entrancelogs | open; i got issues, but you got 'em too

Who: grant ward + you
Where: all over wonderland
When: 3/22-3/26
Rating: pg for now
Summary: ward's done hiding. it's time to make some connections.
The Story:

[ It's a good thing Ward's always been highly adaptable. Waking up in Wonderland? No problem. Realizing this is his afterlife because there is no way he could have survived getting his chest crushed? Well, he's learning to deal with it. It's not like he wasn't ready for it all to be over anyways. He just wasn't going to go down without a fight.

What's it been now? A week since he arrived to this ridiculous place? Ward hasn't seen a lot of Wonderland just yet as he's been cooped up in his room mostly; licking his wounds, biding his time, doing some research. But hey, what a room. Four walls. Literally. He probably could have come up with something better, but it's not like he needs much anyways. It could have been worse. He could have woken up in a coffin. Yikes.

All dressed up in a leather jacket, comfortable jeans and a crisp white shirt, Grant Ward takes a good look at himself in the mirror and asks himself who he wants to be today. Because walking out that door is a big deal. He's about to start a brand new chapter in his life. He can do anything. Be anyone. And what does a dead man want?

Well, freedom's out of the question. So -- how about a walk around Wonderland? And maybe some company? Come on. Is that really too much to ask for? ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes. If you wouldn't mind giving me a tour of the place. [ It's not like he thinks he'll get lost considering Wonderland's not that big of a place and he has this map in hand, but some company would be appreciated and he'd like to get to know his next door neighbor anyways. ] After you. [ He motions for Regis to lead the way.

Ward's not sure if he should try to be himself (whoever that is even) or if he should come off as the more friendly, chatty type or be less of this and that. Not having any real idea why he's here or what he's supposed to be doing in this place is killing him. He's taken orders all his life and for a short while, he'd managed to lead a team of his own. He's always had a mission.

Now? He's just some dead guy in Wonderland. Is he going to have to wrestle with the question of who he is for the rest of eternity? ]

So, where are you from? [ Okay. Guess he's establishing that he's that curious guy who hates awkward silences. ]

['Where are you from', comes the question, and it gives him pause no matter how many times he hears it simply because there is no easy answer. Rather than respond immediately, he sets off down the corridor with his new acquaintance in tow, making a soft sound of thought.]

Before I arrived here I was in a city called Beauclair, in the Duchy of Toussaint. I had been intending to move northwards, after some events transpired which necessitated it.

[He makes a small gesture for Grant to take the stairs down into the grand entranceway of the mansion.] Before that, I resided not far outside Dillingen, a city in Brugge just north of the Yaruga river.

[And then he smiles, in full knowledge that what he said will have meant little.]

And I an afraid that an explanation of my origins will mean as much to you as those names.

Honestly, you lost me at Beauclair. [ Ward's not bothering to hide the confusion on his face at hearing the names of these strange places. He's heard of people in Wonderland coming from different worlds or universes entirely so it's not too surprising, but still. It's going to take some getting used to. ]

You're not human. [ Having worked for SHIELD he's well aware that they're not alone in the great big universe. That aliens are a thing. He'd been about to roll out the red carpet and invite one back home when he'd died. So much for the chance to bring Hive back to Earth. That would have likely been his greatest accomplishment. The chaos that would have caused and the eventual downfall of SHIELD would have been worth all that trouble. ]

[He's blunt. Regis likes that. He chuckles in a way that barely shows his teeth - each one of them deadly sharp.]

Very perceptive. No, I am not human.

[No one has said it quite so plainly before. Even Cullen, who had challenged him almost immediately.]

Does that concern you?

I would be lying if I said it didn't concern me at first, but that was when the aliens first emerged back home. [ He's had some experience dealing with the extraordinary types. He also likes to think of himself as being adaptable. The fact he's dead back home and is now stuck in an afterlife based on a children's book -- well, he's dealing with it too. As best as he can. ]

What are you then? What do they call your kind? [ The fact Regis isn't human just made him all the more interesting really. ]

They call us many unflattering things.

[Freaks. Monsters. Bloodsuckers. Regis has heard them all. Some of them might even be true, but not for all of his kind, and that is where the problem lies.

He holds the front door of the mansion open for his companion.]

But I am a higher vampire. That would be the preferred term.

[ He gives Regis a smile in thanks when he holds the door open for him, appreciating the hospitality, but stops in his tracks for a brief second at the mention of the word vampire. The look on his face though is one of fascination. Back home, vampires are a thing of fiction and nothing more. ]

A vampire... [ He steps out into bright daylight and has to actually shield his eyes from the sun. ] Hold on. Is this going to be alright for you? [ He glances back over his shoulder at Regis, wondering if he might have some sensitivity to brights light or sunlight in particular. He wouldn't like to inconvenience him in any way. ]

[In this, Regis decides that 'show' is better than 'tell' and simply steps out into the daylight after Grant. Nothing bad happens. He doesn't smoke, catch fire, or do anything that suggests he is in any kind of pain until the sun. Much like the other man, though, he does shield his eyes.]

Perfectly alright, though I appreciate the concern. [In the brighter light, the peculiarities about him are all the clearer - particularly the thin, wavering shadow that he almost isn't casting across the ground.]

Though I have learned that it doesn't hold true for all vampires I have met here, I have no adverse reactions to the sun... or many other things that people commonly believe will ward my kind away.

Like garlic and wooden crosses? [ Stuff of fiction. Can't believe everything you read and hear about from home then. Wonderland's residents are something else altogether.

Not that he's managed to pay much attention to fictional things. Sent to military school as a child and then left to fend for himself in the woods as a teenager; spending years on his own with only a dog for company and the occasional visit from his mentor, Garrett, who thought him how to hunt, kill and to later serve as his loyal soldier and nothing else, Ward's knowledge of Wonderland as mentioned in some children's novel is fairly limited.

Of course he'd made a mental note to head to the library to grab a copy of Lewis Carroll's books. ]

Is this your true from? [ He looks human for the most part. The fact Regis' shadow can barely be seen compared to his own is a slight giveaway -- that is, if anyone pays as much attention to details as Ward does. ]

As true as it needs to be.

['True form' would be something of a misnomer in his case, but he can understand the curiosity. While they head down to the gardens, he clasps his hands behind his back and takes a deep breath of the crisp air. Unnecessary, but pleasant.]

Vampires such as myself exist in a state of flux. The form you see now is a... hm, a construct, of sorts. It is how I appear normally, but.. it can be subject to change.

[Grant will very quickly find out just how much Regis enjoys talking about vampires.]

[ Ward does the same, breathing in the fresh air, glad for the flow of oxygen in his lungs, appreciating the fact he's capable of it when somewhere back home, he's nothing but a corpse left to rot on a lonely, ugly planet. Mostly he does it for effect though. Something called mirroring. The imitation of a gesture in order to build rapport. A thing he's learned to subtly do. ]

Like a shapeshifter? [ That ability would likely come in handy in a place like this. It's unfortunate he doesn't have any special abilities. He's human. Not exactly weak, but surviving in Wonderland will likely be a challenge, especially if he were to run into his enemies here. It's not like he'd been expecting to live in peace and quiet or anything like that. He's never known a life quite like that, but it would actually be nice for a change. ]

open; i got issues, but you got 'em too

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