[open] Toto, I don't think we're on Hedenex anymore....

[bluesuit_handy]

It's been so good to stretch his legs again after so long cooped up on the ship. Andrew loves traveling, of course, and he loves spending time with James and the dogs, but his tolerance for monotonous space journeys is diminishing rather than growing. Their first journey out from Earth was the longest, of course, since they had to reach a jump node before they could travel from world to world in a matter of weeks rather than months, but somehow just a week stuck in a space the size of a largish flat is almost unbearable to him now. If he had to do that longer journey again, he might go mad.

Despite his enthusiasm, there's only so much running about (much of it literal) he can do before he tires out. Hedenex is a friendly sort of planet, with more than a few things to do and see, but just now he's tucked back up in bed in the spaceship he shares with James, their dogs curled up nearby as if watching to make sure he doesn't go off again without them when he wakes up.

His sleep is troubled by dreams that are less bad, necessarily, than they are weird. He's in the midst of grudgingly assembling a floral arrangement under the watchful eye of a robot servant belonging to a version of the Master he hasn't seen in centuries when a chill wind suddenly blows through the beach house where he and Abraham Lincoln have been imprisoned together. He shivers in both the dream and in reality, shifting uncomfortably on the hard red surface of the bleachers that make up the roof of the Times Square TKTS booth. He's wrapped up surprisingly well for someone who was just taken away from his cozy bed and blankets, as he tends to layer up even when he goes to bed, but a fleece onesie with a hoodie over the top half and socks on under the enclosed feet is still not enough. At least he'll look dashing in that yellow ducky-themed print?

Comments

[wildmage_daine]

Daine is exploring the city in crow shape. She's been here long enough to not find it all completely overwhelming, but the foot traffic is still intimidating enough that she prefers to explore on the wing, especially outside the park. Cars still make her nervous.

She's resting on the bleachers and admiring the light-up displays when she notices the newcomer. Her feathers ruffle in surprise; was he there a moment ago? She would have sworn there weren't any two-leggers about, and she has a hard time believing anyone could have snuck up on her. She turns with a little hop to face him, letting out an irked squawk. If he did sneak up on her a-purpose, she wants him to know she doesn't appreciate it.

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew is still in that groggy stage before properly waking up, trying to figure out where his blankets have gone without actually waking up to do anything about the cold. There's a sudden, loud sound nearby and he jerks fully awake.

"What?" he asks, staring at the -- crow, that's a crow. On Hedenex? His gaze turns upward, taking in the gigantic displays, and his brain shorts out a moment, refusing to process what that means. "What?" he asks again, no less bewildered.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine blinks at him, annoyance giving way to curiosity. Whoever this is, he seems about as baffled as she is, if not more so. He's also poorly dressed for the weather--and he doesn't look like one of the far-too-numerous homeless folk she's seen around the city.

She hops along her bleacher until she's almost even with the two-legger and peers down at him. Maybe he's come through the rift, though she doesn't like the thought of the rift dumping someone almost on top of her without her even knowing it was there.

[bluesuit_handy]

Besides making a vague, halfhearted attempt to shoo it away with a wave of an arm, Andrew ignores the crow. His attention is taken up instead by his surroundings -- Earth, obviously, or a very good approximation thereof. He climbs to his feet, legs shaky with the chill, and sticks his tongue out to taste the air.

"Earth?" he asks himself, having retracted his tongue upon remembering that his sense of taste is no longer good enough for that. He ruffles his own hair, turning on the spot to look around. "I'd say that's impossible, but obviously...."

He frowns, and the turning of his head becomes sharper, more deliberate, as he starts looking for something -- or rather, someone specific.

[wildmage_daine]

She's not bothered by his arm-waving, but when he stands up, she prudently retreats a few bleachers over. She supposes she could just leave, but if he came through the rift, it'd be cruel to abandon him (though she has no idea what she could do for him in crow shape besides fetch someone else and hope he stays put.)

It startles her a bit when he continues to talk, and she wonders if he actually expects an answer from her before realizing that he's just talking to himself. He reminds her a bit of Numair, who also has a tendency to mutter to himself when he's trying to work out something tricky.

Or he could just be mad. She doesn't really think so, but realizing it's a possibility gives her the courage to try something. If he's a rifty, she might be able to help him, and if he's mad, it won't matter what she does. Reshaping her mouth and throat into something human enough for speech, she ventures a, "Hullo."

[bluesuit_handy]

He takes in a sharp breath as he turns quickly in the sound of the voice. His gaze sweeps over the crow and the surrounding bleachers, looking for who could have --

No, something he just saw is wrong. Andrew steps his memory back. Bleachers, fine, billboards, fine, bird -- very much not fine. "Aha," he says, fixing his eyes on it, taking in every detail. The most obvious thing to notice is, of course, its mouth. To someone less used to the biological diversity the universe has to offer, the sight of a human-ish mouth on a crow would probably be fairly disturbing.

"That's very much not normal," he informs the bird.

[wildmage_daine]

She shifts her mouth back into a beak, but he's too quick for her. Odd's bobs, he wasn't meant to notice. She ruffles her feathers under his intense gaze and lets out a disgruntled croak.

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew's brow furrows as he continues to stare at the bird. A moment ago, the difference was glaringly obvious, but now the crow looks perfectly normal again. "I didn't imagine that," he says, as much to convince himself as to argue with the bird over whatever it's up to. He drops into a crouch to get a look at it on its own level.

"Is this Earth?" he asks, the question apparently directed at the bird.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine hesitates, but there doesn't seem to be much point in pretending to be a normal bird anymore. He seems reasonable enough, and if she has to make a quick escape, she can.

At least she doesn't have to shift her mouth back to answer his question. She bobs her head twice in a nod.

[bluesuit_handy]

He sniffs in a deep breath, and gives a little nod in return. "Which doesn't explain you," he points out. There are more important matters to deal with, however -- namely, the question of where his boyfriend is.

"Have you seen another man?" he asks. "Tall, blond...?" He adds a description of the clothing he last remembers seeing James in, as best he can remember it.

[wildmage_daine]

Crows don't sigh, but if they did, she would. Hasn't he noticed how many two-leggers are about? Even if she'd been paying much attention to the humans in the square, she doubts she'd have noticed the particular tall, blond fellow he's looking for. She shakes her head.

[bluesuit_handy]

That's alright, Andrew can do the sighing for her. He ruffles his hair and shivers, risking a look away from the bird to glance around. "No, of course not," he says unhappily. More to himself, he adds, "Though if it was a localized temporal spatial event, it'd be more likely -- have you seen any dogs, then? Big brown one, little gray one, big yellow one?"

[wildmage_daine]

The technical gibberish flies right over her head, but she understands losing friends (both human and animal) well enough. She's been paying closer attention to the People in the square than the humans, but she hasn't seen any dogs matching his description--none that weren't already with their masters or mistresses, anyway. Daine shakes her head again, now feeling a good bit more sympathetic than exasperated. She wishes she could be of more help.

Then again, she could help him--help him look for his dogs, at least. She'd be better at that than finding a two-legger. Rocking back and forth on her feet, she considers her options. If any of his friends did get scooped up by the rift, they might have wound up at the park. That's where she landed, after all. It'd just be a question of getting him there.

[bluesuit_handy]

"At least they'll have William if they're still on the ship," he mutters, sitting down and rubbing his cold feet through the footies on his pajamas. "Unless you've seen a sort of robot squid wandering about -- but I assume there'd be more screaming if he'd shown up here."

He touches his tongue to the roof of his open mouth, his expression thoughtful. If the dogs aren't here with him, he just has to hope they really are back on the ship -- or with James, wherever he is. Finding James has to be his first order of business -- and he's just going to assume James is here somewhere, because the alternative is too terrible. "Been a while since I've been to New York," he comments. "This New York, anyway. What is this, 2000? 2010-ish? And how is it I've met a talking crow, anyway, what's up with that? D'you have a name?"

[wildmage_daine]

'Robot squid'? Daine ruffles her feathers, appalled by the thought, then hops beneath one of the bleachers. If they're going to have a proper conversation, she'll have to shift again, and she doesn't want to do it any more out in the open than she has to.

Once she's tucked away where only he can see her, she reshapes her head until it's all human, if small enough to still fit on her crow body. "I'm Daine," she says, bracing herself to resume crow shape and take off if he starts shouting.

[bluesuit_handy]

If he knew what has her feathers ruffled, Andrew could reassure her that William's a perfectly nice robot...even if he started life as a tool of war. At least if they have William, the dogs will get fed and walked.

He bends so he can see the bird more clearly as it takes cover under a bleacher. When he sees the transformation, he takes in a sharp breath, but he doesn't shout. "Very not usual," he comments instead, mentally noting 'she' rather than 'it.' "I'm Andrew."

[wildmage_daine]

If she was fully human, she might attempt to be more polite, but holding two shapes at once is difficult. She gets right to the point. "If the rift brought you here, your friends might be at the park. That's where most folk end up."

[bluesuit_handy]

"Rift?" he asks immediately, eyebrows going up. "You mean this isn't an isolated incident -- this is something that happens often?"

He frowns. "I don't remember that in Earth's history. Not in this area, anyway."

[wildmage_daine]

"I'm not sure how often it happens," Daine says, "but it does. It's how I got here." Not that she's bitter about that or anything.

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew nods, accepting that explanation (at least, until he finds evidence to the contrary). "Well," he says, looking up and around. "I'm going to need clothing -- but family first, I think. Coming with me?"

[wildmage_daine]

"Sure." She offers him a shy smile. "I might be able to help find your dogs, at least. I'm good with animals." Nodding at Andrew's shoulder, she adds, "Shall I fly ahead, or ride?"

[bluesuit_handy]

"Ride?" he requests, squaring his shoulders to provide a better perch. He's a little afraid he'll lose track of her (or vice versa) if she flies off, and lose his guide.

[wildmage_daine]

She shifts her head back to a crow's and flaps up onto his shoulder. He's a bit too gangly to make a good perch, but at least crows aren't too big. Nor are her claws long enough to pierce his clothes, though she's still careful not to grip too hard.

[bluesuit_handy]

He winces a little nonetheless as she gets settled, not having counted on the talons. Tilting his head awkwardly to get a look at her and verify that yes, she looks like a crow again, he carefully stands and picks his way down the bleachers, ignoring the odd looks he's getting.

"Suppose it's yes or no questions from here on out?" he asks mildly.

[wildmage_daine]

She's too occupied with keeping her balance to nod, so she lets out a croak that she hopes he'll take as agreement. She keeps her wings unfolded as Andrew heads down the bleachers, hoping she'll be able to stay balanced without accidentally cuffing him with her wing. Once they're not so out in the open, she can shift into something else.