mingle log | the quad and elsewhere | we were young and drinking (coffee) in the park

[lamiaceae]

Characters: Gansey and whoever shows up
What: Interpersonal interaction! Meet each other face-to-face while nothing is on fire
Where: the quad, unless elsewhere seems cool to you
When: loop 1, day 10 (6/10 irl)
Content Warnings: nothing yet. please use and check thread subjects

It's a pleasant day outside. There's a nice breeze and the sun is doing its best. At very least, it's not raining and warmer than it was yesterday. This is, statistically, likely to bring college denizens out of their dorms and offices since rain seems to often be on Newcomb's horizon. Fall in not-at-all-New England is lovely that way.

Gansey, for his part, can be found throughout the day in several places! He likes hanging out near the clocktower to study, since he's found time works best there (at least for him). It's nice to have a watch that's doing something vaguely akin to timekeeping for once.

But he's an explorer at heart, so he can probably also be found in the library, the computer lab, and wandering the grounds. Gansey isn't sure he's interacted with anyone outside a classroom or on Fermii since the train crash, so he's more likely than usual to strike up conversation instead of waiting for it to come to him.

The real question is this: where's everyone else hanging out today?

[ i'll be throwing gansey at anyone who doesn't note that their tag is closed. please mingle! ]

Comments

Steve Rogers | ota

[pursuitofcappiness]

Library
Steve finds his way to the library where he's busy putting together his curriculum for his classes. It's odd, it's the middle of October, so clearly he should be able to have a plan together already, right?

But this whole place just feels fuzzier in his memory the longer he tries to think about it, so he puts his mind off of it.

If your character should have need of finding a particular book, Steve's excellent at using the card catalogue system. In fact, here we go, he's got a location. "For your studies? Or just reading for fun?" he asks.

Grounds
Sometimes, Steve can be found on the grounds, cutting a perfect picture in his brown tweed suit, glasses with lenses that do nothing, under the bright autumn sun sat on a bench under cover of colorful leaves. One leg crossed over the other, he has a leatherbound journal in his hands, and though he's meant to be taking notes of some sort, he keeps doodling things from a very odd and vivid dream.

If you know him, you might be able to recognize some of the people in his drawings - and if you don't, well, they're nice drawings.

[lamiaceae]

Gansey was just passing by, but something about the sight of someone drawing makes him pause and circle back. He doesn't recognize the faces, but Steve's skill is quite obvious.

The young man who approaches Steve is tall and broad-shouldered, a swimmer's build under a sky-blue hoodie, dark washed jeans and a pair of battered docksiders. The shoes do not even slightly compliment the look, but they do look comfortably worn in. His presence is quiet, and he's looking at Steve's journal from a respectful distance.

"You're very good," he comments quietly. "Are you teaching art, or something else?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

"History," he says, as he looks up and places his pencil down. He places his glasses down too, as if that had any bearing on his sight. He hasn't realized yet that they don't do anything. "Of a place called Earth. Are you in one of my classes?" he asks, hands stained with graphite as he digs through some papers.

"I might take up an art position too, if I've got the time. And once I get into the swing of things. I'm Steve." He pauses, and thinks better of it. "Professor Rogers."

[lamiaceae]

"I am, yes. And also a native of a place called Earth. History is one of my majors at home, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the narratives overlap or don't." Gansey's enthusiasm about this brightens his eyes--history is something of a passion. "Living in an example of the theory of infinite parallel universes wasn't exactly on my schedule, but it doesn't seem like it will be boring." It might be too exciting, if things like the train crash keep happening, but what can you do?

"Good to meet you, Professor Rogers. I'm Gansey. There will be an additional 'Richard' and 'the third' on the class list, but it's just Gansey."

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Gansey," he says, smiling up at him. "Well, welcome to Newcomb." Only, he maybe shouldn't be saying that, as he's so new himself. But he thinks things have been so strange lately that it wouldn't hurt to try and offer some pleasantries as a form of comfort.

"History's a broad subject," he says. "What's your concentration? Maybe I could work some into the curriculum." After all, despite what he currently thinks, he normally has a great memory, and capacity for it.

[lamiaceae]

"I've done a fair bit of study of Welsh history and culture a century or two on either side of 1400, with a side of everything else that was going on over the British Isles more broadly at the time. The life and legends of Owain Glyndŵr in particular fascinated me. That led me to ley lines, and I followed some of those on a trip all over the world. My advisor can't decide if she adores or loathes me." He smiles unrepentantly about bestowing some innocent overworked academic with the headache that is a young person with a love for old and wonderous things and the money to wander off looking for them. "What's your area of expertise?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

He quickly jots down that note, though it seems that Gansey's already an expert in the topic, but he also thinks maybe getting everyone else to partake in the others' concentrations and passions might be a good thing. After all, Steve's not well-versed in Welsh legends, so, now he's interested.

But to answer: "World War 2 in particular, but I specialize in battle and warfare." He'd memorized all of the battles of World War 1 as a kid, after all, and then he'd read up on the rest of 2 when he'd gotten out of the ice.

[lamiaceae]

"I'm definitely looking forward to your class. I know just enough about the World Wars to be aware they were covered poorly in high school." It's said with a bit of a shrug--even at 21 he's aware that almost everyone he went to school with (including himself) wasn't equipped with the emotional fortitude and nuance to comprehend the scope of those wars.

"If it's rude to ask what prompted your interest, please disregard the question." The eccentricities of career historians and how they found their era of obsession almost always lead to interesting stories.

[pursuitofcappiness]

"In history?" he asks, and then he shrugs. "Well I served in World War II and my father in World War I," he answers. "But even without that, I've always been interested in history, and civics. I don't think that American civics are needed here, but history - I think maybe that might be a necessary subject to cover."

If only because they could learn from it. "What about you? Why'd you pick history?"

[lamiaceae]

"Thank you for your service, then." That was rote, an automatic reaction from someone raised to respect those who joined the military, but not insincere for it. "Does that mean you're from the 1950s?" Steve doesn't look like he could possibly be from Gansey's 'now' of the late 2010s if he fought in WWII. "What happened before is always relevant, if only so we know better this time."

Gansey rubs one of his ears absently. "I had a pretty bad experience when I was ten, and ended up in the hospital for awhile recovering. While I was there my older sister gave me a book that had a story about Glyndŵr. It portrayed him as a sort of Welsh King Arthur-Robin Hood combination. When I got out my parents were pretty touchy about me going outside for awhile, so I ended up researching more and falling down a rabbit hole. There was a legend that Glyndŵr's body was transported from Wales to somewhere in what would become the Americas following a ley line from one to the other. It started as a puzzle, then became something like a quest." Obsession would be the more accurate word, but admitting that to a professor is heresy and he's already sanitized the story on several fronts. Gansey shoves his hands into his hoodie pockets, wrapping one of them around his phone from home like a talisman. "I did find him, but it seemed wrong to disturb the site except for seeing it the once. We didn't even tell anyone." He has a singular photograph of the tomb door to remind himself that it all really happened. Everything about that time feels like it might have been a fever dream. "I don't think I'll ever be done finding things to look for."

[pursuitofcappiness]

An adventurer, then. Steve feels a sort of kindred spirit, despite him only ever going on his own adventures because it came with the territory and not just out of merit. But he also has an inkling deep down that he really enjoys Tolkien for some reason, and other adventurous tales.

"Looks like you get this whole new place to explore, then," he says, smiling. It'll be nice for Gansey, he thinks. "And no - I'm. It's a long story, but I think I was frozen and woke up in the future. That sounds crazy, but, we're here."

[lamiaceae]

Absolutely an adventurer. He wandered off for about a year traveling all over Europe following ley lines instead of starting high school like a normal kid. The parents were not pleased, but nobody chased him down either. After high school and Glyndŵr there was a gap year and a road trip through the US. Such is Gansey's life.

"Plenty of room to wander here, and no lack of proverbial rocks to look under." There's an eerie emptiness to Newcomb, but it doesn't bother Gansey much. He rarely feels alone here despite the sparse population. "No, it doesn't sound that crazy. At least you weren't awake the whole time." If only he had context for his surety about that potential scenario. "Still, that's got to be an adjustment."

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Well, for the moment," he says. "We don't know how long we're stuck here," he adds. And it was quite the adjustment, but he got used to it, he supposes. He's not sure Gansey wants to hear about all that.

"Not more than it is to be here, I think," he answers diplomatically. "But at least I've already done it once." That means he's hoping that he can adjust quickly, and that he's got plenty of tips for everyone else.

[beingawesome]

"If anyone's reading back copies of the Journal of Irreproducible Results for their studies, I hope they're majoring in comedy," Claudia says with a slight chuckle as she takes a moment to copy over the information.

She'd mostly been looking to see what kind of obscure stuff might be on the shelf, and sometimes one just wanted to delve into the dry satire that the scientifically minded would come up with.

"Are you one of the library staff?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

"No," he says. "I teach history," he adds, but then agrees that whatever the case, these are probably not books worthchecking out.

"Are you a comedian?" he asks.

[beingawesome]

"I was looking for a bit of distraction. This place just reeks of fudge to me, in a totally metaphorical way. It's incredibly irritating when you can't quite remember why things are giving you the heebie-jeebies," she admits.

The memory effects she can mostly accept because the whole place is so weird. It only makes sense that there would be side-effects to this massive an alteration in the worlds.

"History, huh. Do you know anything about an order of monks called the Brotherhood of the Black Diamond. They had something to do with things back where I'm from. Something really important."

[pursuitofcappiness]

No, he can't say he does. He shakes his head. "Can you tell me more about them?" It could also be that they're from equally parallel worlds as this one. Having read through some of the information that Cassandra allows them to have, he just draws this conclusion.

But then, he also wonders: Why all the disguises? But he thinks maybe it's a result of being pulled in through the nexus.

So, suspicious indeed.

[beingawesome]

"I wish I could. The name, that it's important, like they're the key to something, but more than that, it's all beyond my reach. And forcing things doesn't really get anywhere," she responds, her frustration evident.

"At least there's research to be done." When in doubt, do your homework.

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Well, I guess we're in similar situations. I can't remember all that much about my past. But - do you think you'd be able to find something about them in the library?"

If she doesn't know anything about them to even start looking, that might be an issue. There isn't really a dewey decimal for nefarious groups.

[beingawesome]

"French order, ties to the Templars, that kind of stuff, but given the nature of the thing, that could go anywhere. People will try to tie the Templars to anything."

It's frustrating. Because she knows it's key to something that was going on back home, but the details.

"Once we fix this place it'll probably all come back. And any needed ass-kicking will happen."

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Well, that'll require us to fix this place first," he says, but maybe Claudia has a plan that he's unaware of.

Steve on the other hand, isn't so sure. But he also doesn't know who he is himself, at the moment.

[beingawesome]

"Is that doubt I hear, professor? I should have thought that if there's one thing history teaches, it's to never give up," Claudia scoffs. "I mean, really, as long as there's hope..."

She trails off, something about that line almost reminding her of something, but it's not quite there. Something about hope. Or maybe the loss of it.

"Fuck, that's so creepy. It was like it was on the tip of my tongue, and now it's gone."

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Isn't it?" he asks. It's not that he's out of hope. Quite the opposite. But he's just out of sorts for the moment. After all, this place and being thrust in a completely new situation had that way of making him feel just a little bit lost.

He thinks it's not a new feeling, but for some reason, that doesn't comfort him at all.

"Why don't we go look? This library's not that large."

[beingawesome]

"Worst thing is that I have this niggling feeling that this isn't the craziest thing to have happened to me. Actually, from the bits I can remember, it's almost certain I've seen weirder," Claudia responds, grimacing.

"And don't be so sure. I get the feeling that looks can be deceiving around here." But she's perfectly willing to go into the stacks looking for books. Hopefully none will jump off the shelves and bite them.

[pursuitofcappiness]

He isn't even thinking any of them might physically bite him. Instead, he looks around, paging through them curiously.

"Well, if you figure out what's going on here, please let me know. I'd like to get us all home," he says.