thewildone | 1st note

[When Curt opens the door he is making an entrance, but it's still clear that he's impressed--and reassured--by how nice the place looks.]

Hey, I'm looking for a redhead.

[He grins suggestively and leans against the door frame.]

[Penny is at the sink behind the counter and she is indeed preparing a salad. She also happens to be the only person in the center (unless you care to count the two sheep lounging just inside the doorway) and, thus, the only redhead.]

Curt Wild, right?

The one and only, at least as far as I know. You never told me your name.

[He notices the sheep but doesn't judge. Penny's sorta cue in a good girl way, and according to Curt's worldview, every good girl is just a girl waiting for the right opportunity to be bad.]

Well, you're the only one here. I think. I mean, that I've met.

[She abandons the salad to offer up a handshake.]

Penny. It's great to meet you in person, Curt.

Penny. I like that.

[Unlike certain other people who shall remain nameless, Curt is perfectly capable of smiling and shaking hands like a normal person when the occasion calls for it.]

So, this is the Welcome Center. I'm glad it's here, considering I showed up pretty with just myself and nothing but a few pounds shoved in my pocket.

[Despite the reference to pounds, Curt's accent is definitely midwestern. He's acting nonchanlant, but actually looks fairly worn.]

Thanks? I like it, too.

[Awkward. Penny occasionally forgets what it's like to talk to normal, self-confident people who can put together sentences that aren't about themselves.]

Yep, this is it. There're some beds in back if you want to crash here for a while... there's food. Not great food, but it's free. Tonight's salad and lasagna. [Penny shoos Doris the duck off of a chair and motions for Curt to help himself to a seat. She goes back to the kitchenette.]

So where're you from, Curt?

It sounds more than good enough for me. And yeah, I do need a place to stay. I mean, someone offered me a room, but they also claimed to be Dorian Gray so I dunno about that.

[Food. Sleep. Someone who seems genuinely nice. This is actually shaping up to be pretty a pretty good deal.]

Michigan, originally, right outside Ann Arbor. Been kicking around a lot of different places since then. You?

[Penny almost--almost--makes a face at the mention of Dorian. She might not be up on her literature, but she doesn't forget people who treat her friends badly.] You don't need to get a permanent place right away. I won't kick you out.

Is that the part of Michigan where they use pounds? [She shoots him a quick smile--joking, really--and thinks that he looks vaguely familiar. But a lot of people look familiar here.] Just L.A. Originally and formerly. I've been here for a while.

Cool.

[Curt snorts.] I was just leaving England. Headed to Berlin. Somehow, got here instead--I take it you just sort of appeared here one day too? I've been to L.A., played a few gigs there.

Just traveling, or do you tour or something? With a band?

[Because he looks like he'd play something way cooler than a violin in a real rock band. Must be the hair. Very rocker.]

Kind of. The first time it was just-sort-of-appearing.

Touring. I had a band called the Rats for a while, and I put out a solo album after.

[Part of him is trying to play it cool, part of him really just doesn't think it's a big deal, and another not small part of him hopes she is impressed.]

So you left and came back?

That's really neat. So you sing?

[She seems genuinely interested and impressed. Then again, she's Penny.]

Mm hm. A lot of people pop in and out... makes it easier to take it when friends leave, since most of them come back sooner or later.

Yeah, and I play guitar. Pretty much the only skills I have. Well, the only ones that make for dinnertime conversation, at least.

[An even more naughty grin than usual accompanies this statement. He's not really even hitting on her as much as just being himself.]

Huh. [Which is really all he can think to say on that topic, because this is all pretty trippy for something he is 82% sure is not actually a trip.]

[She doesn't know what to say to that without walking into some kind of innuendo or double entendre. Talking about the City seems safer.]

Has the whole City thing been explained to you pretty well? Curses and deities and everything?

Uh, a little bit. Not well. Nothing about any deities as far as I can remember.

Well... if you want some light reading.

[Penny leaves dinner preparations to grab a rather hefty binder. She offers it to Curt.]

That's everything that anyone's ever written about the City and how it works that I can find. The deities are kind of like a bunch of kids with an ant farm, you know? Sometimes they like to shake the ants up a little.

[Curt begins leafing through the binder. He doesn't really look like it, or act like it most of the time, but he's fairly book smart for a rock star and is actually looking forward to going through this more carefully.]

I guess I can see the appeal of that. Unless you're an ant.

The problem here being that we are the ants.

[She goes back to cooking-type things.]

So how're you doing with all of this so far? You seem pretty cool with it.

I don't know. I guess I needed an escape. Here or Berlin, it doesn't even matter. In fact, here is better. Away from everything.

[He closes his eyes for a moment. His fight with Brian was only yesterday, but it seems distant. Distance is good.]

You can't get much more away than an alternate dimension.

[Penny!senses are tingling.]

It's okay to be not entirely fine with this. I know I was completely freaked out when I first got here. If some of my friends hadn't already been here, I think I would've lost it.

Quick question--ever heard of Brian Slade?

[As well they should be.]

So...sometimes people run into people that they know? Normally? Back home?

[It isn't exactly the tone of someone who's hopeful.]

No?

[Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Ambiguity: Curt has it.]

Happens all the time! ...Not all the time, but it definitely happens. Is there someone you're trying to not run in to?

Someone who goes by that very name. Not that it's a big deal, or anything. But there's not anyone I can think of that I really want to run into.

[muttered]Which is pretty depressing, come to think.

Oh. Wow.

[with some forced cheer] Look at it this way, though! You have a whole crazy-alternate-dimension's worth of people to meet, and odds're good you'll find at least a few people here you won't mind running into.

[He tries to shake off the dark mood.] Point is, I needed a fresh start and I guess this is as fresh as they come. And I like meeting new people.

1st note

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action! ~off to bed~

action! ~g'night!~

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