Carol knows something went terribly wrong before she even glances around. It had to, because she has all her memories of Teleios, despite having chosen to leave, and she's not sure what to make of that. They're sweet memories, precious ones of building a home, but all the same now she is aware that home is no more, and wherever she is, it's not there. It most certainly isn't post-apocalyptic Georgia, either. Beyond that, she's at a loss.
Fortunately, more immediate concerns allay any distraught breakdown that might be imminent, because first thing is to find out where she is, and then figure out some sort of plan to stay safe. Basic things, but vital. She can worry about losing everything important to her once those priorities are secure.
Carol arranges the bowie knife she keeps on her belt so her jacket covers it, then starts walking in a random direction, looking for anyone who seems approachable. She has plenty of guns in her backpack, but for the moment she's content to look like a lost, worried housewife who just needs some help. The lost and worried parts, at least, are accurate, and with any luck she can get some answers without having to spill any blood. She was well and truly done with fighting before Teleios, and since the battle with Loki she's beyond exhausted with the idea. Doesn't mean she won't, just that it's a last resort. You get more flies with honey, and all that.
When she sees a young lady who seems, by all observation, to be a reasonable prospect, Carol wanders over with a look of tight concern. "Excuse me, this might sound crazy but I don't know where I am."
Rain smiled sweetly at her. "You're in the City. Don't worry, lots of people don't know where they are when they get here."
She was on her way home from the Library and just enjoying being outside. Anytime she could be around nature and animals - well, or books, of course - she was pretty happy. And it was finally warm enough that her jeans and t-shirt were enough to keep her feeling comfortable instead of a little too chilly.
Carol blinks at Rain for a moment, less confused than hoping she heard wrong. It lasts only a moment; Carol is still a tough lady, but she's fallen out of the habit of hiding her feelings as a reflex. She nods, sighs, and glances around again. Another dimension like Teleios, but not Teleios itself. It'd be easy to be angry about this, because why would she be given a choice to go home if the Agents weren't going to honor it? But ultimately, anger is a useless emotion for the situation, and she doesn't want this really very nice person who is trying to be comforting to feel as though she did anything wrong.
"I -- thank you. I'm not upset with you, just... this isn't where I'm supposed to be." She smiles, weakly. "I guess you probably get that a lot."
"I'm sorry," Rain said gently. "Lots of people aren't happy when they get here. I was pretty scared, but now I'm really happy here and I hope I never ever go home."
She giggled a little then and smiled up at Carol. "I'm usually the one who forgets to introduce herself, but this time I told you and you forgot to tell me back."
And then her eyes went wide. "Unless you don't want to tell me or don't have a name or can't say or something. So, if that's what it is, don't worry. I'll just call you Worried Lady. Or maybe... I don't know... Sparrow? Like the bird?"
What a sweet person Rain is. She reminds Carol of her daughters. She'd be dead inside of five minutes on Carol's homeworld, she thinks.
"Sorry," she says, mildly embarrassed, but not as much as she would have been before the world ended. Manners evolved with the times, so to speak, and usually drawing a gun on someone was an appropriate introduction. Carol was relearning her manners in Teleios, off and on, but evidently mostly off. "I'm Carol. But I like Sparrow." Worried Lady... sounds funny, actually, since most people would refer to Carol as something like scary. But again, that was back on Earth. In Teleios she softened substantially.
"I don't suppose you know anyone named Rick, or Daryl, or Glenn?" She doesn't look optimistic. But you never know. (The order there is not happenstance, the most important name sandwiched between two other nearly as important ones, as if to soften the blow.)
"Okay," Rain said beaming. "I can call you Sparrow. Carol the Sparrow, I like that!"
She considered all the names carefully, trying to match them with people she knew. "I don't think so," she said finally. "But I don't know everyone here. And... if they were scary looking, I might have hid."
Scary women were okay, but scary men still made her want to run and hide.
Despite her own situation, Carol can't help that her smile warms. It's nice to see someone so infectiously joyful, even knowing what a risk that can be. It's what convinced Carol to take on her adopted daughters after losing her biological child. It's dangerous, but even knowing that she can't entirely think on it poorly.
"It's alright. Maybe they'll turn up." She doesn't want to add that likely they might have seemed scary, except possibly for Glenn, at first. Rick and Daryl being trapped somewhere, she can imagine that bringing out some frightening looks. She was afraid of them too, at first, but that was thanks to her then-husband who made her afraid of everything.
"Are there people... in charge? People we can talk to?" Her luck with the Agents in Teleios was mixed at best, but it's still worth knowing.
"Not really?" Rain had to think about that one, too. "Well, the people who run the businesses and things, they're in charge of their businesses, but, well, if there are big people in charge..."
Her smile was a little shy this time. "I probably wouldn't know because I'm more like a mouse. I like to stay safe in my little places, like the Library where I work, and my little house way off in the woods. People are kind of scary, you know, and a lot of places don't have enough windows and doors to feel safe, so mostly I don't go in them."
Rain knew she was different, knew her mind didn't work quite right, but here no one seemed to mind so very much.
Nodding along, unhappy but not really surprised, Carol begins to resign herself to yet another unfamiliar foreign world, and this time by herself. Such irony, since when she first came to Teleios all she wanted was to be alone. Now, it's going to be a while before she's through mourning, if ever. Her first true home is gone, and in time she's sure she'll begin to doubt how real it ever was.
"Being scared can be the smart thing, sometimes. Don't feel bad about it." Carol's out of the habit of trying to offer advice, since it hasn't turned out so well historically, but Rain's difficult not to like, and Carol is still a mother despite having no living children. She can't help but make the point, but it almost shocks her to hear something like that out of her mouth, when she once so tried to convince her girls to confront danger head on. Hindsight is a strange thing.
"You don't have to sleep on the streets here," Rain said reassuringly. "Even if you don't have any money or anything. You can just find an empty place and stay there for free for a while till you can make enough money."
Her eyes went towards the different apartment buildings and she shivered a little. "I didn't stay here, though. I felt safer in the woods. Most people like houses or things better, but not me."
Her little house in the woods might as well have been outside, it was just that open.
"I like the wind and the birds and the plants and the everythings. There's a river and flowers and lots and lots of trees."
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timeasmymeasure
For Rain - set vaguely in Poly
Date: 2016-07-16 12:55 am (UTC)Fortunately, more immediate concerns allay any distraught breakdown that might be imminent, because first thing is to find out where she is, and then figure out some sort of plan to stay safe. Basic things, but vital. She can worry about losing everything important to her once those priorities are secure.
Carol arranges the bowie knife she keeps on her belt so her jacket covers it, then starts walking in a random direction, looking for anyone who seems approachable. She has plenty of guns in her backpack, but for the moment she's content to look like a lost, worried housewife who just needs some help. The lost and worried parts, at least, are accurate, and with any luck she can get some answers without having to spill any blood. She was well and truly done with fighting before Teleios, and since the battle with Loki she's beyond exhausted with the idea. Doesn't mean she won't, just that it's a last resort. You get more flies with honey, and all that.
When she sees a young lady who seems, by all observation, to be a reasonable prospect, Carol wanders over with a look of tight concern. "Excuse me, this might sound crazy but I don't know where I am."
Re: For Rain - set vaguely in Poly
Date: 2016-07-16 01:00 am (UTC)She was on her way home from the Library and just enjoying being outside. Anytime she could be around nature and animals - well, or books, of course - she was pretty happy. And it was finally warm enough that her jeans and t-shirt were enough to keep her feeling comfortable instead of a little too chilly.
"I'm Rain. It's nice to meet you."
no subject
Date: 2016-07-16 01:06 am (UTC)"I -- thank you. I'm not upset with you, just... this isn't where I'm supposed to be." She smiles, weakly. "I guess you probably get that a lot."
no subject
Date: 2016-07-16 01:13 am (UTC)She giggled a little then and smiled up at Carol. "I'm usually the one who forgets to introduce herself, but this time I told you and you forgot to tell me back."
And then her eyes went wide. "Unless you don't want to tell me or don't have a name or can't say or something. So, if that's what it is, don't worry. I'll just call you Worried Lady. Or maybe... I don't know... Sparrow? Like the bird?"
no subject
Date: 2016-07-16 01:18 am (UTC)"Sorry," she says, mildly embarrassed, but not as much as she would have been before the world ended. Manners evolved with the times, so to speak, and usually drawing a gun on someone was an appropriate introduction. Carol was relearning her manners in Teleios, off and on, but evidently mostly off. "I'm Carol. But I like Sparrow." Worried Lady... sounds funny, actually, since most people would refer to Carol as something like scary. But again, that was back on Earth. In Teleios she softened substantially.
"I don't suppose you know anyone named Rick, or Daryl, or Glenn?" She doesn't look optimistic. But you never know. (The order there is not happenstance, the most important name sandwiched between two other nearly as important ones, as if to soften the blow.)
no subject
Date: 2016-07-16 01:32 am (UTC)She considered all the names carefully, trying to match them with people she knew. "I don't think so," she said finally. "But I don't know everyone here. And... if they were scary looking, I might have hid."
Scary women were okay, but scary men still made her want to run and hide.
no subject
Date: 2016-07-16 01:42 am (UTC)"It's alright. Maybe they'll turn up." She doesn't want to add that likely they might have seemed scary, except possibly for Glenn, at first. Rick and Daryl being trapped somewhere, she can imagine that bringing out some frightening looks. She was afraid of them too, at first, but that was thanks to her then-husband who made her afraid of everything.
"Are there people... in charge? People we can talk to?" Her luck with the Agents in Teleios was mixed at best, but it's still worth knowing.
no subject
Date: 2016-07-16 01:55 am (UTC)Her smile was a little shy this time. "I probably wouldn't know because I'm more like a mouse. I like to stay safe in my little places, like the Library where I work, and my little house way off in the woods. People are kind of scary, you know, and a lot of places don't have enough windows and doors to feel safe, so mostly I don't go in them."
Rain knew she was different, knew her mind didn't work quite right, but here no one seemed to mind so very much.
no subject
Date: 2016-07-16 02:08 am (UTC)"Being scared can be the smart thing, sometimes. Don't feel bad about it." Carol's out of the habit of trying to offer advice, since it hasn't turned out so well historically, but Rain's difficult not to like, and Carol is still a mother despite having no living children. She can't help but make the point, but it almost shocks her to hear something like that out of her mouth, when she once so tried to convince her girls to confront danger head on. Hindsight is a strange thing.
no subject
Date: 2016-07-16 02:26 am (UTC)Her eyes went towards the different apartment buildings and she shivered a little. "I didn't stay here, though. I felt safer in the woods. Most people like houses or things better, but not me."
Her little house in the woods might as well have been outside, it was just that open.
"I like the wind and the birds and the plants and the everythings. There's a river and flowers and lots and lots of trees."