wickedchouette | (no subject)

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[The good news: they get out. They escape Norfinbury, and once they're out of the town's iron grip, all of its effects on them disappear - no more MN poisoning, no more radiation sickness. They're still malnourished and underfed, and the dead among them are still dead, but they're out.

The bad news? They can't go home yet.

It's some sort of time- and universe-travel issue, which Alfie honestly isn't even trying to understand in full. Using the town's power, they'd opened up a portal, but they hadn't had time to fine-tune it. When they'd all jumped through, they hadn't even been sure it would work - but with the town collapsing around them, they'd all been desperate enough to try anyway. It had ended up dumping them all at random into New York City - or some version of it, anyway - in the early twentieth century. Stark and the other tech wizards are working hard on the issue, pooling their knowledge and using this world's resources to figure out how to safely repair and direct the portal to send them all back home, or wherever else they want to go. The ones who can't help with that are, essentially, left to their own devices. Tony the billionaire sets them up in a nice hotel in a decent neighborhood, and provides them with enough money to live comfortably on as long as they don't go too crazy with spending. For Alfie, Royce, Emily, and Tifa, he's able to find a two-bedroom suite that's available to be rented by the month. Nobody knows how long they're going to be stuck, and nobody wants to take the chance of being left without lodging.

After all the trauma of the past few months and the chaos of the past few days, their little group isn't wild about splitting up even just for a few hours. But Emily desperately needs a doctor's checkup, and Tifa convinces Alfie and Royce to go ahead and scope out the room while she (with help and advice from the more modern doctors) takes her to a pediatrician. And so they go.

The hotel is towering, and looking up at it makes Alfie feel dizzy, so he focuses straight ahead as they approach the front entrance and its automatic revolving door. He has the envelope with their room number and key, and as they walk, he hands it to Royce.]

We're on the sixty-first floor - larger rooms at the top only. Fucking hell, I hope they've got a lift.

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[ They're out, and it's a bit of a mess. A lot of a mess, maybe. There's what, fifty of them, and they're all in various states of bad and hurt, malnourished, getting their powers and abilities back. Royce wakes up in the city and it's like his ears have popped, like a film has been lifted from over his eyes. It's amazing how crystal clear things are and he has some hardship in readjusting.

New York City is so loud. Royce hasn't slept well these past few days, overwhelmed by how much sound and light there is. He's had a headache since he woke up.

Tifa takes Emily to see a doctor, which Royce can only encourage, but that... does leave him and Alfie to check out the hotel. And the hotel is huge and look, Royce has had some experience with technology because of Norfinbury, but good lord. This is overload, and Royce keeps having to rub at his ears, grimacing.

The height of the hotel doesn't bother him so much, even if it is much more than he's used to. He sticks very close to Alfie, ignoring the looks he's getting for wearing a hooded cloak in the 21st century, pulling the well-weathered fabric close to him as they walk through the lobby. He glances at Alfie when Alfie hands him the key. ]

Sixty-first. [ God. ] Of all the places Stark could have put us.

[A car honks especially loudly on the street behind them, making even Alfie jump. He shakes it off, picking up the pace. He looks over at Royce to to make sure he gets through the doors okay - he doubts they have revolving doors in Elan - then follows a sign that reads ELEVATORS with an arrow.]

You're not gonna insist on taking the stairs, are you?

[They probably don't have elevators in Elan, either.]

[ Royce practically jumps to the ceiling at the damn car honking behind them. His shoulders are tense and up around his ears - he's going to have to get earplugs until he can adjust to this, it's driving him up the goddamn wall.

The revolving doors sure are a thing that he hates. He watches Alfie go in first, and then makes an irritated sound and goes through, only to be confronted with elevators. The fuck is an elevator. Royce stares up at the sign, trying to make sense of the word. It's a good thing the language they speak in Avryn is similar enough to English. ]

Depends on what an elevator is. [ He says it like you'd say a word you haven't said out loud before. El-eva-torr. ]

Elevator. Yeah. We call them lifts. They're a better way to get to the sixty-first floor than the fucking stairs.

[There's a keypad by the door with two lit arrows, one pointing up and the other pointing down. Alfie presses the up arrow, and the doors pop right open, revealing the empty elevator.]

Ah, this one's got no operator. We'll have to wait.

[Let's see how long it takes Alfie to realize that self-service elevators are thing now.]

[ Royce stares at the elevator door opening. ]

... I'd almost rather take the stairs. [ Royce isn't going to make Alfie do it, because Alfie's back. But this sounds like the most hellish thing on earth, having to be lifted up to another floor in a small enclosed metal box. Royce scowls and pulls his hood down further. ]

You willingly get into these things?

They take us up, that's all. They don't do anything else, mate.

They can't be stable. [ There's no way. He's already looking at the entry way like it's going to bite him. ] What pulls it up?

[Alfie shrugs helplessly. Look, he doesn't know this shit.]

Electronics.

[ Royce scowls. ] That's not reassuring, Solomons.

[ Here they are, a couple of assholes just staring at an open elevator and not getting in. Someone passes them, gives them an odd look, and then walks into the elevator that opens without a second thought. ]

[Well, that's a woman. And she's not in uniform. But hey, it's the future; things are different. Surely women can be elevator operators, and they might have done away with uniforms in America.

Alfie follows her in.]

Floor sixty-one, please; thank you.

[ Royce mutters something decidedly rude under his breath, and then follows Alfie into the elevator, where he immediately stands rigidly in the corner and barely breathes. This is not a fun experience.

The woman raises her eyebrow at Alfie, but she's polite enough to press the button for floor sixty-one before leaning against the wall and ignoring the two of them. She'll get out at floor thirty-three, in fact. ]

[Alfie is digging through his pockets for change for a tip when he steps out.]

Here, excuse me--

[But the doors are already closing, and she's gone.]

Fucking hell. Well, it's automated; we'll be all right.

[ Royce sinks down into his hood, watching the woman walk out. He's vaguely nauseated by the sensation of going up while standing still, and he hates it a lot, enough that the exchange with the woman completely goes over his head. He'll think about it later. ]

Why would you ever make a building this tall? [ Royce asks, voice tense. ] What's the point?

They've run out of space on the ground, I expect.

[This elevator is definitely faster than Alfie is used to, but it's smoother and less rattley, so he's not bothered. It's not long before the bell dings and the doors open again, on their floor this time.]

All right, Royce?

[ what's that, Alfie, he's already out in the hallway OUT OF THE METAL DEATH BOX. He's like, as far away from it as he can be without being out in the hallways to the left and right. Royce pulls his cloak around him tightly. ]

Fine. [ A beat, and he massages the bridge of his nose. ] Quieter up here.

Yeah. That's nice, isn't it.

Have you still got the paper with the room number?

Mm. [ Royce pulls the envelope out from his cloak pocket, pulling the paper out to glance at it. ] Tifa's got one of these as well, right?

[ He looks up at the plaque that tells them which way to go, and then leads Alfie down the hallway. ]

Yeah.

[The room is unlocked with a keycard, which is completely unfamiliar to Alfie, but at least there are instructions on it. It'll still probably take them several tries to get it right, but they'll get in eventually.

The room is large for a hotel suite - two bedrooms, a kitchenette, a bathroom with a large whirlpool tub, and a living room area with a pull-out couch. Alfie heads for the window first, gaping at the view.]

[ Keycards definitely make things difficult. Royce has no idea how to do it and neither does Alfie, and they sort of just fumble with it for like a full minute before figuring it out.

Alfie goes for the view, and Royce falls into old habits - he checks every room, looking behind doors, in closets, under beds. ]

We're gonna want to keep the curtains closed, I think.

[Alfie isn't afraid of heights, but he also isn't used to being up this high. Looking down makes him almost as dizzy as looking up at the skyscrapers from the ground.

It is a hell of a view, though.]

[ Royce finally comes out from one of the bedrooms, satisfied - nobody here but them. And yeah, Royce isn't afraid of heights, but when he joins Alfie by the window, his stomach rolls. Gods above, he just can't get used to any of this. ]

Think you might be right. [ Royce says, resting a hand on the glass to stare down at the streets. He shudders a little at the thought of falling. ] Keep Emily away from the windows, too.

They don't open up. Sealed shut.

[He runs a hand down the windowpane.]

What a fucking world, eh?

[ Oh. Well, that's okay, then. Royce has to take a few steps back. ]

It's different. So much that I doubt any of this will ever happen where I come from. [ He settles down on the couch. ] This is your future, though.

I'll be dead for it.

[He leaves the window too, finally, and heads into the bathroom, fiddling with the sink's taps.]

[ Royce opens his mouth - and then closes it, frowning. He stays on the couch for a long moment, staring out as far as he can see from the window. After a moment, he follows Alfie, after hearing the tap noises.

He leans against the door frame. ] Depressing answer. [ Royce remarks. He's pointedly not thinking about how he'll live longer than most of the people he knows. ] Sure all that poisoning is gone?