arrival and exploring

[unmakeme]

WHO: Natasha Romanoff, one person or group for her arrival, and anyone who wants to find her wandering around
WHERE: starting at the fountain, then most likely up and down every road in the place taking an inventory of her surroundings
WHEN: Sunday afternoon for her arrival, exploring the town can cover the next couple of days
OPEN TO: all
STATUS: open

NOTES: Please let me know where and when you'd like to run into her in your subject line. if you have an idea for a starter that you're not sure of, hit me up on plurk or discord and we can talk about it.

arrival - still open

It's possibly not as surprising as it should be, coming into awareness far enough underwater that the pressure in her ears almost hurts and she can't see what's around her. One moment, she's lying down with a headache, a mild anti-inflamatory and a glass of water. The next, her head is clear and the water is murky and everywhere. There's weight on her back, straps, she shucks them quickly. The boots, waterlogged and heavy, won't come off as easily. She skips that and begins kicking for the surface. Her hands find a wall quickly, and she pushes off, hoping to use the momentum to get her to the surface, only to be brought up short by something else. So it's not wide, only deep. She points herself straight up, struggles toward what she can now see is a small patch of weak light.

By the time she breaks the surface, the headache is back. She knows it will pass, though. It's not much work to heave herself out of the fountain and onto the stone path, lying on her back, arms above her head, sucking in deep breaths to clear her head. She takes a brief inventory. She has no injuries, sturdy boots, black hospital scrubs. Or perhaps another dark colour and they only look black because she's soaked. The weather is mild, wherever she is. Not dark enough yet to see any stars for help in determining her exact location.

exploring

The way out is not back through the fountain. That would have been too easy. So all that leaves is every other conceivable options, and quite a lot of ground to cover. She starts with the buildings closest to the fountain - the blacksmith, the police station, the inn, then over to the the butcher and baker, and further along that road to the hospital, schoolhouse, and town hall. She doesn't go looking for people specifically, not right away - just for the lay of the land. She works her way out further, traveling down winding roads, counting out houses and making mental note of which seem to be occupied and which appear deserted. Every path out of town brings her up short, and adds to her frustration. There is a way out, she just can't find it. That doesn't sit well with her. None of this does.

SUNDAY
afternoon - arrival - n/a
afternoon - schoolhouse - Kira
afternoon - town hall - Peggy
evening - mill - Clint

MONDAY
morning - police station - Wanda

Comments

exploring - town hall

[womanofvalue]

Peggy has been searching out a larger space for her to use for her classes with Sansa, especially once she's thought to herself that she might actually do what she'd said and begin to expand. When she wanders outside, tugging her coat a little firmer around her neck, she startles to see a ghost standing before her and examining her surroundings in a manner that leaves little doubt to Peggy that she's staring at Natasha, again.

Her heart beats just a moment faster, wondering if that means Steve is also here, somewhere, but she refrains from being too hopeful and instead regards the other woman. "Are you searching for someone?" she asks, wondering if Natasha remembers her or whether it will be just like Bucky again, though she doesn't look that different.

[unmakeme]

Natasha pulls her gaze away from the building's depressingly inadequate resources and settles it instead on the woman behind her. "Not someone. Information." She recognizes the face instantly. How could she not? Even the accent and cadence of her voice is just perfect. "Something tells me that Peggy Carter is the perfect woman to provide it."

[womanofvalue]

Well, that's a relief to hear her name and see the recognition in the woman's face, though as she walks closer, she reminds herself that it might not mean much at all. After all, from the limited information she has on the woman, Natasha is one to hold a great number of cards close to her vest.

"I'm afraid I may be poised to disappoint you," she warns, "I have a great deal of information, but it might not make the sort of sense that anyone is after."

[unmakeme]

The recognition is what Natasha is focusing on. Every reason in the world for her to know Peggy's face, none at all for Peggy to know hers. So that's something to file away. Still, she keeps her posture open as the other woman approaches, even relaxes herself somewhat. "Well, I just came out of a town fountain that's deep enough to drown an elephant in. Sense is... a fluid thing right now." Then a beat, calculating the odds. "It's good to see your face," she finishes with, softly. Testing the waters.

[womanofvalue]

"Do you remember me, then?" Peggy asks, trying to temper the desperate hope in her voice. There are so many other questions that she wants to ask the woman, but it all hinges first on establishing whether they have a history. "The fountain, though, that's unfortunately normal, don't you remember from last..." She trails off, awareness hitting her as she speaks.

"Ah," is all she says, inevitably, because either she's being tested by a Natasha who remembers, or this is another version of the woman she'd grown to call her friend.

[unmakeme]

From the last. Yup. That's a confirmation, absolutely. She chuckles, though it's a bit forced. "I'm sorry, you think a person should get used to a thing like that? Town fountain deep enough to make your ears pop, totally normal. I think you've been here too long."

[womanofvalue]

"I have been," Peggy agrees, no mirth or humour in her voice because it's been a very long set of months without any promise of going home, no matter how much she investigates, seeks, explores, she always comes back here and finds herself without a way out or the people that she misses. She's made friends, of course, but they're no substitute for what she has back home.

"You won't find a way back through the fountain. It's solid, I'm not even sure why we come out of that thing."

[unmakeme]

Natasha offers a more genuine smile, and sinks down into a seat with open body language, a sweeping hand inviting Peggy to join her. "Why don't we skip the things I already know. Tell me what I've missed." Which, sure, that can be taken more than one way. Natasha is hoping that Peggy will take it to mean that she was here, left, and is back now. She wants to know what someone would tell her without the reservation that comes with speaking to a stranger. What would they tell a friend? "Please."

[womanofvalue]

Peggy eyes her warily, but she settles down into the seat, giving her a long look. "I think I need to know that you are the person I think you are, first," she says, with an edge of apology, as if she's not entirely sure that she should be asking such things. "You seem to know me and I do know someone who looks very like you, but before I start to talk about this place with you, I want to know your name, where you're from, the last thing you remember."

These are questions she asks everyone, at some point, but they feel charged this time, as if they mean more.

[unmakeme]

The desire to make a connection, it's written all over her. Natasha can see what Steve must have, the grit and the magnetism and the kindness tempered with steel in her spine. Peggy Carter, her own special kind of living legend. Natasha gets it, sitting across from the woman, she gets the draw. She also knows how kindness will always be a chink in armour.

"My name is Natasha, but you know that. You also know where I'm from. You know who I am," she says, putting weight on the end to imply that Peggy knows more than most people, that there's trust there. "The last thing I remember isn't even help to me. My thoughts feel like they've been through the wash, nothing fits, my head is splitting. I don't know what's real, and that's--" She hopes that Peggy will come to the conclusion that she's terrified, not knowing what thoughts might be her own and what might have been put there. If Peggy does truly know her, hopefully she'll know that much. "If you're not going to help me, Peggy..." She glances down, to the side, careful movement designed to convey hurt feelings and an attempt to not show it. "I suppose that tells me what I need to know."

Natasha sighs, begins to stand. "I'll find one of the others."

[womanofvalue]

"Natasha, wait," Peggy says firmly, because she means to help, but she also wants to make sure that she's not going around in circles explaining the same things to a woman who's already lived through them. She gives her a hopefully encouraging look and gestures for her to follow. "Are you thirsty? Hungry? I've a few biscuits left at my place and the dregs of some sherry."

"I find alcohol is a great help in these situations," she admits. "You've been here before," is what she says. "That's how I know you. I wanted to know if you remember that time."

[unmakeme]

If she knows Peggy, then she should be comfortable, and if Peggy knows her, she knows how suspect Natasha is of the unknown. So the ease with which she follows Peggy, the ready acceptance that it's perfectly safe, is something she's counting on to help her along. Mostly because it's not easy. No part of her wants to follow someone she doesn't know to an unknown location without a deep understanding of what she's getting herself into. Pretending to know everything always starts with knowing a hell of a lot more than everyone else - after that, faking the rest is almost easy.

"Well, you know I won't turn down a drink." And Natasha hopes that she does. She's taking a very strange kind of leap here. She's trusting some version of herself to have given the answers that she's about to, to hold back what she always holds back, and to freely share the things she's decided help present the image that gives her a place in the world while also keeping her safe.

It's particularly rough, considering that the last couple of weeks have ruined both her image of herself and her place in the world, and nothing feels safe any more.

[womanofvalue]

"That, I do," she agrees, though she believes that might be a more universal thing. After all, Peggy finds it's a rare case to have someone not appreciate and enjoy a good drink. In stressful situations, those drinks become even more necessary. "My house is just this way," she says, careful not to call it 'home' because it's not.

It's simply a temporary place to reside and while she's grateful to have found it, it's also not some place she wants to stay the rest of her life. "You don't remember being her before, do you?" she deduces, more of a guess than actual knowledge, but Natasha doesn't seem to regard the place with familiarity.

[unmakeme]

Anyone calling this place home would be more suspect than anything in Natasha's mind. Nothing about the situation sits right.

Peggy presses on, poking at Natasha's, what? Viability? She can't seem to let it go. So maybe vague isn't the answer - an outright lie, a request for help. "Not clearly. It's strange. The fountain surprised me, until I was out of it, and looking back at it, and then it seemed right. I knew the pack would come floating up. I knew what I'd find in it as soon as I opened it. I didn't know where I was going when I started walking until I got there, but once I did, it all felt..." She trails off, shakes her head. "I'm not used to being this cut adrift. I don't like the way it comes back in pieces. It's the worst kind of surprise."

[womanofvalue]

"You're the first to come back and remember," Peggy says, still rather wary of what that means, but there's something of hope in that. "When you're settled in, I'd like to ask more questions," she says, pressing her lips together as she wonders whether she can start asking now, but she's just arrived and even if she does remember, it's likely a great shock. "Do you want me to point you in the direction of your house?" Peggy suggests, given that she remembers that Natasha had lived at the inn before, but she wonders what sort of reaction she'll get.

Perhaps there's a memory loss problem affecting her? It happened to that one man, but he hadn't come back through the fountain. "After," she says firmly. "Let's get you something to drink and eat."

[unmakeme]

"When I'm settled," Natasha agrees. She knows she won't be able to put Peggy off for forever, but hopefully she can manage until she has some idea of what's going on.

When she mentions a house, it's only Natasha's suspicious nature that saves her. She thinks of what she would do to test someone, if she weren't certain. Peggy is clearly on the fence. Clearly doesn't quite believe. Toss out something you know as false and see if it gets a bite. It's classic. Not to mention, she still has the murky memories as an excuse. Unless it's real and they're in sight of the house now. Then she's screwed. So Natasha takes the gamble. "That would be... nice..." She lets herself trail off uncertainly, brow furrowed. "A house? You're sure?"

[womanofvalue]

Peggy studies Natasha and wonders whether she ought to keep prodding and poking. Dottie Underwood fooled her handily and Natasha is born of that same training, she knows, but at the same time, this woman has just come back. Should it matter whether she remembers or not? "In a manner of sorts," she admits, gesturing towards the inn. "It just so happened to belong to several people, though I didn't spend much time in your room," she admits.

"It's probably been a very long day for you," Peggy says, and no matter the story, she knows that's the truth. "I should allow you to unwind."

[unmakeme]

A house that's not a house, with many people in it. So the Inn, then. Right. Good to know. Probably correct, too. She'll have to test that one a little later. Maybe after they're at Peggy's and she's eaten something, because now that the other woman has mentioned it, she's incredibly hungry.

It's not all that difficult to keep a tenuous smile on her face, to follow Peggy with her body language easy and open. How many times has she thought about what it would be like to meet her, to know her, the woman who founded her second chance? This is a fucking weird way to turn that idle curiosity into reality, but still...