open: one lost med student

[dr_conscience]

When; September 7^th & 8^th
Rating; PG unless you give me a reason to up it.
Characters; A young James Wilson and anyone. You, perhaps?
Summary; Wilson is cursed with Feels Like the First Time, so he's arrived in the City all over again from a completely different chronological point - med school, in just his second semester. Fresh from 1989, he has no idea what's happening - and his first thought is definitely not to check for mobile internet service.
Come on now.
Log;

Saturday - Morning
James is definitely not in the right place. He was in his dorm at Columbia, and now he's... not. It's a city, certainly, but it bears absolutely no resemblance to the city he should be in. In fact, looking around, it bears no resemblance to any sort of city he's ever seen.

A few possibilities occur - it could be an incredibly vivid dream, though he feels entirely awake. Perhaps a lucid dream? No, he doesn't seem to have any sort of control over it. The other options are far worse, of course - he could be in something far deeper than a dream, trapped in his own mind and without any awareness or memory of an accident or illness that may have led him to it. Or, this could be an incredibly involved hallucination, entirely a construct of his mind that has fallen to a mental illness. Certainly not an impossible option, particularly considering his family...

But, as much as his imagination goes running off with his class material, he can't get over how real it feels. Every bit as real as he's ever felt anything in life, every one of his senses working exactly as it should... he walks around the square idly, taking in his surroundings.

Perhaps you recognize him, perhaps you take him to be the younger man he so closely resembles (even more so today), or perhaps you simply recognize that look of disorientation marking him as someone who's just found himself here. Feel more than free to approach for any reason at all, of course.


Sunday - Early Afternoon
He's still here.

No matter what he does, he's still here, more than a full day after he first found himself in this place. He's still not sure what to make of it, but there doesn't seem to be much he can do about the fact that he's here. He's come to find that little makes sense in this place - and it seems, according to those who have been here for some time, that this weekend is a sort of particular collection of nonsense. Based on what he's heard about some older version of himself, it's true. He's careful not to pay too much attention to any of that, though - he's seen Back to the Future.

Aside from not wanting to know too much, a lot of what's been said hasn't really settled properly with him. The City doesn't seem to make any logical sense, but it's not as if he has a wealth of options here. He can do little more than listen, retain what he's been told, and decide for himself what makes sense after he's seen a bit more. Decide for himself whether he accepts this as real, or whether it even makes any difference if he does or not.

So today, he's out in a slightly less bewildered state, getting some food with money that - apparently - belongs to his older self. Even the money seems ridiculous, little festively colored coins.

But he's hungry, and he wants to see more of whatever this place is, so he's gone to find a cafe where he can get himself a sandwich. They, at least, don't seem to have any problem with his rainbow currency.


[ooc: There's plenty of flexibility in where you meet him since he'll be walking around a bunch. Open to anyone and everyone. Responses will come from cramming. Brackets or prose, whatevs. ♥]

Comments

saturday morning | because i am the worst person there is

[had_not_lived]

Also walking across the Square, albeit a little less idly, is one Neil Perry. He has in hand a large travel mug of tea, and he is-- rather fortunately, he thinks-- not cursed today. Not older or younger, not a bird or a beast, not a lady or a lamp-post. So, as he does on any other day when he's not barred by a curse himself or dealing with someone else's curse-induced emergency, he's headed to Bilton & Scaggs to open the shop.

He doesn't notice that he's walking past his double; or perhaps, he's just too used to it for it to register.

love.

[cramming]

James does notice that his double seems to be walking past him. In fact, he stops dead in his tracks when he notices the boy who looks far too much like him for him to dismiss it as a passing resemblance. The question of his mental health is, to say the least, becoming a more and more pressing concern.

He stops, and he stares - simply stares, unabashedly, at this other young man. This other him? But not him, he doesn't think.

There are no coherent thoughts pressing in his mind as he stares, and very little incoherent as well - he's really more frozen than anything else, both physically and mentally. He doesn't make a sound.

hay thar handsome

[had_not_lived]

Maybe it's the abruptly halted motion that catches his eye; or maybe it's just random chance that makes him turn his head and notice the other man standing there. He isn't nearly so troubled-- though he is a bit curious. Neil has the advantage, of course. He's not sure he can count the number of strangers he's met wearing his own face.

He stops as well, then takes a few slow steps toward his mirror image.

"Doctor Wilson?" he calls out, a bit uncertain but by no means unfriendly.

no YOU

[cramming]

Initially, he shakes his head in confusion, and then he pauses. His brow furrows and he frowns, as he shakes his head slowly.

"No..."

He lapses into silence, gathering himself.

"I'm not a doctor -- not yet."

But this duplicate got his name right, got his career plans right even if the title is a bit premature, and that's more than enough to give him pause.

"I'm sorry, do you know me?"

well yes. you do have good taste

[had_not_lived]

Oh. Well, that makes sense. Sort of. It makes sense as much as anything in the City makes sense. He looks a bit surprised, brows raised, and it takes him a moment to know how to respond-- mostly, because he remembers how unsettling it was the first time he met the older man.

"I do-- well, it's complicated. My name is Neil. Do you know anything about where you are?"

[cramming]

"No."

The tone is unsure - he certainly doesn't, so that's not where the doubt comes from. It's a more general sort of uncertainty, of not entirely trusting his own perceptions. How else can he explain this interaction?

[had_not_lived]

"Oh."

Well, that figures. But it makes things much more difficult.

"This is a place called the City. You've been here before-- or maybe I should say, you'll come here someday. You've been here longer than I have, though I'm not sure by how much."

He shrugs, because he does actually know how insane that sounds.

"Would you like a cup of tea or something? I need to open my shop, but if you'd like to come along we could get something on the way."

[cramming]

Neil's right... that absolutely does sound insane. So much so that James doesn't really have much to say to it, just nodding slightly as he absorbs it. He has been here, but he hasn't come here yet. Right.

"Ah... sure. Tea sounds all right."

He latches onto that, because it's the one bit of what Neil says that he can process immediately - the one thing that doesn't sound completely insane.

[had_not_lived]

"There's a place by the bookstore," he says, as reassuringly as he can manage, and gestures vaguely in that direction before taking a few slow, tentative steps, waiting for the-- older?-- man to fall in beside him.

"I'm sorry, I know this must be awfully confusing."

[cramming]

He gives a nod, falling into step uncertainly as he continues to glance around - latching onto one peculiarity after another, as if he's looking for some sort of answer or hint that isn't there.

"It is sort of a lot to take in."

He frowns.

"So you know me... when I'm older?"

Because that sounds ridiculous. And are you aware that you are his exact duplicate? You seem very calm about that.

Sunday Afternoon

[vicodincrutch]

[You look for someone. And look. And look. And jeez. It was enough to sort of let him be for just a bit...but then he went and took his own cash. In true form, and maybe truest form of bullying, House tracks down Wilson the Younger.

With the intent to take his food.]

Oh. Still here.

[He says with all of the tender sweetness of an uncomfortable grandfather.]

<3

[cramming]

[His brows furrow, one lifting just a bit. That is one heck of an uncomfortable grandfather vibe going on there. It's strange, but so is everything that's happened since yesterday. This guy hardly compares to reality, or more likely his perception thereof, going completely insane.]

So it seems.

[Whatever that implies.]

[vicodincrutch]

[Seated? Comfortable outside of the company he is getting? Good. House sits. It's more comfortable that way. He taps the rubber end of his cane on the ground. The flowers are obnoxious but he's taped a few skull stickers with flaming eyeballs here and there.]

Going back to comfort and stability.

[And whatever sexual vitality he is living in. Oh hey. Would now have been the time a certain film came into being?]

[cramming]

[ James isn't sure what to make of that cane, really. There's something entirely ridiculous about it. If only he knew who was responsible for it. He arches his brows skeptically. ]

Supposedly.

[ The film is a recent project, one of the last before he finished undergrad. Not that it's been selectively edited yet. ]

It's all a little hard to accept.

[vicodincrutch]

Tell me, Jimmy--

[Regardless of introduction, it could be a shot in the dark, couldn't it.]

What's so good about it? Supposedly?

[What part of his home environment is what creates the person the asshole doctor so heavily relies upon?]

[cramming]

[An arched brow as he eyes House. He's not too fazed by his name being used, though he thinks himself a bit old to be called Jimmy. But he just shrugs it off.]

About what? Home? My life?

[That's an odd question. Here he does literally shrug.]

Well, I'm in a good school, working on starting a life for myself, I've got a great girlfriend, my family... what wouldn't be good about that?

[A brother that hasn't run off yet... a girlfriend that he hasn't married and gotten divorced by yet... House knows all the traumas this kid hasn't lived yet.]

Saturday;

[her_waterloo]

[ Joan wasn't scheduled for newbie work today but after the whole deal where the City shared a very private moment of her life with everyone, you can't really blame her for wanting to get out and meet some strangers who've never seen her before.

His look of utter bewilderment catches her practiced eye. He looks sort of familiar... She's sure she's seen the face before, but that doesn't mean he isn't new. People come and go from here without their memories. He's new enough.

So she puts a welcoming look on and approaches him, waving in a friendly manner. ]

Hello! You look a bit lost. Are you okay?

[cramming]

[ Her friendliness is as reassuring as anything can be, under the circumstances. It helps that she's decidedly not a duplicate of him, certainly. Still, he's not entirely sure what to make of anything, so the small smile he attempts is wrought with uncertainty. ]

Hi.

[ A swallow, and he purses his lips with a little quirk of his brows. ]

I'm-- well, honestly, I'm not really sure.

[her_waterloo]

That's normal. You might want to sit down. [ She gestures toward the nearest bench. She wishes someone would have told her to take a seat when they explained how the City worked. It was pretty mind-boggling for the average person. ] I'm Joan, by the way. What's your name?

[cramming]

All right.

[ With a nod, he follows the gesture - there's no small amount of uncertainty to his tone or his movements - but he sits, pursing his lips and glancing back at her. ]

James.

[her_waterloo]

[ Joan sits down next to him, because it seems like the best thing to do - to be on his level, not above him. She sits up straight, but not too stiffly. She tucks her hands into her lap, gracefully. This is a woman who has had to talk about and explain unpleasant or unfortunate things many, many times. ]

This city is just called the City, and a lot of people come here without meaning to, from all over. [ She'll keep all over 'where' purposefully vague. ] No one quite knows how, but you're not the first one, and there are people here who can help you and answer your questions. I don't know how long you'll be here, but no one at home will notice your absence, and you'll go back right to the time and place that you left, as crazy as it sounds. Like I said, no one really knows how it works. [ She smiles. ] And now you have a million questions.

[cramming]

[ For a long moment, he's quiet and still - then he leans forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees, and gives a slow nod. ]

Well, you're right, I do have a million questions.

[ He glances up toward her, a small somewhat ironic smile and a quirk of his brows that functions as a shrug of a sort. ]

I'm not really sure that there would be answers to most of them, though. Not from within... whatever this is. The City.

[her_waterloo]

You might be surprised. [ She's quiet a moment. Something is oddly familiar about this young man... she's sure she'd heard his voice before. But she can't quite sort out where. ] I'll try my best, anyway. What were you doing before you came here? [ That would help to place his time period and location, if it was anywhere she was a bit familiar with. ]

[cramming]

[ He's not prepared to accept this as reality, so basically any input on what this is from within it isn't quite something he'll accept at face value. Though, perhaps there's some insight he can gain from it, hints from his subconscious that might suggest what's going on. ] Well, the last thing I remember doing was studying for an exam, in my room. I go to Columbia.

[her_waterloo]

Good school. What's your major?

[ Joan has decided that a little small talk might make him more comfortable. ]