Noli equi dentes inspicere donati.

[baedalites]

Who: EVERYONE.
What: Swap meet.
Where: The Apache and surrounding environs.
When: Sukkardi the 14th of Haneden
Notes:

• Swap Meet Spreadsheet: Pre-chosen swaps are green. Assigned are blue. There were a few characters that were selected more than once, so objects were assigned on a first-come first-serve basis. If you have any issues or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the mod team.
• For objects that might not be immediately apparent as belonging to their owners, there may be a picture or name attached, or players are welcome to have their characters ~just know~ it's for them. Drr drr drr, bb.
• Party post nights are a great time to come join the chatroom.
• The topic threads are just suggestions; if you've got somewhere else that your characters simply must be, make your own thread.

Warnings: None yet. Please put warnings up on individual threads.

The Apache is much the same as it always is: dimly lit, with the jukebox playing in the background, and the bartender serving whatever's on tap.

Comments

[23rd]

Laura doesn't go to parties as a general rule unless she's dragged by someone else (Kiden, usually) but having someone else's stuff ultimately drags her out of hiding. She's not a jerk, of course she's going to come return it, and honestly she is really curious what the gods could possibly have chosen to give to her. There are precious few belongings she had back home that she places any value on. One is with her -- her choker with her mother and cousins' pictures in it -- and the other she burned a long time ago; she memorised the contents of that letter and has never forgotten a single word.

What else is there?

She's dressed, as usual, inappropriately, and her body language and expression indicate she could not give less of a shit about it. She's not trying to look tough; her expression is its usual calm neutral.

The first thing she does is get a beer. She can't get drunk, she just likes the taste, and having it in her hand makes her feel as if she's not so out of place. People drink in bars. She's in a bar. Therefore, she is drinking.

Notably, she is holding a hamster ball. There is a live hamster inside.

[cmdreffingshepard]

Frankly, Shepard has no idea how to go about finding whatever it is she may have been given. She assumes it'll probably be another gun, something useful, but she hasn't seen anyone so far carrying anything she recognizes.

And it would be weird, even for her, to start randomly walking up to people, asking to see what they're carrying. So instead, she's nursing a beer at the bar. That's when she starts to hear it.

Squeaksqueak.

Shepard frowns, turning around to look in confusion at the people nearby. Squeaksqueak.

And then she spots the woman with the hamster ball. And - yep, sure enough, apparently the people running this ass-backwards place have seen fit to send Captain Squeaks from Shepard's universe. She approaches the woman carefully, still holding tight to the photo album she'd ended up with.

"Excuse me? Hi," she says.

[23rd]

The hamster is awfully noisy, but... it's a hamster. She really should have brought it to Tatiana and had her take care of it, Laura does not know the first thing about small animals, but it was suggested to her to put it in this bubble for mysterious reasons unknown to her. It does make it much easier to keep the thing from escaping.

So she ignores it, mostly. #hamsterproblems.

Laura is immediately aware of being approached and turns her head in that direction, her even, direct stare -- nearly unblinking -- being a bit. Off. She says nothing at first, waiting for her to ask whatever it is, before remembering... right, people generally expect to be responded to verbally when spoken. "Hello."

Mastering social interaction!

[cmdreffingshepard]

Shepard is immediately reminded of Jack, albeit with less murderous rage (so far). So it's probably not surprising that she's a little wary.

Still, that's her space hamster. "Looks like you ended up with my pet hamster. I imagine you're ready to get rid of him by now."

[23rd]

Laura looks down at the hamster, then back up at Shepard. Then back at the hamster. Well, that takes care of that, then. She puts her beer down on the bar and holds the hamster ball out for Shepard to take a little stiffly.

"I was told to put it in a ball." She sounds... unsure, like maybe someone was just fucking with her and this is actually really bad for hamsters. She wouldn't know the difference either way. I am sorry if I irreparably damaged your rodent is what goes unsaid, there.

[cmdreffingshepard]

Shepard gives the other woman a reassuring smile, accepting Captain Squeaks with as much dignity as she can muster. "Yeah, hamsters like rolling around in them. Thanks."

And then she holds out her hand, to shake. "I'm Shepard, by the way. Nice to meet you."

[23rd]

It is extremely difficult to stay dignified under the circumstances, but they are both making a valiant effort.

There's a brief pause there like she's not sure what to do, and then she shakes the other woman's hand. Her grip is off, too. Too hard, but stiff, like she's not used to this gesture. (Most people don't want to get their fleshy bits that close to her hands.) There's a moment, like there always is, where she's not sure whether to give her name or designation. "Laura."

[cmdreffingshepard]

Shep doesn't mind the odd handshake. She's definitely had weirder ones.

"Nice to meet you, Laura." Now what? Oh, right, the thing she's carrying. She shows it to her, the photo album with the Malfoy family crest on it, which of course Shepard knows nothing about. "I don't suppose you'd know who the owner of this is?"

[satrinah]

Receiving a photograph makes the process of finding its intended owner a lot easier. Lyla isn't particularly hesitant in approaching Laura (they have a similar enough appearance that frankly she's kind of relieved someone normal is here...and then considers her own standards for "normal", ruefully), but she's not abrupt, either. She can sense when someone else is not a person you'd want to try to surprise, mostly because Lyla herself is the exact same way.

"Hey," she says, "I think I got yours."

She holds out the photo.

"Is that your sister?"

[23rd]

Laura's head turns. She remembers Lyla from the monster flood -- her primary impression being good fighter. Like me. Teen goth berserkers: not actually that common in Baedal.

Her gaze goes towards the photo and her expression -- shifts. She's always a little hard to read, but sorrow is pretty recognisable on anyone.

"That is my mother." And her aunt. The family resemblance is mostly coincidental -- Laura does have a bit of Kinney genetics in her, Sarah filled a couple small gaps with her own, but she was created mostly from Weapon X's. It just so happens that the Kinney family has colouring similar to hers -- fair skin, dark hair, green eyes.

This is not her photo; she's never seen it before. It must be Debbie's. Or maybe Sarah's belongings are all in a storage locker somewhere, where strangers picked through them, took whatever was valuable. She really doesn't know.

She takes the photo and stares at it for a long time.

[satrinah]

Mothers are a complicated subject for almost everybody, but especially when you yourself are young and have lost yours. Lyla's got two, and the human one wasn't a lot to brag about, but at least she tried. The other one, the newer one, well--

Lyla doesn't think about her on purpose. The liquor helps block out all thoughts of Lilith and her damnable agenda. Instead, she watches Laura, teeth catching her lower lip for a second and then releasing. She feels like she should say something else.

"She's pretty," she says, after letting that second stretch out a while.

[23rd]

"She was." The past tense is all that's really needed, there.

Well, not all, but she was until I stabbed her to death is not. Really something Laura shares without prompting.

After a moment of looking at it -- so strange to see her mother so young, although Sarah Kinney was young when she had her, but in the photo, she's Laura's age, maybe younger -- she finally pockets it. Or rather, puts it somewhere on her person, as there's not a lot of fabric currently covering her. "I don't understand their criteria for choosing items."

This photo, after all, is not hers. It's not something she needs. She knows what her mother looks like, already has a picture of her; she doesn't require another reminder. But maybe it's not about Sarah; maybe it's about Debbie, for once.

[captainredwhiteblue]

"He's sure a cute little fella." Cue one super-soldier (though dressed in civilian clothes tonight, neither Hellsing nor Captain America uniform to be seen) bending down to peer into the hamster ball. He smiles, waving at the hamster, before straightening up.

"He yours? Or are you looking for his rightful owner?"

YELL AT ME IF THIS ISN'T OK BTW

[23rd]

Laura, as usual, is immediately aware of being approached, although she's aware this is an informal gathering and probably no one is going to start shit. She doesn't recognise the man, but something about him is familiar -- it's the combination of appearance, scent, and body language, close enough to trigger something in her memory but not close enough that she knows. Transdimensional differences make it difficult to identify alternates. She does suspect he's from some version of her universe, though.

That in mind, she's going to be cautious. "It isn't mine." Her voice, as usual, has an odd, clipped monotonous quality, like an automated recording. She pauses. "I did not know what to do with it."

Also now she is wondering as to the hamster's sex. Maybe she ought to have checked. Laura hates calling living things an "it".

NO THIS IS TOTALLY FINE :D

[captainredwhiteblue]

"Oh, so he's what the gods gave you. I see." Steve smiles again, kind, encouraging. "I think you did the right thing, bringing him here. Easy transport, too, I bet. I had to haul a cauldron down here."

He offers a hand. "I'm Steve Rogers," he says, entirely unaware of any faint recognition she already has of him, or any further recognition that name may trigger.

[23rd]

More handshaking, jeez. Her grip is strong but stiff, like she's not used to making this gesture, and halfway through she stops abruptly. "Captain America," she says, then pauses -- in her universe his identity is publicly known, but he's obviously not from her universe and things might be different there. The Apache is loud enough that nobody not specifically eavesdropping would have heard it, but Laura is paranoid.

Always assume someone is listening.

"You are an alternate," she offers, almost like an apology. "I met you several times before."

Her tone is hard to read, doubly so given how monotonous her voice is. They weren't exactly under the best of circumstances, is the thing.

[captainredwhiteblue]

Steve's eyebrows go right up--what, again? This young lady doesn't strike him as hailing from 1943, so he guesses this is another alternate-universe thing, another young person who knows him from when he's the apparently spry octogenarian he's gonna become someday.

"That's me," he says, offering a reassuring smile; he can't quite get a read on her reaction, from the tone of her voice. "But since I unfortunately don't recognize you, I'm gonna guess that the alternate universe you come from, you know me in the future. Well. My future. I got here from 1943."

[23rd]

"I see," she says -- and she does, she's aware of the general history there. Like she's also aware that telling people things about their future without being asked to is a dick move. Anyway, it's only a possible future for this one; he looks different enough from the one she knows, and the last alternate of someone Laura knows who showed up here...

Well, it was Wolverine.

"Yes. It was 2011 when I was brought here. There, your identity is publicly known." She hesitates; conversation is pretty difficult for her, but she's trying. "I am Laura."

[captainredwhiteblue]

"...2011," Steve echoes, awed. He's not even an octogenarian, then, he's a... He doesn't know the word for someone who's ninety-five years old. Gosh.

He's noticed, too, all these people who know him from later on in time don't seem to be real forthcoming with details. Just that they know him. Maybe it's some kind of rule about knowing a guy's future, you don't tell him. Or something. He's still getting the hang of the multiverse.

"Pleased to meet you, Laura. Can I get you a drink or something? I could use a soda."

[timewreck]

And indeed tonight Kiden is free of the job of dragging Laura to a party to have F-U-N, a terrible thing it seems to Laura. She isn't dressed properly either, wearing her usual uniform of jeans, sneaks, and an odd t-shirt that shows she is either clearly out of place or just doesn't give a fuck.

(Spoiler note: it's the latter.)

It's a good thing they don't card in Baedal, or at least not tonight because Kiden is working on her second beer as she runs up beside Laura with her typical "One of my BFFs is here and I can't be any happier" grin.

"If nobody shows up for it, I'm keeping it." The hamster, Kiden means. Finders keepers, losers weepers. Who cares if it was Laura who found it?

[23rd]

Laura never really seems to have fun, but she always looks like this. Her face is just stuck at either "dead inside" or "bitchface". If she really objected, she would just not go. Frowning, she looks down at the ball. "It belongs to someone here," she says, apparently taking her duty as Keeper of the Hamster extremely seriously. After a moment's pause, she adds, "You could get another one."

Yes, put Kiden in charge of the life of a small animal, especially one that hangs out in something that looks like a soccer ball. (Spoiler: Tatiana would just end up taking care of it.)

[timewreck]

"Yeah, but if they don't show up for it, what are you gonna do? Eat it?" And hey, Kiden used to have goldfish. Okay, they belonged to her little brothers, but she was the one who remembered to feed them before they went belly up.

And no, she would not give into the temptation to toe the ball around the house.

It doesn't matter anyway because Kiden wants her own stuff, even her own small rodent. "Maybe, but after I move out," which reminds Kiden of a topic she wants to bring up to Laura.

[23rd]

Laura looks back down at the hamster, unsure. "They are not intended for consumption," she says, sounding reasonably certain of that much, at least. "They are too small." Oh.

Now guinea pig, on the other hand, she's had, but let's not mention that. Also, rat.

But enough of what cute cuddly creatures she has and has not consumed. "You have found a place?" Adjusting to not living with Kiden anymore will take a little bit, but Remy and Wanda will probably appreciate having a little more space back, even if Laura's rarely home and half the boys have moved out by now. (One left the city, she thinks. She doesn't talk much to Billy or Tommy.)

[timewreck]

An answer like that from Laura would leave anybody else in a ball of confusion, but Kiden takes it in stride. She didn't expect anything less from Laura.

"I think so," Kiden answers in between sips. "It seems cheap enough and stuff. Tatiana and I were talking about finding a place together. You want to come with us?" Kiden doesn't expect Laura to say yes; it's clear Remy's house has become a safe place for Laura, but what kind of friend would Kiden be if she didn't at least give a serious offer? She waits quietly, watching Laura, for an answer.

[23rd]

Laura freezes there, and her hesitation is obvious everywhere, written plainly on her face in a way it usually isn't -- it's hard to get an emotional reaction out of her, and while this isn't quite that, it's clear something is going on beyond her usual affable indifference.

Because Kiden is her friend, and she likes her, and she doesn't mind living with her, even with how cramped the house was starting to get -- that's never been a problem for her. She didn't mind living with Kiden when they were eating out of dumpsters and sleeping on benches in public parks. Laura does not want Kiden to feel like she's rejecting her and Tatiana, but is unsure how to communicate that.

Because Remy is important to her. While she doesn't think of him and Wanda as family, necessarily -- her family, the way Laura understands it, consists of her mother and those she is genetically related to, like Wolverine, despite the way people she's known have spoken of 'the family you choose' and related their friends that way... Remy is the closest she has ever had to having a father. Living with him and Wanda doesn't feel like she's staying in their house, it feels like --

"It is my home," she says eventually, finally.