Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket | OPEN

[vitaelamorte]

Who: EVERYONE and all the stars in the sky
Where: Mostly on the grounds, though some have crashed through windows and walls.
When: 2/29 → 3/6
Rating: PG-13, label it if you're gonna go higher.
Summary: Shooting stars have fallen in Wonderland, and they're bringing with them glimmers of Wonderyears past! A catch all log for the fallen star holograms.
The Story:

Each glittering, golden star brings the woosh of a sonic boom and there are impacts that shake the whole world. They crash hard into the snow, the trees, and even break through a few windows. None of them leave behind meteors or space debris, but instead just a glimmering cloud at each point of impact. In each gold light is a projection, a scene lit by starlight and moondust, a memory of years ago. Even if someone were to be struck by one, it would simply pass through them.

These are just the first stars to fall. More will come the next night, and the night after that, and perhaps even more. When budding astronomers look upward, they will notice fewer and fewer constellations dot the night sky with each passing day.

All memories are semi-opaque, and will play in a loop in one spot the whole time. Most stars will have landed somewhere on the grounds, but some might have crashed through a window, playing their memory inside the mansion. Characters can listen to and watch the scenes as many times as they like, but they will be unable to influence or interact with the memories in any way.

You can make a top level comment with all the scenes people will get to see. Please include who is in your memory and where it can be found somewhere in your top level. Either prose or [action brackets] are welcome! And finally, check out our plotting post for reminders on what everyone's doing, or ideas for the finishing touches on your memories or the most recent event announcement for more on the falling stars.

Comments

[widows_kiss]

Natasha is still getting her bearings around this place. The fact that there are holographic memories popping up all over aren't exactly helping any - besides the fact that they pop up where no one expects them to, she also doesn't know most of the people in them.

Which always brings back the nagging questions of should she? It wasn't a feeling she particularly liked.

That didn't mean she wasn't watching all the ones she came across anyway, committing names and faces to memory in case she did encounter the sources in her travels. This one she gives the older man a thoughtful look before fixing her attention on the younger of the two, because the look on his face is one she recognizes all too well.

She wonders what they're referring to, and what it is he's carrying around on his shoulders.

[saved]

Peter has been unintentionally watching all these memories too. It isn't even that he is trying to gather information. He knows what it is like to need to carry secrets. He knows it so intimately, but it is impossible to escape them and to not be drawn into what is happening in them.

He just-

There is no way to anticipate this one which he stumbles on at the same time Natasha is there. A sharp intake of breath, he takes a step back and blinks and swallows and-

"What the hell."

It's like staring at a ghost. He reaches a shaky hand up to try to touch it- his Uncle, but it doesn't work. Of course, it doesn't. It's a memory. It's a memory of them here before.

[widows_kiss]

Her gaze comes up, alert, when the real figure from the memory all but skids to a stop at the sight of the scene playing out in front of them, and she takes an automatic step back to give him his space. But he goes pale, like he's seen a ghost, and she's been seeing that a lot in the past few days to recognize it.

"Not someone you expected to see here?" she asks gently after a moment, giving him the time to watch the scene play through once before it resets and starts again.

[saved]

Peter swallows through the terrible lump in his throat and then turns to the woman speaking to him. He slides a hand back through his hair before he shakes his head.

"Uh. No. He's- It's my Uncle. God, this is weird. I mean, first we- we get taken to some freaky, magical place that wants our memories and then the next there are all these memories of something that already happened? But I wasn't here for this. I mean, I don't remember this." He lets out a huff of breath as he realizes he has rambled to a virtual stranger who is probably grappling with her own stuff. "...sorry."

[widows_kiss]

"I'm not sure anyone here is remembering when these memories are from," she points out gently, having been observing them - and people's reactions to them - all morning. "Everyone seems just as confused and surprised by them, from what I've seen. You don't have to apologize to me. I understand how they can be... startling," she comments, choosing her words carefully. "I've only just arrived myself so everything is still in the 'freaky' stage for me."

[saved]

"Yeah, I- I got that impression walking around too," Peter admits, and he doesn't know what it means. Was this from Wonderland's history? Is it visions of the future? He slides his hand back in his hair, biting down on his lip with a tiny laugh. "Thanks, and uh- Welcome to Wonderland. Helluva an entrance, huh?"

He forces himself to turn away from the vision until he faces her instead.

[widows_kiss]

"I've been informed that Wonderland doesn't 'do' boring," she drawls wryly with a faint quirk of her lips. "I suppose whether this place is a mimic or the real deal, it still got that correctly."

She doesn't miss the way he angles himself away and she motions off a little ways with a wave of her hand. "Would you rather go elsewhere?"

[saved]

Peter smirks when he sees that faint quirk of her lips. He shoves his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, I haven't been here long but from what I've seen, that's- It's really true."

He swallows and then nods more times than is necessary, keeping his hands shoved into his pockets. "Uh, yeah. That'd be good. Really good." He'll probably be back later but. He can't look at it right now. "I'm Peter by the way."

[widows_kiss]

"Natasha," she answers easily, turning to move away from the replaying scene, keeping her pace easily one he could match that would still taken them out of range of familiar voices in a matter of moments. "I've only been here all of a day myself."

[saved]

Peter keeps his head ducked. His shoulders are tense, awkward as he moves. He does seem to relax the further they get away from the scene, but awkwardness is a part of him like a limb so he's still kind of awkwardly moving about. "Not too long, and you get greeted with a bunch of scenes on your first day as if ending up here isn't weird enough on its own."

[widows_kiss]

"That's sort of how my luck normally rolls," she comments dryly. "Life doesn't like letting me get too bored on any given day. So are you one of the ones from a version of earth, or one of the other places?" she asks, because that's now yet another concept she has to wrap her head around.

[saved]

"You mean it rolls right off a cliff into God why? territory? Cause yeah, mine too," Peter says with a smirk, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walks alongside her. "I'm from a version of Earth, which means... you too, right? But here's the real question since different universes and all, do you know New York City?"

[widows_kiss]

His comparison gets a laugh from her, short but genuine and she casts him a crooked smile in wry agreement. "That sounds about right, yes," she agrees. "And yes, I know New York City. Very well, at least. Although I'm learning there's a few represented here, depending on differing timelines. Was yours invaded by aliens a few years back?"

[saved]

Peter sends her a little smirk when she laughs like that. "No, not mine. Mine had a giant lizard man but no aliens... as far as I know at least. I did meet Steve when I arrived, and he said his New York had aliens too, that he fought with a whole team of people against those aliens too." Superheroes. He'd mentioned they had been called that even if Steve seemed hesitant to call himself that.

[widows_kiss]

"Giant lizard men? Really?" She looks momentarily surprised at that before shaking her head, lips twisting in amusement. "Next it'll be ninja turtles. And yes, I come from Steve's New York. We're from the same team." That at least helped clarify things a little.

[saved]

"Hey at least the ninja turtles would be on the side of good, and they could've like helped to take out the giant lizard man. He did spend a lot of time in the sewers who knows what he dropped off down there," Peter says with a crooked smile which widens when Natasha confirms that she is on that same team. "That's awesome. A team that took out aliens. Wow. You do look really badass so I can't say that I'm surprised."

She looks like she'd be on a team of superheroes, taking out bad guys. He just had the one giant lizard so it wasn't really a huge threat in comparison.

[widows_kiss]

"Aren't you adorable?" she teases him in amusement at his response, casting him a sideways glance. "To be fair, there wasn't time for us to have much of a choice. Just suddenly a giant hole in the sky and then giant flying space slugs. Didn't leave much room for alternatives. Besides. Giant lizard man? Still pretty impressive. I mean, you see a lot of weird shit in New York on a daily basis but even that one's a little out there."

[saved]

Peter tilts his head to the side before he nods with a tiny smirk. "Yep, I'm the cutest," he says but he doesn't actually believe that about himself. He just responds well to amusement. He bites down on his lip, shaking his head. "Nah, running's always an option so since you chose to stay, it's pretty bad ass. ...yeah, it was kind of my fault. Cross species genetics can get messy."

[widows_kiss]

Natasha just arches an eyebrow. "Your fault? Were you the one messing with cross-species genetics?"

[saved]

"...kinda. I was searching for answers about my dad, and I stumbled on this hidden formula he'd made, and I just- I gave it away to this scientist who used to work with my dad at OsCorp and then he used it on himself and Giant... Lizard Man," Peter says with a tiny smile as he clears his throat. Not his best decision at all.

[widows_kiss]

"That sounds like less your fault and more his for using himself as a guinea pig," she remarks dryly. "Did you suspect he was going to use it on himself?"

[saved]

"...no, but I should've figured my father had the formula hidden for a reason." Peter shakes his head after a second, ducking it slightly with a little smirk. "I think- I think Dr. Connors just wanted his arm back. He'd lost it, and lizards could regrow their limbs so. He didn't know it'd do what it did."

[widows_kiss]

Natasha blinks and absorbs that information. "He definitely sounds like the crazy scientist sort. That wouldn't be Option A, B, or C for me either. Isn't that what testing and trials are for before you move into live experiments?"

She shakes her head with an exasperated sigh. "Please tell me the giant lizard man had two arms. Otherwise he really does sound like a moron."

[saved]

"Yeah, there was some sort of- The company was being weird about it and pressuring him. I don't really know the details. Maybe he was afraid he'd lose funding." Maybe he was afraid he wouldn't get the chance to try it on himself if that funding was lost. "But yeah, bad decision. Lizard man had two arms, but he was cured and then carted off to jail so-"

It wasn't really the ending he'd have wanted.

[widows_kiss]

"So karma bit him in the ass," she surmises for him, crossing her arms over her chest. "The lengths desperate people will go to will never cease to amaze me."