twenty-eighth jump;

[ataraxites]

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: It could just be the standard sensation of air on wet skin, but if you bother to check, you might notice the steam rising from your body, barely there and gone within a minute. By the time you get to the showers, it will be clear that it's not just taking you time to adjust. The room is cold — colder than usual, but no worse than the last jump. While it's nothing dangerous, it's certainly motivation to hurry through the usual routine and get dressed quickly.



It's getting closer.




YOUR EYES ARE OPEN.

KEEP LOOKING.

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.

Comments

[capsize]

[ hook's not entirely sure that first bit's a joke until blue clarifies. which earns him a slightly impatient look for the distraction, but that's all — he's answering the question, at least. ]

I had a feeling. [ not because he has any real context for what might be in new york and what might not. this doesn't quite fit what he's seen of it, obviously, but he's given up on making assumptions. ] I take it by your tone that it isn't in the vicinity, either.

[ vicinity meaning realm. he's been to enough for showing up in a new one to be entirely unsurprising, if no less inconvenient. ]

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

I don't think it's even in this universe, no, sorry.

[He eyes the hook for a moment, but raises both eyebrows, and looks back up at whoever-this-is]

If I say Prince Charming, you say-

[capsize]

An idiot. [ word association games, how fun. although that one certainly catches his earnest interest quicker than the mention of restaurants. ]

And still unconscious, with any luck. [ doubtful. he didn't hit him that hard, but you know what they say about believing. ] What do you know of him?

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

[Oh, thank god. What a relief.]

Yes, idiot's a good word to use.

[Well, you're not supposed to call a war hero an idiot, but Blue still thinks of him as a-]

Unconscious? Unconscious where?

[A pause]

I used to work for him.

[capsize]

[ finding familiar ground's not quite as useful as a ticket back to new york, admittedly, but it's bound to be worth something. ]

Back at his precious station. [ he doesn't specify where that is, if only to avoid making this too easy. ] Let me guess — you were in the band at his wedding.

[ not a serious guess, obviously. ]

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

I didn't know him the last time he got married.

[Well, it's true. That was when he married Cinderella. Unless there's a more current bride, but Blue didn't play at that wedding, either.]

Station - you mean the sheriff's station?

[He shakes his head]

Do you know Bigby?

[capsize]

I'm afraid not. [ he's distracted by the stray comments about charming, and the answer to the question ends up sounding slightly bemused. then, a beat later, any thought of the station officially derailed: ]

Sorry, last time?

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

Yeah, you know. The last time?

He's been married three times? That we know of, anyway.

[Everyone knows this. This is public knowledge. Even the mundies know this. Well sort of.]

PC's not here.

[capsize]

[ more like nobody knows that, thank you. there's a pause while he sizes blue up, trying to place whether this is a genuine misunderstanding or some kind of joke. ]

Unless you mean he's married Snow White three times — which I wouldn't put past him — it would seem you've been badly misinformed.

[ hook has very little respect for the man, but true love's a thing; not arguing with that. ]

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

[There's a pause, and Blue makes a face halfway between being uncertain if he should laugh or he should just shake his head. No.

Oh no.]

I don't think she would marry him again after the whole Rose Red debacle.

I mean, yes, they were married. A long time ago.

[capsize]

[ so close, yet so far. hook squints at him like he's talking nonsense. which he is, to be fair. there are a few questions worth asking at this point, but rather than beating around the bush— ]

What's your name, boy?

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

[If anyone is talking nonsense here it is not Blue!!!]

Blue.

Yours, boy?

[Said with that inflection of really???]

[capsize]

[ that inflection earns a grin, but there's an edge to it that makes it altogether unfriendly. ]

Captain Hook.

[ maybe you've heard of him. he certainly sounds like he's assuming as much, judging by the smug threat in his tone. ]

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

Captain Hook.

[He says that with a slight flatness to his voice. He's heard of him. In an abstract, he's out there, probably still waging war against Peter Pan sort of way.

He had heard something about Peter Pan being evil and Captain Hook saving boys from Peter's clutches but who really knows when it comes to things one hears in the Mundy?]

Did you finally make it to the Mundy? Or you were about to?

[capsize]

[ well, he's had worse reactions to his name. before he can ask after that, however, hook's effectively distracted by the complete nonsense coming out of blue's mouth. ]

I've made it to a great many places— Neverland, Wonderland. [ a beat, because it's not like this needs to be listed, but whatever; the bigger the list, the better. ] New York. But I haven't heard of any Mundy, yet.

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

New York is in the Mundy. The Mundane world. You know? No magic.

[He wiggles his fingers. See? No magic.]

[capsize]

[ wow yes impressive demonstration. weird titles aside, that does ring a bell. ]

Then you have your answer. [ there's a thoughtful (suspicious? maybe) pause, then: ] Why do you say finally?

[ because do you know about his quest or what, man. ]

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

[A frown.]

Because....wait, what year is it?

[He might as well ask because maybe it's not finally. Maybe he came through a long time ago and got lost or something.]

[capsize]

[ man fuck if he knows he stopped counting like, 200 years ago. ]

In the Mundy? [ it still sounds a bit strange on his tongue, but he's nothing if not adaptable. ] I haven't the slightest. Asking after the date hasn't exactly been on my list of priorities.

[ that list is mostly just 'kill the dark one' like, 5000 times in a row. ]

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

Well, it might not be finally.

[A pause.]

A lot of people came over early on, that's why.

[capsize]

[ this is sort of tracking. sort of, meaning there's enough that doesn't line up to merit a continued look of mildly suspicious skepticism, though his tone sounds cooperative enough. ]

You mean to Storybrooke?

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

[Wait.]

Where?

Do you mean in Maine?

[He only knows about this because Belle told him.]

[capsize]

... yes. [ said like he's not 100% sure, the 'y' drawn out while he decides. then there's a pause to watch blue, trying to figure out where that response came from. ]

Not the Mundy you're speaking of, I take it.

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

I'm getting a headache.

[He's finally starting to realize that maybe, no, this might not be the same Mundy.]

So I take it the word Fabletown doesn't mean anything to you.

[capsize]

[ sounds like a personal problem, man. that said: ]

You'd be correct. The enchanted forest, on the other hand... [ he trails off, suspicion and curiosity still at odds. ] You know of New York, yet you're from this — Fabletown?

[ different worlds, that isn't new. that doesn't mean they don't take a bit of untangling. ] How did you hear of me?