InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "We already know that."

נεғғεяsση (haberdashery) wrote in theconsolelog,
@ 2018-05-23 20:27:00

Entry tags:

emma swan, jefferson, killian jones, status: complete

WHO: Emma Swan, Killian Jones, & Jefferson
WHERE: Killian's Beach Shanty Shack - N'Sanity Beach
WHEN: (Backdated) After this conversation
WHAT: Trying to plan how to GTFO
WARNINGS: Mild for cursing and drinking ADULT BEVERAGES
STATUS: Complete

Well, it wasn’t exactly paradise, but it would do. For now.

Oh, of course it looked like paradise to an outsider - and naturally Killian would gravitate toward the beach, to the soft skies above and the sharp stones underfoot and brilliant blue waves with the white lace foam; when they crashed upon the shore it was an echo of a familiar drumbeat in his sea-loving heart, and the salty breeze blew the tension right from his bones.

Again, for now. He didn’t plan to stay. He didn’t want to stay. One of the last things he remembered was Alice telling him she loved him, and an I love you too, starfish in reply before things went sideways as they tended to do. This beach didn’t even have a name, did it?

He’d found a place to stay (temporarily), however. Killian had also gravitated to the villa built right into rocks, a perfect place he was sure he could fix up if he cared to spend the time doing so - right now it was essentially empty and adorned with castaway materials. Shipwrecked wood used as flooring and beams, chains from anchors used as railings, a whalebone or two as the bases for tables here and there. The two most important pieces that had arrived with him, the black rook and white knight - pieces from chess games with his daughter - were placed upon the windowsill in what he dubbed his bedroom.

And he wasn’t certain if Emma and Jefferson would make it over here, but he rather hoped so - they were from his universe, just not his own personal realm, and with three heads they could combine powers and perhaps figure out a way to leave. He had a sinking feeling in his gut though, telling him it likely wouldn’t work out how they hoped but that still wouldn’t stop him from trying. In preparation, he’d stocked his new villa with as much water and cocktails (just add rum, which he had in a flask) that he could trade for - he’d quickly figured out that the locals would be willing to do so if he brought them fruit. That would be explored later, but he was adept at fishing and could also feed himself if he had to.

So he waited, standing outside so any visitor would be able to spot him easily once they wandered up the beach a bit.

It took Jefferson more walking than he’d wanted to commit to in order to get to the beach. Especially going through several shifts in climate change, atmosphere, and terrain. He wanted to learn as much as he could about the places he passed. There wasn’t much time but he could infer he had been in as close of a Vegas strip as he could be. There were no maps in any of the shops. Not of the whole world, anyways.

Each place—well, the two “cities”, had maps available but only of their respective areas. It was almost like wandering a new forest.

The Hatter has navigated many new worlds before so this was nothing that was odd to him in terms of being in a new world with it’s own characters. It was just one he’d never seen. He’d have to save up more coins to get those maps, or make his own...all thoughts to be shared once he finally reached the shake, notably parched as he wrapped at the wood.

Just to be sure. The crabs wandering around were large enough to impale.

Emma hadn’t left Cerulean City until she was certain that Henry wasn’t there, just chasing down a Bulbasaur or something. And later she’d lament about knowing the names and titles of things, but for now she was just focused on the fact that she was stuck in a game world that her son played non-stop for a few months. Their time in New York, away from Storybrooke and lacking the memories of their loved ones there, it’d been all video games and comic books, no fairy tales or stories for Henry, no secret missions and codenames.

The most it did was help Emma at least know a little about this world, realm, whatever that she was stuck in now.

Hopefully, even if she had her reservations about a Hook she didn’t actually know, and Jefferson, the three of them would work out a plan and get things moving. Finding her way to the beach was a trek in itself, and she wasn’t even all the way out of the little village that looked horribly familiar but she just couldn’t place where from, and Emma needed to shed the red leather jacket and hoist her hair up from her neck or she was going to collapse from the heat.

This place did not seem like somewhere you were meant to cross in the span of a day. Finally seeing the beach, and the promise of shade, Emma forced herself to trudge onwards, watching for signs of pirate and hatter.

“Someone better have something to drink or I’m gonna die.” Melodramatic, sure. But she was probably in good company for that.

Now, generally Killian viewed alcohol as the solution to all problems - especially ones of the ‘get bunged off to another fucking realm against your will’ problems. But after wandering long distances, and being out in the sun, dehydration was best cured by good, old-fashioned H20. Besides, his cursed self (a police officer named Rogers, though just as charming as ever), happened to be a recovering alcoholic - and he’d gone without when it came to the sauce. For quite awhile.

Let’s just say that he was likely going to fall off the wagon. Really though, could you blame him?

“Come on in, you two,” he showed them inside and immediately passed over two canteens of water - one to Jefferson, one to Emma. He didn’t know much about her besides that his other self had loved her, married her, and gotten her pregnant - and he knew even less about Jefferson, and why they seemed to hold grudges against the other. It would all turn out though, somehow. They’d find a way to work together.

Shutting the door behind them, he indicated the space with a roguish grin. “Welcome to my...temporary home, I suppose? Now, do tell. What other wonders await us out there besides an ocean view?”

A regular pair of musketeers, the three of them. It was hot and Jefferson had begun to sweat from the walk but he wasn’t about to take off his scarf, merely loosening it and shrugging out of his jacket. His flat hat and other personables tossed inside it to hang over what was already looking like the perfect piratepad.

“Did you make sure this didn’t belong to any of the natives?” The Hatter asked, taking a seat on a piece of idle wooden furniture. Wood, fruit, natives, and giant plants were apparently commonplace on N’Sanity Beach. He had the pleasure of passing the entrance on his way in. Or was it further out?

“I came from what the sidewalk liked to call Casino Night Zone. Just as informative as the title...the cities seem to get more primitive the further out into this little beach area. A regular hodge podge of a plane.”

Emma wasn't rightly paying a lot of attention while she tried to not guzzle the water, paying just enough attention to take a look around the little shack and catch what the conversation was angled towards -this realm, or world, or whatever it was called. So far nothing had tried to kill her, so it was a positive from both her other trips to different realms. Of course competition between Neverland and the Enchanted Forest wasn't really that big a battle.

Even rampant caterpie were a step up.

"Considering the Pokemon world, and I think I walked through a Mario level, hodge podge is about as accurate as it can get." The nice weather go with those worlds, complete with the burning ball in the sky, well she wasn't going to complain, but damn was it good to be inside, even if there wasn't air conditioning.

"So, a hodge podge world, with a scattered bunch of us?" Because Hook did not look like her Hook, which fit with what he was saying, and Jefferson, well, honestly, Emma couldn't rightly remember seeing him in Storybrooke following Zelena's curse, so maybe he'd stayed in the Enchanted Forest? "This seems promising."

Killian also took a seat, the wood smooth so that meant no splinters up the bum at least - but for him, he was guzzling some sort of fruity beverage. And he tipped his flask of rum into it as well, so that added to the ‘tropical’ ambiance he was currently experiencing. Ah, just breathe in that air - a salty fragrance that conjured images of sun-bleached cord hanging out to dry, fishing nets like he used to make. Or perhaps he was hungry, that too.

“Quite sure this place didn’t belong to anyone - I got cozy with the locals before you got here,” he explained. “They’re friendly enough. I gathered strange-looking fruit and managed to trade it for a few things, water included. I also bet those large crabs are tasty once you crack off the legs and boil them.”

And further away, there were apparently pokemon and a casino as well? How odd. “I’m curious as to how we all got here. Must have been a powerful force, that can grab people from different universes,” he furrowed his brow. With so many different worlds within a world - was there anyone mainly in charge? Who did he have to threaten to be able to leave?

“But let’s see, crossing realms - well, there are keys, tornadoes, mermaids...” Killian hadn’t seen any but that didn’t mean they weren’t here, “Kraken’s blood. And you’ve got a pancake hat, apparently.” It was a start. Perhaps thirty percent of one.

Friendly enough for now. Some of the locals looked a little more ‘native’ in terms of what they may be eating...and he wasn’t about to chance fighting a giant crab for the sake of it. Especially when he had nothing to go about it with.

“I can fix it,” the Hatter said begrudgingly, looking back over to his poor, squashed hat that sat against his coat. He took an extra large swig of the water, closing his eyes momentarily, taking it all in again. The water was at least water. “I just need the right tools, since the Princess here isn’t comfortable enough to use her magic, I guess I’ll just have to play that casino or...barter...something.” He hadn’t exactly passed a tailor’s or Jo Anne’s on his way over here.

“We need to survey the area in the meantime. So we don’t get lost--someone on the devices was talking about being stuck in a fog? That’s probably an area we don’t want to find ourselves.”

“Princess could try, but the damn thing might catch fire.” She wasn’t trained, that was the whole thing. Regina had to con her into using her magic properly, and Emma still hadn’t been able to defeat Zelena with it anyway, that had been all Regina. As far as Emma knew, her magic could still be gone from her cursed kiss with Hook.

She’d just neglected to mention that until she was sure Jefferson wouldn’t go ‘crazed hatter’ again.

“Bartering seems to be the method of choice around here.” Checking a wall for stability, Emma took a little pressure off her feet by leaning against the structure, she wasn’t sure just what Hook had traded to get this place, but right now she’d have said whatever it was had been too much. “Maybe they’ve got beans here somewhere? We just need to barter the right thing?”

“They might have beans - we’ll need to talk to someone who can tell us more about magic in this land,” Killian said, taking another swig from his flask - fuck the fruity beverages, now he was just going for full-out alcohol consumption. It actually burned a bit, which he hadn’t felt in so long - he’d been numb to the effects of booze before, experiencing merely a tingly due to the passage of time and conditioning his body to pump glorious rum through his veins as opposed to blood. “There are more parts to explore, and there has to be some sort of wizardly type. It’ll give us an excuse to survey the area - map things out, right? So as to know where the fog is and everything else. I’ve a feeling we’re not going to be the last to show up, and no one exactly gets a map when they arrive.” But they could fix that - not like Killian had particularly noble intentions there, but he also wasn’t looking to take advantage of scared, lost newcomers either. Mostly to gauge usefulness and acquire potential allies. “As for the supplies - “

He rubbed his chin with his good hand. “I’ll help you acquire them.” That was directed to Jefferson, and Killian was also eager to check out this city of lights - he couldn’t imagine what that would be like, such a sharp contrast from the draw of nature and the sea. “The villagers here are open to trading in fruit, I’ve still got my coins,” he shook the little drawstring bag for emphasis, currency clanging together. “They must want something, in that other city. There must be something we can do for them in exchange for supplies or the money to buy them.”

Or play the casino, that too. But it probably cost money to play - or cost something else. Nothing in this shithole life was free.

Jefferson artfully ignored Emma and her comments. Useless magic abilities or not, she was still here and wanting to leave, and that was enough. For now.

“It has to be different for each part of the world. The coins seem to be accepted everywhere, but at the Casino is seemed..a gamble, no pun intended. I didn’t bother going in another direction but it’s possible in a world like this there are others who could give us the answers we need.” Jeff glanced briefly at Hook, shrugging. “Thanks. Maybe we can collect and work out enough trades to get us the supplies we need. But we should have some sort of defense, in the meantime...this could only be ⅓ of what the world really is and there’s no telling the temperament of the rest of the locals in the less...civilized areas.”

Fruits, and coins. She was wondering if there would be a blue hedgehog somewhere in the towns, or if Pacman was going to start chasing ghosts around a maze. Wrapping her head around things was still going to take a little time -she still struggled with the fairytale people and she was the daughter of Charming and Snow White for godsake.

“Exploration would be good, there might be some more answers to questions in one of the other towns.” And while Hook had a little pirate place, a place to stay if this dragged on too long would be needed too. Emma figured she could worry about that later. “But getting the stuff together to hopefully make a start on leaving is probably a priority over wandering aimlessly and hoping nothing tries to kill us.”

There were too many questions and a lot of blank spaces, to really come up with a clue on how to get out. They didn’t really know how they got there, so getting out without knowing how they got in would be a little bit of a battle. Especially if it was something simple like ‘fight this thing and you’ll go home’, which honestly, Emma would prefer. She knew what she was doing when there was something or someone to fight. All this magic and guesswork was still frustrating.

“Probably going to ask for trouble, but we should probably split up and find some answers, or some money, so that Jefferson can get tailoring.”

Asking for trouble was Killian’s specialty - or more like he freely went looking for trouble, and called it an adventure. He’d sleep when he was dead, eh? And live it up in the meanwhile. “Aye, we can do that,” he agreed. As long as they didn’t split up entirely, and shared things - but he could also see the appeal of not being up each other’s bums and inviting more opportunities for squabbling. Especially between those two. “Explore and find supplies. Sounds like two somewhat obtainable goals.” Obviously, the main goal was leaving - but they had to work up to it.

Weapons though. Jefferson wasn’t wrong - they needed to be armed in a strange land chock-full of strange natives and creatures. “My gun arrived with me - I was a police officer in Hyperion Heights,” he offered. “I’m much more comfortable with a sword, however. I can see about having a couple made - or at least custom daggers - if you two would rather not walk around unarmed. Now, tell me what you’ll need to fix the hat?” he asked their local tailor, corking the rum flask and deciding to switch to water. It wouldn’t do any good if he was doing this upcoming exploration and playing on the defense team while drunk as a skunk. “I’ve mended sails and things of that nature - “ He knew how to sew, what a surprise. But really, this pirate Captain had a lot of useful skills up his sleeves, “...though a hat is likely a more delicate sort of thing. Especially a magic hat.”

Splitting up was the worst idea. It was almost as if Emma had never been raised in a forest before. Or learned anything from being in a new realm. The Hatter didn’t feel like arguing. Just rolling his eyes. Sure, no big deal, hopefully none of them would fall into a precipice…

Jefferson let his cheek fall to his palm, snorting. Sure. Let him just make a grocery list. “Scissors, cotton twill, silk, thread, needles, pins, felt, I could go on.” It was a delicate thing. Especially this hat. It wasn’t just any hat after all. It was portal after all. “We should approach this all carefully. Perhaps one task at a time--the gathering, the weapons?”

He didn’t want to name names but. He wasn’t about to die here. Killian may have been a fighter, and even the Princess with her gun. And unused magic.

Foreign lands weren’t her favourite thing in the least, she’d been in enough by now, and this was by no means ideal for any of them. Emma could understand being cautious, she would usually advocate the same thing. Given none of them knew what the hell this place was al about or what they might face here.

But it was also slow. And Emma really wasn’t a fan of slow right now.

“Fine,” but even she could see logic in not going off half cocked, regardless of how badly she wanted to. “I have my gun too,” she wasn’t touching Killian as an officer, not right now. “We get Jefferson’s odds and ends and figure out weapons.” Since the important thing seemed to be the magical hat anyway. “Then we can battle the next obstacle.”

“Delightful,” Killian chuckled dryly - and he refrained from making a quip about taking Emma’s measurements to get her the perfect custom-made sword or dagger. This one didn’t seem to be at a point where she was set to marry his other self, not yet, and he personally didn’t know her that well - she’d probably punch him.

No doubt his other self got punched many times during the courtship process.

“We’ll reconvene soon, then? If anything crops up in the meantime, we’ve got our odd communication devices to keep each other informed. Here’s a toast to success,” he added, ‘clinking’ one of those bizarre wumpa fruits against the water canteens. Right before sinking pearly teeth into the tasty snack - not bad at all.

“Word of advice in a new realm? Make friends with natives. It betters your chances for pretty much everything, and can help out should we wander into dangerous territory. Which, with all of this wandering around? We will run into eventually. Don’t be too honest if you can help it.” That was more for Emma than it was for Killian. Obviously they both had their ‘cop’ training to their advantage but in his experience the law was foolish in any sort of way.

That good deed soft heart hogwash would have the worst of their problems calling her bluff. You wanted to have a nice set of cards in your hand. And while Jefferson had no weapons other than his broken hat--he had that.

And would be spending just as much time observing as he was surveying. He clinked his water bottle against the others with a deep sigh. “To not getting killed.” Optimistic as he was.