hadriel | first; voice (when useless dreaming comes to an end, who will carry all your fears?)

[There's silence for a few seconds.]

Not really. It was February in Canada before I got here though so this is all kind of familiar.

[Really unwantedly familiar.]

Chicago's pretty cold a lot though, right?

[That elicits a quick laugh from her.]

No shit? That's when I got to Vancouver. Wonder what it is about February that says "come to Canada"? I mean, it's not usually this cold in Vancouver, but still. Shoulda gone to Mexico. Maybe even LA.

[Her life now would look a lot different if she'd picked a different locale. Most of the time, she still can't settle on exactly how she feels about the turn of events in Vancouver. Finding out you're not actually human like you always thought is a pretty big shock to your sense of identity, after all.]

Yeah, Chicago's pretty damn cold - cold and windy. The Windy City. You get freak lake effect snowstorms sometimes, but at least there's usually still heat and electricity. And cigarettes.

Maybe it's like, if it's going to be winter it might as well be really winter? Going to Canada in the summer seems like kind of a waste of good summer weather somewhere else.

[The real reason he was in Canada in the winter was that it was an annual trip, but the reason why said trip was in February is still a good question.]

I've never been to Chicago but yeah, I heard the wind was a thing. I'm just really glad when I showed up here I had a coat.

[Because the whole no-heat thing going on here. This place had sucked before the snowstorm, but now it's gone downhill even further right back into the level of suck that had been going on back in Canada before he got here.]

No cigarettes though, sorry.

I guess that makes sense. Though I can't say I really planned to end up in Canada when I did. Kinda happened on accident.

[Vancouver was the only city she could think of when she reached the border and had to explain where she was going and why.]

It is windy, but the way it was told to me, Chicago started getting called "the Windy City" 'cause people there apparently think they're hot shit, and that didn't sit well with some people in other cities. So they started saying Chicago was a windy city 'cause everyone there's full of hot air.

[Realistically, Nick knows cigarettes are the least of her worries. Doesn't mean she isn't still grouchy without them.]

Anyway, what's your excuse for going to Canada in the middle of winter?

How do you end up in Canada on accident?

[Sounds like there's a story there for sure. The explanation about Chicago isn't something he's heard before and it's kind of amusing, actually.]

Wow, really? Are they right about that?

[He goes quiet again briefly at the last question, deciding how much to answer, and eventually goes with the short but truthful answer.]

Me and some friends go up there every year for this annual getaway thing. We hang out at my friend's parents' lodge and have a party over the weekend.

How you end up in Canada by accident is you have a bad breakup and decide to hit the road, not really caring where you end up, and that's where the road eventually runs out.

[Yeah ... that's a thing.]

There's pretentious assholes in every city, but yeah, I saw a lot of 'em in Chicago. Every one of 'em wanted the same thing, too - nonfat half-caf half-syrup vanilla latte, except they'd always call it a fucking macchiato instead, because fucking Starbucks. Unless they were vegan, in which case it was soy milk instead.

[Nick's eyerolling is practically audible.]

So you go to Canada to party in the middle of winter? [Sounds weird, but OK.] I guess it's nice to have traditions.

Oh. Well, I guess there're worse places to end up.

[He's sympathetic even if he's totally not sure what to say.]

Did you like, work at a coffee shop or something? That's some seriously specific coffee-related irritation there.

[Now he wants coffee, relatedly. And he won't mention that he's kind of bad about buying fancy Starbucks coffee himself.

As far as the Blackwood Mountain getaway goes...]

Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure that tradition's over. If we ever even get out of this place, anyway.

Right. I could've ended up back in Kansas - and no, thanks.

[It's OK; she's not really in a place to talk about all that yet. Maybe some stories are better off dying with her, when that time eventually comes.]

Barista and bartender, for the last seven years, and let me tell you - the only thing worse than pretentious undercaffeinated assholes is pretentious drunk assholes.

[Coffee would be nice right about now. A warm drink of any kind would be nice right about now.]

Wait, did your friends all get sucked into whatever hell dimension this is too?

Is Kansas as boring as all the movies make it out to be?

[He can't think of a single good thing any movie has ever said about Kansas, except that maybe if you're bored enough you'll get hit by a tornado. That's not even really a good thing.

And oh man, both of those occupations sound terrible.]

Yeah that sounds super not fun. Do you ever get people who are a combo of the two?

[Pretentious drunk and undercaffeinated assholes. Seems like a combo that wouldn't be that rare, actually; Chris doesn't really drink much anymore after last year, but he does remember that coffee was a serious necessity in dealing with a hangover.]

Not all of us, but yeah. There's five out of eight including me.

Edited 2015-12-17 04:32 (UTC)

It is if it's Winchester. Worse, even. It's about five square blocks of nothing surrounded by cornfields. I couldn't wait to leave.

[Most people there don't. They're content to live and die in the same houses with the same neighbors who know all their secrets. Nick doesn't count herself lucky that she escaped; she knows it was only through her own will and the determination that she never wanted to end up like her mother that she was able to escape.]

All the time. But most people are assholes in some way or another. Only the flavor varies.

[For a girl her age with limited schooling, motivation, and experience, there are only so many ways to pay the bills. Coffee and alcohol were the best two options.]

Damn, that sucks. Or I dunno, maybe it's better, since you know people here already. At least you won't die alone.

[Which is almost too depressing to think about, actually.]

That sounds pretty terrible.

[He's a total city kid so the whole idea of a tiny town in the midwest is not his thing. On top of how boring it must be in general it probably doesn't even have good internet, which is clearly the most important thing to consider.

He's quiet for second at that last comment, then offer a weak attempt at a laugh.]

Yeah that's... A way to look at it.

[Not a way he really wants to, though. They'd gotten out of the nightmare that had happened at home only to end up here, but they'd survived... Or at least the first four of them to be here had. Josh, who had just shown up--

Don't think too much about it.]

I'm guessing there's no one here from your uh... World or whatever you call it?

[There's a quiet pause from Nick's end, uncomfortable silence. She's been scared for her life before, bone-deep terror - it's what set off her Becoming, just a couple months ago - but that was short-lived, not a lingering, slow procession toward certain death like this looks to be.]

Nah, not that I'm aware of. So far, you're the only person who's even from the same country. Hell, you're the only person who's even heard of the same country.

I'm Nick, by the way.

Really? I haven't asked many people where they're from but that's sort of a surprise.

[Now he's kind of curious about what kind of places other people here come from, but that's a question for later.]

Chris. You just get here a few days ago or did you show up last month or whatever?

Yeah, me either. Just this thing, right now - well, and there was a guy I ran into when I first got here. Said he was in DC right before. And another guy, in the shops, right when the snow started. New York.

[She's trying to figure out if there's a common thread running between the others here, if anything matches up with her experiences, if any other Nightbane are around, or if she's the only one. So far, it's looking like the latter.]

I've been here a few weeks. I guess a month. Time flies, y'know?

[It's much more difficult for her to keep track of days without her usual routine of work and training exercises.]

I used to know a guy named Chris. He was a big idiot. You don't sound anything like him.

Edited 2015-12-18 20:53 (UTC)

A lot of big cities.

[Chris is thinking similarly; is there a pattern to who is here? He's not sure, but it's worth trying to figure out.]

Yeah, same. We probably got here around the same time.

[It both seems like it's been forever and no time at all, somehow. That last comment gets a small laugh again, though it's a little stronger and more genuine this time.]

Thanks, I'll take that compliment.

You should. I'm serious, he was a good kisser but dumb as a sack of hammers. I kinda always wondered how he made it to being an adult without getting run over in traffic or something.

[He definitely needed this cheering up, Nick.]

There are a few people I've wondered that about.

[Mostly some of his classmates in college. He generally gets along with most people and tries not to be judgmental without it being super warranted, but wow there are some idiots in college.]

I've met some people named Nick but didn't know them well enough to say anything about them. I don't think I've heard of a girl called Nick, though; is it short for something or's there another story there?

[Idiots are everywhere - including, Nick has found, here. Present company is, of course, excluded.]

Nah, it's just short for Nichole. My ma's the only one who ever called me that, though, and she's a bitch and a half, so.

[So that's why she insists on being called Nick instead.]

No special story to it, really. My dad used to call me Nick when I was little, and it just kinda stuck.

[And it was something of her father she could hold onto after he died.]

What about you? Chris short for the usual?

[Oh, right, Nichole would make sense. He thinks he knew a Nichole in grade school, but she went by her full name and it always seemed like a name that's short enough not to bother with nicknames.

There's a great pun there somewhere, he can feel it, but he's just not up to working out how to correctly deliver it. Maybe in the future.]

My friend Sam's kinda' the same way; she goes by that instead of Samantha, though I think it's just because her name's pretty long.

[He's actually never asked her why she prefers Sam, and now he wonders. He'll pester her later about it.]

Yeah, but like you my mom's the only one that calls me Christopher. And usually it's only when she's pissed off.

[Not that his mom is mad at him a lot; he doesn't live with his parents anymore, but even when he did they tended toward spoiling him and he was generally well-behaved. The last person to call him Christopher was actually his friend Josh, and not in a situation he cares to dwell on much.]

[Nick makes a sound almost like a laugh - or it would be, except there's no mirth in it at all.]

Yup, that sounds about right. And watch out if she starts adding in the middle name, too. Then you're in big trouble.

[For Nick, that usually signified a hard slap was what was coming her way next, especially if her mother was drunk, as she usually was.]

I usually didn't get the middle name thing; I think my first was long enough and I was one of those goodie-two-shoes kids.

[The super lame kind that was always like 'but should we do the thing' yet could easily be dragged into misbehaving anyway by friends as long as they didn't get caught. Speaking of being kids, he's kind of wondering...]

Is it uh... Is it cool to ask how old you are?

[He knows that can be a touchy thing with girls.]

I'm 19, so I've only been on my own like a year and a half.

Oh, one of those, huh?

[But there's a grin behind how she says that, teasing.]

My best friend in high school was like that - straight As, squeaky clean. Nobody could ever figure out what he was doing hanging out with little ol' trash-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks me. His parents hated me - probably still do, actually.

[And, really, she's fine with that. Fuck them for thinking she wasn't good enough to be friends with their precious son.]

Yeah, that's fine, you can ask. [She actually laughs a little at how carefully he asks.] I'm not one of those fussy girls who can't stand the idea of someone knowing their real age or whatever. And I'm twenty-five. Almost twenty-six. Shit, I dunno, with how long I've been here, maybe I missed my birthday. Not that I'd be doing anything special for it anyway, but - you know. Not freezing to death would be nice.

[Never a scenario she's considered, since her birthday is during the summer.]

Damn. You're not even old enough to legally drink. That sucks.

Yeah, yeah, one of those.

[His tone is similarly amused; this is easily one of the most normal conversations he's had in awhile, and it's kind of nice to pretend everything isn't horrible for a bit.]

I think it'd be pretty boring if your friends were like, exactly like yourself, you know? My best friend and I were totally different.

[Are totally different? Which tense is right, here? He doesn't know and doesn't want to dwell on it.

And okay, good, he had thought she'd probably be okay with it, but he knows better than to assume that sort of thing.]

Ah, cool. I figured if you've been working for awhile you were older than me but who knows in this place.

[And some people do start working really young, so. Her comment about possibly missing her birthday makes him kind of curious, though--]

Do you think time here like... Counts? For birthdays and all that?

Yeah, but thankfully Canada's drinking age is eighteen.

[Not that he drinks much after last year, but still. It's the principle of it.]

So if you're the good twin, does that make your best friend a troublemaker?

[The cheer drops noticeably from her tone by the time she gets to talking about her friend, though.]

Yeah ... but you gotta have something in common, I guess. Something that sticks. Me and Andy ... I dunno, I guess we were both misfits back in Winchester, but once we got to Chicago, that wasn't enough.

[And it stings more than she'd like to admit. Andy was her best friend for more than a decade; she couldn't imagine her life without him, until a few months ago, when they had their final fight and she left town.]

Anyway ... I've been working since I was sixteen, just not at a bar, obviously. People always had trouble guessing my age, though. They either thought I was older when I was a kid, or they think I'm younger now. Here, hang on a sec ...

[She fiddles with the device for a moment, then switches it over to video, with the camera turned on her. She gives him a half-sarcastic wave.]

Hey. So this is me.

[She shrugs by way of reply to the question about birthdays.]

I dunno, I mean - it's time, right? You get older every day. But it's not like we've got calendars and shit here. So who knows. It was almost May back in Vancouver. Now it's fucking snowing, so it must be winter?

[He doesn't miss the change in her tone, partially because his does the same won the same subject.]

I guess you could say that.

[Josh is--was?--definitely more of a troublemaker, especially after everything that happened before they came here, but... It's not quite that simple, at the same time. More things he doesn't want to think much about, so he focuses on what Nick said instead.]

It uh... It sounds like something happened?

[With her and her friend. His comment is an invitation to say more if she wants, but easy to dismiss if not.

When she switches over to video he does the same, offering a small smile of greeting. He definitely would've guessed her to be closer to his age than mid-twenties, though he's never been all that great at judging ages.]

Everyone usually thinks I'm older than I am, probably because I'm tall.

[Hurray for early growth spurts. Being nearly six feet tall in high school definitely helped ward off any potential bullying for being a huge nerd.]

I guess you're right, though you'd have to count just the time since yeah, I think the seasons are all off. I mean, not that it's all that clear since it really shouldn't be snowing underground no matter what season it is, but yeah.

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