A+ stylish entrance

[blindninja]

WHO: Matt Murdock
WHERE: Fountain
WHEN: October 22 morning
OPEN TO: OTA
WARNINGS: Potential season 3 spoilers - will warn inside if/when they come up

---

For a while, Matt is just a body with his back floating towards the surface of the water. It's cold, but not cold the way he normally feels it, the way cold hurts the inside of his nose just to breathe and makes everything stiff, chomps through his flesh and bites down into his bones. He feels like he's been wrapped in a layer of padding, where everything is dull and far away.

It's peaceful in the water. Peaceful and silent. He hasn't known silence in twenty five years. He could stay there for a while. But then, of course, he has to breathe. And that becomes a problem when he swallows a mouthful of water.

Matt startles awake and struggles while coughing and trying not to wheeze underwater, clawing his way up towards the surface. Even when he finally breaks through and shoves his palm against the edge of the fountain in the pitch black darkness, he trips over the fountain wall while trying to haul himself out and lands face-first in the dirt. One of the stitches in his side rips from the uncoordinated flailing and the fall, or so he thinks. He doesn't know. It doesn't hurt the same. He's bleeding and he can't feel every grain of dirt sticking to his skin.

Why is it pitch black? Why is it black? Why- wh-

Comments

[digging]

Walking through the fountain park is habit. Even now, after the discovery of the bunker and everything that came with it, it's a tick, an impulse that drives Karen that way anytime she's nearby. Someone could be missed. The person scheduled to mind the room with the tubes could be late or in the bathroom. Shit happens.

And, in typical form, here is Matt Murdock splayed dripping and bloody across the cobblestones, thereby proving her irrationality to be entirely correct.

This is, in effect, what she's been waiting for this whole time, isn't it? Every shortcut through this park that wasn't shorter at all? Him and Foggy and Frank.

The heart that leaps into her throat isn't as overwhelmed as it might have been a few days ago. She's gone and come back, in her own mind at least, and maybe it wasn't real, maybe it was just a download straight into her cerebral cortex courtesy of their asshole overlords, but it feels like she just saw Matt a couple of days ago, happy and clanking a glass of scotch against her bottle of beer.

"Jesus, Matt—" she pushes out, startled still a moment before she surges forward, one hand at his shoulder, the other at his elbow. "You're bleeding."


[S3 is A-OK, she's all caught up!]

sweet s3 spoilers ahoy

[blindninja]

His last experience in the water hadn't been great. He struggled to make it out of the back of that cab. Getting home had been a mission and there was just no time to lie down, recover, do anything because his world had been falling apart around him.

Things were just starting to get better. His life was just starting to come back together. Friends pushed away were coming back to him. He was even on talking terms with Sister Maggie. His head pulled out of that dark place, he was going to work at grief and letting go and starting over and just being Matthew again now that their immediate threats had been taken care of.

But now everything is dark. And Matt is scared.

He couldn't hear her coming and he looks horrified when she touches him, scrambling backwards out of her reach, panting for air as he grabs fists of dirt. His head is turned towards the fountain, his eyes are darting around and he seems borderline hysterical.

[digging]

"Matt, Matt— Hey," Karen says, hands instinctively lifted in surrender despite his inability to see them, pale lashes blinking against the flying droplets of water and the sheer terror writ in his expression.

"Matt, can you hear me?" she tries again, edging closer, knees sliding over damp cobbles. "It's Karen. I've got you, okay?" She lifts a hand to his cheek, just tentative, enough that he can accept it or bat it away.

And only then, only as she cradles her palm against the stubble of his cheek, does it occur to her that he might not even know her at all.

[blindninja]

He squints as he tries to focus on the sound of her voice. She sounds familiar, even if it's just the voice without the rest of the heartbeat-footsteps-shampoo smell package.

"Karen." He doesn't calm down immediately, still breathing hard. Her hand is warm against his cheek. He can at least still feel that.

"Karen," he says again, reaching up into the dark. His thumb and fingertips graze against the top of her shoulder and he latches on, following the seam of her shirt up to the side of her neck and rolling over the top of her cheek. Two fingers trace over the bump of the bridge of her nose before gliding under her eye.

It's Karen. He pulls his hand back quickly, curling his fingers into his palm and pushing the heel of his palm down against the dirt.

"What happened?" Matt swallows and tries to get his breathing back under control, ignoring the blood oozing out of his side for now.

[digging]

The air pushes out of Karen's lungs all at once at the decisive, familiar cadence of her name, palpable relief at being recognized. The next part isn't going to be easy, but it's at least not quite as full-tilt terrible when not delivered by a complete stranger.

"That... is a very complicated question," she allows after a tick, frowning at the place where darker red is blooming across the scarlet of Matt's shirt. Of course he's in red. Of course. "And I know what you're going to say about it, but I'd really like to make sure you're not actively bleeding out before we do that deep dive."

She swings the bag down off her back, pushes past bits of carefully-rolled twine and a canteen of water inside, mentally cursing Claire's supremely shitty departure timing as she hastily pulls out a scarf and a clean pair of wool socks. It's the best she's got on her for a makeshift bandage.

"Show me where you're bleeding, and tell me what you remember last."

[oorah]

It's been a heavy month for Arrivals and Frank has been lucky enough to pull one out of the fountain personally already. He has no intentions of doing it again, truthfully, merely cutting through the park as Kamala and himself exercise the dogs. There are a lot today as recently a lot of people have left. Maybe just as many as have come, though he pretends not to keep track of the hard numbers. There's Aretha, the black and tan bloodhound who's never more than a few paces ahead of them, Aloe the pitbull who prefers to stay locked against Frank's leg. The Queen's two corgis and an abandoned Greyhound, join the homeless Samoyed who sometimes like to tag along. Under one arm, Frank is carrying a strange creature recently named Bruno. (After Mars, not Kamala's bestie.) They make quite the picture as they happen by, but it isn't as though Matt will be able to see. Frank's senses, on the other hand, are fine-tuned: every minutia of sound hitting him tenfold. The splash as the man makes it to the surface is that way for him, echoing as the hairs on his arm and neck rise, his Scrubs-given power adding to the cacophony. The dogs are barking, Aretha braying, and Bruno is letting out his weird little reptile snorts, wriggling around until Frank finally drops him to the dirt and follows them to the lip of the fountain. There's no mistaking the identity of (1) Matt Murdock as he pulls himself over the side. "Not again," he just barely gets out, though it's a soft grunt Matt might not even hear over the rush of the fountain. Still, he doesn't hesitate to reach two strong arms in and pull the other man out of the water, sighing at the state he's in. What a great time Claire Temple chose to leave this place.

[morphogenia]

Kamala, on the other hand, is more than happy to play rescuer. In reality Frank still had the biggest arms so he gets to play hero today. She puts her efforts towards making sure the dogs don't crowd Matt once he's set down with limited success. Frank is the dog whisperer of the pair. She just really loves them.

"Come on, guys! We need to be quieter for Frank's.... person." She finishes lamely. Her experiences with Matt Murdock in Reims boils down to 'guy Frank protects, but doesn't seem to like Frank at all' which didn't go over too well with her. Right now concern wins out over judgment. She turns to Matt with clear concern that he can no longer see even in his way.

It is plain to hear in her voice. She sounds painfully young and worried for him. Her accent clearly places her city of origin, Jersey City, too. "Hi! I'm Kamala. We're going to help you so ignore the dogs. They're excited and not even a little dangerous!" She tries to sound reassuring on that last part. She turns to Frank and adds quietly, "We should bring him back to the house. He looks hurt."

also s3 spoilers

[blindninja]

Matt doesn't know who's touching him, what's happening, where he is, what happened, why he was in the water. He only knows his last skinny dipping session could have killed him, so Matt curls up to protect himself when he feels hands on him and braces himself for impact. Maybe Fisk had changed his mind and someone was here to finish the job?

But there are voices. Muffled, in the distance. One of them sounds particularly young. Matt can't make the words out clearly. Are his ears waterlogged? He can at least smell the dogs, but he can't tell how many, or what they're doing, or who's there.

Matt squirms and tries to break out of Frank's grasp, kicking up dirt as he pushes himself backwards. He gropes around in the dark for elbows and forearms to push away.

"Get off me. Get off me." His right hand curls into a white-knuckled fist and he's ready to throw a punch.

[oorah]

Jesus, why does this happen every time? He steels himself, knowing he could take a punch and there's already yellowing bruises on his face. What's one more? He grips on harder, not wanting Matt to stumble back and crack his head open on the fountain. He sees that blood soaking through his scrubs, too, even though they're red too. Which explains why his hackles are up, stupid teal powers.

"Red, it's me. It's Frank." That probably won't help, will it? "If I let go you're gonna fall." Better??? At least the dogs are filling in behind him as if to herd him away from the fountain's edge.

[morphogenia]

Kamala sighs in frustration. This would normally be the part where she gets in someone's face to remind them who the good guys are here. She sees that fist forming. The last thing she needs is to put herself in a position to get punched in the face. There's no way that will go over well with Frank. She does the next best thing: scream at Matt to get it together. "Hey! Stop it! We're seriously here to help you! Do you think we showed up here with like ten dogs to hurt the blind guy?!" She gets he's panicking here, but all she's got is shouting at him. Maybe it will work?

[theimmortalweapon]

"Hey man, just relax."

Danny appeared at his side, pressing a firm palm to stop his struggles. "It looks like you're pretty banged up. I'll get you to someone to can help but you have to hold still." The voice might sound familiar but Danny had absolutely no memory of Matt or what the Hand had done in New York. As far as he knew, he was still fighting and trying to find answers to the questions that buzzed around his thoughts.

This world had put a pause to that and he'd met others from his world but Danny didn't know anyone except for Claire.

[ooc: I have seen it all but I am mean and took Danny from early in season 1 of Ironfist.]

[blindninja]

Matt recognises that voice. It cuts through some of his confusion, even though it's been a while since he last met up with Danny Rand. It's one thing to talk to someone, ask them to do you a dying favour. Quite another to be face to face again, even if he can't 'see' Danny right now.

"Danny." It frustrates him to no end, not knowing whether Danny's heart is racing or if he's angry, or just how he'd react to recent events in New York. Or the fact that Matt had even survived Midland Circle.

"It's good to hear your voice," Matt ends up saying, instead of apologising for not getting in touch or any of that. There's time enough for that later.

[theimmortalweapon]

Danny had no idea who Matt was or how this man knew his name but that didn't really matter right now. All that mattered was getting him into a bed and getting him some help.

It wasn't the first time someone knew him. Karen had known Rand Enterprises and Jesse had hinted to knowing him though getting answers from her was like pulling teeth. Claire knew him and of course, through her, he found out that Frank was also from the same version of New York as him.

It was all a little confusing but easy for Danny to accept. It wasn't the first time he'd found himself stuck in a strange world without exactly knowing when or how he'd get home.

"I got you. Don't struggle; we'll sort this all out once you're somewhere safe." Danny slides beneath Matt's arm and carefully begins to carry him towards the inn. Even without the powers of the Ironfist, Danny had trained his body and he was more than capable of carrying Matt towards the inn.

[blindninja]

He can't tell that Danny doesn't know him, or even that Danny's confused in any way. Danny's just a dismembered voice a few feet in front of him. Regardless of Danny's apprehension, Matt trusts him. He wraps his arm around behind Danny and doesn't put up much of a struggle as they move.

"Have you been in New York all this time?" Matt asks, turning his head slightly towards Danny as they approach the inn. There's no expectation or resentment or irritation in Matt's voice or anything. If anything, the blind man looks a little worried. He'd be relieved to know that Danny hadn't been caught up in any of the recent events that'd transpired.

[theimmortalweapon]

Danny's voice noticeably faltered. "What? We aren't in New York." It was then that Danny realized that Matt was blind.

Shit.

"Look. I don't remember you but I've been told I know a lot of people here I don't remember. So let me get you to the inn and I'll try and explain what the fuck is going on." Because it was stupid and Danny had the sinking feeling he'd have to start from the beginning of the story.

"I did. By the way. Just return to New York. Then I showed up here in that damn fountain like everyone else."

[notsoangry]

Bruce had brought up the idea of having people regularly stay at the fountain in case of new arrivals, but then of course didn't do it himself which was counter productive. His social anxiety is already on high alert these days, but he remembers well that fear and struggle, so it's the right thing to do. He's reading next to it, the wood working how-to that takes up his leisure time, since he's working on a new chicken coop.

The coughing he hears and he's on his feet quickly, setting the book down and starting to head over to help, but the man is already trying to get out of the fountain. Only to fall on his face. It's the blood that immediately concerns Bruce, his doctor instinct kicking in, and he's by Matt's side in an instant. "Hey, hey, breathe, it's going to be okay." He has a soft voice and gentle, careful hands on Matt's back. The only time Bruce ever feels comfortable touching strangers is when they're in trouble, and in that case he doesn't hesitate.

"My name is Bruce, I'm a doctor." He doesn't make the side comment that he's not technically a medical doctor, because he falls under the umbrella enough to pass in emergencies. "You're bleeding, can you tell me what happened last?" He didn't think it came from the fountain, but that is only a guess.

[blindninja]

Matt is more hyperventilating than breathing, a bit of water still lodged in his lungs and making everything that much sharper to his otherwise dulled senses. Bruce touching him out of nowhere has him tensing up considerably and shuffling backwards a little, and even after a few forced deep breaths his unfocused eyes dart aimlessly from left to right and then to the sky.

He'd been deliberately avoiding clinics, hospitals and other official channels because of all the paperwork involved and all the questions. You'd think he'd have something prepared for a scenario like this, but it trips him up completely and on top of his mind trying to process his true blindness and trying to figure out where he is, who he's with, what's happened, Matt just freezes.

"I..." Matt ducks his head a little and bites his bottom lip. "...fell." Into a knife fight. Hazel eyes glide across the dirt floor. "Broke a coffee table and cut myself." He tries to force a small smile on like he's just some clumsy vision-impaired city boy. "Dumb. Dog."

[notsoangry]

Bruce has no reason to doubt him. When he looks closer at the wounds he might, but he also won't question it. He's not one to pry into someone's life if they have reasons to lie. "Yeah, they get under foot, right?" What he wouldn't give for a flashlight at the moment to check Matt's pupils. It probably is just standard near drowning, but he knew that Tony came in with a bad injury, so other people could do the same.

"I'm sorry, I wish I had good news, but your life just got a lot more complicated." More complicated than dogs and stab wounds for sure. Bruce glances at him and then around, trying to make a good decision. He could patch him up personally, no problem, but if his wounds are worse he'll need the springs. It seems more like something to do in an emergency. "Have you ever experienced, um, magic? Are you from a world with magic?" God, he keeps getting ahead of people, it's a terrible habit. Calm them down first, then introduce the multiverse. "Let's sit you up a minute, just keep breathing. It's going to be okay." A contrary message to the word vomit he did moments before.

[blindninja]

"It was already. A little complicated." Without giving too much away. Matt sits up slowly and places his hands where his red scrubs end near his knees. It seems like a bad idea to press his dirt-covered hand over his open-ish wound so he lets it bleed a bit for now.

"Are you talking about card tricks? Or a hole in the sky and some alien with a flying hammer?" Matt just snickers at that. He clearly doesn't have a great opinion about the events and people surrounding the Incident. Buildings had dropped. People were hurt. And the people that had 'saved' them were in the wind, leaving New Yorkers to pick up the pieces and deal with the opportunists.

"Sure. I suppose it's real." Magic or science or God or, whatever they want to call it.

[notsoangry]

"I'm going to take a closer look, don't put your hands on the cut." He has no way of knowing that this isn't Matt's first rodeo, so he's just rolling with it. Once Matt sits up, Bruce comes a little closer to try and get a look, frowning. He needs to walk around with some medical things soon, even if they barely have any. His clothes are much cleaner than Matt's hands, so he quickly and firmly rips part of them to make a temporary bandage. "Press this against the wound to soak up the blood." He knows there are needles for stitching, but it's wiser to get him to the springs first. It's only a temporary solution.

"Thor's hammer doesn't really fly, he flies, it goes with him. It's a whole thing." And the hammer is destroyed now, but this answers a significant question for Bruce. The man is from his world. That makes things easier, honestly. Someone already open to the reality of superheroes can accept things quicker. "So I'm going to need to move you somewhere that has magical water, which is why I asked. It's not far from here, and it will help you with the wounds until we can get you more formally stitched up."

Bruce takes his hand gently to help him up. He doesn't want to push, but sitting there bleeding out is not really a great option. "If you don't like magic as a term, it probably has chemical reasons for heightening the natural healing of body processes. I haven't gotten to check it yet."

[houmaprotector]

Alec feels old, and that's an unusual feeling. He aches but he's healing. It's hard not to miss his human feelings. The hot springs made him feel better but there's an ache in his leaves so he's keeping the crutch that Peggy made for him and using it sparingly, carefully pacing the village. He may ache but he still can't sleep and resting makes him root.

So when he paces to the fountain, Alec tilts his head. It hurts to kneel but he does so anyway. Reaching out a tentative hand to touch him - he withdraws it. Though anybody can probably smell massive amounts of wet moss and leaves.

"...New arrival. Do you need water? Food? I can find you a doctor or someone to help get you somewhere safe."

So sayeth the tree being.

[blindninja]

Matt wrinkles his nose and narrows his eyes at... whatever's in front of him. The voice is deep and gravelly but he smells like... damp? Wild bush? It's so different from what the city smells like. Even Central Park doesn't smell like the Swamp Thing. And the questions were so direct and objective, removed of emotion, that for a moment Matt didn't know what to say or do. It's like someone went out to live in the bayou for a few years and hasn't had normal, casual conversations with other people in a long while.

"I'm... okay. Thanks." Matt presses his hand to his wound and bites back the grimace.

"Who are you?" Is he dead? Or just dreaming?

[houmaprotector]

Surprisingly accurate. Be gentle Alec. Except...he's not used to the concept of gentleness. Human beings are such fragile creatures and his own humanity is painfully far away.

"My name is Alec Holland." He tries to gentle his voice, fully aware that it might not come through. He has vocal cords made of wood and root. They're rough.

"I'm a plant doctor. Did you get hurt upon arriving? I'm afraid...I'm afraid things aren't going to get better from here on in. You're not dead though. Near as I can figure at least."

"...You look...especially disoriented."

[blindninja]

Well, Matt's not heard of Alec Holland before, so either things are getting more elaborate or he's only hit a snag on his way down, falling further into this dark and damp rabbit hole than he thought he was going to drop.

"I was hurt before. But it'll be fine." Yeah, at least he's not dead, or something.

He doesn't really want to get into how he went from blind to blind, how everything is Not Okay and all the rest of it, especially not with a stranger, so Matt tries to start to get to his feet on his own.

"Must have hit my head. It's nothing. Do you... know me?"

[houmaprotector]

"No." The poor man is disoriented clearly, "I don't. But I'm afraid you're not in Kansas anymore so to speak."

He chuckled at that, "You've been transported to an...unusual place. A disconcerting situation so to speak. I must insist you let me get you some water. Perhaps find you a doctor who can..."

The groan he makes sounds like a shifting tree, "explain. things better."