[ Opening Mingle ]

[randomly_modding]

[Everyone will wake up suddenly, as if having drifted off -- while sitting upright in an uncomfortable office chair. In one hand they're holding the communicator, and in their lap is propped a clipboard with a job application (standard, looking something like this; it requests up to ten years of job history, ) and a pen. The waiting room is also fairly standard, except for being empty.]

[The communicator's lock screen reads, Complete the job application. Time limit, twenty-four hours.]

[There are magazines, fake plants, and computers. There's a staff lounge with food -- tupperware that might have belonged to some of these nonexistent workers, popcorn and cocoa packets, vending machines -- and restrooms. There are exits, but characters will be unable to use them... or make their own, or escape in any way.]

[So the characters are stuck here, until tomorrow morning. Set up a comment telling everyone what your character is doing, and thinking, whether they're obeying the task or not, at any time during the day. Then tag other people! Be sure to check back later in the week, when people are encouraged make threads for the evening as well as the day! Characters that have been claimed are also welcome at this point to join the community, and will be able to make their own posts, which can be tagged by anyone taking part in the event.]

Comments

[sizing]

But what am I supposed to do with this? A part time job's not exactly... [Argh here's Cassie, struggling with the application in her lap, which she has had little luck concentrating on filling out given the state of mind she was in prior to waking up here. At least thanks to the the sense of drifting off before as she woke up, her actions are no longer as intensely emotional and adrenaline rush-influenced. Still... it's a little hard to ignore how (spoilers?) torn up her costume is, never mind everything else. What the hell?]

Just what happened to everyone? To-- to my dad...

[Did she really lose him all over again? ... She has no idea just how backwards she has it, unfortunately.]

[slim]

[scott walks back into the waiting room and drops the clipboard with the application on an empty seat. he hasn't filled it out and probably won't.]

[but when he makes his way to the front desk (maybe if he rings the bell enough times, something will happen), he immediately freezes when he sees the condition of the girl nearby. the tattered remains of her costume has him reaching for a jacket that isn't there, so he opts to carefully move toward her, his shielded eyes searching her face.]

Excuse me, sorry, but--are you hurt anywhere?

[sizing]

[Without really thinking, and with how his voice doesn't quite register right away, Cassie starts to respond, reassuring really.]

I'm fine, actually, it's just...

[And then she actually looks up. And, oh crap uhhh. This is too confusing, especially considering he doesn't look quite the same and all, either.] Um. Hi, mister Summers...? [???]

[slim]

[he's relieved at her answer but his guard instantly goes up when she addresses him next. she knows him, but he doesn't know her. someone from his... his future, then. someone who maybe knows all the things the adult scott summers has been doing.]

Just Scott's okay. Uh, hi. [and though he's wary, he's also curious.] I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are.

[sizing]

... Okay. Scott, then. [That'd take some getting used to, since it's her dad's name too never mind everything else. Still, she complies if he's okay with it, and then just as curious yet tentative, she adds in turn, offering a smile.]

My name is Cassie Lang. I get the feeling there's a time travel thing going on right now, so this probably won't mean anything, but I'm with the Young Avengers.

[slim]

Oh. I didn't know there was a Young Avengers. [his tone gives away just how cool he thinks that is. it's pretty dang cool.]

Did you just get back from a--a fight? [he hesitates for a moment, then chooses to sit down, leaving an empty chair between them for some space.]

[sizing]

See? [Didn't think he'd know but that tone does set her more at ease, and when he sits too. And okay, this is totally weird but also kind of cool. Just chatting up Scott Summers, no big deal you were only just leading the X-men again the Avengers... Maybe she'll be leaving that part out for now, though.]

I-- Yeah, something like that. We were right in the middle of those really complicated messes with too many people involved.

I have no idea what happened, though. [And you can tell that frustrates her a lot.]

all my tags will be written through tears, jsyk

[langsyne]

[Scott sees her before he hears her, having finally finished the godawful job application in his hand.

His reaction is pretty simple, all things considered.

He's lost it. Completely lost it. He already thought he'd lost everything after—after all that, but apparently he'd still had his mind to lose because there is no way she's sitting here in front of him, frowning, breathing, talking. Not after he spent half a year wishing and crying and begging desperately for some way to get her back. This has to be a joke, some sick joke by some twisted asshole who thinks they can make him suffer just because he's in charge of the Fantastic Four now. Which, by the way, was something he never even wanted to do.

The clipboard goes clattering to the floor and he's advancing on her now, hand outstretched accusingly and voice full of anger and shock and pain. Scott's so so tired of being manipulated.]

I don't know who the hell you are or what you're doing here, but you need to get out.

that's okay i didn't need my heart anyway

[sizing]

[She would have been happy, so damn happy to see him in front of her and okay just like she had wanted for so long, like she'd finally gotten to have him back... and it's only the anger and pain in his voice and that accusing tone that completely throws Cassie for a loop. Why would he be talking to her like this? Why--]

Dad!

[Truly her father's daughter, her gut response is a kind of anguish too, mixed even now with relief that he really hadn't been killed all over again like she thought. She's startled, flinching visibly at his words, before she quickly gets to her feet out of the chair, closer to Scott.]

Dad, what are you talking about? It's me! You're-- you're okay, right? [It hurts to think that he could be so angry like this. "Get out"?] What's wrong?

it's okay neither of us do

[langsyne]

[It hurts so much to hear her voice again and he takes a tiny step backwards, as though the physical distance will somehow equate to mental distance as well.

It doesn't, of course.]

What's wrong? [He laughs then, a low bitter sound, hating that question and everything it stands for.] What's wrong is that you're dead! You're dead because Doom killed you and I couldn't do anything to stop him. But now you're here but you can't be here because you're dead and nothing makes sense!

[He hates this girl for dressing up in that torn outfit, he hates this place for trapping him here, and if by some unholy miracle it actually is his baby standing in front of him, he is going to hate himself to eternity and back for leaving her and causing her so much pain.]

welp w e l p

[sizing]

["You're dead" he tells her, and it's enough to shock her, to leave her unable to take another step toward him when Scott sets that distance. This is not the usual parental concern she'd get from her mom and step-dad, their warnings that she'd be hurt, that she couldn't do anything except put herself in harm's way. This was different, final. Dead. Even though it hadn't registered for her, just hearing it from her dad is enough to send the events of that moment into motion in her head again. Him crushed by Doom, seemingly dead, Cassie attacking in anger, knocking him down and his blast in retaliation--]

But I'm not... [She starts weakly, the look in her eyes giving away that she finally understands. Disarmed. But it couldn't be, could it? And yet here she is, and her suit is destroyed and even though she's alive--]

[Choking out, overwhelmed, now she can't be angry at him for talking to her like this, instead almost pleading. No, don't leave her.] Daddy.

[langsyne]

[Thank god there's a chair next to him because Scott's legs really can't support him anymore and he's collapsing into the chair with his shoulders bent and hands buried into his face because if he keeps looking at her, he'll fall apart completely.

This can't be real because if it is and she's really Cassie and he gets to have her back and then someone takes her away again, he won't be able to handle it.]

God, don't do this to me. I can't do this again. I can't lose her again.

[He doesn't even know who he's talking to anymore but it's easier than having to face her.]

[sizing]

[Just barely, Cassie keeps standing, listening to him talk to no one in particular, hurting for him enough that she has to look away too, biting her lip. What can she even say?]

I'm not trying to do this to you. I don't...

[She folds an arm across her stomach and holds onto her elbow, feeling like she might crumble.] I- I don't remember it. I'm so sorry, please don't...

[Don't not look at her, oh god.]

[fanboyisms]

[Billy had been moving about restlessly, not even in the mood to pretend to humor whoever decided to bring them here as he failed from time and time again to work magic long enough to get out of here. There was only so much wishing one can do before they get too frustrated to focus, and since then he's been moving from room to room, this time appearing from the restroom and just about the drop the application on the floor. (It's tempting to trample it, but that's just childish even for his standards, and he still needs to keep his cool.)]

I don't get why I even have to-- [The words die out at the tip of his tongue when a flash of red catches his attention. Then blonde hair, a baby face he's so familiar with and yet it couldn't be, but the clothes are tattered and there was absolutely no way he can't tell that it's--] Cassie?

[His voice was smaller than he intended, if he had intended it at all, and he actually manages to let the application slip from his hand in shock.]

[sizing]

[Even though his voice is so small, she catches it enough to hear him and looks up -- and can't help but be relieved at seeing another familiar face, a friend.]

Billy!

[Cassie stands quickly, application and the state of her clothes forgotten, running over to him.] You're here, you have no idea how glad I am to see you. Are the others, too--?

[fanboyisms]

[Despite the state of her clothes, she seemed fine. Much better than he last remembers, in Scott's arms and looking pale and--

He wants to be relieved, wants to share the enthusiasm and he realyl does, deep within, but right now he's too shellshocked because it can't be her, and it was only when she speaks that he forces himself to pay attention.] No, it's just me. It's--- You're... really Cassie, right?

[His voice was tight, and gods he could hear the way his heart was pounding in his ears, and he half expects Teddy to come running in and telling him this was all a hallucination because gods it's Cassie and she's alive.]

[sizing]

Yeah, of course it's me. [But okay she can understand the confusion (or rather, misunderstand it in this case) considering this place looks right out of some weird mind trick for sure. But she tries to reassure him, nodding.] I don't know what happened, but I woke up here, with that clipboard in my lap. Same for you, right?

[fanboyisms]

[Same for you, right? Except he was alive and well back home, and unless he had a freak accident with a toaster, he was pretty sure that's how he is right now. While for Cassie-- she-- The shock slowly ebbs away, and the relief finally floods him as he moves to give her the biggest hug he can manage at the moment, finally giving in to whatever this is. He doesn't even care if it's real or fake, Cassie's alive and he had missed her and the wave of guilt hasn't left but she's here and right now that mattered the most in the world.]

You're okay! You're here and-- [He takes a deep breath, trying to keep in mind what she said. He wonders if that meant she didn't know what happened to her. Would people who die know they did in that situation.] I, sort of yeah. I'm so glad to see you, Cassie.

[reignbringer]

You are also here against your will? [ hi Cassie ]

[sizing]

[OH HEY THOR]

Yeah, it seems that way. I guess it really is like this for everyone.

[reignbringer]

[ yo. he hates this, he's not accustomed to feeling so helpless. well, except for very recently. he turns, looking around the hallway, and then intones ] This place is strange -- and wrong.

[sizing]

[She can't help but agree wholeheartedly.] ... Very wrong.

How did so many people even end up here? Who's behind it?

[reignbringer]

Excellent questions. [ he turns his head back, looking up at the ceiling darkly ]

...I cannot even feel the elements outside.

[waytobreakithero]

Perhaps we should worry less about the job and more about the state of your clothing. [ Mild. Hi there. ]

[sizing]

[Glances up quickly and then - oh yep her clothes. Looks down, just a little embarrassed.]

I'm... okay, but yeah, my suit not so much.