apocalypsehowcomm | Log | July Catch-All | OTA (plus prompts for Donna & Callisto)

Entry tags:

Log | July Catch-All | OTA (plus prompts for Donna & Callisto)

Who: Caitlyn Kiramman and you!
When: July
Where: all over the place
Summary: Caitlyn adjusts to life in Massachusetts
Warnings: tbd

I. Interfering in an Investigation (Again) (OTA)

[While Caitlyn has enthusiastically joined the ranks of ADI's investigations unit, she is still afforded some free time, and what better use of that free time than to involve herself in police business? She heeds ADI's warnings, of course, and tries to avoid staying too close to any individual officers. This is made easier by the fact that the police make it clear they don't want her anywhere near any of their crime scenes, and that 'interfering with an investigation' is an offense for which they would be well within their purview to arrest her.

So when Caitlyn finds herself standing outside a line of police tape at a crime scene near the railroad tracks, she double checks that no one's looking before ducking under the tape to question a suspect who's been left on his own in handcuffs.

It takes all of twenty seconds for an officer to notice her and forcefully escort her back across the tape with a stern warning.

She turns in a huff, clutching her open notebook, phone, and pen to her chest, only to drop all of them when she unexpectedly knocks into another bystander.]

I-- I apologize, I didn't see you. [She kneels, awkwardly scrambling to pick up her things.] Are you alright?

II. Clothes Shopping (OTA)

[One of the first things Caitlyn realizes in her exploration of Gloucester is that the fashion here is wildly different than that of Piltover. She remembers the first lesson Vi taught her - blend in - and makes her way to a clothing store.

All of the clothing is adorned with numbers she doesn't understand. The price, presumably, and sizes? She has no idea what size she is. Her clothing has, for the most part, always been tailored or purchased for her.

It's immeasurably frustrating, realizing just how helpless she is in the real world.

Not to be deterred, she chooses a few items off the rack and makes her way to the changing room. She's left the little stall in a pair of something called 'jeans' and a blouse - buttoned all the way up to the collar - and is standing in front of a full-length mirror in the hallway, shoulders tense and brow furrowed, feeling increasingly foolish, when she notices someone vaguely familiar from ADI.]

Does this look acceptable? I'm afraid I... [Never bothered much with fashion before? Am from a completely different world where no one would ever dress like this? Have never really done my own clothes shopping before?

She glances around awkwardly to see whether anyone else might be listening.] ...am new to this.

III. Conspiracy Time (OTA)

[ADI's library is frustratingly small, and Caitlyn has yet to entirely figure out how the computers work. She has two notebooks with her: the first is her official notebook, the one she keeps on all ADI and Entity-related matters, which she's happy - if not overly enthustiastic - to share with any of her coworkers. The other is rather more clandestine. It contains all of her notes on ADI itself, everything that could point to the truth of their intentions. She isn't convinced, based on one conversation with Aelwyn, that ADI has some dubious ulterior motive, but she's not ready to dismiss Aelwyn's suspicions, either. Hence the notebook.

She hasn't been here long, but both notebooks are already filled with her compact, scribbled handwriting, paperclips and post-it notes and photos from the polaroid camera she spent her first paycheck on stuck to the pages. There's so much to learn about this new world, her new employers, and the new threats she's facing, and Caitlyn has never been anything short of exuberant about cataloguing new information.

Both of them are with her in the library today, and she's left them sitting on a table with a couple of books that seem potentially interesting while she searches the painfully ill-outfitted shelves for anything that might illuminate the history of ADI.

She's just starting to get frustrated with the library's small selection when she notices someone glancing at one of the notebooks, which must have fallen open. She hurries back to the table and closes it quickly, unsure of which notebook it is.]

That's, um. [She picks them up.] Mine.

IV. Getting to Know the Roommates (for Donna and Callisto)

(a). Laundry??

[Caitlyn has inquired with ADI personnel, who were less than helpful on the matter of laundry. There was something about facilities, but Caitlyn has no idea where those might be or how to use them or even what 'laundry facilities' really means.

So, dressed in one of the new outfits she's purchased, with the other new outfits and her bloody, paint-stained uniform in a hamper carried under one arm, she peers out into the hallway, hoping to encounter one of the people she's meant to be sharing this living space with.]

Excuse me?

[Fortunately it appears that one of her roommates is, indeed, here. She holds out her hand.]

I'm Caitlyn. It's a pleasure to meet you.

(b). Cooking??

[Caitlyn has often felt the opulence of the Kiramman Manor to be more a burden than a luxury, but this tiny apartment, which she's meant to share with two other people, will certainly be an adjustment. The bedroom is more a closet than a bedroom, barely large enough to fit a bed and something that's likely meant to serve as a desk. She's always tried to be polite and tidy and not leave messes for the servants, but she can already tell that taking out the bins and doing the washing up requires a surprising amount of effort. And now...

Cooking.

She's standing with her hands braced on the counter, head bowed, a pile of burned fish sitting next to her.]

This is absurd! I followed the instructions, I-- I set a timer! It can't be this difficult to prepare food!

[She grabs the fish and starts to empty it into the bin. Somehow, despite its blackened exterior, it's still raw on the inside.]

V. Wildcard!

[Feel free to throw anything at me!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Donna's not a morning person, particularly, and never has been, especially on a weekend. It's why she's still wandering around in a bathrobe when Caitlyn flags her down. She should really do more of a welcome wagon for the new girl. She can't possibly be worse than Luka or Callisto.]

Donna.

[She glances at the basket as she gives the proffered hand a firm shake.]

Popping off to the wash, are you?

[She shakes Donna's hand, giving her a somewhat tight but genuine smile, relieved to have a roommate who seems friendly.]

Yes, they-- They said there was some sort of facility. Who should I speak to about having it seen to?

Oh, they've just got a communal thing. It's no big deal.

[Donna covers her mouth as she yawns expansively.]

Give me a minute to get dressed, and I'll walk you over there. You've got coins, yeah?

Coins?

[She hasn't got coins. Is she meant to have coins? It makes sense that she would have to pay someone to do the laundry - the servants, after all, were paid, and rather handsomely at that - but most of the money she's encountered in this world so far has been little slips of paper or cards; nothing like the ubiquitous use of coins in her own world.]

Isn't it an ADI facility? Would it not be simpler to deduct the cost of the launderer's salary from our pay?

Edited 2022-08-05 04:13 (UTC)

The launderer's... Ah, no. I guess they might have some sort of service in town, but the things they've got here, you do yourself. Have you never done your own laundry?

[What year is it? How old is this woman?]

[Do it yourself? How? She's always assumed there's some sort of skill or training involved in doing laundry. Knowing how to remove which types of stains, that sort of thing. She wouldn't have the faintest idea where to start.]

No, the servants always took care of it.

Right. Hold on, then, princess, you are getting a crash course in doing your own laundry.

[Donna disappears into her own room for a few minutes, emerging in a casual outfit with her hair pulled up into a ponytail.]

First things first, you'll need money and supplies. I'll let you use my detergent and softener, but you've got some cash with you, yeah?

[Caitlyn stands in the hallway, baffled, while Donna retreats to her room. She had no idea laundry would be such an involved process.

She's at least grateful that Donna seems willing to help.

When Donna reemerges, she quickly shifts the laundry hamper so she can more easily walk with it, still baffled but swept up in the productiveness of the moment.]

ADI provided me with some funds to get started with, yes. How, um-- [This is embarassing.] How much does it cost? [She has no idea how much anything costs, really, a problem compounded by the fact that the currency here is brand new to her.]

It's not that much. S'the beauty of doing it yourself. C'mon.

[She curls a finger to indicate Caitlyn should follow as she starts out of the apartment and off toward one of the cupboards in the shared living room. She pulls out the supplies they'll need, then heads out of the flat.]

Have you ever cleaned... anything before?

[They're going to have to have a chat about shared responsibilities, if not...]

[Caitlyn follows along as Donna gathers various strange bottles.

She can't help but read into Donna's words an implication that because she never learned to do her own laundry, she's completely helpless when it comes to household chores. Never mind that, well, she really has never done any household chores before.]

I do know how to tidy up after myself.

Good. Our last flatmate thought leaving his take-away containers everywhere except the bin was acceptable. Long as you aren't as bad as that, I think I can work with that. You know the worst thing about that, though? He was flipping handsome. Big broad shoulders, muscles, gorgeous eyes and hair...

[Donna sighs wistfully.]

If I could just look at him without knowing what he was like to live with. Shame, really.

Oh. Yes. I-- I'm sure he was very good looking.

[Caitlyn has never once in her life looked at a man and found him attractive. But being friends with Jayce Talis, she's aware that broad shoulders, muscles, and an excess of hair cream do tend to go over well.]

I've never had takeaway, but I'm sure I can remember to put the containers in the bin. Should that... be an issue.

[Donna's heard that tone before. It does pique her interest.]

Good girl. Soooooo... I know you're new here, but I'm not. If you're ever looking for advice on boys, or girls, happy to offer it. Love a good office romance.

[Caitlyn can't help but stiffen up a little at that. She's always found these sorts of discussions a tad awkward, especially with people she doesn't know well.

At least this isn't as bad as discussing potential suitors with her mother.]

That's very kind, but I'm not really looking for anything like that.

[She huffs a miserable little huff.]

There was someone. Back home. It didn't. She wasn't... [How to say 'I fell head over heels for a girl I met less than a week ago in prison, and, while she made it clear she wasn't interested in a relationship, I'm terrified she might be dead and I would do anything to get back to her'?] I'm not really looking right now.

Oh, sweetheart... I'm sorry.

[Not interested? Not appropriate? Not available? Any number of ways to finish that sentence are available, and all of them have Donna casting a more sympathetic look at the girl before they step into the laundry.]

What is the last thing you remember doing? You can set your basket down on the table here. It's for folding when we're done.

[Caitlyn is somewhat surprised the sympathy, but she certainly appreciates it. She glances gratefully at Donna as she follows her into the laundry.]

The last thing I was doing before I arrived here? She and I were both kidnapped. I was knocked unconscious, I... I don't know what happened to her.

[She sets the basket down on the table and takes a look around the room, wondering if this is anything like the rooms where her own clothes were washed at home. Thinking about the strange metal boxes lined up against the wall is better than thinking about what might have befallen Vi in her absence.]

We'll get you home and you can figure that out. [Her smile is bracing, if a little sad.] Might be a while, but we going to do it. [There's no other option in Donna's mind. She needs to get home, back to the Doctor.]

I've been kidnapped before. Scary business sometimes. Who had you?

[She points to one of the washing machines.] Start putting your dark-colored clothes in there, just all around the big post in the center. Don't mix in any of the lighter stuff.

[Caitlyn nods in agreement. Getting home really is the only option. There's something in Donna's tone that catches her ear, and makes her wonder whether Donna has someone she needs to get home to, too. She must. There must be so many people here who have been ripped away from their loved ones.

The fact that Donna's also been kidnapped suddenly piques her curiosity, but one thing at a time.]

It's, uhm. It's complicated, [she begins as she opens the lid on one of the metal boxes and peers inside. In truth, she's not sure it's her story to tell. But before she can explain that, she's distracted by the inside of the box, and the prospect of putting her clothes in there, where presumably many other people have put their clothes before.

She can't help the faint look of disgust that crosses her face.]

Is this sanitary?

Is the machine that's regularly rinsed with soap and water as part of its basic function sanitary?

[She lifts a brow.]

As long as nothing's been left in there to rot, yeah. Probably. They're machines that are designed to get things clean. The money you're carrying around's probably dirtier than that. Imagine how many different hands and tills that's gone through.

[Well, when Donna puts it like that... It does make sense that a machine designed to clean clothes would also be self-cleaning. Still. People get dirt and muck and food and blood and all sorts of bodily fluids on their clothes and then put the clothes in this box...

She grimaces at the description of how dirty the money must be. Perhaps the fact that it's mostly paper in the world makes it worse, but don't people take care to keep it tidy and clean?

Reluctantly, she begins pulling out the darker clothes, including her uniform. The material's heavier than the other clothes, certainly more expensive. There's blood caked along the inside of the skirt from an open leg wound and spattered across the front thanks to a bloody nose, and flecks of neon paint all over it. She idly picks at some of the paint, flaking it off between her fingers.]

Will the machine get blood out? [It's not as though she can actually wear the uniform here, not without sticking out like a sore thumb, but she'd like it properly cleaned.]

[Donna steps closer to have a look.]

Mmm... Just a sec.

[She heads over to one of the wall dispensers and checks it before pulling out some change. Her return is swift.]

That looks pretty set in, but this is called a Tide pen. If anything's going to get it out, it'll be this. Go ahead and scribble all over where the blood is with the tip. Reckon you're still gonna have stains, but it's something. Is all of this... your blood?

[Caitlyn takes the Tide pen and frowns at it skeptically before doing as instructed and beginning to apply the pen to stain. She never goes outside the lines, as it were, taking care to only apply the pen to the bloodstain and not the fabric around it.

She nods.]

Yes, there was an explosion. My leg caught some shrapnel. And. [She gestures to the splotches on the front of the uniform.] Bloody nose.

[She hesitates before meticulously pressing the Tide pen down on the splotches one by one, still trying to stay just on the blood.]

You said you were kidnapped once. How do you...

[She frowns down at the blood spatters.

When she gets home, they'll have to reinstate her. She'll get a new uniform. She'll need one, because she can't keep looking at the stains on this one without thinking about what happened to her.]

Is it difficult for you to think about? [Because she can't stop thinking about it, turning everything over and over and over in her mind as though she could possibly analyze it enough to figure out whether Vi's alright. But if she thinks about it too hard or for too long, she finds herself struggling to breathe, as though that damn muzzle is back over her mouth and there's a gun to her head and she's probably going to die.]

[Donna's gaze immediately drops to Caitlyn's leg, not that there's much to see, but it's a concerning thing to hear, all the same. She seems to be all right now, so she was either healed at home or ADI did something when she arrived. Probably when she arrived if she was wearing the bloody clothes when she got here.]

Mm... no? Not really, I don't think. But it's, well, something good came out of it. The first time was how I met my best friend. And he came to help me every time after that. Got to do a little rescuing with him for other people, too. Like, it was scary while it was happening, but looking back? Meeting him? Wouldn't change what happened, not for the world.

What was it like for you? I know I've got a rosy picture. Time helps with that, too.

You sound like you make a weekly habit out of getting kidnapped. [She smiles, although there's not much humor in it. She can't decide if what Donna's describing sounds awful or whether she's envious. Her experience of being kidnapped was far from rosy, but at least Donna, it sounds like, was really living her life, seeing the world, having adventures, all the things Caitlyn's always wanted to do.]

Is he who you need to get back to, your best friend? [She recalls the tone she picked up on earlier in Donna's voice, the hint that Donna also wanted to get home to a loved one.

She doesn't really mean to dodge the question, but she'd much rather learn more about her new roommate than dwell on what happened to her, or admit that it is hard for her to think about.]

Yeah. The Doctor. Funny alien beanpole I somehow picked up. [Her tone turns wistful for a moment.] And the bloke responsible for me getting kidnapped, more often than not. But it balances out.

You look like you've got that one uniform sorted, if you want to toss it in with the rest. You can use the other washers while no one else is, so you can run more than one thing at once. Just separate out your whites from your lights into the other two washers there, and we'll get things going. It'll be awhile for those to run.

Log | July Catch-All | OTA (plus prompts for Donna & Callisto)

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shall we ftb on them finishing up laundry and just having a pleasant chat?