He runs from the feeling in the flood [OTA]

[bloodalwaystells]

Who: Andrew Jaeger and others!
When: Mid-August: post-arrival
Where: ADI Housing, Coffin Beach
Summary: Arriving in Gloucester and getting settled
Warnings: CW: scars, possible reference to torture.



ADI Housing: The Apartment

Living in assigned housing is against his better judgment, but so far, the people he's talked to have been relatively up-front with him. Truthful? Not necessarily, but Jaeger is used to that, too, and if nothing else he can follow the rules well enough.

Well, "no magic" is going to take some getting used to, but he'll have to get accustomed to it anyway, so it's just as well.

He moves lightly for a man his size, carefully deferential of anyone who already happens to be there. The overhead light turns his dark hair to steel, while also highlighting the bruising on one cheek from a recent impact, and he's dressed in exactly the turtleneck, jeans, and boots he arrived in. Until he gets something else, that will have to do.

Plans can be made later, anyway. For right now, his main objective is to meet the people he'll be sharing space with, and establish something of a home base. Catch him in the halls, wandering around as he explores his new surroundings, or in the apartment itself, if you're one of his new roommates.


ADI Housing: The Pool (cw: scars, possible mention of torture)

Jaeger doesn't often indulge in activities that require him to strip down, but the pool is too much of a lure after all the madness of the past few days. His body still aches from the impact of the car crash that brought him here, and it seems like a good, long swim would be the perfect thing. Perhaps a little while in the hot tub, letting the heat soak the aches from his bones and the frantic thoughts in his mind.

Of course, the downside of that is, he has to strip down in order to swim, which leaves a lot of scars exposed. Delicate, curving designs on his arms and chest, well-healed and white and clearly done with exquisite care.

The scar around his neck was a far less careful hand: it's a healed white band around his throat that nearly circles his neck. The short, military-cut hair does him no favors in hiding it, but...

To hell with it. He wants to swim. So Jaeger does slow but steady laps across the length of the pool, occasionally resting against the concrete side, or stretches out in the hot tub with his feet up, staring at the sky and chasing his thoughts in circles.


Coffin Beach

There's a certain sort of comfort in desolation, and haunted and strange places certainly aren't new to Jaeger. It's been a long time since he's been to the beach, though, which might be why it was one of the first places he chose to explore.

He intends to take his job very seriously if he stays here, and that means getting to know all the little corners and local attractions, such as they are.

The sound of the ocean reminds him a little too much of whispers in another, darker place, but he pushes that out of his mind because he doesn't need to dwell on that right now. Jordan and Claudia are dead, and he's, if he believes what he's been told, an entire world away. There are still terrible things lurking in the shadows, but at least they aren't his specific demons.

Jaeger stands on the shore, boots squeaking in the sand when he steps, but for a while he just stays there, focused on his breathing. The air coming in off the water is cooler, soft through his short hair and bringing the taste of salt and tears with it. There's power there, quiet but alluring, but he leaves that alone for now. Remembers the warnings he was given, and the creeping sense of something wrong with the magic here.

He exhales, then realizes that he's not alone. A slow blink, a moment of tension before he relaxes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize anyone else was here."

((OOC: Feel free to PM me or brimstonemuse for plotting/something custom!))

Comments

The Pool

[henchgal]

Swimming has always been one of Meredith’s favorite forms of exercise. With her joints as fucked up as they are, having something lower impact has been important to keep her active. She’s in a navy blue one-piece suit with a cute little sailor collar, her hair in a ponytail when she arrives at the pool, walking with a cane on the deck around it.

Seeing that someone else is there, though, she hesitates, and calls out, “do you mind company?” She hasn’t even seen the scars yet, too busy feeling her own self consciousness.

[bloodalwaystells]

Jaeger wipes water from his face, feeling it stream down his neck and shoulders as he surfaces, and cocks his head at the newcomer, taking her in with quick, practiced eyes. The cane gets his immediate notice, and he lingers on it for just a moment.

"Feel free, I think there's plenty of room." A small, slightly wry smile comes with the statement, spoken deep and quiet and noticeably raspy. Reserved, but not unfriendly. He gestures to the rest of the empty pool.

It would be a silly question to ask if she lives here. If she's on the ADI housing grounds, then she either lives here or has taken some serious risks just to crash the pool. But after a moment, he speaks anyway, because it feels like the polite thing to do. Small talk feels impossible, overwhelming, especially as exposed as he's feeling, but, hell, he's going to try it anyway.

"I'm guessing you live here too, then?"

[henchgal]

“Apartment B1. I’m Meredith, nice to meet you.” Or at least polite to say it’s nice, even when you’re not sure. She sets the cane down beside one of the pool chairs and sits on the edge of the pool to lower herself into the water gingerly.

[bloodalwaystells]

There's nothing wrong with a little care when meeting new people: Jaeger respects a bit of caution while still managing to be polite, and he strives for the same.

"Andrew. A2. Nice to meet you." He hovers at the edge of the pool, just floating there serenely while they talk. "I just...arrived, so I'm still meeting people and getting my bearings."

[henchgal]

“It’s been about a month for me, just a little more. Eventful month, though. Did anyone tell you about the kelpies yet?” On some level, she sort of wants to let him know what he’s getting into, given how much of a rude awakening it was for her.

[bloodalwaystells]

"So, a little bit of time to get settled, then." He nods. "They seem to have things very much in order, at least. A process for getting...visitors caught up on the situation and putting them to work."

That second bit makes him pause, though, forgetting the rest of his train of thought.

"Kelpies. You mean man-eating water horses?" That is a bit of interesting information, and he watches her with an expression of vague disbelief on his face. "I know the lore, but that wasn't mentioned, no."

[henchgal]

"I'm not sure they actually ate anyone, but they definitely hunted uh--them. There were gangs of them taking on human forms kidnapping people. Taking them to a cave and then wrapping them in cursed sealskins, in order to have something to chase around the bay. The whole, feeding on fear thing? When they caught someone, they'd harass them, push them around, and then wrap them in sealskin again. Not a good time."

She leaves out the fact that she was one of those captured and thus harassed, but the look on her face might make that part clear enough.

"ADI sent out people to investigate them, which turned into a rescue mission when they realized what was up."

[bloodalwaystells]

Jaeger has to pause for a moment to process all that, because it's a lot. He doesn't look disbelieving, though, so much as just digesting it. He kicks his feet idly in the water while he thinks, keeping afloat easily.

He believes her. It's the sort of messed-up thing that could happen in his world, too, and given the purpose of the ADI? Even less surprise there.

"From what I know of kelpies, they lure humans into the water to eat them. The predatory behavior makes sense, in that context." It makes entirely too much sense to him, pings a familiar ache in his bones for the chase, for the satisfaction of running down prey.

He pushes that aside, though, because those are not helpful thoughts. He watches her thoughtfully as she slides into the water, and with no small touch of sympathy. "It sounds like a good cause. People who don't know about the paranormal aren't really equipped to deal with it, are they?"

[henchgal]

"I wouldn't know about being equipped for it or not. People in my world are all aware of the existence of...people who are empowered. Superheroes and villains. Those of us who are normal grow up knowing we're not at the top of the food chain, not really."

She hesitates, then puts on an opaque little smile, hiding all her feelings about the situation like putting a white slipcloth over a bloodstained couch. It's truly remarkable. "It wasn't even my first time being kidnapped!"

[bloodalwaystells]

"That's something, at least. Knowing about Other things in your world. There's magic in my world, but it's a very closely guarded secret in most cases. The average person will go through their entire life not knowing about it."

He has very mixed feelings about that.

He glances her way again, thoughtful. And keeping his distance from her in the pool to make sure he's not crowding her in any way- he is a stranger, after all, and it's only polite to give her space.

He has sympathy for the whole kidnapping thing. It's a familiar ordeal and it sounds like this one was particularly harrowing. Especially since, from what she's saying, it's happened before.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. I hope that you're dealing with it as well as you can."

Around Housing

[ployboy]

Quiet hours in ADI housing are a pain but at least they're understandable. It's the curfew that Tim refuses to put to rest (ha), seemingly always preferring to stay out in the city until literally the last minute. He's careful not to test the clock-- he'd learned that lesson early in his stay.

But he doesn't get it. He doesn't like it. He's almost restless, some part of him he's cultivated for so long buzzing for the normalcy of adrenaline at the witching hours. Preferably without witches. Anyway. Late nights out. They're a thing.

And Tim's pretty sure this isn't his first time crossing paths with this behemoth of a man as he stalks through from A to B building, his thoughts immediately springing to the notion that-- no, he maybe can't take him on empty-handed. It's enough to spark wariness, some of that yearned-for rush of quiet caution in Tim.

He obviously slows his step, hikes a cheap-but-sturdy backpack (like he would have back in school, gross) up his shoulder and thinks, hey, the guy could almost remind him of Bruce. Must be the fading bruising.

He hasn't thought about Bruce a lot, here.

"So did they pick you up for Security yet?" he asks, open and easy and not like he's trying to give the man ideas or anything... but the other other-worlder? Dude wears a mask. Unironically. And also moves all-- trained. So he's gotta make contact, here. Gotta invest. Make friends and influence people. (Yeah, right.) "You're new, right?"

[bloodalwaystells]

Jaeger is a light sleeper when he manages to doze off at all, and new surroundings are going to take some time to get used to. Thus, a late-night restlessness that drives him out into the hallways and open air around the apartments. He moves quietly, mindful of his neighbors at this late hour, but confident on his feet. He's comfortable with his size, secure enough in his abilities that he would make a terrible choice for a late-night mugging.

No mask, though. Nothing special, except a high-collared button down shirt, jeans, and a pair of good sensible boots.

His head snaps up at first sighting of Tim, blue eyes narrowing slightly as one hand comes up, then slowly drops as though catching himself in an automatic motion. Which is very likely the case. He gives a rueful smile at being addressed, relaxing into something a little friendlier, more conversational.

There's a rough rasp to his voice when he talks, low and deep and quiet in the hush of after-hours. A hard smoker or damage to his vocal cords, once upon a time.

"I just got here, yes," he says with an amiable nod. "Just doing a little exploring while I can't sleep. Trying to get settled a bit."

[ployboy]

Muscle memory. It sucks sometimes, huh? Tim reacts, he thinks, appropriately. One step back and a pointed raised brow later, and no firearm or fight-or-flight in sight?

No harm, no foul.

Tim nods. He thinks about it, just saying that sucks, but that's just stating the obvious. "Try not to get caught outside after eleven," he lands on. He's not sure how thorough this guy's exploration is, or how much of stickler for rules he is or isn't.

He'd like to find out, though.

So Tim smiles and doesn't offer his hand but he continues. "They're serious about not letting you back into the property if you're even a minute late. I'm Tim, by the way. I do I.T. We get late shifts sometimes."

Lies.

[bloodalwaystells]

It's a reaction, but only a brief one, and Jaeger isn't offended in the least when Tim steps back and raises an eyebrow at him. It's only fair if you're used to tense confrontations, though Jaeger has no intentions of this being one of those.

He is supposed to be meeting his neighbors and co-workers, after all, and it really would make a poor first impression to draw down on them. It just takes some time to shake ingrained responses, especially when your life has depended on it for quite a while now.

He nods slightly at the advice. "Thanks. I suspected as much, but it's good to have confirmation. They seem to take their rules very seriously." Jaeger doesn't exactly disapprove, but it does make things difficult for him when sleep won't come. He's not the sort to stay in one place when restless, and the place is still painfully unfamiliar to him. "Good for security, but inconvenient for the rest of us at times. I like to know the place I'm staying, and that means some roaming."

ADI tries to keep a very tight leash on its employees. That hasn't escaped Jaeger's notice. There may be good reasons, but that doesn't necessarily mean Jaeger likes it.

"Andrew Jaeger. Nice to meet you." He doesn't offer a handshake, either. "Investigations, I suppose. Though I'm still learning my way around."

ADI Housing

[120vision]

Gojou is ready for a new roommate in the same way he greeted his last ones - with cooking. Unfortunately for Jaeger, his cooking tends to be a disaster. This time, he's attempted cupcakes - they kind of collapsed inside of themselves and parts of them are liquid. He's tried to hide this with lots of frosting.

Disaster.

When he hears movement around the main part of the apartment, he picks up the tray and heads to the living area. "Hello, hello!" What he's carrying doesn't quite smell right.

[bloodalwaystells]

It's been a tough week, and Jaeger's looking forward to settling in and catching his breath. What few belongings he has with him are still in hand, namely a small bag containing his weapons and a brass-tipped hardwood cane. His stipend card for clothes shopping is tucked safely in a pocket, but he hasn't even had a chance to get to it. First things first, he wants to see where he's sleeping.

It's good to see that his new roommate is...enthusiastic, though Jaeger looks a bit uncertainly at the tray of frosting. There's probably cupcakes under there, right? He's not entirely sure.

But he nods a polite greeting, fixing on the other details of the young man once the disaster cupcakes have been properly noticed. "Hi. I believe I'm your new roommate? I just arrived here, and this is where I was assigned."

ADI Housing

[twistedbones]

Jaeger might find it odd, on reflection, that Apartment A4 has a cat flap installed in the door when ADI's policies clearly state that no pets are allowed in these buildings. Odd, too, that it's not a leftover artifact from some previous landlord, given that a sleek black cat has just used it to slip out into the hall, pausing when he sees that he's crossed paths with a stranger.

Of course, odder still is the way the cat cocks his head at Jaeger and says, in a tone and voice too mundane for a magical creature, "Evening."

[bloodalwaystells]

The cat flap is indeed something that attracts Jaeger's attention on his wanderings. It could be for someone's familiar, he supposes? But it does stand out as odd in the otherwise uniform complex- especially looking clean and new and obviously being used.

He's still thinking about familiars when the black cat addresses him in a perfectly normal voice. Initially, he was going to let the creature go by without disturbing it, but now he stops and blinks, slight wariness mixed with greater curiosity.

"Oh. Good evening." No need to be rude, especially since the cat is being so polite. He isn't sure what else to say, though, after that, so he just sort of stands there at a loss, scanning his brain for logical explanations for this.

[twistedbones]

Binx stares back for a long moment, equally awkward. He's still getting used to letting so many strangers in on the secret of his existence, and now that he's done it he, too, is unsure what comes next in this conversation.

"Thackery Binx," he says after that uncomfortable pause. "I live here; don't shut me out of the building."

[bloodalwaystells]

Well, isn't this just going swimmingly? It only takes Jaeger a minute to recover, though, and accept that yes, he is going to have a conversation with a cat.

"Andrew Jaeger. Nice to meet you." A faint smile crosses his features, self-conscious but polite enough. "I'll be careful to watch for you, then. I certainly don't want to be rude to a neighbor."

Jaeger settles on casually conversational, because as surreal as it is, there are spirits in Jaeger's world that take all sorts of forms, and he's talked with those without trouble. And Binx gave him a name, which is an important sort of thing in Jaeger's experience.

If Binx is a spirit, he's one that has some permanence and importance here, and Jaeger is respectful of such things regardless.

"And let me know if I disturb you. I'm still getting used to things, here, and I don't tend to sleep much."

[twistedbones]

Binx lets out a little laugh at that. "Neither do I," he admits. "At least, not when other people are sleeping. I'm tired of the curfew already."

He's strongly considered simply not coming 'home' at the end of the day. He never needed an apartment in 300 years, and he doesn't need it to be comfortable now. After the kelpies had tried to kidnap him, though, and had successfully kidnapped others....

[bloodalwaystells]

"They have good reason for the rules, apparently. I can understand them, even if it's an inconvenience." He rolls his shoulders, settling into the conversation. He doesn't have anywhere else to be, and getting to know his neighbors and co-workers is a good cause. "I decided I can live with it at least to start, while I'm getting used to the idea of being here. If things change, then I can look at other options."

He wants to be close to ADI, to follow the rules and learn as much about the whole thing as he can. Then he can make better decisions with more information.

[twistedbones]

"Other options like that Flophouse?" asks Thackery. "I've thought about it. But here, at least, there shouldn't be people using magic in the halls."

Which is important to him, all things considered. Some of the rules chafe; others just seem to him like common sense. Lord knows what they get up to under Bonnie's unwatchful eye.

[bloodalwaystells]

"Our salary isn't really enough to rent other housing, from what I've been able to tell, so, yes, I suppose the flophouse is the other big option." Which Jaeger isn't entirely sold on, either. At least this place has a pool, which he appreciates if he's going to suffer the rules.

He huffs a small breath. "No magic in the halls, yes, and at least some defense and awareness if someone comes looking for you. Not that it's impossible to get past security, but it's some measure, at least."

Not being killed in his sleep is aces in Jaeger's book.

"Plus, I suppose there's something to be said for safety in numbers."

[twistedbones]

"Isn't it? I suppose that explains so many people living here," muses Thackery. It had seemed like an awful lot when he'd seen the numbers provided by the financial department, but then again the price of things seems extremely high to him overall. Maybe what sounded like a small fortune isn't so much in the modern day.

"When did you get here?" he asks, curious. "There were attacks not too long ago. Kidnappings not far from these buildings. But no one was taken from inside."