The Universe's Mixer

This was familiar and yet....and yet it was entirely different. Killian had sailed to many places: from cities near and far, to islands.

The landscape before him expanded to reveal a place caught between a big city and a small, backwoods town. It reminded him both of the New York City line with the large skyscrapers and the bustle. And it had the charm also of Storybrooke, though rustic and homey cities weren't exactly always the most welcoming of strangers.

The Jolly Roger idled at the dock, and the Captain made his way slowly up the sidewalk. Against the modern setting he stuck out. The sword at his hip that swung as he moved, the all black leather. His left hand was concealed in the lapel of his coat and his right hand hung at his hip, fingers flexing some.

Blue eyes swept the faces that passed him. He was curious if there was magic here, and if there was then Killian needed to find it. He needed magic to get back on course. The bean he had thrown somehow had pushed his ship astray and this was not his intended destination.

From his experience he knew that the best place to gather information was the local watering hole, and he had a knack for finding any place with good drink. Maybe it was one of those quirks of being a pirate.

Ducking in to the bar, Killian blended easily with the dim lighting and with an easy few steps he was at the bar. His eyes swept the place, the few faces settled at the counter around him, and he found himself settling on a vacant stool.

The bartender approached and Killian offered the woman his most charming smile, "Hello love," the pirate breathed, setting his right hand on the bar top. "Give us your best rum." He nodded at her kindly and she smiled before moving off to fill his order.

Building a gym was no easy feat. Logan had taken on the task because it was necessary. Everyone that possessed skills beyond normal human range deserved a place to release stress. He designed to place to withstand those that were heavy hitters, the ones that could take strong blows, who were capable of dishing out a lot of power. Not just physical power, either. There were all types of power in this world. Logan wanted nobody left out of the know when the time came that they began to spread it. Well, he didn't want humans to know. But anyone else was fine.

There were a lot of mutants in The City, a lot of their old breed of X-Men were running about. Logan knew the ones that had come from the Savage World, and he had been aware of the ones that weren't. He knew about the phone book, and the Directory. He knew Melody was in town but he had been so busy with Giselle and constructing his gym. He hadn't been keeping track of Laura or Megan, either. Both girls were fine on their own without him, and he knew that if they did need him....well, they knew how to get in touch.


He had yet to find a name for his construct, he hadn't really found anything that he had liked. Of course, there was one name that had a ring to it.... The name of Giselle's home. It sounded peaceful and welcoming, which was what Logan wanted out of his own place. If he thought about it, he would ask her if he might use it. If she wouldn't let him, he would understand but he had a feeling she would delight in the small request. Just the thought of her delighted and smiling warmed him.

Logan might have been smiling absently like a dummy again. He had to stop doing that in public.

Shaking off the feeling, Logan proceeded down the sidewalk, heading for the hardware store. He needed to gather a few things to put the finishing touches on the nameless gym. Absently he was curious to see how Giselle's mural was going. Perhaps he would pick up some supplies for her too.

But his thoughts de-railed at a familiar smell surrounding him. It was the smell of death, a scent Logan knew and one that often got his blood churning. But this odor was different. It had a living essence to it. And it brought a small smile to his lips. "Melody."

Kitty couldn't stay in the apartment for very long. It felt like home, and having a ready made home was both wonderful and disturbing. There were small things that made it feel familiar, a brush, a book, a huge Russian and a deceptively small dragon. She had a job, and she had shown up to the Institute and wanted to get right to work on the gizmos and gadgets that awaited her. The City was trying to seduce her, and that bothered her too. She'd been seduced and twisted by that seduction; she wanted to be able to accept and trust like Piotr did, but it was harder for her.

After getting to know the lab she'd been given, she decided to go for a walk. The walk led her to a bad part of town, which she was somewhat surprised existed. Only somewhat. How could a place so shiny happy have the dark and dirty? Then she remembered there were people who loved the dark, dirty, and shady. Pete was almost one of those, almost.

She didn't realize she'd wanted to find some place dangerous or potentially dangerous until she heard the catcall. The wolf whistle followed.

"Smart, Kitty. Walk right into it." Lockheed was nowhere to be seen; doing whatever dragons did when they could do whatever they wanted - most dragons did not suffer from restrictions. She turned to see a couple seedy types, and were they actually leering at her? She looked down to see that, no, she was not wearing anything that was leer worthy - jeans, tee, and a blazer.

"Okay, fellas. I really didn't mean to..." Had she meant to walk here? To find trouble? "Yeah."

(**Warning: adult content***)

Killian didn't know what exactly it was that was bothering him so badly. There was a mixture of things he had picked up on from the bar, all of them had him reeling. Surely there was some way out of here...The City, a place with such a generic name though it held the most unique types of people. Was that a cover for something? The name? It was so plain, so obvious. Killian figured there was more to it than the people here were letting on to. And it was troubling him. There had to be real Magic here. It didn't feel as authentic a place as New York, where Magic wasn't present. No. It'd had the enchanted feel to it. He had spent enough time in both Storybrooke and Neverland to know the difference in the air.

He felt burdened by the weight of this land. The sword at his left hip was no burden, nor was the satchel dangling from the right. No, the weight came entirely from the shoulders and he felt as though he had a limp when he walked. That was the pirate swagger, of course, but it felt different than usual. His heart begged for something familiar. Killian would have settled even for a good yelling at from Emma, or being beaten up by Regina. Anything. He did fancy Miss Swan when she wasn't yelling his ears off, though she was agreeable most of the time. And that look she gave him when they were in the same frame of mind.

Killian sighed.

Despite having been at the bar all day he reached into his satchel with his good hand, removed the half-full bottle of rum and lifted it to his lips. He yanked the cork free with his teeth, spat it out as he walked, and proceeded to drink as he walked through the rest of the public. He was headed for his ship, wanting only to rest and drink away the duration of the day and into the evening.

The blonde from the bar would have been at his arm should he have only made the suggestion but his spirits had been dashed and he had let her slip past. That had not been the first time, nor would it be the last.

Finally Killian reached the dock. The bottle of rum hung limply from his fingers as he approached the platform with intentions to board the vacant ship.