[ log; ongoing ]

[hisplusone.livejournal.com]

When; Afternoon, August 31
Rating; PG-13 at most
Characters; Rose Tyler (hisplusone) and Rudy Cooper (cold_dry_pieces)
Summary; Rose decides to finally meet up with Rudy.
Log;

After yesterday’s horrid curse, Rose Tyler just wanted to forget. So instead of working or staying at the flat, she decided to venture out and meet up with Rudy finally. They had discussed a few times over the network to meet but had never gotten the chance until now.

Walking towards the bench by the fountain, the blonde stuck both hands in her jacket pockets and looked around for any sign of him among the people that passed by.

Comments

[cold_dry_pieces]

Stitching together bits of dead things was a ludicrous pastime, and not one he'd choose on his own... But it was far from the worst thing that'd happened to him, here. Under the circumstances, he actually found it rather amusing; though of course he kept that amusement to himself. Dire straits, when that was the closest he came to dismembering something. Hmn.
Still, he'd been restless since the last affliction, and when Rose had suggested they meet, he was glad for the distraction.

He was a bit surprised to find, as he drew nearer to the fountain, that he recognized her. Although, the last time they'd 'met,' he'd been considerably closer to the ground and, well, more mouselike. He wondered if she realized it. Well, that was the nice thing about curses-- even if she did, she probably wouldn't hold a grudge.

"Rose?" he asked brightly, smiling as he approached the bench.

[hisplusone.livejournal.com]

At the sound of the voice, the blonde turned her head to spot the man. She beamed at him for a second before wondering how he knew it was actually her. A lucky guess perhaps since she really couldn't have known that he had been the mouse that had bitten at her ankle that certain curse day.

She stood up and nodded in confirmation, in case that it was a guess. "Yeah. Rudy, right?" She asked just in case he wasn't actually who she was set to meet and someone from work.

[cold_dry_pieces]

He nodded, still smiling faintly, and offered a hand. "You looked like you were waiting for someone, so I assumed you must be you... I hope I'm not late." There was nothing to indicate that this was anything but the truth, of course.

[hisplusone.livejournal.com]

"Late?" she repeated her grin still intact as she took his hand. "Not at all, right on time actually." Not that there had really been a set time and not that she had been waiting there long anyway. And if she had been she wasn't the sort of complain about it.

"Well come on then, let's go." she said giving his hand a tug leading him towards a certain direction. "I don't know if you've actually been here or not." She would have easily ventured to guess no because who really goes exploring to places like this, but people had managed to surprise her before.

[cold_dry_pieces]

"Probably not," he replied, following along obediently, though he had no clue where she was taking him. He had explored a fair amount, but it was a big place, after all. And lately he'd practically been a hermit, shuffling between his apartment and the Hospital like any normal human being.
"Do I get to know where we're going? Or is it a surprise?"

[hisplusone.livejournal.com]

There was a 50/50 chance, the blonde thought but she wasn't going to bet that he had. She had horrid luck when it came to betting. "It's a surprise," Rose replied shooting him a smile as she lead him away from the buildings and concrete and into the Xanadu. This had been a place that she had seen only once in passing and had really not explored it since getting back. It was sort of intriguing but then it probably wasn't for everyone and she didn't really know if Rudy scared easily.

"So in all your time here, you've never left the City?

[cold_dry_pieces]

"Fair enough," he replied with a laugh, trailing after her. So far he hadn't a clue where they were headed, though the scenery was quite intriguing. He'd tended to stick to the City proper, and Underground, when exploring.

"That's a question that takes some perspective. Since I remember arriving, no-- I don't really have anywhere to go back to," he explained. Slightly more polite than blurting out that he was dead back home. "On the other hand, several people knew me when I arrived here; evidently I had been here before, only... not me. I mean, from my point of view, anyway."

[hisplusone.livejournal.com]

The blonde kept on trekking occasionally taking in the sights. It had been a while since she had last been here. She lead Rudy down a small narrow trail, which she was sure would lead them to their destination.

She looked at him, and frowned at the revelation. "So you’re dead back home then?" It was the only conclusion that she could draw.

"Not you? So what like a clone?" She asked quirking an eyebrow and trying to make sense of it. It certainly wasn’t impossible. "Or another point in time?"

[cold_dry_pieces]

He nodded, and offered a tight smile. His death wasn't his favorite topic in the world. Dexter's frequent reminders Did Not Help; nor did the fact that he only really breathed out of habit. "I'll spare you the details," he assured her.

"Another version of myself, maybe? I've seen people disappear and come back without any memory of this place." He'd seen it recently, in fact. "I guess it's like that." It was a little stranger to think about it in relation to his own person.

[hisplusone.livejournal.com]

"Alright then," she replied not bothering to press the issue further knowing that it was uncomfortable, because really who wanted to talk about their death?

"Alternate universe, self?" Again that wasn't impossible from her experience thus far. Hopefully there wasn't a universe in which he was some sort of animal like a dog or monkey. "It's possible, I suppose. Have you?" She hadn't really met anyone that had come back to the City completely wiped like that.

[cold_dry_pieces]

He shrugged. "Easiest to think about it, that way. As someone who isn't me. It's odd imagining that I had a life here, did things, got to know people, and then just... forgot about it." But that was probably the best way to explain it. The whole thing gave him a headache. Other things bothered him more; not knowing what he'd done or hadn't done. What he could have gotten away with. The idea of a previous him not being homicidally frustrated to near-insanity was the worst; it was just a little too odd to be jealous of yourself.
"A woman I know did," he said, a little distracted, looking at the unnaturally lush growth around them. "She left some time ago, but had no idea where she was when she came back. Didn't remember me, or I guess anyone else, though she doesn't really seem different otherwise."

[hisplusone.livejournal.com]

She gave his words some thought. And it was sort of bizarre to just forget about having life in the City before. Some curses being forgotten the next day was sensible to her but day after day not to mention months simply gone like that? Well...perhaps. But she was more likely to stick with the alternative universe theory. It made more sense as much as sense allowed in this place.

"Oh is that so?" she asked wondering about the woman. "Do you know how long ago?" Maybe there was some sort of pattern. She had left once herself but her memories had returned though a bit slowly.

[cold_dry_pieces]

"A month, maybe? I'm not entirely sure when she left. You know how it is, you just stop hearing from people." He shrugged. "Then she just showed up on the Network, like she'd never been here." He was relatively glad, actually... Grace was one of the few people in the City that Rudy found genuinely interesting.

[hisplusone.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I know," she said with a nod. People had a habit of disappearing a lot over the network but sometimes it just meant that they got busy. "That's sort of interesting...What was her name?"

[cold_dry_pieces]

"Grace Hawkins," he replied. "Rather a sweet old lady. English. I think she's settling in all right; she didn't seem too distressed at finding herself here." Actually, the reaction most people had to the City surprised him, somewhat. Certainly it was inconvenient, and the curses could be trying, but it wasn't all that bad. Then again, his perceptions were probably skewed by not having anything to get back to.