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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[ 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?

Yeah. But I'm forty-three in nineteen twenty-two, mate. To see all this, I'd need to live to nearly one hundred and forty.

[He moves to investigate the bathtub next, frowning as he runs his fingers along the massaging jets, having no idea what they are.]

You never know. [ Royce says offhand. ] Could live that long through science. Could be part elf.

[ He watches Alfie's fingers, and then: ] Might not want to just touch everything you see, Solomons.

I don't understand why this tub has so many taps. It's big, but it doesn't need ten of the things to fill up.

[He straightens.]

Part elf, eh?

Like I said, you never know. [ Royce shrugs. He scoots into the bathroom, perching carefully on the edge. ] They must do something else, then. I doubt it'll be anything dangerous.

No, they're water spouts, I'm sure of that. And nothing here is gonna be dangerous, Royce; this isn't Norfinbury.

Touching and playing with things you don't understand is always dangerous. [ Royce says, lifting his eyebrow. ] People get killed by simple, stupid things all the time.

I'll survive touching the water spouts, mate; don't you worry.

[He pokes a finger inside one, just to show Royce that he can.]

[ Royce rolls his eyes. ] If you lose a finger, don't come crying to me.

[ He's just saying. ] Go ahead. Turn them on, then.

All right.

[There are little buttons by each jet, and he flicks a few of them on. High-pressure streams of water shoot out.

He turns and raises an eyebrow at Royce. See? Nothing dangerous.]

[ Whoa. Royce is distracted by the water, impressed despite himself. He pulls off a glove, reaching carefully from where he's crouched on the edge of the tub to dip his fingers into the water. ]

I've never seen anything like this before.

Neither have I.

[He plays his fingers through the stream.]

I think it's a water massage.

[ Royce shakes his hand off, pulling his glove back on. ] Could be good for all of us. [ Dry and teasing: ] Might never get you out of here again, if that's the case.