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

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[affectioning]

[ The splash distracts him from dinner. He knows it's rude to be on the phone or to text but the way the network works... His mother doesn't mind if he glances down. ]

It's Lydia.

[ He swallows what he's chewing and picks up the device, his face coming into view. ]

Lydia! Hey. [ A furrowed brow. ] You were dropped in the fountain. [ King of the obvious: Scott McCall ]

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[lefthandedgenius]

[She is so relieved to see a familiar face she cannot even say, and she certainly won't say as the last thing she needs is to freak out like some princess in need of rescuing, and while she may arguably be some manner of modern princess, she is certainly not in need of rescuing.

Well, maybe a little bit.

But Lyds has her pride.]

Yes. And news flash, water is wet.

I don't know where I am. This is not Beacon Hills.

[Queen of the Obivious: Lydia Martin. (The crown looks more stylish on her, anyway.)]

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[affectioning]

[ Beacon Hills has no fountains like that. Score one for Lydia Martin! ]

I do. Stay there. Don't move. [ He gets up, running away from the screen -- ceiling comes into view and then his face returns. ] Well, get out of the fountain. I can bring a towel. Or, two. [ And he's up again. This time for a little bit longer. The sound of a door opening, closing and then Scott picks the device up, looking down at her. ] I'll be there in five minutes. Just - stay there.

[ He offers a hopeful closed-mouth smile. ]

[lefthandedgenius]

[Lydia's lips press together tightly which is a sure sign that she's holding something back, because while on one hand she had no intention of staying in the fountain, on the other Scott is on his way and truth be told she's rather grateful for that.]

So where are we, anyway?

[Starting this conversation while Scott is en route saves her from thinking about the fact that she is alone, and scared, and dripping wet in the middle of a completely foreign place.]

[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.]

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[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.

[lupusalpha]

[There's stillness before he speaks.]

Lydia.

[lefthandedgenius]

[Her attention darts to the new face - well, familiar face.]

Derek.

Scott's on his way. How long have you been here?

[lupusalpha]

A year. Have you spoken to Stiles?

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[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?

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[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?

[lefthandedgenius]

No, not yet. But I'm from further along in time and I think there might be things he may not want to know.

[And maybe possibly things Derek doesn't want to know...]

[lupusalpha]

Somehow that doesn't surprise me.

[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]

[She frowns a moment.]

Why do you ask?

[lupusalpha]

He'll find you eventually.

[That's...actually the reason.]

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[mamanurse]

[Oh dear. More kids. This is getting out of control.]

Are you all right?

[lefthandedgenius]

I figured as much. But is there something I should know before we bump into each other?

[Exasperating Derek is exasperating...ly normal, actually. It's kind of a relief.]

[lupusalpha]

Probably a lot of things. Scott will explain it.

[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. ]