Getting off the Streets [tag Joan]

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25 January 2013 @ 10:07 pm

When Martin steps out of the hotel to go to work, he notices the fog and how quickly it is thickening. He walks faster, keen on getting to work and out of this weather. It starts snowing, but something feels wrong about the snow. He tries to look up at the sky but it's impossible due to the fog. Then the siren goes off. He knows the signal, having learned different alarm signals in his time as an air cadet. An air raid? In Haurvatat?!

Martin is still puzzling over the alarm when the pavement seems to deteriorate under his feet. Peering through the gloom he attempts to figure out what it going on, but soon has to admit to himself that he really has no idea. But whatever is going on, it's worrying.

Next there's a sound, a sound he's never heard before but instinctively labels as 'not good'. It sounds dangerous somehow and he steps further back to the next wall. Where is he? Which building does this wall belong to? It looks so ancient and battered seen up close, he barely recognises it. Is that sound coming closer? It's impossible to tell, the fog makes it seem to come from all sides at once. Martin's heart beats harder in his chest. He has to get off the streets. Where to? Work? The police station? The hotel? Could he see something from the roof of the hotel? Is it only ground fog?

The roof of the hotel! Joan! Where is Joan?! He has to know if she's alright. Is she at work at this hour? He reaches for his messenger but the display is dark. He shakes it and slaps it but the small device refuses to work. There's the sound again! Definitely closer, or is it? Which way is the photo studio? He staggers off in what he hopes is the right direction. Where did all the potholes come from? He can barely make them out in this fog and nearly twists his ankle in his haste.

"Joan?!" Martin calls as he thinks he's getting closer to the studio.

Tags: joan holloway harris, martin crieff, silent haurvatat

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sec_femmefatale on January 25th, 2013 11:54 pm (UTC)

Joan had been at work, and when the fog settled in, she'd gone to the window to look, a frown deepening on her face. And then the siren had gone off and she'd yelled in alarm, covering her ears an closing her eyes. But when she opened them again, it was as if she were in a different place altogether. Gone were the cameras, and it looked like...God, it looked like blood was all over the walls.

Pushing her way outside, blinking through the ash, she tries to look around the best she can, but it's so hard to see.

And then, she hears a very familiar voice, and she calls out in return. "Martin?!" She walks toward the voice, and soon a sort of shadowy figure appears.

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wanttobeaplane on January 26th, 2013 08:10 am (UTC)

Martin hears her call, but again can't make out the direction. When a shape starts to appear through the fog and snow, he's a little startled. Is it Joan or whatever made that sound before?

"Joan, is that you?" He asks tentatively, then looks around, trying to make out anything else. But he quickly looks back to keep an eye of the approaching shape.

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sec_femmefatale on January 26th, 2013 04:38 pm (UTC)

"It's me!" she calls, and then, she steps into the visible range, no longer just a shape, and she rushes to him, hugging him out of sheer relief.

"My studio changed, it's...the walls are covered in blood, I don't know what's happening..."

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wanttobeaplane on January 26th, 2013 05:02 pm (UTC)

Martin wraps his arms around her and holds her close for a long moment, needing the physical contact in this shapeless foggy world. "Thank God you're OK!" He looks to the left, was that this creepy sound again?

His words are rushed. "I don't know what's going on, either. That alarm - air raid? Here? And this fog and..." he finally realises what the 'snow' is, "ash? The pavement changed under my feet, there are potholes everywhere. And there is something out there, out here." He listens again, straining his ears for that sound he's been hearing on and off.

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sec_femmefatale on January 26th, 2013 08:51 pm (UTC)

Joan stands stock still, afraid to move, but she hears it to and looks around finally. "We should...we should try to get to the hotel I think. Does that seem...we can lock ourselves in a room?"

But she has a feeling that they definitely shouldn't be out here any more.

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wanttobeaplane on January 26th, 2013 09:15 pm (UTC)

Martin nods. "Let's hope the hotel is safe." His mind finally kicks into gear and supplies him with standard operational procedures for smoke filled cabins: hold on to someone else so no one gets lost. It seems like a good idea in extremely foggy places, too. "We'd better not lose each other," he says and reaches for Joan's hand.

Peering into the fog and ash mix he asks, "Which direction is the hotel?" Hopefully Joan will know better than he does, they must be close to her studio so she should be more familiar with this part of the village.

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sec_femmefatale on January 27th, 2013 01:56 pm (UTC)

Holding onto his hand tightly, she points to the west. "It should be straight this way. Everything looks so...different though." As she walks, she stands close to Martin, trying to stay as alert as possible. She's afraid to talk, to draw attention to them.

She whispers though. "Whoever's in charge of this village is insane."

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wanttobeaplane on January 27th, 2013 02:07 pm (UTC)

Martin keeps looking left and right, both to get his bearings but also because he's always trying to hear that sound. Though he's rather glad when he doesn't.

"I'm not sure anyone is in charge," he whispers back. What a madman that would have to be. "There's not even a mayor, is there?"

He stumbles forward. Surely the hotel must come into sight any moment?

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sec_femmefatale on January 27th, 2013 05:38 pm (UTC)

"No," she whispers. And then she trips too over the broken cobblestone, and breaks the heel of her shoe, and she whispers a curse, balancing on him.

"My shoe broke." But walking barefoot out here isn't going to be an option.

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wanttobeaplane on January 27th, 2013 05:52 pm (UTC)

Martin wraps his arm around her waist to steady her. "Lean on me, it can't be much further." And then he hears that sound again. Louder this time.

He urges her on. "We have to get away from here." No time to deal with broken shoes right now. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

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sec_femmefatale on January 27th, 2013 05:54 pm (UTC)

"No," she whispers urgently, because that sound is terrifying. And then she sees it, or what should be it, but it looks like the Bate's Motel, and she hesitates. "This should be it. This should be the hotel, but it...it's not."

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wanttobeaplane on January 27th, 2013 06:08 pm (UTC)

"Oh for goodness' sake!" Martin exclaims exasperatedly, probably too loud and he instinctively ducks his head guiltily.

But other places have changed... he is whispering again as he shares his thoughts. "It might be the hotel. Think of your studio, it changed. And I was outside a shop and its walls looked totally derelict all of a sudden, too."

Lurching footsteps sound from somewhere close and his heart beats even faster. "Indoors will be safer, places to hide," he decides and starts to move again, propelling Joan forward with him.

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sec_femmefatale on January 27th, 2013 06:12 pm (UTC)

There's something so close to her ear that she can't help it, she screams, and then she's against the hotel door, pushing when she needs to pull, and she finally yanks it open in her panic and stumbles inside, but she turns back for Martin, yelling his name, stepping back out to reach for him.

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wanttobeaplane on January 27th, 2013 06:27 pm (UTC)

They nearly collide as Martin tries to get inside while looking backwards, holding out for whatever made Joan scream like that. In his haste he lets out a terrified yelp when his path is blocked before he realises that the obstacle is Joan.

"In, in, in!" He croaks, his voice nearly failing him.

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sec_femmefatale on January 27th, 2013 06:43 pm (UTC)

Slamming the door closed behind him, Joan just holds onto him for a second, breathing hard, eyes closed as she tries to calm herself down.

When she finally does open her eyes though, she realizes that the inside of the hotel is the same, and she takes one more deep breath, letting it out slowly.

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wanttobeaplane on January 27th, 2013 07:03 pm (UTC)

Martin takes a couple of deep breaths, then looks around and finally at Joan. "Are you alright?" He asks.

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sec_femmefatale on January 27th, 2013 07:05 pm (UTC)

She's standing sort of lopsided because of her shoe, and her hair is going many different directions, but she manages to nod, looking up at him.

"I think so. I think I'm...in one piece." She looks at him, checking him over. "What about you? Are you okay?"

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wanttobeaplane on January 27th, 2013 07:29 pm (UTC)

Martin is looking pale, slightly wet from the fog and cold sweat and there's ash clinging to his damp hair and his shoulders, a bit of the wet ash is smeared over his right cheek and his left shoe is scarred from when he nearly fell, tripping over a pothole.

But he looks himself down and slowly nods. "I think so." Then he looks over his shoulder at the entrance door. "I don't want to know what that was, do I?"

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sec_femmefatale on January 27th, 2013 07:34 pm (UTC)

Reaching up, Joan's thumb brushes away the ash gently.

"No. I don't think so. But it was..." She closes her eyes again for a second. "It was close; I could hear it right next to me, Martin."

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wanttobeaplane on January 27th, 2013 07:47 pm (UTC)

Martin's eyebrows shoot up. He hadn't realised it had been that close.

Reaching out to put a hopefully comforting hand on her shoulder he suggests, "Maybe we should get further away from it? Higher up?"

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sec_femmefatale on January 27th, 2013 07:56 pm (UTC)

Now that she's inside, Joan pulls off her shoes, and she gives him a nod.

"We could go back to my room," she suggests. "I don't know about you, but I could use a drink after that. And music to drown out the air raid siren."

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wanttobeaplane on January 27th, 2013 08:12 pm (UTC)

Drink and music is not foremost on Martin's mind, he's still worrying about what's on the other side of the door and whether it will stay there.

But Joan's room is higher up than his and he's glad about every inch he can put between them and that... something outside.

"If I'm welcome," he says, "I'd be happy to accompany you."

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sec_femmefatale on January 28th, 2013 04:38 am (UTC)

"Please," Joan nods with just a little smile. She can't focus on being scared. She has to think about what she can do.

As they walk to the elevator, she can't help but take note. "My studio changed inside. One minute it was...fine and normal. The next thing I knew it was..." She frowns at the thought. "There was blood everywhere. It looked like someone was murdered inside. But...here...except for the outside, this place isn't touched."

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wanttobeaplane on January 28th, 2013 07:55 am (UTC)

Martin swallows hard at her description of the studio. "I only saw buildings change on the outside, which was crazy in itself. And the pavement changing under my feet was..." creepy, but he doesn't want to say that out loud. "... weird. But I'm willing to take the condition of the hotel as a good sign." He offers her a smile, it doesn't quite reach his eyes, though. He's still too upset for it and he nearly jumps out of his own skin at the ding that announces the elevator has arrived.

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sec_femmefatale on January 28th, 2013 01:15 pm (UTC)

Stepping onto the elevator with him, Joan swallows heavily and presses her floor. Shoes in one hand, she silently reaches for Martin's hand with the other. Who knows if the hotel will hold. But if something does happen, she certainly doesn't want to be alone.

When they step off again, she lets go of his hand to get her room key out of her pocket, but at her door, her hand is shaking, making it difficult to get the key in the hole.