entrancelogs | just look at the state of you, babe.

Who: Caitlin Snow + Dorian Pavus; Caitlin + friends; Caitlin + YOU!
Where: Gardens, Library, Kitchen, Dining Room, Tea Room, etc
When: June 13 and beyond
Rating: PG-13; just to be safe, there may be intense imagery.
Summary: An already broken Caitlin arrives in Wonderland and is saddled with dealing with it and her baggage.
The Story:

june 13; arrival ( closed to dorian pavus )

[ She has to keep running.

It's the singular thought keeping her upright, keeping her awake. She has to warn them, she has to find the friends she has left, before Jay finds her. Caitlin's sure this is a trick; a cruel joke to punish her for warning the police a few nights ago. (Of course, telling her Barry's dead could have been a trick and a punishment too, but it would go against him saying he couldn't hurt her. An almost promise that's now broken because she left.) But even if it's a trick, she has to keep going. She can see the ruined spires of STAR Labs in the distance, even in the dark, and she's so close, so close...

And then the world becomes blindingly bright and markedly less ... urban. ] No.

[ There's hedges and a fountain and flowers everywhere. It isn't right. No, this isn't where she was a moment ago. She turns on the spot, squinting in the bright light, searching for ... something. They didn't miss any breaches. Did Zoom have someone else who could open them? ... no, if he did, he would have come after Barry sooner.

Her breath comes in heaves and pants, bordering on hyperventilating, something more than just being winded. Her clothes are dirty, looking as if she's worn them for a week or more. Her hair is dirty and knotted, her face drawn and streaked with dirt and the trail of dried tears. When her legs start to shake, she gracelessly sits right where she is, flopping down before drawing her legs tight to her chest.

Apologies to whoever finds her. ]

june 13-15

[ This space reserved for cast/canonverse mates. Will fill in once deets are sorted. ]

june 13; post-arrival thread ( closed to iris west )

[ It's a time-honored cliche, that doctors make for the worst patients. It certainly isn't an absolute, and it isn't even really a fair majority that it applies to. But being a cliche didn't make it not true. And for Caitlin, it's incredibly, borderline painfully true.

It isn't that she tries to be difficult. She's had to handle her own share of difficult patients, she knows first-hand how it can fray someone's nerves and rattle a less-secure professional, even how it can sometimes become a distraction. Every difficult patient has an excuse for why they behave the way they do, it's just that hers is real and true.

It's why she's making her way out of the clinic as soon as the initial exam is over. Dehydrated, malnourished, sleep deprived — she doesn't really need someone else to tell her these things. She's acutely aware of them, the dangers they pose. That she should stay and lay down. There isn't time for this. There has to be some way out of here, there just has to be.

As she steps out into the hall, her eyes go wide and she looks like she's been struck. ] Iris?

june 16 and beyond ( open )

[ It takes a few days to coax Caitlin out from beyond the relative safety of familiar faces, their rooms, and hers.

She's struggling, sometimes visibly, with adjusting. There's moments where she feels on the verge of panic and nearly seeks out a secluded space to fall apart and calm herself down in peace. Then there's moments where she's perfectly fine, almost happy (but never quite), where she feels closer to normal. Even then, there's something about her eyes that gives away what's just beneath the surface: they're too wide, they track every movement around her. There's a sheen of fear hiding in them.

It's not all terrible. The library quickly becomes a place to find her regularly. If she has to be away from the safety of friends, then she'll choose the second best option, the safety and familiarity of books. Too much solitude, though, leads to too much thinking, which leads to slipping back into that terrified place. It's touch and go, really.

She also avails herself to the kitchen, sometimes at odd hours of the night. Cooking for herself is such a routine part of her life, so it helps with regaining her footing. Sometimes, she's lazy and opts for the dining room or the tea rooms, though it still feels odd to have food and drinks come out of thin air. (She tries not to think about it.) ]

[ want a specific location not listed? feel free to ask through PM or at

lovedbythesun ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm not sure that ever stops being strange.

[ Natasha confesses it with a crooked smile as she sinks down across from the other woman, settling comfortably with her own mug and taking a tentative sip. It was even more disconcerting that it could brew a perfect cup of tea. Or coffee. Or, so far, any of the stranger recipes she had asked of it on a whim. ]

Is there magic, in the world you come from? People here tend to blame much of it on that. Or, perhaps, some science or technology we can't understand as of yet. But there have been people from very far in the future who are just as baffled by it as the rest of us, so I'm not even sure that's it.

[ Caitlin takes a careful sip of tea, not sure what to expect as far as varietal or temperature. It's warm, but not burning, thankfully. And there's something familiar about the tea itself. ]

There's certainly people that believe in magic, where I'm from. I know that there's plenty that seems inexpiable. Someone who's been brought back to life after a year of being dead and buried. A man who can draw out someone's life-force with a touch. [ She shrugs, trying to search for what she's trying to get at. ] The scientist in me wants to say that, sufficiently studied, these phenomena would prove rooted in real world theories.

Where I come from, some of the smartest scientific minds I know think most magic is just science we haven't figured out yet. Or perhaps manipulation of the world around us to a degree that most normal humans will never be capable of. We have our fair share of strange circumstances that have created something - or someone - that goes beyond what anyone would consider 'normal'.

[ She pauses to take a sip of her tea, discussing it easily, since this is something that's come up time and time again - with Tony, with Jane. With Bruce. It's not the first time she's been part of a debate about the impossible. ]

I've heard something like that, too. It being science that we can't yet explain.

[ The exact wording of the quote eludes her at the moment, but she can place it. Somewhere. Most likely, as with many things, it's something that's come up when talking with Cisco. It's a remark that he would both make and refute, talking while they were working.

We have something of the same. Though, metahumans were created out of more tragic circumstances than strange.

Metahumans?

[ Natasha's head tilts slightly to the side in telegraphed curiosity as she picks up on the unfamiliar word. It's fairly self-explanatory in the simplest sense, but she's come to find that the subtle differences in many of their worlds are sometimes far from simple. ]

Right. Sorry. [ Caitlin shakes her head, trying to clear her mind. Trying to dislodge the metaphorical cobwebs within. ] It's a term we use back home for a person who has extraordinary or super-human abilities. Like superspeed or turning into mist or controlling the weather. It's a relatively new term for a very new concept in my world.

[ Understanding flits through Natasha's gaze as she settles back against the couch. ]

Ahh, yes. My world recently discovered there were much stranger beings lurking among us than we anticipated as well. People with powers, as well as some visitors from other places. It's quite an adaptation process, coming to terms with the world not being quite the place you thought it was.

Or coming to terms with the world that you inadvertently had a hand in creating.

[ She glances down into her mug of tea, her lips pressed together into a thin line. It's something that will always weigh on her conscience, even if she had no major hand in the accelerator. ]

But that kind of impossible, I've quantified it. Studied it. I can understand it.

Understanding it logically is not always the same thing as adapting to it. The new world you find yourself dropped into. [ She can speak from experience as to that.

She cocks her head, mulling over what Caitlin had just admitted. ] You had a hand in what made them? Science gone wrong, I take it?

I did. Not directly, but.

[ Her hesitation is clear. This is something a normal person would say she's blameless in, but something that she blames herself for. ]

It was the man I worked for. At the time, everyone thought it was just a tragic accident. We found out differently over a year later.

just look at the state of you, babe.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject