This wasn't part of the plan...

[chronomancer]

Characters: Eridan and YOU.
Setting: Room 1-10; Dormitory Hallways, attmepting to head towards the cafeteria.
Format: Starting with Action tags, but I'll match your preference.
Summary: In which Eridan wakes up and Is Not Dead, followed by a self-pity storm, followed by a bit of exploration. And oatmeal.
Warnings: Ridiculous amounts of self-pity. Additional warnings will be added as necessary.

Room 1-10.

[Eridan was not having a good day. For one thing, he was having a day in the first place. Which wasn't supposed to happen. He knew that much. For another, looking into the trunk at the feet of the bed he'd woken up in - his? - he found his Time Reels. Completely unreeled. So he's trying really hard not to go into meltdown at the whole situation by carefully trying to fix his damn reels back as they should be. Which wasn't really working out all that well.

So there he is, sitting on his own bed, tangled beyond hope in what seems like miles of film, trying to carefully reel it all back in place. And very casually hyperventilating at the fact he was alive. He really wasn't supposed to be, dammit.]

Dormitory Hallways.

[Having given up on fixing his reels - right now - Eridan chose to explore a bit and see what kind of people were around. He walks around the dormitory hallways, with this defensive, "I have no fucking idea where I am" expression on his face, feeling unnerved and lacking in weapons or defenses.

But he's hungry and the letter said he could find food at the cafeteria, which is where he's hoping to go. At some point. When he stops being hopelessly lost and jumpy about every shadow in the corridors.

Hey, he's not the Hero of Space, alright? Cut him some slack. ...please?]

Comments

and *how*

[chronomancer]

[The film slipped from his fingers at that.]

...Jade?

[He stared.]

As in Jade Strider?

btw you have the best icon just saying

[metawoof]

Strider?

[She blinked a bit blankly at Eridan's surprise. And also at the Strider part. What?]

Um, no, Jade Harley. The Strider in the party is Dave, but he would be my other friend's equivalent. Or something. [AUs were hard.]

^^;; The source pic is amazing. Have you seen it?

[chronomancer]

...ah. Sorry. M--the Jade I knoww, his name's Jade Strider.

[...wow, this is weird. And awkward.]

YES and it is the most beautiful piece I have ever seen

[metawoof]

[Staaare for a minute.]

So are you like the Eridan from the same place as the Grey-text Kanaya and the Blue Karkat?

[Aaand a beat.]

His?

wallpaper-worthy, I say

[chronomancer]

Yeah, those are my friends.

[He blinks. Then nods.]

I knoww. It's wweird.

aaw yeeah

[metawoof]

Are you sure your Jade is a boy? I mean I've heard of genderbends before but "Jade" still is not really a name you use for boys on Earth.

[chronomancer]

[Eridan shrugged.]

I don't knoww about names, just what he said.

[metawoof]

....

[EH, whatever. Probably wasn't any of her business. For now.]

Well! That's weird. But tell me what your universe is like!

[chronomancer]

[He shrugs.]

Mm, wwhat wwould you like to knoww about it?

[metawoof]

Well, what happened with your session! If you're jade-blooded whereas the eridan i know of is purple-blooded, then what are everyone else's blood colors? Is the Hemospectrum still a thing? Did Jack Noir still happen?

[chronomancer]

Our session was screwwed up.

[His tone is just a little bit clipped about that, looking very intently at the film in his hands. Then he slumps somewhat.]

Evveryone's blood colors are different from wwhat I'vve heard, the hemospectrum's still vvery much a thing or not important at all, dependin on wwho you ask.

[A hiss of breath between teeth.]

An Jack Noir still happened. That ties in wwith the wwhole "our session wwas screwwed up" thing.

[metawoof]

[Echidna frowned a bit; she wasn't sure how upset he was, but she could tell it was a bit of a sore spot.]

To be honest I think a lot of sessions are screwed up. I mean I do not know about ACTUAL sburb, but even with Jack Noir, I do not think any session could really follow a properly rigid structure or whatever.

And just because Jack Noir happened does not mean things are a total loss...! I mean, if there are an infinite number of alternate universes and timelines out there, then there must easily be like a thousand where Jack Noir happened and the session was still winnable.

[chronomancer]

[Eridan stared at her for one long moment, before he snorted, unamused. When he speaks, however, it's not aggressively, but rather resignedly. Bitterly.]

You'd thinks so, huh? But it doesn't work that way, Time. There's an infinite number of alternate timelines but there's only one alpha timeline. The rest of them are doomed. Just like their universes.

[Just like ours.]

[metawoof]

Maybe time does not work that way, but that does not mean universes do not! I know it is kind of the same property, but there are still some how a bunch of multiple universes that seem to exist and collide in this place! Like yours and mine...!

[She felt a bit awkward at how bitter he sounded, but she was still going to try and stay cheerful damnit!]

[chronomancer]

Wwell, yeah. There's a bunch universes wwhich I think might be just off-shoot timelines or twweaks, but there's still one alpha. Being doomed doesn't mean you don't exist, just that you wwon't exist for long.

[He sighs, pulling on a long string of film.]

But maybe I'm wwrong. You'd havve to ask a Space player, maybe. Or a Doom one. I just knoww about howw Time wworks.

[metawoof]

Well I sort of know space-player mechanics. [She said off-handedly, tapping her chin.]

And I don't think there's one "main" universe really, so I don't really think the concept of an "Alpha" timeline is as important as we think it is. Not that Time and Space work the same, but still. [She pouted a tad.] At least here...I don't think you have to worry about it too much?

[chronomancer]

[Eridan tilted his head to the side, and nodded reluctantly.]

I guess you're right.

[He gave her an inquisitive look, pretending to be engrossed by his work.]

...are you the Space player of your session?

[It was odd to think of Jade in any other role but Time.]

[metawoof]

Uuum sort of? [She gave a half shrug.]

In my universe, sburb really IS only a game; it's a homebrew tabletop game that my friend designed. Jade was my character, and also the Space hero, and I ended up making up most of the mechanics for it on my own since they weren't all developed except for the frog breeding business. For the troll's game, Kanaya was the Space player.

[chronomancer]

[Eridan stops, turning to finally give Jade a good long look, expression fixed in a light frown.]

...wwhat... wwhat wwas it like? In your wworld?

[metawoof]

[She blinked a bit at that. What was with the look?] What, you mean where I lived?

Um...really cold? In the winter at least. We lived really close to the Great Lakes, these really big bodies of water. There are a lot of abandoned buildings that are falling apart, but they're really fun to explore! One time we played our campaign in one actually, for the moooddd setting. [She even did some silly magic fingers there.] But usually we play in one of my best friend's game shop! His dad would even bring us snacks or hot cocoa sometimes!

Oh, there are a bunch of bad neighborhoods, but none of the criminals in our world have magic psychic powers. They just use guns and knives and stuff. And everyone has the same blood color, so there's not really a social cast system-- well there is, but it is more based on money and stuff, and it's not as important nowadays anymore.

[chronomancer]

That sounds...

[Wonderful. Normal. Not utterly fucked up.]

Nice.

[He smiled faintly, wryness tugging at his lips almost unconsciously, and dropped his eyes to his reels again, tugging gently.]

I livved in a desert. It wwas hot an kind a infested wwith undead things that I had to kill at all damn hours a the day. But I had some friends an my lusus an I wwas used to it, so it wwasn't that bad.

[He let out a hiss of air through his teeth, and his voice hardened a notch.]

An then... wwe played the game.

[metawoof]

[She nodded obliviously happily, but her face fell a bit when Eridan expounded on his own home world.]

Er...zombies? [No wait stay serious--] We have deserts in our world too, but they don't have any undead things or anything. [It was a small attempt at a joke, but now was probably not the time for humor.]

Maybe one day I can show you my world? I do not have Space powers personally, but if we were all brought here, it might be possible, right?

[chronomancer]

[Eridan looks at her curiously, tilting his head to the side, as if considering the idea.]

Maybe. I'm still not sure wwhere "here" is. Or wwhat's goin on, really. I'd like seein your wworld, though.

[But he didn't tell her that he doubted it would be possible.]

[metawoof]

I do not think anyone here really knows what it is or what's going on. [She sighed and gave an exasperated shrug.]

But someday I am sure we will figure it out! And it will be really fun! I can show you the game shop we hang out at, and this really cool coffee place where the drinks all have funny names, and the laboratories are my school are really awesome too! [Yep, she certainly wasn't doubting the possibility of going back home.]

[chronomancer]

[That's a lot of energy you've got going there, Echidna. Eridan smiles wryly at the last bit, though. It reminds him of someone.]

You like science?