11/22 (city streets) - Jaina Solo, Simon Templar. WHO: Jaina Solo, Simon Templar WHERE: the city streets WHEN: November 22nd, evening WHAT: the Saint's turn to arrive in LA RATING: TBA STATUS: COMPLETE
Why Los Angeles? Well, why not? It had never been his favourite city, but it always seemed like a place which could use a little guidance from a Saint, perhaps more so lately; and besides, Simon Templar rarely required a concrete reason to travel. The idea of LA had come to him, and there having been no reason not to indulge his whim, he had accepted the random inspiration as one of those hunches which so often turned out in the end to be useful.
The place sort of reminded him of post-Blitz London, which he supposed was a logical association; and like post-Blitz London, the inhabitants were doing their level best to carry on with life. What this meant was that although there were hotels, there was a definite paucity of hotel rooms of the level that the Saint preferred to make his home away from home standing unoccupied on a holiday week-end. Ah, well; if he had to sleep in his car for a couple of nights, he'd survive. He'd camped under worse circumstances, and the Hirondel was certainly large enough.
He spooled the long silver machine to a stop at a gas station, went inside to stretch his legs - cramped after the long drive across the desert to California - and purchase a packet of cigarettes which weren't Marlboros, and sat on the running-board to have a smoke and a think over his next move. jainasolo JAINA SOLO
One minute Jaina had been having a conversation with Jacen, the next she'd arrived here. Wherever here was. It certainly didn't look like any place she'd seen before, that much she could tell with just one glance, and for a moment all the young Jedi could do was stand beside the building she'd arrived behind and simply stare in shock at her surroundings.
Reaching inside of her, to that part of her that was reserved solely for her twin, Jaina searched for their bond. He couldn't be far, right? He had been right in front of her seconds ago. Yet all she could feel was emptiness. It was as though there was no bond to draw from, as though he was simply... gone.
Did I die? was her first thought. Irrational, really, since death didn't look like some kind of city - at least she didn't think it did - but what other explanation was there? Had she been attacked and had no memory of it? That, too, seemed unlikely. Who would attack her then leave her here? Where was here, anyway?
Shoving aside the despair she felt at the lack of a connection with Jacen that she'd had since they were in the womb, Jaina focused on answering her questions in the most logical order possible. First, she needed to find out where she was. Which meant she needed to head away from the building and near people.
She took a few steps forward, just enough to come past the edge of the building and see the entire street. Her attention immediately fell on the nearest person she saw - a man who was dressed strangely and had smoke coming from his mouth - and she decided he would do. Her lightsaber was at her side if she needed it. She had reflexes that were heightened by her training, and from what she could tell he posed little to no threat.
So with a deep breath and a determined, if slightly panicked, expression, Jaina made her way toward the stranger. "Excuse me," she said when she drew close enough that he would have to know she was talking to him, "do you have any idea where we are?" She'd try for nice and polite first. Hopefully, that would do the trick. Jaina was in a foul enough mood already. She really didn't need an excuse to take it out on someone else. saintlysimon SIMON TEMPLAR
Simon had noticed the girl approaching, and looked her over appraisingly as her initial appearance from the back of the building interrupted his attempt at bringing to a successful close a bit of verse about a young lady from Kent who whistled wherever she went.
Her - the girl who'd come out from around the building, that is, not the one from Kent - clothing was a bit out of the ordinary, making him sort of wonder if she were a hippie or something, but he wasn't judgmental. Moreover, the bit of distress she was exhibiting, and her current apparent status as Lost, were more than sufficient to elicit his instant damsel-rescuing instinct, and he unfolded himself politely to his feet - it never being a good idea to talk to a standing stranger while sitting down yourself, for an assortment of reasons both mannerly and practical - and extended her a reassuring smile.
"Off Figueroa Street, I believe. Are you trying to get back on the interstate or something? I've a map in the car if you need it." jainasolo JAINA SOLO
Figueroa Street. Interstate. These weren't terms that Jaina was familiar with at all. Her brow furrowed and she studied the man closely, wondering if maybe he'd misunderstood her. Or perhaps he was just being a little more specific than what she was looking for. Whatever the case, re-phrasing her question was definitely the way to go.
"No," she answered with a slight shake of her head. "I meant, what planet are we on? What system?" saintlysimon SIMON TEMPLAR
"...Right." Probably a hippie. They took those mind-altering drugs, you know; in his wild and woolly youth, when the Saint had been of a more criminal bent and had undertaken a bit of work smuggling various things into various places, he'd done some rum-running over the Canadian border in the company of a Frenchman who was overly fond of opiates and who had once spent two and a half days convinced he was a goldfish. Still, the best thing to do was indulge the poor thing. "We're a bit nonspecific here, I'm afraid. We just call the place Earth and the system the Solar one, which is just about as good as naming a child Person if you think about it. Unless they call our sun Sol because its full name is Solomon, like a certain Mr. Rosenstein of my acquaintance, but I think that's probably a bit of an offside chance, don't you?" jainasolo JAINA SOLO
It seemed like a perfectly normal question to Jaina. She'd been traveling through space since she was literally inside her mother's womb. Hell, she'd been flying ships since she was nine. So why, then, did he look at her as though she had suddenly started speaking in Huttese?
"Earth," she repeated when he finally gave her the name of the planet, at least. The problem was, she'd never heard of it before. With a sigh, she glanced skyward in the hopes that the stars might provide her with a clue. The problem was, the stars weren't quite visible. Either because it simply wasn't late enough or because the lights of the city made them difficult to see. The reason was irrelevent, however. The facts of the matter were, she was on a strange planet in some unnamed system, with no clue how she'd gotten here and no idea how to get back.
"This doesn't make any sense," she muttered, taking another long look at her surroundings. Eventually her attention fell back to Simon. "You said you had a map? In your... car?" Maybe, just maybe, the map could offer some sort of insight. She doubted it, but it was worth a shot. saintlysimon SIMON TEMPLAR
"I have," Simon assented, and pulled open the door to get at the - rather sizeable, really - selection of geolocational paperwork. "Unfortunately I haven't got one of the entire solar system (let's see, L.A., state of California and western Nevada, United States Atlas, we probably don't need the London tube map - why have I got a tube map in my car? I've only driven in there the once) but I could probably draw you a rough diagram or something. What was it they tried to teach us in school? Something about My Very Educated Mother..."
He emerged with the first three items he'd listed in his mumbled parenthetical, and spread the centrally-mentioned map across the bonnet of the automobile, for whatever good it would do. jainasolo JAINA SOLO
Jaina smiled her thanks, although it was a thin smile that didn't really reach her eyes, and she stepped closer and lowered her gaze to the map. As suspected, nothing looked familiar. Not a single thing. With a frustrated sigh, she shook her head.
"I was on Coruscant," she stated flatly. "I was speaking to my brother. He was as close to me as you're standing right now. Then I was here. It doesn't make sense." She glanced to Simon. "I'm not crazy and I'm not drunk," she added. "I don't know where I am and I don't know how I got here, though."
Part of her hoped he could explain it to her, but Jaina knew that wasn't possible. He clearly didn't know much about his own solar system. How, then, could he tell her where it was in reference to the ones she knew? The simple answer was, he couldn't.
"Do you know of a place that has lodging for the night?" she asked abruptly, deciding that worrying herself to the point of distraction wasn't going to solve her problem either. Maybe after a good night of sleep she'd figure something out. saintlysimon SIMON TEMPLAR
"And here I thought the space-travellers tended to flock to New Mexico or something," Simon noted absently as he refolded the map.
He decided, partly because it was actually more useful and logical to avoid wasting time being pointlessly skeptical and partly because the idea simply amused him, to take her at her word and accept what she said at face value, at least for now.
"You've come at sort of a bad time, as it's a holiday week-end, but if you're not particularly particular I passed a halfway decent place with vacancies a bit back. I could give you a ride there, if you liked. And since it's never a good idea to hitch a ride with a stranger - my name is Simon, pleased to meet you."
It's not generally a good idea to offer rides to strangers either, but the Saint was free, white and twenty-one, perfectly capable of looking after himself, and had never really given a damn as to what is or is not generally held to be a good idea anyway. Besides - damsel-rescuing instinct. jainasolo JAINA SOLO
New Mexico. Yet another place Jaina had never heard of, and therefore didn't understand the reference. She just waited for him to answer her question and smiled faintly at his offer.
"That'd be great. Thank you," she responded, before introducing herself. "I'm Jaina Solo. It's a pleasure to meet you, Simon." She glanced at his car and studied it for a moment. "I suppose I could... wait." Something else had occurred to her and she sighed softly.
"I know I don't have any currency that this planet accepts." Her brow furrowed for a moment before she asked, "What about a place that doesn't cost anything? Does your planet have something like that? I'm not sure what you'd call it..." If not, she'd have to figure out something else. Maybe find some woods to camp in until she could collect her thoughts and come up with a plan. saintlysimon SIMON TEMPLAR
"Like a hostel or something? I'm sure there's one about - they're not very popular in America, but this is a large city... I wouldn't know where to find one, but there's bound to be a directory in the station, I suppose. I was sort of planning to camp out in the car tonight myself. And I could lend you a couple of bucks, if you needed it." He laid the options out easily, letting Jaina decide what she was most comfortable with. He had a very laissez-faire attitude himself, although he would, in any case, be likely to attempt to get her to accept at least enough cash to get herself breakfast in the morning before they parted, even if they found a hostel to take her to. jainasolo JAINA SOLO
Hostel. Definitely not a term that Jaina recognized in the slightest. She wasn't sure what station he was referring to either, unless he meant the building they were standing by with what, she assumed at a glance, were some sort of refuelling depots for the planet's transportation out in front. Returning her attention to Simon, Jaina smiled.
"I'm not sure when I could pay you back," she pointed out, not leaving it an option about whether she would or not. Jaina Solo didn't borrow things from anyone as a general rule, especially money. If she chose to accept his kind offer, she would do everything in her power to square the debt away before returning home.
"I suppose I can ask about this... hostel and then make my decision," she finally opted. Her attention went to the station and her expression hardened slightly. It was strange. It was unfamiliar. Yet she was going to go right in there and ask about lodging for someone without any money. She glanced at Simon. "I guess I'll be back in a few." And then she made her way inside.
She returned a few minutes later, eternally grateful for the kindness the man inside had shown her. Clearly he was used to visitors to his city and had wasted no time in explaining her options for lodging. She carried with her a small scrap of paper upon which he's scribbled down a few addresses.
"They're called shelters, here," she told Simon matter-of-factly and with a faint smile. "He says there are three that he knows of. One is aimed for teenagers, though, and another is usually full so close to the... holidays." She glanced at the address he'd circled and held it out for the Saint to take.
"That one," Jaina stated. "Apparently there was some sort of battle here a few months ago and that one specializes in people who simply need a place to sleep at night while reconstruction is taking place. He said they should give me a room without a problem." Her nose wrinkled a bit. "I think he believed I was suffering from some sort of memory loss due to that battle." saintlysimon SIMON TEMPLAR
"Of course - I ought have thought of that myself. Of course, I still wouldn't have known the address - I'm just a visitor here myself - so it's as well, anyway." Simon took the slip of paper and consulted his city-level map to plot a few different possible routes to the shelter.
"You'll probably get that memory-loss idea a lot," he said, opening the passenger door for her. "You may as well go along with it as much as you can; it'll be easier, and people will be more understanding. We don't get a lot of people from other planets here, and by not a lot I really mean none, as far as your average chap on the street is concerned - personal suspicions regarding the origins of certain politicians who hold ridiculously outlandish views notwithstanding."