v i d e o

[emerges]

[ hello again tranquility. three guesses who's back and looking incredibly worse for wear. even in the worst of days with the lack of proper resources during her first time around, she didn't look like this. it's as if someone had slowly been draining life out of her ( and resistance ) — well, that had kind of been the point, but let's not linger on that too much. just try not to mention how dull her hair looks. ]

I knew it was possible to come back. I mean, I saw it happen but— I guess I never thought it would. It wasn't exactly what you'd call top priority.

[ but where one might expect anger or bitterness at thought of being back, she almost sounds a little bit... relieved. if you squint. ]

At least I remember everything. [ she hopes. ] Or maybe we can play a game of twenty questions and work out if there's any gaping holes.

— one last thing. [ the comm's placed down so she can jerk up the frayed bits of a torn sleeve. there's a few bruises here and these ( some old, some from a recent incident in the gardens ), but the tattooed numbers are what she wants attention directed towards. ] This changed from last time. Anyone got a clue how or maybe an answer for why would they even bother?

Comments

text, auggielocked;

[altercate]

Erica.

[ if you're guessing his next text is gonna say, we need to talk, you're right. ]

text, auggielocked;

[emerges]

Derek. Twenty questions usually begins with a question, you know.

[ but can't we just put it off forever instead :c ]

Voice

[testgasm]

[!!!]

Hey, you're back!

I mean, I guess that's--that's sort of unfortunate, from your perspective, unless home is somehow worse for you, which I hope it's not. I hope you had a nice time, at home.

Voice

[emerges]

I was about as surprised as you sound, Wheatsky.

[ erica's surprised to realize how many others might still be here. maybe her going back hadn't been the best, but for anyone who didn't have worse things waiting for them, she wondered what it would be like to still be stuck here for that long. ]

I guess that all depends on how you define a nice time.

text » locked

[mathematically]

While I'm guessing Derek's already said hi. But long time no see, Reyes.

I can answer the question and— you could use some one on one time with some make up. I might have some still laying around.

text » locked

[emerges]

Looks like I'm getting the whole welcome party. You sure do know how to make a girl feel popular. But that's kind of your thing, isn't it?

I won't say I haven't missed a good foundation. [ because the offer of having any make up is enough to not make her snap at lydia actually calling her out on looking like shit. ]

voice

[doggedly]

[Oh heyyyyy girl you look rough. Not that he'll say that, because truth be told, he's feeling pretty bloody rough himself, but--]

Can we say 'welcome back', or is that just going to piss you off.

voice

[emerges]

[ well there's a voice she hasn't forgotten, though, it's not like she'll reveal that any time soon. ]

It'd have to get in line behind a dozen other things if it did. Luckily, I'm in the mood to appreciate a nice, friendly welcome.

video; locked SORRY FOR THE TL;DR

[iceboxed]

[it takes him a while before he can actually form a response to the post. on the one hand, he knows he should be angry. should be hurt and upset. should feel betrayed. erica left. she and boyd left. the abandoned the pack and disappeared off when they needed them the most. (never mind that isaac had only been one step behind them. if it hadn't been for scott, he would have joined them). but now she's here. she's here and he doesn't know what to say. not to the person who betrayed him. not to the family who left him behind.

and not to the friend who looks like they've been put through the wringer more than once.

it's the way she looks that brings him up short. he's so used to seeing her put together. flawless without even trying. but this. this means that there's something wrong, and whether she left of not, it means that concern is always going to win out. he still cares too much about her to ignore it]

...Erica. [protecting her has never been an issue. not when she has the power to protect herself. not when she so clearly out matches him. but right now, the urge is there and running strong. he wants to be with her. wants to hide her away from the trials of the ship and give her the time to recover. to go back to how she's meant to be.] You've been gone a while. We all were. [another moments pause and-] That was the twenty-first jump.

video; locked OMG NEVER APOLOGIZE I LOVE IT

[emerges]

Isaac.

[ it's only time her voice raises and mostly blank expression she'd held while making the post slips. maybe it's relief or surprise or a mixture of both at the fact that he's still here, but her eyes soften and if he doesn't blink, he might even the corners of her mouth lift into an all too familiar smirk. but its a mockery of what it once was when the rest of her looks like this. ]

I don't know how long it's been. Not since—

[ we all were. it takes a second for it to sink in, why he'd use we if he'd only meant it in reference to beacon hills. she'd only just come back after all. and apparently, so had he. maybe some cruel twist of fate had returned them both back home at the same time. she tries not to draw conclusions for why. it's much easier to focus on the fact that at least they're reunited here. ]

—you gonna catch me up on everything that's happened since the seventeenth? [ prove her suspicions wrong. if he's been here the whole time then maybe she can feel better about the fact that for the past few weeks, she'd only been given a reminder of how very alone she and the others felt. if he'd been here, then of course no one could come looking for them. he wouldn't have known. ]

video.

[workout]

[ scott's about to say welcome back, but it ends up in an awkward lack of follow-up instead. he hasn't seen erica for months, and the last he'd heard was that she'd taken off with boyd. if she remembers being here before, there's missing context; she's acting fine, treating the ship like old news.

which can't possibly be a good thing. it means that wherever she and boyd ended up, this is somehow better. the fact that she's frayed and bruised backs that up, and his brows are furrowed in a mix of confusion and concern when he responds. ]

What happened? [ a beat as he realizes she might not want to tell him, because she doesn't owe him a thing. she was in derek's pack. isaac came to him for help, but erica and boyd didn't take that option. it's not the details that are important, anyway, so he clarifies a second later. ] Are you okay?

video.

[emerges]

Hey Scott. You really have to work on being more specific. There's a lot of things that happened.

[ it's clear that it isn't something she's exactly 100% sold on discussing, but give her some time. maybe the altruistic side of her will shine through and she'll remember to warn all the beacon hills folk of the alpha pack. after all, going back any moment was apparently an all too real danger if her own case was anything to go by.

the second bit does manage to catch her off-guard, so good job on that. but the pause is only extended when she can't think of a good way to answer that. she felt better, sure, but okay? okay was an ambiguous word. it was also one that she wouldn't exactly use to describe her current state. ]

I'm alive, aren't I? [ oh the great irony of the words that will be forever lost upon her ]

[text]

[jurisimpudent]

I hope you are well. Such changes in number have been attested in the past; an explanation for this phenomenon yet eludes us.

[text]

[emerges]

Guess I can offer one more notch on the unexplained board. I bet it's the same for why someone comes back with their memories of here too.

video;

[gothchicklit]

[ October notices the bruises and definitely wants to ask, but she figures she'll ease back into things with Erica rather than pushing her luck. They were friends, of course, but it's not like they were the closest ever. And October, despite what some people back home might think, can respect boundaries.

For a little while. ]

Any chance they gave you another pack of cigarettes this time around? [ She's grinning a little, obviously teasing her. ]

video;

[emerges]

[ lucky for october, that gets a smile in return. uncomplicated interaction with people - or even, interaction with people at all? yeah, she'll gladly take it. ]

About as much of a chance that they gave you some while I was gone, I think.

video.

[deprecate]

[ he wants to make a joke about the numbers, and tattoos, but he can't bring himself to be that flip about it. it's shit, coming back here. ]

Someone fuckin' hurt you?

[ wow cillian looks intense, but he always feels intense when he sees people bruised up like that, looking run down and abused. it hits his buttons in the wrong way, and the fact that it's the sweet young woman who'd once given him a couple of smokes? not improving his reaction. ]

video.

[emerges]

[ it's surprising, though not unappreciated, that he seems to be so worked up about it. ]

I'm a big girl. I'll heal.

[ faster than he could imagine, but she can't exactly tell him that. (although maybe it should've been worrying that some of the ones from the alphas weren't healing quite as quickly as she thought wounds did, but that's going on the backburner for now). ]

video; auggielocked;

[ex_question191]

You remember? Man. I didn't think that happened much.

[ sure as hell blows holes in his cool multiversal theories, so he's kind of annoyed by it, even as he wants to ask her a bunch of questions. ]

Also, hello, hi. This is awesome, actually, if only because Derek moped in the gardens like an asshole for ages after you and Boyd—

[ oh, shit, wait. ]

Someone's told you about Boyd, right?

video; auggielocked;

[emerges]

Don't ask me how. I don't make the rules for this— whatever this is.

[ it was a surprise for her too. well, the next big one after actually waking up by the pods again. guess what surprise number three is going to be mr stilinski? ]

Where's Boyd?

[ she can already guess and really, stiles's tone doesn't seem to hide much and no, fuck no, it's like a repeat of the first time around where she only just manages to escape while leaving him behind. she doesn't want to hope otherwise, but maybe the other teen is about to give her some better news in response. ]

video;

[lockwood]

I'd say welcome back but this place kinda sucks

video;

[emerges]

You'd be surprised at the number of things that can put it all into perspective.

video;

[interns]

My tattoo changed after I came back, too. I think it's just a way for them to keep track of us, who's come and gone.

[ she's pretty sure there's a record somewhere of all the passengers that have ever been a part of the crew, probably with creepy-private details as well, but it's not like they have access to that sort of things. and it's just a theory. and some part of her REALLY wants to ask if she's been down to medical, but she doesn't want to like.. offend her, so. she won't. she'll just keep looking a bit concerned. ]

video;

[emerges]

Wouldn't it make more sense if we kept the same number then? I mean, why would you want to brand the same cow twice?

[ because that's kind of what gwen's theory makes her feel like here. it brings back the surge of feelings of being trapped that had come with her first time here — ones she'd been suppressing because feelings and all, it was still better than what she'd just come from. ]

visual »

[became]

I can't offer chocolate this time.

[ neal is rapidly unable to deal with kids on this ship, thanks pirates and ward. ]

I do have a waffle maker, though.

visual »

[emerges]

Yeah, but what good is a waffle maker if you haven't got the ingredients for waffles?

[ she's not being ungrateful really. and look at least the guy with the cool hat is still here and still looking like a fresh disney prince, so he'll get a smile for effort ]