entrancelogs | 001 :: >press any key to continue (arrival)

Entry tags:

001 :: >press any key to continue (arrival)

Who: Charlie Bradbury and anyone!
Where: Outside the mansion/entry hall.
When: January 1st, celebrating the new year newbie style! (Being confused)
Rating: Prob PG-13
Summary: Charlie's not in Oz anymore, Toto.
The Story:

One moment she's saying good bye, starting on her journey down the yellow brick road, and the next she's waking up beside a horse stable, propped against the side.

The high pitched whinny is what wakes her. Charlie comes to with a start, gasping and immediately regretting it as her nose is assaulted with pure horse. It's definitely not an odor she was expecting, which is why she chokes for a moment and starts coughing violently.

Once her initial shock dies down (and she's able to breathe again), Charlie pushes herself to stand, confusion starting to settle as she glances around. Anyone can see that this place? Definitely not Oz.

With more questions brewing in her brainspace, Charlie walks around to the front of the stables, checking out the horses she's had the pleasure of smelling today.

"You know, you guys look way awesome in movies and paintings," Charlie says this companionably as she crosses her arms, just having a friendly chat with the horses. "But in real life? Super smelly. Not majestic at all."

The horse closest to her snorts, pawing the ground. She gives it a suspicious look and decides maybe this isn't the time to make friendly with the animals.

"Gonna take that as my cue to get going. Later, my equine bros." Giving them a Vulcan salute, she turns around to take in the landscape and to figure out what's next on the agenda.

It's easy to pretend to be calm when it just seems so surreal. Like being in a lucid dream. That's what this has to be, right? As she starts a path down to the mansion, she doesn't feel so confident in that theory.

Oz is real, she was going to it. Who's to say she wasn't transported into some other kind of fairy tale world? And by the looks of this place, that's what it has to be.

Maybe there's be some dancing munchkins inside that can point her in the direction of the Emerald City.

As she walks, Charlie's looking over her shoulder every few seconds, wondering where her new traveling companion is. Traveling with Dorothy, the Dorothy, is like a super rad dream come true. Now here she is, alone in a strange place with no backup to speak of. Awesome.

It's like every fantasy novel she's ever read, or at least every RPG she's spent hours of her life chasing after every side quest she could find. Normally, that would make her feel a little better except for one simple fact: every hero, when beginning their quest, usually ends up running into some super hard tutorial fight. Maybe even an unwinnable one.

Charlie's wishing for a sword right now, and when she puts a hand in her jacket pocket, desperate for anything, her fingers brush against something unfamiliar.

"Huh?" Pulling out the object, at first glance it seems like a regular smart phone. Not hers, though. By now she's reached the steps in front of the mansion, and she comes to a stop, sitting down on one of the steps and turning the phone over in her hand.

She's in a hurry, sure, but she can take a fiver to figure out what this thing is, and more importantly, what it does.

(OOC: Charlie will chill on the steps a bit before going inside, feel free to catch her anywhere!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

_{[One good thing can be said of Wonderland: its winter has been mild so far, no snowstorms or plunging temperatures to keep Adam from venturing outside when he wants.

And sometimes he does, when he thinks no one's looking.

Today, for instance, he trudges out for a walk with jacket and backpack in hand, the latter stuffed with water, extra gloves, and some food. Just in case. Losing track of time is a problem for him, he's noticed, and he doesn't relish the idea of being hungry and cold while stuck a half hour from the mansion. On the whole, though, sometimes it's just nice to get away for a while. The place might be no better than a giant cage, but at least there's more to explore than one big metaphysical pile of flames.

He's just coming back from a couple hours outside, retracing someone's well-trodden snow path on his return to the mansion, when he notices a bright splash of red by the front door. He slows a little. The bright red hair belongs to a person sitting on the steps, but Adam doesn't recognize her. That doesn't say much, all things considered. He doesn't know a lot of people in the over-glorified apartment they all share.

As he comes up on her, he remarks:]}

Pretty sure it's toll free.

[ Charlie considers herself the Queen of Cool most of the time. Her little adventure with the stag earlier has made quite a go at that confidence of hers. Combine that with her nerves and you've got a formula for one hell of a jump scare.

Charlie lets out a yelp when he speaks, the phone flying out of her hands and clattering to the ground. There's a moment where she stares at him, leaning back and trying to catch her breath.

Then her brain kick back into gear and proceeds to make her feel like a dummy, wincing at her own reaction. ]

Wow, overreaction much? [ It's muttered to herself before she gives him a an embarrassed smile, leaning over to pick up her new phone. ] Sorry, I'm a little jumpy. Kidnappings do that to me.

[ It's a small joke as she recovers, wiping the screen of the device with her sleeve so she can make sure it isn't cracked. ]

_{[Sudden, loud noises and shrieking girls are probably not on the list of healthy stimuli for whatever Adam is--crazy, mentally challenged, or somewhere in between. He stops where he is, surprised in his own right.

He stares, wondering if he should say something to the muttering before deciding that it isn't meant for him.]}

Uh, my fault. _{[He sounds uncertain. He'd assumed she'd see him coming, but guess not.]} What's... going on?

_{[The kidnapping thing kind of raises a red flag. How can you not address that at least a little? Is this a general Wonderland thing or... something else? If it's something else, this place is pretty fucked, isn't it?]}

[ What can she say, she was a little absorbed in trying to hack the Gibson in this place, but so far no luck. In some ways, she's glad for the interruption. Other humans around means she's not totally alone. ]

This is not the fairy tale land I was looking for. [ And she doesn't think she'll sound too crazy, considering this is Wonderland, so she's more than happy to barrel on. ] See, I just showed up in Oz ready for adventure but then I blink and I'm here! Not even Alice has come by to say hi.

[ That last part is a half joke, a way for her to feel less anxious about being here. ]

No idea how it happened but it was quick. My guess? [ Here she falters, because she doesn't have a guess. ] A wizard did it. [ The reason for all things, truly. ]

_{[He takes this news with a grain of salt. Oz, huh?]}

This is just my take, but I'm thinking you wouldn't want her to. The stories don't seem to do the real thing justice.

_{[And by that he means given fairy tale creatures' track records, Alice would probably turn out to be a knife-wielding psychopath. But seriously, Oz? Adam's not really sure what to do with this piece of information other than mull it over.

He furrows his brow in question.]}

What does that make you, the modern day Dorothy?

_{[You can't just drop the L. Frank Baum bomb and not expect a person to ask, Charlie.]}

[ Such a perky optimist, Adam! Charlie's cheerfulness is undeterred by the naysayer. She's still in the honeymoon stage of 'omg wonderland'. ]

No way, Dorothy's got that job locked in tight. I'm just the sidekick, that's all. [ She doesn't look too bothered by the role, because who could be? It's freakin' Oz, man. ] I'm not just pulling your leg, I was seriously in Oz before I was here. I have witnesses!

[ Not that Dean or Sam actually went to Oz, but they saw it through the portal. That's good enough for her. ]

_{[Don't let him rain on your parade, Charlie. He's still recovering from his last adventure, and that one hadn't involved any flying monkeys or wizards.]}

You... came from Oz.

_{[Adam will just stand back and take that one as it comes. She sounds serious enough.]}

I didn't know they had casual Fridays in Oz.

_{[He pointedly looks her up and down. You know, 'cause you really don't look like you're all that Oz-like, Charlie. The college student wardrobe doesn't totally scream "alternate dimension" to him.]}

Hey, don't trash the threads, dude.

[ She gives him a disgruntled look as she tugs on her hoodie sleeves, pulling them down to cover her hands better. She has awesome taste, Adam. ]

Don't think there's a dress code in Oz, anyway. Dorothy was rockin' some pretty awesome duds. [ Also, she was pretty cute and Charlie gets a dreamy little smile at that. ] It was kind of an impromptu trip, didn't have a whole lot of time to run out for adventurer gear.

_{[Considering that his wardrobe is nothing special, he doesn't think he can trash anyone else's fashion sense, but she can take that however she wants to. If he'd gotten four more hours of sleep to round off the half an hour here and there he'd had, maybe he'd have the energy to apologize and act like a real human being again.

Ah well, everyone can dream.]}

So you're not really from there.

_{[Which is the point he'd been trying to make.]}

I wish. [ On some level, she does. Even if she can be a bit of a chicken (she likes to think of it as being a normal person reacting to stressful situations) it still would have been pretty cool to be from a place like Oz.

Maybe not Wonderland, though. ] No, after we took down the wicked witch Dorothy invited me along for the ride. So I said sayonara to my bros and off I went! [ She sweeps her arm to the side in a grand gesture when she pauses and her arm drops. ] Or I was. Until I was here.

_{[Not once in his life has Adam ever had time to come to terms with "stressful" (read: supernatural) situations, and so his normal reaction to dealing with someone talking about Oz as if it's a real place, taking out wicked witches, and travelling to Oz is to absorb in silence.

He shifts his grip on his backpack, looking her up and down. Okay then. Nice chat.]}

Well...

_{[See? He can compartmentalize this stuff. He can go for a walk in Wonderland and meet some strange girl fresh from a vacation in Oz, and not break down babbling about Hell.]}

... welcome to here.

Thanks, I guess.

[ She's eyeing him carefully, wondering why he seems to be so...calm doesn't fit him, but something else. Muted? Maybe he's been here a long time, has had time to get used to it. ]

Bet you've seen all kinds of nutty come through here. [ Or people who are going through the first stages of 'Arrival in Wonderland', which can't ever be pretty. ] Are you one of the vets around this place, seen it all and then some?

_{[A veteran! Haha, that's funny. He probably qualifies as a veteran of that very same nutty.]}

Uhh... oh, no, not me, not really. _{[A bone dry understatement.]} I'm just vacationing here until someone figures out what's up. Mostly.

_{[He blinks down at her. Adam can see that she's knew and maybe not as disoriented as a Hell survivor, but it's a challenge to offer up help or advice he doesn't have, or even just keep himself from kindly warning her that the only experience he has is a few lifetimes in the Cage.

Now that he's one of the mansion residents wandering around bumping into new faces, is it like his responsibility to try and help her out like he'd been helped out? The role reversal doesn't fit right.]}

Did you just get here, or...?

Still pretty fresh off the incoming train.

[ She's not sure how to feel about that, but she's run into plenty of helpful folks around here, so that's good. ]

I've got the rundown everyone gets, I guess. Magical mansion, likes to change things up a bit every couple of weeks. Fun stuff. [ It's said with a hint of sarcasm, because it doesn't sound fun at all. ] I'm Charlie.

_{[Join the club, Charlie, Adam rarely knows how to feel about any given thing, either.

He thinks for a second. Anything to add to the welcome wagon? Nope, that about sums it up.]}

Sounds about right. _{[He's not much more impressed with Wonderland on his end.]} I'm... Adam. There are people who give good rundowns around. Better than nothing, I mean. If you're worried, you've got that.

_{[He's so rusty at comforting people, his gears are practically screaming from old age. Not a skill set you need in the pit.]}

Knowledge is power, right? [ It's a cheesy, old as time saying but always seems appropriate. ] I read the books about this place when I was super little, so I don't remember much besides the zany characters and whatnot.

[ Though she does remember a few scary bits that made her frightened, but that just seems to fit with these 'events' she's heard about.

Speaking of which... ]

So, what kind of crazy have you experienced here?

_{[Where has he heard that phrase? On G.I. Joe? It's great as a bubble gum theory and all, but in all seriousness, Adam's been carrying around the feeling for a while that knowing more hasn't made him more powerful.

That's the jaded view of a Hell damaged vessel, though, not a veteran of Wonderland.]}

Same. _{[He nods a little.]} Going to go out on a limb and assume that you're from the real world or whatever we're calling it, not Mars.

_{[Apparently that's a thing people have to check now. "Earth" isn't always the default answer. If that's not mind-boggling enough, he doesn't know what is. At the end of the day, at least it's better than Hell and all of that crazy, even if most of that crazy still follows at his heels like an invisible puppy.]}

Are you sure you really want to know?

That's a negative on the being Martian. I'm just a regular old human! I know some peeps who aren't that normal, but I don't think it's rubbed off that bad.

[ Maybe just a little.

Anyway, when she was younger, she might have wished for super powers or to be an elf but she's happy with how she is now. Even if she's a little breakable nowadays. ]

If you're asking that, maybe I don't. [ But then she is the one who just said knowledge is power, soo.... ] Okay, yeah. Hit me with what you got.

_{[Yeah, maybe just a little. But he'll take it so long as it's human and not acting on carnivorous urges to eat his liver.]}

It's not all tea parties, is all.

_{[He tries to put himself in her shoes. Before everything, maybe doing so wouldn't have been so hard, but when he tries to think of being a normal person, having normal reactions, not constantly bearing a heavy pressure in the back of his mind... It's a little like trying to squint through one of those optical illusions, only your eyes won't focus no matter what you do.

There's a reason no had signed him up as a volunteer Wonderland greeter.]}

Well, people say those change ups happen because of people's memories. Like they're coming to life. _{[There's a hint of a question in the words. Is she following along? If she is, then she might have an idea where he's going with this.]} One guy here remembers zombies.

_{[So yeah, shit gets bad.]}

[ Her eyebrows go up at the mention of memories - this place has a way of getting into someone's head like that? She might not have scary memories, per se, but she does have private ones.

She doubts anyone's really comfortable when the place starts going crazy with the scenery changes, especially when they are familiar in some way. ]

Okay, so we're in a magical land that does some screwy stuff based on memories. [ God, she should write this stuff down, but it's not like she'll have time to forget any of it. ] Sounds like loads of fun, who doesn't like zombies?

[ The fake cheerfulness of her voice should indicate that she doesn't. ]

Man, if that's where all the crazy is coming from I'd hate to see what crawls out of Dean or Sam's brains. They've seen some heavy. [ Not to mention there are angels and demons here, and Charlie's sure the junk they have locked up isn't too pretty, either. ]

_{[He hadn't meant to pop that cherry, but apparently he had. Oops. Well, with the way people act like it's common knowledge, he would have thought someone had mentioned that little tidbit if they'd given her a rundown.

Adam tries to look sympathetic, but it comes out more strained than anything. Yeah, zombies... yay.]}

That's just what I hear...

_{[He's content to point her in the right direction, to someone with a gentle touch and all hands on deck. Sam and Dean even come to mind.

That all stops when their names come out of her mouth. It's like an unpleasant douse of cold water. His brow furrows, fingers tightening around the strap of his bag.]}

Sam and Dean... Winchester?

[ At this point, she figures everyone knows the Winchesters, or at least one of them. Those boys have a way of getting around. ]

That's them, two hunting bros out to do their family business thing. [ She notices the change in his expression, and wonders if he's got beef with them. Not that it's her business, nor like it's a surprise. Seems like they make more enemies than friends anyway. ] Knew them from back home, met up when Leviathans were trying to herd up humans to be their dinner.

[ Which was super gross, Adam. Super gross. ]

_{[Hunting bros doing their family business thing. Right. If something in his face twitches subtly at the remark, it could just as easily fall under the umbrella of having an issue with the two.]}

Yeah, that's them. All about family.

_{[Uh huh, sure, let's go with that.

He's never heard of Leviathans before, but that sounds like another part of their world he'd be better off never find out about for himself. Rationally, he knows better than to lump all of Sam and Dean's people together and summarily write them off, but their friends seem like another type of health hazard that he should have nothing to do with.

Still, what are the chances he'd find yet another person who knew his brothers?]}

And you're like them?

_{[Adam sounds doubtful.]}

Nah, I'm way cooler.

[ She says this breezily, tossing some hair over her shoulder before smiling. ]

I mean, I've been looking into the hunting thing. [ Slight pause before she shrugs. ] Okay, more than looking. It started with just researching I swear, but then one thing lead to another and now I'm here.

[ In Wonderland. She figured she'd be like dead or something instead. Not that she hasn't died already or anything - she still needs to bug Dean about that a little. ]

Do you know them or are they just that notorious everywhere?

_{[Adam has to admit, she's already less of an overall asshole, so...]}

Congrats, got your crash course.

_{[He doesn't make much of a move to either accept her claim to coolness or to shoot it down; he's trying as it is not to jump to conclusions when people who know Sam and Dean come into the picture. She doesn't seem to recognize him, which makes him wonder if he's the dirty little secret again, the brother no one's supposed to know about.

If it casts a light on everything the Winchesters have swept under the rug over the years, then he's tempted to tell the truth, just let it hang out there and fuck the rest.]}

Yeah. I know them. _{[There's more unsaid than said.]} You know if they have any other siblings?

001 :: >press any key to continue (arrival)

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