard boyfriends aside, his eventual conclusion here is going to be girl u crazy, because--]

Tea with ice in it. Oh, no. You really liked that?

Yes, it was delicious! Ruby showed me it, actually. She also let me try pancakes and I had hamburgers, once, too. It was all so delicious.

[ ... Of course, she doesn't realise how strange this might seem to someone else. It's all marvellous and new to her, even now. ]

[Any disdain about iced tea is fading a little, and he grins at her.]

Hang on-- you'd never had hamburgers? Even I've had hamburgers--right, so what do they usually eat, where you're from?

Before we were cursed we used to eat whatever we grew in the harvest and meats, cheese and bread. After the curse... I was locked up for so long that I never had a chance to try a hamburger until Rumple and I went.

Harvests, meats, cheeses, breads. Did you live in a castle? Were there lutes and things? Did you drink ale? I lived in a castle for a bit, but we had whatever food we wanted. That's magic for you, I s'ppose.

What's the year, where you're from?

[Because he's starting to make some educated guesses here...]

I did live in a Castle, before the curse. There were no lutes or ale - there was nothing and no one apart from Rumple and me.

[ She smiles and nods her head; magic is an amazing gift, she's aware of that. She knows how easy it would be to summon food, to give someone anything they'd like to eat. It seems a little foolish, wasteful to her, but - ]

I'm not sure what year it was in the Enchanted Forest, but the calender in Storybrooke said 2013.

That's a bit... isolated.

[And weird. What kind of boyfriend do you have, miss, really.]

No furniture, even? Hang on--so you lived in... an Enchanted Forest, in a Castle, before the curse. And then after the curse, it was 2013 and you were living in... Storybrooke. Is that how it goes?

That's right!

[ A really weird one. But he's nice! To her. Sort-of. Well. She loves him and it's true love, so there. ]

And Rumple's castle was - it was grand, but very lonely. I was the one who took care of it, so much of it was left dusty even after I moved out of my cell.

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