Nothing much gets anyone used to waking up underwater, especially when he's forgotten half the instances. At least the sun is shining on his freezing ass as he pulls clear, rolling over the edge onto cold ground, grass shimmering with heavy dew. It's fucking freezing, same as always, and Kira sputters and spits as he rolls over one more time, ass over elbow and eventually his head pops upright.
His hair's in his face.
Pushing it back--and back--he gets both hands in the wet curtain. There's nothing shaved or trimmed; it's long. When he lets go, it sheets back down in a dark curtain, eventually separating into ragged twists as he squeezes cold water from it.
He's just starting to take stock--black scrubs, no backpack, attention grabbed by the fucking LED watch on his wrist--when he hears the people behind him. Whatever's happened, he's not alone, and he immediately turns back to make sure everyone gets out of the water. They can't stay out here like this; the early spring morning is still too cold for comfort.
--
After a change of clothes from the brick house, and a second round of villagers out of the water, Kira's back at the fountain with a canvas boat full of towels and blankets, getting down names and band-colors as people come through. The list he'd made before isn't complete, and some of the people were already gone--but it's enough to compare to, and it means he has an answer when someone comes back to ask after a friend.
There are a lot of no's, early on. He's glad for Ravi and Nerys, and the number of people he recognizes keeps growing. No reason to stay nervous, with every tale of disappearances, people being confirmed as seen on the other side.
No reason but human nature; there are a few names he won't be satisfied until he ticks off--Bodhi, Bela, Karen, Mark--and even if they all come through, he's still not sure what they're coming into. Aurora and Hoshi had been at the house when he came through, and the goat had been staked out in the yard--but he hadn't seen a single other person, Ravi and Nerys aside. A ghost town, a rapture. A rustier version of the prison they'd already been in, like someone had dumped them into an old tank to clean the new.
"Make sure you go check your place for your belongings, check on your animals," he tells the latest arrival, putting their name and color down on the next line.
In the lull, he checks his wrist again. It's strange to have anything report the time, but it's the date that narrows his eyes. Whatever this is, it's a bit much for a fucking joke. Not for the first time, he tries to ease the strap down over his hand, smoothing his fingers over it for some hidden clasp. There's nothing but the smooth edge, and he's not quite ready to chew off his hand to be rid of the cuff.
Kira Akiyama | Group 1 | OTA
His hair's in his face.
Pushing it back--and back--he gets both hands in the wet curtain. There's nothing shaved or trimmed; it's long. When he lets go, it sheets back down in a dark curtain, eventually separating into ragged twists as he squeezes cold water from it.
He's just starting to take stock--black scrubs, no backpack, attention grabbed by the fucking LED watch on his wrist--when he hears the people behind him. Whatever's happened, he's not alone, and he immediately turns back to make sure everyone gets out of the water. They can't stay out here like this; the early spring morning is still too cold for comfort.
--
After a change of clothes from the brick house, and a second round of villagers out of the water, Kira's back at the fountain with a canvas boat full of towels and blankets, getting down names and band-colors as people come through. The list he'd made before isn't complete, and some of the people were already gone--but it's enough to compare to, and it means he has an answer when someone comes back to ask after a friend.
There are a lot of no's, early on. He's glad for Ravi and Nerys, and the number of people he recognizes keeps growing. No reason to stay nervous, with every tale of disappearances, people being confirmed as seen on the other side.
No reason but human nature; there are a few names he won't be satisfied until he ticks off--Bodhi, Bela, Karen, Mark--and even if they all come through, he's still not sure what they're coming into. Aurora and Hoshi had been at the house when he came through, and the goat had been staked out in the yard--but he hadn't seen a single other person, Ravi and Nerys aside. A ghost town, a rapture. A rustier version of the prison they'd already been in, like someone had dumped them into an old tank to clean the new.
"Make sure you go check your place for your belongings, check on your animals," he tells the latest arrival, putting their name and color down on the next line.
In the lull, he checks his wrist again. It's strange to have anything report the time, but it's the date that narrows his eyes. Whatever this is, it's a bit much for a fucking joke. Not for the first time, he tries to ease the strap down over his hand, smoothing his fingers over it for some hidden clasp. There's nothing but the smooth edge, and he's not quite ready to chew off his hand to be rid of the cuff.