Sebastian "Bazzer" Vedder (winged_bazzer) wrote in thefield, @ 2009-01-29 21:28:00 |
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Current mood: | calm |
Entry tags: | annie, bazzer, z - 1st tribe - day 05 |
Annie's Arrival
Who: Annie & Bazzer
Where: the field edge and in the wooded area
What: meetings, explaingins and berry picking
When: Day 5, morning
At first, everything seemed normal. Annie awoke with the same achy feeling she seemed to be getting whenever she fell asleep on the patio of her beach house. She figured it was part of getting older, and having put a lot of strain on herself when she was younger. But she could feel the wind and the sun on her, so she figured it was just the result of falling asleep outside... again. "Oh man." She said aloud to nobody in particular as she sat up, rubbing the back of her neck and shrugging her shoulders in an attempt to stretch them back out into some sort of comfortable arrangement.
It was only as her eyes adjusted that she realized she wasn't in Venice Beach anymore. The landscape was completely different from... anywhere she'd ever been. Most people would have been pretty scared by this, but not Annie. She was an avid traveler, and had woken up in stranger places all over the world when she was younger. Slowly, she got to her feet, groaning again as her arms and legs didn't quite cooperate at first. She stood at last, her hands on her hips as she surveyed the area. She seemed to be in some bushes right at the edge of some sort of clearing. "Hello?" She called, not worried, just mildly curious as to how she'd arrived there. It was a beautiful place, anyway.
She padded out towards the edge of the clearing, barefoot and, when she didn't see anyone, sat down in the grass. She could explore later, but for the time being, the place seemed deserted, and she was still fairlly groggy. She unzipped the orange sweatshirt she was wearing and folded it behind her, using it as a pillow as she stretched out on her back in the morning sun and settling in for a nap.
Getting up at dawn, Bazzer took care of his morning ablutions, which were extremely minimal given the lack of well...everything, but peed behind a tree and splashed river water on his face. He checked their small fire pit and was dismayed, the fire had gone out. He knew it had last night, but he had been hopeful or an ember or two anyways. Then he went out to the field to see if there was anyone new...and almost tripped over a sleeping girl. The hell? Nudging her with a socked foot, Bazzer looked down at her wondering if this was where she had appeared or if she had moved. He thought everyone had appeared further towards the center of the field. He had anyways and Helena had seemed to be looking in that area when she had found him. Well, this place was weird, so why not. "Wake up," he said, poking her again.
It wasn't very long before a shadow fell over her and she opened her eyes to a tall, skinny type boy standing over her, kicking her lightly. She smiled. And he was speaking English, that was lucky. "I thought I was by myself here." She said, not alarmed by his presence whatsoever. On the contrary, it would be nice to have someone to talk to. She scrambled to her feet. "Hello." She said cheerily, extending her hand. "My name's Annie James, and I have no idea quite how I ended up here, but... well this will sound pretty silly but, is there a resort nearby? I probably just got turned around and fell asleep or something." She reasoned. It had happened before, and she wasn't one to panic. She ran a hand over her slightly messy blue bedhead, yawning just a little, which she quickly covered with her hand. "Do you work here?" She asked with a smile.
Sighing, Bazzer pulled his glasses off and massaged the bridge of his nose before replacing them back on his face, "I'm Bazzer," he replied simply, offering her his hand. "And no, there is no resort here. Look around. Is grass and trees sort of purple where you come from? Because I'm used to green vegetation," he wondered if this girl was running with a full deck or if maybe it was just because she was asleep and slow to wake up. He always woke up quickly, though he missed coffee. "Welcome to...nowhere."
She was unaffected by his reaction and maintained her chipper demeanor. "I was at a spa once in Thailand that had a lot of pink vegetation. It was kind of a gimmick." She informed him. "Thanks for the welcome, Bazzer." She replied simply, smiling over at him before turning her attention to the view again. "Wherever nowhere is, it's' kind of pretty." She informed him. "Is there a beach? How long have you been here?" She asked. He didn't seem like he'd seen a proper shower in a while, though that could have been a personal choice. She'd met some pretty rank surfer types in her day, though he didn't look like a surfer either. It still hadn't quite set in that there was literally no modern conveniences around, and Annie was still quite certain this would all work out and she would be sipping iced tea and laughing about this in a few hours anyway.
It was sort of pretty. Bazzer had never been to Thailand so he had no idea about the accuracy of what she was saying, but he was discussing plants. Not flowers. Flowers could be all sorts of colours, but the plants themselves were still green. "No beach, but there's a river," he offered. "I got here yesterday. You make five," Helena, Rowan, Bazzer, Cross and now Annie. "No resort either. Just...this. We all appeared in the field like this at different times. Haven't seen anyone or anything," not that there had been a lot of time to explore, but there was nothing to indicate that there was anyone else either.
Annie raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Well wherever we are, there's got to be a coast eventually. Or a road. Or something." She pointed out. He'd only just arrived too, so she could see how he maybe hadn't had time to figure things out. "So there's three other people here too?" She asked as she scooped up her hooded sweatshirt. She had many more questions, but there would be time. She was just hungry. "So. Bazzer. If there's no beach, and no people, and no... anything." She asked with a smile. "What's a girl to do here for sustinance? Hydration?" She asked in a laid back tone that said she wasn't all that worried. Whatever the answer was, it would present itself.
"Sure," Bazzer agreed, "But is it 10 miles away or 1000? Yes, three others than us. All in the same situation, namely, lost in our pajamas, but we're trying to figure this out," he ran a hand through his disheveled hair trying to give it some sort of combing with his fingers. "We have berries and some beans...we're trying to catch something to see if we can cook the meat," so far, they hadn't succeeded. "And there's a river for water. Don't pee there and contaminate it," maybe other animals and such did, but that did not mean they had to. They might not be able to shower and have soap and the like, but they didn't have to encourage disease either.
Annie shrugged. "Sounds like a pretty fantastic adventure to me." She said, doing the same thing to her own hair. "I'm vegetarian anyway." She informed him. "I don't like to eat anything that once had a face, and a mom." She smiled. It was her idea of a joke. She wasn't offended by meat eaters, but it was a decision she'd made a long time ago, and she stuck to it. She still ate milk and cheese and occasionally eggs, but that was it. When he ordered her not to pee in the river, she laughed. This boy was peculiar, but he sure was amusing. "Urine is sterile." She said with a wink. "But don't worry, I promise not to pee in your water." She said, tying her sweatshirt around her middle like a skirt. "So where's the party?" She asked, referring to the rest of the people. "Is that where you're going now?"
"No it's not, that's an urban myth," he had read that in a science textbook once, "A lot of the bodies impurities are peed out. Toxins. And disease can live in urine and fecal matter too. And I don't know what diseases you might have," she dyed her hair blue. Therefore, anything was possible. "I came out here to see if there was anyone new," like her. "Guess there is. You can help me go pick some berries," he led her into the trees just like Helena had done for him, and picked up some leave to use for bowls, "It was winter where I was, but I don't think it is winter here. If it is, this is incredibly mild," which then made him wonder about the summers.
Annie smirked at his quick response. "You're not a germaphobe, are you Baz?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow as they walked into the trees. "I don't have any diseases." She added with a smile. "None that I know of anyway." She took a bowl and followed along with him, watching what he picked and doing the same. "I'm from California. It's about as cold as it gets there right now, but I was sleeping outside last I remembered, just wearing this." She gestured to her sweatshirt. "Where are you from, anyway?" She asked as they worked.
"I live in Kansas City. Or I did before I was here," he shrugged, unsure if he still did or not, "I went to undergrad in Davis, California though. Just north of San Francisco. Then grad school in New York. Grew up in Chicago as a kid, I get around," more like he had lit out of Chicago as soon as he could and was never going back if he could avoid it. But no, I'm not a germaphobe. I'm a librarian. I read a lot," which was how he knew about urine not being sterile and all sorts of other random things. His book was tucked into the back of his pants, "I fell asleep still dressed in front of the TV. The book I was reading came with me. "What do you...in the real world?" It was sort of funny, but he was still mostly convinced that this was a hallucination and he was back in the mental hospital somewhere. That being said though, it was damn realistic. He was hungry.
Annie's eyes lit up. "My brother just moved to Chicago actually. His wife grew up there." She smiled when he mentioned the real world. "Well in a world just about as real as this... I surf. I travel. I do yoga." She shrugged. "A little of this a little of that. I actually just ventured into the actual working world not too long ago. A friend of mine opened a Starbucks, and I'm a barista there." She explained, eating one of the berries they were picking and then putting some more in her makeshift bowl. "And don't you worry, Baz. I'm sure you'll be back to your library in no time." People would be looking for her, though she didn't say that. She had taken off before on random trips, and it was only a matter of days before Chloe, David, and their lawyer were all looking for her. That's what happens when you come from money. People worry. While she'd never been kidnapped or in any real sort of trouble, people always seemed to think the worst.
"My parents still live there," he offered for way of conversation. He was not fond of visiting them at all, "So you don't actually have a job. A real job, I mean," he had money thanks to a trust fund his parents set up, but he didn't rely in that. He worked and loved it. He did live above his means from his salary, but that was okay, he was still working and earning his own money. He didn't think anyone would come looking for him though, except his coworkers when he didn't call in for a day or two. He didn't call in sick often and he always called in. He could see that conversation in his mind, with his parents convinced he had run off in a schizophrenic episode and was probably dead or getting high or something. That he wasn't schizophrenic didn't seem to compute in their heads. They were convinced of it. He hadn't been on any mind-altering drugs in over 10 years and was doing just fine though. They had even rescinded the diagnosis so it didn't show up in his medical records with his insurance company.
Annie laughed. Some people would be offended, but she knew she had it good, and that her job wasn't very grown up. "Nope, I don't have a real job. I don't, ah, really need one, really." She lived modestly, didn't draw attention to herself, and figured she could live off of what she had for the rest of her life without working. It was a pretty good deal. And while she liked working at Starbucks, she knew she would have been fired pretty soon, ,if she wasn't here, anyway. Jobs and rules and guidelines just didn't suit her. Her leaf was full and she looked over at him. "How many of these should we be filling up?" She asked, taking another berry from her leaf and popping it into her mouth.
He had two filled and he handed her a fourth. Once they both had two that would be good, "Me either, but I like what I do," he said. What else did he need to say to that? He obviously was not referring to berry picking, though it did have some slight appeal. Not for a living, but in general. "We've got some beans we found too and that plant over there," he pointed, "tastes awful. And there is something that is not a fish living in the river. We've not tried to eat it yet," he didn't mention Laughers and Pesks yet. Those could come later.
Annie smiled. "I like what I do too." She said simply. Most people wouldn't see the benefit in working for a coffee bar, but Annie liked being with people, and otherwise she might just sleep in all day. She sighed, sitting down and picking berries from the bottom. "So when are you guys going to start, you know, exploring this place then?" She asked. She was already getting a little bored, although a large part of that may have been her company. "I'm down for going now, honestly."
He shrugged, "Don't know. We're doing a little at a time. There's....I don't know. A lot. And new people every day. Cross and I both came yesterday. You today. Who knows about tomorrow?" Nodding, he turned from the roseberry bush, "Let's go take these to the others and you can meet everyone. Helena, Rowan and Cross."