fatemarked_logs | meet-and-greet

That vague veneer of mingling was enough to keep Casey from noticing. They weren't really paying attention, after all, just trying to soak in the atmosphere and try to uncoil the mess of unresponsive emotions and muscles all tied into knots. Having someone suddenly so close inspired an instinctual reaction. Casey jumped, legs knocking the chair and causing them to end up in a real battle to not topple over and bring the furniture down with them.

It only took a second, but by the time their mind caught up, Casey's heart was beating way faster than that should have caused. All that flailing around probably made the white mark on their hand obvious even if the shape itself wasn't easy to make out. They stared at the person for a long moment before slowly shaking their head. "Even if that's true," they said, suddenly swallowing back a wave of unfamiliarity that made them want to choke, "this isn't right. None of this is right."

Jack had guessed the kid was tense, but that reaction was almost comical. He pushes off the wall a few inches, ready to catch them if they fell; in the end there's no need, but he spots the Fatemark in the process. It provides an opportunity to get through the shell of anxiety and discomfort.

"No, it's not," Jack agrees. "You've been kidnapped, and whether or not it's for your own good, that doesn't go away quickly. Even if there are enough Oreos to feed an army." His lips curl into a smile, and he holds out a hand - his left hand, making his own Fatemark obvious enough. "I'm Jack Metcalfe."

Casey held still as Jack moved more. Not threatened by the man's stature or posture, or perhaps just not really taking it all in just yet. They saw the mark, and didn't flinch for all that their own hand was still lightly red and raw from trying to scrub the mark away in hot, hot water. It was denial, pure and simple. They hesitated, then held their own mark out properly to be seen as if some kind of strange handshake between Fatemarked.

"Casey Ramone," they said, giving as firm a nod as they could manage. "Do you really think they want to protect us? Or... I don't know, maybe I just need to sleep on it." Or maybe they were dreaming the whole thing. Nothing really felt real right now, anyway.

Casey wasn't the only one who had tried to get rid of the mark, Jack is sure. He'd contemplated it himself, but it was part of his skin, and it wasn't getting removed without more effort and pain than he was willing to put up with. He examines Casey's mark for just a moment, mentally cataloging it.

"Nice to meet you Casey," Jack replies. He'd been intending an actual handshake, but perhaps the kid didn't like being touched. Not concerned overmuch with that right now, he pulls his hand back. "If they really wanted to hurt us, they'd have done it already," he says, shrugging. He did have some theories about the validity of this whole world-ending importance thing, and what the Governors were really doing with them, but probably best not to bring those up now. "Are we as important as they think we are? I don't know. But I'm intrigued enough to find out; how about you?"

Touch wasn't so much the issue as their own slowly-settling mental state. This was really not the best situation for someone with bad social anxiety and other fun things all in the mix. At least this Jack wasn't particularly menacing even if he was rather solid, all told. It reminded Casey a little of Gabriel's confidence and that helped relax them, just a bit.

"Yeah, mysteries are fine," they said without real conviction. It was true, they liked a good mystery. Not being in one, though. "But we're just pawns. If they want to keep us safe, they don't have to let us near anywhere we could figure it out. We're like caged rats."

"I think we've got it a little better than caged rats. They're letting us outside, at least. With supervision." He shrugs. "Not much different than assignments at my last job."

His time as a Marine certainly involved going places Jack didn't necessarily want to go, but that didn't factor into the decision. He followed orders. And living on a base wasn't all that dissimilar from the Facility: access to the outside was allowed, but regulated.

"Find something that's familiar for you," Jack suggests offhandedly. "It'll help when you feel like everything is spinning out of control. Like now, for example."

Edited 2016-01-09 04:00 (UTC)

"How's that different?" asked Casey. They were pretty sure going outside hadn't been part of the allowances given to people like the two of them, or maybe the fine print had eluded their confused readover. They were going to have to go back and double-check everything. Soon. Maybe that would be a good excuse... "It's just another cage, with people this time."

Looking around the room, their brows furrowed in thought. Finding something familiar... well, this whole get-together was familiar in a way they hadn't placed until just now. Not exactly the best kind, either. "Does it bother you there only seems to be humans here?"

"Well, if we're going to keep using metaphors, it's more like being a pet dog than a caged rat," Jack says mildly. "They're keeping us on a leash, sure, but it's a pretty long one."

He raises his eyebrows at Casey's question, but that's the only sign he gives of any sort of surprise or discomfort at the idea of non-humans. Internally, he's still calling it BS until he sees differently.

"Humans are the only sentient species where I come from. I'm guessing that's not the case for you?"

There was definitely more to say on the subject of their supposed-peaceful capture, but really that went out the window for a new and much more frightening subject. Frightening because Casey could imagine quite a lot of things in life being different or just off enough, like some kind of novel or show, but the idea of the other species not existing was...

Unthinkable.

They stared, brows coming together in an attempt to stem the tide of upset and discomfort. "There's four species," they said after a moment. "Four. Amphibians, avians, humanoids and draconics."

Jack doesn't look very surprised, but that's mostly because his sanity meter is still set to 'no' about this whole situation in general. He's going to suspend both belief and disbelief until he's got more facts to deal with.

"Four," he echoes, eyebrows just barely raised. "Wow. I'll admit, I'm having trouble imagining that. But apparently we all got yanked from different universes, so I suppose it's not that much of a stretch. What do they all look like?"

Jack can make some educated guesses based on the groupings, but he's not exactly a big fan of fantasy.

"Well, there's different races between the species," Casey said. It was obvious, but the question made them realize perhaps Jack didn't understand. They were trying very hard not to think of it in a regular frame of reference. Everyone should know this. This was more than common knowledge, this simply was. They paused, breathing, trying to align themselves.

Just explain, don't think about how basic everything was. "For the amphibians, there's the kelpies, mermaids, nymphs and selkies, for the avians there's fairies, harpies and gryphons, humanoids are dwarves, elves, humans, orcs and trolls, and draconic races are demons, dragons, kirins, salamanders and yokai. They're all different."

Well. Apparently things could get more unbelievable than being transported to a different universe because your life apparently determined the fate of the world. Okay, maybe Casey's explanation wasn't that crazy, but still.

"Sounds like something out of a fantasy novel," Jack says without too much disbelief. "You must live a pretty interesting life, with all that variety."

Brows furrowing, Casey considered how to answer that. Their life had been anything but fantastic; in fact, it had been downright mundane up until very recently. A normal day job with school at night out of a small apartment with three-point-five pets. Just because there were people in it...?

"It wasn't fantasy," they said. There was no other way to reply. Maybe if they really didn't have anything but humans it would be strange. "It was... pretty normal, actually. I'm just a student."

"I guess it all depends on your perspective," Jack says with a shrug. "But I don't think any of us are 'just' anything."

Casey seems to frown quite a bit - they're very expressive in general, actually. No guile whatsoever. Interesting.

"What were you studying?"

"Guess that's true," they said slowly. That was the whole point of this thing, that some of them were special and some of them were strong enough to be protectors. It still wasn't sinking in, much like being a dragonaught was still not quite right in their head.

It was much harder to get a smile out of them. Guile had little place when one was still on the edge of an anxiety blow-up. Nothing they were hearing was very pleasing.

"Oh, uh, humanoid pharmacology." Something that required a lot of work and would likely pay well down the line, but didn't seem very impressive when they were really only just starting out on it.

"I have a feeling this place is going to give all of us a brand new look at the world," Jack muses almost absently. Maybe 'worlds' was more accurate, since they were all supposed to be from different universes. He's not entirely sure he likes the new perspective he's been given.

"Complicated stuff. You like taking care of people?"

"Definitely," said Casey with some wryness to their tone. It was already doing that, their footing anything but sure. Getting comfortable wasn't going to be easy, and they weren't even sure on the idea of trying yet.

Casey startled a bit at the question. It was an astute one, and they tilted their head in answer. "I guess so... it's not like being a doctor, though. Pharmacologists come up with medicine, not give out the treatments."

Jack didn't get this far without getting very good at reading people.

"It's still important, whether you're poking at people or not," he points out. "Doctors wouldn't have treatments to give if someone wasn't making the treatments."

Nodding, Casey had to admit defeat there. It was just a bit startling for someone to make the conclusion. Most people didn't bother actually going that far and realizing where the desire came from. Even if Casey couldn't do things up front and help people face to face... there was still a desire to be useful, to care, from behind the scenes.

"That's true," they said almost reluctantly. "I'm better at dealing with animals than people most of the time."

Jack fully understands operating in the background; it was how he made his living, after all. Casey's line of work is well-suited to their temperament, he notes.

"Animals are a lot less complicated. That makes it easier. You can learn how to get better at dealing with people, if you work at it," he advises.

Casey just gave half of a smile for the advice. They knew that much, and it wasn't as if they had been an antisocial child... just so much change in their life, and figuring themself out better, it all made it harder to be open and confident with people. Even still, it was less like living wrongly somehow; they just needed to find a new balance all over.

"Like a class?" they asked, more teasing than serious about that part. It was a good sign that their sense of humor was still there.

"That's one way," Jack chuckles, shaking his head. "But people-watching is cheaper. Theatre isn't a bad option either - I think they've got a library around here somewhere. Read a little Shakespeare," he suggests.

Not exactly standard CIA reading material, but it came in handy from time to time. Plus, it was guaranteed to never end up in Daniel's hands so it would stay his book.

"What's Shakespeare?" Probably not the best question to ask, but without the context the two didn't quite make sense. He mentioned theater, so... a screenwriter, perhaps? Still, a library could be good just to learn what kind of stories people from other worlds might make. That would be the chance of a lifetime.

That gets a full-on laugh out of Metcalfe - it's amazing how easy it is to forget that people are literally from different universes or realities or whatever.

"He's quite possibly the greatest playwright in the history of the English language, where I come from," he explains, shaking his head. "Strange guy, lots of mystery around him. Damn good writer, though. His characters are complex, like real people, only everything they say is written down so you can actually study them."

meet-and-greet | January 2016

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