001 ♕ Video

[lefthandedgenius]

[When the video turns on, the screen is streaked with water. The indignant gasps of a young woman sputtering as the image lifts - whomever it is, they apparently woke up in the fountain and are none too pleased about it.]

--- can't believe this, what the hell

[More movement, and it's evident that the young woman is soaking wet and none too pleased about it. Finally though, the device is turned upward so that a redhaired, green eyed young woman with lips pressed together tightly in dismay stares down at it.]

Where am I?

Comments

[affectioning]

[ Scott can walk and talk. He's talented like that. ]

It's called the City. Think of it like a universe parallel to ours. Deities were given the job to bring us here and mess with us and we can't leave. It's like a dimensional pocket.

[lefthandedgenius]

The City. [Lydia's mouth quirks and for a moment she's got duck lips and she sits down with a slumped posture on the lip of the fountain. Her hands lift to criss-cross her arms over her torso to stave off the chill from being wet, tilting the device up so she can look down into the screen.] That's original.

If we're in a dimensional pocket it's entirely possible we're completely outside of our original time stream. Which is a good thing because - how long have you been here?

[Clearly long enough to know what's going on.

Also, sometimes Lydia sounds like a theoretical physicist.]

[affectioning]

The deities or whoever hired them wasn't very original.

[ That is just the truth. ]

We are. [ Sometimes, he has to remind himself Lydia is a genius. Sometimes, he's also very impressed. ] I've been here three weeks. My mom about a week. Isaac less than a week. Derek and Stiles about a year. [ He lets that sink in before adding. ] What's the last thing you remember?

[lefthandedgenius]

[She lets her brain roll that around. Derek and Stiles have been here a year, which means that there is definitely some wack going on with the time stream considering it has only been a short time since Jennifer tried to throttle her and took Stiles' dad.

She's not sure what she should tell Scott. She's also not sure if it matters. Time is continuing to move or not-move depending on perspective but that doesn't mean it can't have an effect on the people currently locked into this timestream and --

-- and she's giving herself a headache.

She lifts her chin so Scott can see the bruising, a purplish ring around her neck.]

My mom dragged me to the hospital to get this looked at; Miss Blake tried to kill me and took Stiles' dad. [Again that pinched shape forms on her lips; Lydia is actually fretting. Worried.]

action ]

[affectioning]

[ His eyes go wide. That's not okay. That's disturbing. Automatically, his protective streak kicks in and he speeds up. Luckily, he rounds the corner and looks up. She's a few feet away but she's there. In person. And Ms. Blake? If Ms. Blake tried to kill Lydia - and she took the sheriff - she's the darach.

But, he doesn't have time to contemplate all this because he's jogging up to her. He'll stew on it silently. Ask only the bare minimum of questions. He should've asked her to be vague. He doesn't want to know this, doesn't want to worry. Not that this is her fault - or any of theirs.

The sheriff. ]

Hey.

[ He tries giving her an encouraging look but he's been caught off guard. ] Ms. Blake our English teacher? [ But, he doesn't wait for her to confirm it - her eyes and her neck do enough of that. ] You're right about the timestream. We're all from different points in time. Isaac is from a memorial recital at school. My mom and I are from the night I saved Deaton - you guys went to save Derek from the alpha pack. Stiles is from a few weeks before that and Derek's from the end of last year right after Gerard.

Re: action ]

[lefthandedgenius]

[Wow. That's going to be a lot of points in the timeline to remember.]

I'm from about a day or after the memorial. It was all her set up for one of the sacrifices. She said - nevermind what she said. If we're in a pocket dimension it doesn't matter. [Except it totally does. She rises to her feet, shivering.]

Don't suppose you brought an extra shirt? A towel? Something?

action ]

[affectioning]

[ He's not going to be surprised when she remembers them all. ][ But, he takes in a big breath. ] She's the darach, isn't she? [ But, he shakes that thought away. He can't do anything about that now. ]

Oh. Yeah. [ He holds out the two towels he brought with his left hand. He'd forgotten they were there. ] Sometimes, we go back. We're sent back but we don't remember this place and it's not when or if we want to. [ Which is convenient, let him tell you. He deliberately keeps his eyes away from her neck. The mark is still fresh. ]

[lefthandedgenius]

Yeah.

[She may be answering his question or affirming his statements and its hard to tell. Jennifer is the darach, and Lydia is a banshee, but she's not ready to admit to being something when she doesn't even really understand what that is.

One of the towels is wrapped around her torso and the other used to drape along her shoulders to soak up the water in her hair.]

I'll tell you about it later. [It's a half-hearted promise at best.] Where are we going?

[affectioning]

[ He probably won't ask. For several reasons. ]

My mom and I got an apartment. It's a few blocks away. [ He gestures his head in the direction he came in. He'd ask if she was coming with but, she's going with him. So, that's one less problem. ] We have two extra rooms. [ He's not going into Stiles. And Isaac. And Derek. Not yet. ] We're not adults so we get a - an allowance. So, you'll be okay for money monthly. It's different here. Colored.

[lefthandedgenius]

Thanks.

[She wants to say she'll get out of their hair as promptly as possible, but the truth is she doesn't even know what country she's in, more or less. So she just nods, perhaps surprisingly docile for Lydia.]

Money is money. I'm sure it'll be fine. I just want to get dry, and god, I need a drink.

[affectioning]

Well, I don't know if my mom'll let you -- [ Even he tried to get a drink her first night here. She downed martinis like it was her business. He's walking, now. ] But, I have to go to a friend's birthday tonight. Would you want to come with me? Stiles knows Ginny, too. And I think we're making Isaac go. [ Derek is a lost cause. Wow, Scott, just throw everything at her at once. ]

[lefthandedgenius]

[A party. With booze. Yes, this is just the thing for Lydia to completely avoid dealing with any of this right now is to drink and flirt and be able to pretend for a few hours that she's where she's supposed to be.]

Sure. I'll go.

But I'll need something to wear. I can't go like this.

[affectioning]

I'm sure my mom has something.

[ Okay. One less thing to worry about. ]

Don't mention the drinking thing. [ Just in case. He keeps walking for a few steps. ] So, on the network, unless we make it private, everyone can see everything. Has Stiles said anything yet? Do you think he heard the part about his dad?

[lefthandedgenius]

[She hesitates, eyes going big in that doe-eyed way she sometimes has. She didn't know about the public thing.]

I don't know.

I kind of hope he didn't, but I don't like the idea of keeping secrets. It's hard, and people just end up getting hurt. If he asks, I'll tell him, and otherwise I'll try to just keep quiet about it.

No wonder Derek called asking if I'd spoken to Stiles yet.

[affectioning]

[ He'd fight it. Fight her on that point but everyone kept secrets from her for a year. ]

Thanks.

[ Scott missed that. He's been with you. ] He did? Then we'll deal with it. But, he'll remember there's no reason to worry. We can't do anything about it. Any of it. And you know we do. [ The them still in Beacon Hills. ] Does your head hurt yet?

[lefthandedgenius]

You were on your way.

[This, as to why he missed Derek.

There's a pause.]

Should it?

[Meaning her head.]

[affectioning]

No. Not, really. I just mean - it's a lot. My mom and I went right to the Blue Light. It's a bar. She had three martinis.

[lefthandedgenius]

It is a lot. I'll keep my mouth shut around your mom and we'll take a cab home.

[A beat.]

Do they have cabs here?

[affectioning]

It's within walking distance. And the City isn't that big. But, I didn't mean the drinking. I mean, being here. Ending up here. Being told everything.

[lefthandedgenius]

[This is starting to sound like some kind of small town hell.]

Do they have a mall here?

[affectioning]

Stores. A lot of stores. All kinds. We'll get you new clothes. [ Good clothes. ]

[lefthandedgenius]

[She is somewhat mollified by this. The town is spared the Wrath of Lydia. For now.]

Yeah, it's a lot to take in and right now I'm probably in shock? But I suspect liberal application of booze will keep me nice and calm until I can crash and wake up tomorrow and deal with it all then.

[affectioning]

And you will. Everything's pretty much okay here. [ Oh. Right. ] Except for curses.

[lefthandedgenius]

...curses?

[affectioning]

So, the deities who created this place or were picked to run it, they also made things happen. Things can change. Temporarily. Not more than 24 hours but this weekend was a whole thing. I was a pirate. But, normally, it's less. Our personalities or how we look, what we say...