one { video } déjà vu

[lurings]

[ she fiddles with the communicator for a long time. we're talking hours of indecision. she takes a nap in the time it takes to decide -- which is weird, because sometimes she's still sure she's dead so sleeping while dead? that has to be a rule of the universe she is breaking. she hasn't ruled this out as an incredibly, disturbingly vivid coma dream either. especially considering she woke up... in a hospital... from a coma. this is probably not a thing that happens more than once in most people's lives, it's becoming a problem.

eventually, after a few deep breaths and careful alignment of her hair to hide her ear -- one thing at a time -- she pulls up the video component.

she looks a little pale as she sets it up on the side table so she can sit and look at it, but that seems to be explained by the bright white bandage on the side of her throat peeking out from underneath her dark hair. even with the hospital gown under her cardigan and the steady beat of the monitors behind her, she looks like a relatively average teenager, if not incredibly out of her depth. a skittish lost lamb.

help her. ]

I'm not sure how these work or what I'm supposed to say/ask besides everything. The debrief was... brief. I don't know if that's always the case or if the hospital had something to do with it. [ she swallows, appearing nervous, and licks her lips quickly before she continues. her fingers are just barely visible knotting the blanket together in her lap. ] I guess I'm looking for someone and it seems possible she could be here. Her name is Alana Bloom. She's a doctor. [ abigail will refrain from mentioning what kind of doctor at the moment. she already looks frail, no need to add damaged into the mix right away. ] If she is here, can someone tell her Abigail is looking for her?

[ and, you know, sorry again. about the thing. ]

I'm Abigail, if that wasn't obvious.

[ she doesn't ask after will because she isn't allowed to have nice things, they wind up covered in glass and rain and so much blood. if alana isn't there then her life hasn't changed much. if will isn't there, her life still hasn't changed much but she'd be missing the only person always in her corner. she doesn't ask after hannibal because hahahhahahahahahahah. hahahaha. ha. ha.

no. ]

Aside from that any help would be appreciated. Or french fries if anyone wants to smuggle them in. I'm getting a little sick of jell-o.

[ with a brief, thin smile that doesn't begin to reach her pale blue eyes, she reaches forward to shut the video off. later gators. ]

Comments

audio :

[proteus]

[ The reply comes later than when Abigail has posted it, specifically past evening hours when the late summer sun had already set. ]

Can't say I know who you're looking for, but there's an In n' Out about a block away from the local hospital. [ Bader having intimate knowledge of the area around hospitals need not be any concern of yours. ]

audio :

[lurings]

[ having stuffed her face with fries already... abigail does not actually mind knowing where to find more. but she decides to forgo video this time until the other person does, mostly so she can stay laying down. her voice sounds pleased, if not thin from use. in n out is minnesota's jam and there were absolutely none in baltimore. it was crap. red robin does not compare. ]

Really? Maybe I'll get it for lunch tomorrow.

video;

[redhairring]

[ what.

Abigail is here, Abigail is here, she's alive, she's in one piece, she's in the hospital for some reason (Freddie will find out that reason) and once again, she's alive. And she wants french fries. You bet your ass Freddie is going to smuggle in those french fries, this is Abigail and she's alive and Freddie wants to be the person to see her first (because fuck you Hannibal and fuck you Will.)

so, she turns on the video, giving Abigail a little smile...that totally does not hide the fact that she's equal parts worried and relieved at all of this. ]

Hey. [ wow. much eloquent, so helpful. ] Any particular kind of french fry you want?

[ la la la, not mentioning that she's supposed to be dead, they will talk about that in person. ]

video;

[lurings]

[ wow that red hair is redder than she remembered. memory does not do that vivid shade justice. familiar face not withstanding, freddie is also giving abigail exactly what she wants -- which is hope for actual food -- and that's enough for a brief smile to lift her lips. alright, it is a little more the familiarity than huge french fries. all of this is... insane. freddie is a point of sanity when abigail is feeling nothing of the sort. ] Curly fries. [ because she's a child and sometimes she even acts like one. wow.

after a moment she adds, softer, ] Hi.

[inmyothertights]

Hi, Abigail.

I have french fries.

[lurings]

[ she makes a little face, nose scrunching up. she's really hungry and this potato paste is not doing it for her. ] Are you willing to share?

[video]

[glassinine]

[ The man on the screen is a little ridiculous-looking - frilly cravat, red suit and all - but his expression is grave and concerned and solemn. His voice, when he speaks, is gentle. ]

Good day, Abigail. Forgive me; I do not know Alana Bloom.

If I may impose upon you by asking a question - are you all right? The attention you seem to be receiving does not look to be for minor injuries.

[video]

[lurings]

There was an incident with a blender. But I'm fine, will be fine, the doctors said I'm fine. [ she shrugs as if it doesn't bother her much, but it doesn't, she's... used to it, unfortunately. it's mostly just blood loss. ] I'm under "observation".

permavid!

[heartlessglitch]

[ There is a curious blue robot watching through the feed, scrutinizing in silence for a long moment before she finally speaks: ]

I did meet Dr. Bloom once, but she is no longer present here.
Should I assume that you are also from Baltimore, Maryland?

ditto!

[lurings]

[ her shoulders slump slightly, but it's mingled sadness and relief. she has a fair amount of conflicting emotions about alana bloom, she can never decide. ]

I'm from Minnesota. [ a beat. ] But I did live in Baltimore, so I suppose that's right, too.

voice;

[humanistic]

['Do not talk to girls with bandages at their throats' should be a rule, but what is thinking ahead, honestly.]

Hospitals have french fries. Trust me. If they're tellin' you they don't, they're holding out on you.

[He puts zero pity in his voice, even if she looks all washed-out and weak--just says it quiet and friendly, like she might spook. The quiet-and-friendly tone works pretty well for him, and his accent--nice and Irish--sort of dose the rest.]

You'd better demand your rights.

video;

[lurings]

[ oh gosh that voice is soothing. her nose wrinkles slightly at his suggestion though, seemingly to imply she'd done that already. ] I was intubated, they won't let me have anything solid until tomorrow. [ which makes perfect sense and is why she's not fighting the nurses and instead employing different means of getting food she actually wants to eat. ]

audio

[gevurah]

Alana isn't here, I'm sorry.

[ She really liked Alana despite how briefly she had known her. ]

French fries aren't going to help with recovery.

[ Though she sounds a little amused by the request. ]

video

[lurings]

[ her face falls slightly but its the same thing every else has said. she still can't decide how she feels about. ]

That's what the nurses said. [ obviously abigail was not listening to the medical professionals, regardless of knowing the reasons why. she went through this whole thing before. ] Hence the smuggling.

voice;

[runningstart]

Whoa whoa, just french fries? Aim higher. If I'm going to put my smuggling skills to the test then I want a challenge.

video;

[lurings]

How high? A small pony?

voice;

[slightlyoffchilt]

[The initial shock comes like a seizure -- crisp and jolting and electric. This is the first time a (presumed) dead individual from his world had come to Heropa, as according to his timeline. And who was she? None other than tragic Abigail Hobbs, daughter of Garret Jacob. The Minnesota Shrike.

Infamy had a manner of attraction. Chilton noted that Freddie Lounds had already seized upon this debut.

Well, well, well.]

Doctor Bloom isn't here right now.

[He relished saying that. Just a bit.]

Are you in need of a psychiatrist?

video;

[lurings]

[ wow rude, she kept that part out for a reason. her eyes narrow slightly, but she shakes her head the tiniest bit. ] Not why I was looking for her, no.

[ hahaha abigail needs all the therapy. ]

video;

[infomodder]

[Will's reply comes a little later, and not solely because Abigail is supposed to be dead and buried and nothing but an ear in his sink and, what, blood all over her kitchen? It's been a day of moving things around, fixing a new place up, Will in plaid and jeans and a hat. The hat got lost halfway through it, but the way his hair sits gives away the HAT WAS HERE game. He remembers accusations and confusion, remembers losing her, remembers the dreams he's had ever since where they're in a quiet stream and—

—it does take him extra time because of who she is, but the delayed response isn't so long just for her being her.

It takes him longer to turn on the camera, to show his face, than it does for him to decide what to say. To her, at least. He's already got a few chosen words he's ready to throw at a few chosen people. Or more than words. Still, he's pretty put together despite the hat hair.]

Are you sick of both now? Know a place with some good sweet potato fries.

[His voice is strong, the smile is strained. How happy is he allowed to look in this situation?]

video;

[lurings]

[ he is allowed to look as happy as abigail looks, and abigail looks like she got dosed with some of hannibal's trusty mushroom tea. freddie was nice, familiar and, you know, not a serial killer.

but will.

is will. ]

Hi. [ that's all she's got. ]

[ video ]

[hostage]

Okay, everybody's got the Mickey D's covered. Do you need help with that?

[He gestures to his own throat. Whatever she's got going on there.]

I'm a healer.

[ video ]

[lurings]

That's alright. [ she will leave the medical stuff to the medical professionals. you know, the ones she is ignoring to get food. regardless, she's wary of accepting that sort of help from strangers. ] There's not really much to do, anyway. I've already got stitches.

video

[aggressiveapathy]

Was it a vampire?

video

[lurings]

Catastrophic blender accident.

VOICE.

[enabeled]

[ The set-up on the screen looks familiar -- not because Gideon knows this girl, but because he himself underwent something very similar upon his last arrival. He forgoes video for that reason, despite his hospitalization being "past tense" by now. ]

No Alana Bloom here... but you know that by now. Hope you don't require her for anything pressing.

VIDEO.

[lurings]

Not pressing, no. [ she probably wouldn't have apologized anyway, just aggressively thought it in alana's general direction. ] All this -- [ her hand waves around as if to indicate "all this" means the video, etc., be gore sweeping her hair behind her ear. ] -- is distracting enough. Some people should work on their delivery.

[ chilton, she means chilton should work on his delivery. ]

voice;

[ostentiferous]

[This was a delicate issue, especially since it was impossible to know when anyone was from specifically without knowing or seeing key things about them. The one thing he was sure of was that she wasn't as far behind as Will. The ear, carefully hidden, was his biggest tip off. Subtly hidden from sight so no one could see it. If he was right then this could be a problem, just like Gideon and Chilton. The problems were certainly mounting.

So this wasn't going to be as simple as the retcon he'd received with Will. There were further injuries he didn't recognise but he could get to that later, piecing together the history would take time.

He doesn't make it private. Yet. He's going to see just how long he can last.]

Abigail? [He pauses, considering his word carefully.] It would seem Alana Bloom is absent, I'm afraid. But I can offer any assistance I can.

video;

[lurings]

[ she visibly pales, which is a difficult feat for someone already wan from blood loss. the sound of his voice -- saying her name, one of the last things she heard before the knife, already sticky and warm from someone else's blood, slid against her throat -- makes her hand unconsciously flutter by her chest, bruises blossoming against her collarbone from how tightly he'd held her before...

but she'd walked right into his arms, taken his hand like a little girl seeking reassurance from her father that it was safe to cross the road. it was not safe. it was far from safe. and it was probably her fault. just like it was with her own father.

the bandage bobs as she swallows, licking her lips apprehensively. as she doesn't relish losing the other ear, or maybe a kidney, this time, she doesn't just ignore him like she desperately wants to. he's not a problem that will go away if she pretends it doesn't exist or it's not actually a problem to begin with. ]

Like?

(video)

[abadidea]

[Frowning as he activates the feed, Isaac looks more than a little concerned. He's never met this girl before, and it doesn't bode well, if she's a new arrival, that she's already in the hospital.]

Uh...what happened? [Shit.] I'm Isaac, by the way.

(video)

[lurings]

Fight with a blender. [ "i was murdered" does not fly off the tongue, surprisingly. ]

text.

[immigrantpunk]

way late to the party but hi

sorry your doctor isn't here

french fries are still pretty good in this world tho

burgers too

text.

[lurings]

[ abigail switches to text, solely because she's a teenager and rapid fire texting in reply is easier than verbally answering. it's weird, okay? so she turns to texting which is less weird. even if her neat, punctuated texting is weird for someone her age. shhh. ]

It's okay, I didn't think she would be. Haven't had a burger, yet, though.

video.

[selfequipped]

[It takes her a moment to register that this girl is connected to everyone else from Baltimore, but it's not a long moment. All but one knows who Alana Bloom happens to be, and that is more than telling. (The other is Kate, which leads this Kate to wondering how much she knows. She'll consider asking later, but that's unlikely at the moment.)

Given that, she doesn't hesitate to speak, Kate herself unknowingly looking almost like a younger Alana Bloom herself.]

Hey, it looks like you have your question answered and your French fried achieved, but if you have any questions, I can do my best to answer them.

video.

[lurings]

[ abigail still looks a little pale and drawn, but some of the sad, apprehension is gone since finding out alana is definitely not here. granted, she's still a little sad, but more relieved than she will let on. ]

I don't know where to start. [ it's, apparently, an entirely new universe, that's.... a lot of stuff to take in and try to reconcile at once. ]

video

[biotically]

You don't look too well, are you alright? Why'd they take you to the hospital?

Do you need something -- other than french fries? It looks like Freddie has you covered on those.

video

[lurings]

I'm alright now. I was hurt when I arrived, so they fixed me up. And I think... I'm good with stuff.