Adjusting - Open Post

[ladiesss]

WHO: Krista & anyone who wants to join her!
WHERE: The edge of the forest, the school (??), and the hotel.
WHAT: Magic, exploration, and laying on the floor because uuuugh.
WHEN: Time is relative but after she's been here for a week.
WARNINGS: None, currently!



Forest.

Krista thought she was being sneaky, heading to the edge of the relatively less-traveled forest area to do her weird fairy magic. She was careful to be quiet about it, at first, making sure no one was around to see or hear her... But once she gets going, she gets absorbed in the task, and may not notice someone quietly walking up behind her, or hanging around to overhear her conversation.

Because she is having a serious conversation... with a frog. It has four eyes and weird, silver blotches on its back, but it's definitely a frog, and she's definitely whispering at if as if she's hearing the second half of a conversation.

"...He looks like me, but, um... No colors, very pale." She gestures over herself, explaining this concept to her amphibious audience. "Short hair... I think. Big black eyes."

A pause.

"Oh, his feet? Really dirty. No shoes. I think they were wrapped in something."

A pause. A ribbit from the frog. Krista perks up.

"You have seen him? Which way did he go?"


------


School.

She's pretty sure this is a school, anyway, between the gym stuff down below and the lecture-hall style of the rooms above. She was initially poking around like she was looking for someone, but that eventually turned into looking for something amidst the rubble.

She gasps with excitement when she finally finds it--buried underneath other debris and probably preserved only through dumb luck, she finds the rotting remains of something that looks like a book. It's clear when she pulls it out that it's useless, just a cover and the mushy shreds of some leftover paper, but Krista hugs it to her chest as if it was her very own long-lost diary.

And then, miraculously, the pages start to fill back in with a quiet fluttering, the cover straightening and un-crumbling as if time was reversed. Soon, she has what is only a slightly-battered book full of blank pages, restored from almost nothing.

She laughs quietly. She opens the pages to check that they're blank, wobbling a little with sudden exhaustion. She laughs again. This will help her. This was worth the energy.


------


Hotel.

Her earlier victories were very encouraging. She feels proud of herself. She believes that the results justified the risks. That said, she is exhausted when she gets back to the hotel... And, results or not, maybe starts to regret spending her energy so liberally without a plan for getting it back.

She stares dully at the stairwell, trying to work up the will to climb those stupid, double-tall steps... And gives up. Instead, she picks an open spot on the floor, lies down with her limbs stretching defiantly outward, and then just sort of... stays there, staring despondently at the ceiling.

She is very, very tired.

Comments

Hotel

[kallig]

Altair very rarely spends too much time at the hotel- he tends to come and go, preferring to be out exploring, or meditating where there are less people to interrupt him.

Of course this doesn't mean he's never at the hotel, usually returning to find a place to curl up and sleep. Using the Force takes more out of him here, and he's still working on testing the limit of his power, so when he returns on this particular day, he's fairly exhausted, ready to rest.

Heading for the stairs to return to the room at the very end of a hallway he's unofficially claimed for himself, he... Stops.

"That's an odd place to decide to sprawl out," The Chiss comments, "Something wrong, or do you just hate the stairs as much as I do?"

He's small, and those stairs are made for someone much taller than he is. Climbing them is indeed a chore that he would blame no one for not wanting to do.

[ladiesss]

"Oh, hey."

That's her initial response to the question, lifting her head just enough to see who it is that's talking to her. She doesn't recognize him. She puts her head back down.

"I mean, I had a day, but thinking about having to climb the stairs is basically what set off the spiral of despair I'm apparently working through, so yeah."

She has a very quiet speaking voice, and her flat tone makes it hard to tell if she's being serious, or if she's playing up the dramatics for some kind of dry humor.

[kallig]

Well, it's not like he doesn't get it. There's many a time he's considered not bothering with climbing the stairs, too. His desire for being somewhere he'll be left alone always wins out in the end though.

Apparently it's not so for everyone. Still, she's managed to catch his attention, both with just laying there, and for blaming the stairs for setting off a spiral of despair.

"Would you like some help in climbing them?"

He might as well offer while he's already there. Even mostly solitary as he's been since arriving, it's not like he dislikes other people, after all.

[ladiesss]

Her first, gut instinct is to reject the offer, maybe make some comment about preferring to wallow in her feelings for a while. But she gets stuck on the fact that he's even offering to help with the stairs at all, because it's a silly, trivial problem, and she hadn't expected to be taken even remotely seriously while complaining about it.

She lifts her head again, considers her options for a moment... And then, finally, sits up.

"You know what? Sure." She'll get to her feet. Dust off her pants. "That sounds all right."

[kallig]

"The place I come from isn't exactly suited to my size either, but here you get the sense that the short did not exist," He says, head turned toward the stairs. There were a few places like that in the universe, of course. Voss hadn't been kind on his legs, for one. But it's an entirely different story when you're stuck on a planet not suited for you.

After all, when he was done on Voss, he left. And most other places, mercifully, had elevators.

He heads toward the stairs, hopping up onto the first step, then turns toward her- waiting for her to come along so he can help her up.

Either with the Force or by extending his hand- he hasn't decided which yet.

[ladiesss]

"You are really small," she agrees, though maybe not with the point he was making. It just strikes her now that she's standing, as someone who's used to being one of the taller girls in class. It reminds her of one of her friends back home--though that guy was actually a pig, so his shortness was more magical than anything.

"But I have totally been wondering if these Agrii are like, eight-feet-tall. And all leg."

Her moodiness is already clearing a little, having something else to think about. She heads to the first step, starts climbing it on her own--she didn't actually think that he'd literally try to help her.

[kallig]

"It wouldn't surprise me if they were. Some species are naturally on the taller side. Haven't seen a species that's all leg before though," He says, and after a moment he adds; "Perhaps three-quarters."

That may have been an attempt at a joke.

The comment about him being really small is ignored entirely. There are reasons for that, after all.

He arches a brow as she starts climbing the stairs, though with how the veil he wears covers most of his face, his expression appears to stay neutral.

"I suppose sometimes only a bit of motivation is necessary?"

He can't help but be amused. He gets it, of course.

Forest

[brooklyn_boy]

It's not every day that you see a person talking to a frog. Steve, armed with Bucky's shield and a pointed stick, was out trying to find some meat for protein. He was sure he was on the verge of something big until he heard whispering. Never did he think he'd see a girl kneeling and talking to a frog.

And, apparently, getting answers.

"Uh," he says loud enough to get her attention. "I...can't help but overhear. You're lookin' for someone?"

A therapist, maybe? Like he can talk.

[ladiesss]

That 'um' was really all it took for Krista to startle and spin around. Still half-crouched in the grass, she and the frog momentarily have the same wide-eyed, stunned expression.

"Um," Krista fumbles, very quiet. "Yes... I was definitely looking for someone. In a very normal way. Totally not just out here talking to a frog in the middle of the forest. That would be crazy."

Smooth, very smooth. She winces a little. Maybe if she keeps floundering long enough, she'll find a way to flop out of the social grave she's digging.

"Who are you...?"

[brooklyn_boy]

Smooth. But Steve is pretty non-smooth himself when push comes to shove so he gets it. He offers a smile and raises his hands up in 'I-Come-In-Peace'.

"Trust me, I've seen much crazier. Ever seen someone grow to the size of a building and then down to the size of an ant? Pretty crazy."

He takes a telegraphed step forward and extends one hand in greeting:

"Steve Rogers. Also known as Captain America in my universe. Superhero on an Earth, but not one that can talk to animals. You?"

[ladiesss]

It's a good approach. She was ready to run, honestly, should it come to that, with her gaze darting quickly to his hands and wondering whether or not a good splash of water to the lungs would actually slow this guy down...

But then he says things that are, well, pretty wild. He seems relaxed, has a trustworthy smile. And by the time there's a hand extended down at her in greeting, she's sighing in relief, feeling more than a little dumb for panicking.

"Wow, I uh... Yeah, that sounds pretty wild..." She picks herself up out of the grass, takes a second to dust off her pant legs, and then reaches out to return the handshake. "I'm, uh, Krista. And super-embarrassed."

A beat. She adds, "I don't know any superheroes, but my friend is a pig with a lightning sword, so I guess that's something."

[brooklyn_boy]

Steve's heard just about everything at this point so his eyebrow raises but that's the extent of his surprise. "A...real pig? Or just a regular man?" See? Steve's with the times. He can make self-depricating humor and recognize slang.

Sometimes.

"Don't be embarrassed," he continues with a friendly smile. "No one knows who they're gonna run into here.

"And imagine how I feel, knowing that these little guys could understand me while I was grumbling away to myself in the forest. That's embarrassing."

[ladiesss]

"Hah, that's good," a little laugh, "No, he was twelve. And also a real pig. That might have been a prince cursed by a witch or something...? Which I swear is not normal for where I'm from."

Boy, she doesn't know whether she wants to try to seem normal or commit to being a huge weirdo--and hovers at neither, fidgeting with her own fingers awkwardly.

"Well, uh, good news, they usually can't. I had to cast a spell." For want of something to do, she wiggles her fingers to indicate magic. "So your forest-grumbling is safe for the time-being."

She also points to the shield-and-stick situation he's brought with him.

"Sooo, what's with your setup?"

hotel

[stillgotmyleftarm]

Bucky comes upon Krista in the stairwell, which... okay, yeah. Cue one worried super soldier.

"You... okay?" he asks, stepping up close enough that he can look down at her without her getting a prime view up his nose. He has class, okay.

[ladiesss]

You know, she appreciates not having to look up someone's nose. Very kind of him.

"Oh." She looks a little surprised that he's here, actually, like she'd forgotten that this was a public place where other people could see her. She doesn't get up or move, though, speaking quietly from the floor. "I mean... Define 'okay'."

[stillgotmyleftarm]

Bucky raises one eyebrow - but she's awake and talking, so those are already good things, he figures.

"Uh - not dying," he says. "Or injured. Low blood sugar?" That happens to diabetics, right? Do they just faint?

[ladiesss]

"Oh, yeah." She lifts one arm at the elbow so that she can wave her hand in that universal 'don't worry about it' gesture, "No, I'm mostly okay. No need to like, call in a medic or anything."

She lets her arm flop back down onto the ground again. "I'm just... Very tired. And kind of in a weird emotional place. It felt very dramatic, so. Floor."

Doesn't everyone lay on the floor when they're having a weird day?

[stillgotmyleftarm]

That one raised eyebrow gets a little higher, but at least it's a relief to hear there isn't a medical emergency or anything. "It is very dramatic," he agrees, crouching down now so he doesn't have to tower over her and have this conversation.

"Then again, getting kidnapped to an alien planet is probably pretty dramatic, huh?" He sort of figures that's what this is about. It's the most logical thing, anyway.

[ladiesss]

Crouching down does seem like the logical thing to do here, especially with how she has not particularly raised her voice to be heard. However, someone entering her conversational space is just enough to make her finally feel an ounce of self-consciousness, and she finds herself crossing her arms over her stomach and crossing her ankles over one another.

It makes her look more like a grumpy child, funnily enough--but it's really just her trying to feel less exposed without making it look like she cares.

"...Right? You think so?" She looks over at the stranger with a worried frown, "Because I've done this a couple of times before, so I thought I'd be like, a pro at it by now. But it's..."

She doesn't finish the sentence, twisting her mouth shut and glancing somewhere else instead.

Hotel

[pileofspirits]

They don't make much sound as they shuffle over, like they're lighter than they should be. Just the whisper of cloth brushing over concrete and the soft pat of bare feet, until a whole laundry-basket worth of rags leans into her view.

They smile down at her a little. "Flat?"

[ladiesss]

She doesn't have a whole lot to listen to, so she hears them coming closer, waits patiently to see if whoever it is will walk past, or stop to tell her to get off the floor.

She doesn't recognize them until after they've entered her field of vision. She blinks up at them a couple of times, trying to make sense of the weird bundle above her, before--

"Oh, there you are." She actually smiles a little, even though she's still on the ground, "I was looking all over for you today..."

[pileofspirits]

"All over? We're right here." How silly of her.

They take a second to look over her whole starfished form, before focusing on her face again.

"Are you... stopping? Or stand... stamping?"

[ladiesss]

"Well, you are now..." She says, pretty sure that they hadn't been there earlier.

But they've got stopping (or stamping?) to discuss. She tilts her head a little.

"No, I'm just sort of laying down here. Flat, like you said. Wanted to be close to the ground for a while."

She... pats the floor next to her, inviting them to join in some way if they feel like it...?

[pileofspirits]

Oh, yes. When she explains wanting to be close to the ground, they can feel the impulse so clearly, it's quite a relief when she actually invites them.

Without any hesitation, as if it had been their plan all along, they shuffle over and lower themselves down onto the ground next to her. Their limbs drape out in all directions, just like hers. She might end up with a ghostly arm flopped over her stomach in the process.

[ladiesss]

Were this anyone else, she might have been annoyed... But Phalanx seems so childlike and innocent in what they do that she hardly minds having a limb land on her. She'll make a small "oof" sound and think nothing else of it.

"Well, now there's two of us. Or, um," as she remembers their nature, "A bunch of us, I guess. What have you been up to, Phalanx?"