diademlogs | Getting Around

Entry tags:

Getting Around

Who: Steve Harrington & OPEN
Where: Panorama, The Scrapyard, diffusion zone
When: Throughout Feb.
What: Meeting people, learning about his new home.

Warnings: TBD, will add if needed.

Panorama - Prowling the city
Steve spent the first day after he came watching TV in his hotel room. Which didn't get him anywhere useful, but it WAS fascinating. It was shows he'd never heard of, some obviously from different worlds, and some that looked like they could have been on TV back home. They must get broadcasts from EVERYWHERE ... and this was the stuff they chose to put on? Steve didn't get it, but he did spend the day more or less engrossed.

But he had to emerge eventually. He needed food, for which he needed money. So he headed out into the city. After what Eddie and Mike had been through, Steve didn't trust this city, but he still had to navigate it. So he kept his head down and looked for help wanted signs or anything like that.

But people kept catching his eye. He tried not to stare, but some of them did not LOOK human. And as soon as he spotted them he was reminded again that he was in another world. Steve wasn't going to get used to that anytime soon.

He'd just stopped in front of a shuttered shop to look at another person when Steve realized they were looking back. "Uh, hey," he offered uncertainty.

On the Road - to the Scrapyard
The car Steve had been assigned was old and not at all shiny. But it seemed to run solidly enough. He was pretty sure it was in dire need of an oil change though. So he headed to the place that seemed the most likely to have some spare oil - the scrapyard. (It would probably add to his debt, but Steve was just ... letting that lie for now.)

He stopped mid-way there to stretch his legs, and then watched as another car slowed down and someone climbed out. "Hey," he greeted, eyeing the car. It had looked a little erratic as it approached, but that could be driver error. "Everything all right?"

The Scrapyard - Hunting for Oil
Once he made it to the Scrapyard, Steve parked well out of the way and looked around for the guy who'd given him the car to ask. But he didn't see him - probably busy somewhere else. So Steve just started digging around, looking for a quart of oil.

It couldn't be THAT hard to find in a place full of parts and cars.

Still, he was coming up empty and after he whacked his hand on the hood of a car he cursed and rubbed at it, looking around in frustration. His eyes fell on someone and he called out. "Hey! Got a minute?"

Diffusion Zone - Wedding Party
Steve had eventually gotten to do his oil change and had struck out from there to explore. He'd heard about the diffusion zones, but didn't really know what to expect.

A pristine wedding party had not been what he expected. Hell, he didn't even know if this WAS one, but it was definitely weird.

He shut the car down and hopped out to go look closer. Which turned out to be a mistake as ghostly-looking figures popped up all around him, milling and chatting, holding champagne flutes. Was this a GHOST WEDDING? Is that something that can happen here? Steve wondered.

He looked over abruptly at the sound of a raised voice to see two of the bridesmaid throw down their drinks and start attacking one another. "Holy shit," Steve said, not noticing that someone else was beside him, watching the same thing. He jumped when his elbow brushed theirs. "Sorry ... you're seeing this, right?" he asked. Hopefully he wasn't just crazy.

Wildcard
((Want to meet Steve some other way! Just throw up a start or let me know and I will!))

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The Scrapyard was the best place to find big stuff is what Peter's learned in his brief time here. His van is in okay condition but it could be better. He tends to check regularly to see if there are better replacement parts that have shown up.

He looks up from the box of fuses that he was searching through when someone calls out and blinks for a second.

"Uh, yeah, sure, how can I help?" Peter wipes his hands on his jeans and walks towards the younger guy. He looks like he might be one of the people brought here. Fluxdrifters? Peter thinks that's the term.

Steve jogged over, avoiding tripping on stray car parts and looking relieved. Spotting someone who seemed just like a normal person was nice. "Hey! Sorry. Do you work here or know where a quart of oil would be that isn't inside an old junker already?" he asked.

He looked the stranger over. No elf ears or extra limbs or anything overtly strange. Who knew what you couldn't see - El looked normal after all - but it was still kind of a relief. Steve was on overload with new things.

"Uh, I don't work here," Peter says, "I just... hang out here."

Because Scott hangs out here and it's a good source of tech stuff. Peter's got a mental shopping list of things he's looking for. The Scrapyard sometimes delivers.

"But I know where things are kept, come on." Peter motions for the guy to follow him. "Some folks here try to sort stuff and make it somewhat organized. There should be some oil there."

He takes another look at the kid. "You need help paying for it or are you good?"

Steve's disappointment lifted quickly when the guy said he knew where it was. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

He looked sheepish at the question. "I figured if I was getting it here, they could just add it onto the debt I already have," Steve said. "I'm Steve, by the way. Thanks for the help."

Peter nods. "Not a great idea to add more debt if you can help it. We'll see what the price is and maybe I can spare you a little."

He's also trying to save up and not increase his debt but Steve clearly needs it for his car and Peter's always willing to help.

"Peter." He offers the kid a hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, but I figured I don't want to lose the car while I'm in debt on it, and to something as dumb as needing an oil change," Steve said with a little shrug.

He cocked his head at the offer though, taking the offered hand and shaking. "Nice to meet you too. You sure you have it to spare?" No one that he'd met so far seemed to have a lot of cash.

Then again the guys stealing organs might be making a ton of money, Steve thought.

"I mean, can't go wrong learning how to do it yourself," he says as they shake hands. "It'll save you money and if you set yourself up right, make you money too."

Peter lets go of his hand and hops over some junk before going around the corner. There are a few bottles and cans of oil gathered. Some have clearly been opened and don't have much left in them. It's rare that one was full.

"I can chip in. Don't worry about it." He waves a hand to wave off his concern. "Any idea what your car takes? Like the type of oil."

"Yeah, I already know how," Steve agreed. "You think people would pay for stuff like that? Changing tires, or oil or a fuse - little things?" Because that was in Steve's wheelhouse, but it seemed like there must be a lot of people who had those skills around.

He trailed after Peter and smiled at him. "That's really generous of you man, thanks. It doesn't say but I figure 0W-20 would work with the chill outside."

"My buddy Scott works as a mechanic here. If you've got the skill to fix cars, you've got a way to earn money." Peter is learning how from Scott. He's studied electronics more than mechanics but it's not too hard to wrap his head around the differences.

The kid really does know his stuff. Peter's a little impressed. He only learned this oil stuff recently.

He starts to look through the cans. "How big of a car and how much oil are we talking?"

Edited 2026-02-11 13:42 (UTC)

Tifa, much like Steve, is rather lost. The gap between Midgar and Panorama is not so large that she is completely out of her depth, but the differences are enough that she often has to stop and remind herself not to assume things or else she'd really be in for a surprise. But it's why she has chosen to wander around the city to try to familiarize herself with as much as possible–it is nice that she knows someone from back home here, but she can't depend entirely on Cloud for everything.

It is in the middle of that wandering around, trying to take note of all the unique features of the city, that she runs into Steve. She blinks, before raising a hand in a small wave.

"Hi there." There's another pause, before she quickly adds, "Am I in your way?"

"Hi!" The woman was pretty with long hair and seemed human at a look. "Sorry, no, I was just looking around the city and saw you. I'm Steve," he introduced. "I just uh, got dumped here I guess so I'm looking around to figure out what's where, and get an idea how busy this place is." So far it seemed like it was moderately busy, but Steve suspected he was in the wrong neighborhood for crowds.

"Have you been here long?" he asked curiously.

She gives him a sympathetic look when he explains his situation. Even though this place seems very used to having new arrivals, it isn't super friendly to them, considering how much scrambling they have to do to get things set up.

"I'm Tifa," she replies, holding a hand out for a shake. "I'm also new. Been here just a few days."

And while at first Tifa had hoped it wouldn't be longer than that, the more she hears it sounds like she needs to be prepared to be here for a while.

"Pretty crazy, isn't it?"

Steve is getting used to the city a little, but he isn't LIKING it much. People seem scattered and it's hard to really judge what anyone is like. Eddie and Mike are here, but they're both in pretty bad situations. Steve feels like he needs to figure things out on his own so he isn't a drain on them.

"Good to meet you, Tifa," Steve said. "I think there's a lot of people that have gotten here the last few days. I ran into a couple others too.

He nodded. "Yeah ... it's nuts. And my life at home is pretty crazy so that's saying something." Steve smiled at her. "Were you looking for something specific or just wandering?

She almost asks what makes his home life crazy, but she manages to avoid the question. It seems a bit rude to ask right after meeting someone for the first time, even if he did mention it first. They should, perhaps, speak for longer than five minutes before getting potentially personal.

"Just wandering. I figured I should learn where everything is as soon as I can."

Tifa has heard about all of the crime and lack of real rules here, so it sounds like it may be best to find out what areas may be the best to avoid to not run into any trouble. While she is very confident in her ability to defend herself, getting into situations where you may have to is not great.

"What about you? Mind having a buddy to look around with?"

"That's what I figured too," Steve said. "Try to just get a sense of things ... in a place that doesn't make a lot of sense so far."

He smiled at her, maybe trying to be a little charming. She was very pretty. "Not at all, company sounds good. Were you headed any particular place or just wandering?"

Steve had been aimless, so he didn't mind going wherever Tifa wanted to go, if she had a direction in mind.

She tries to think. It might be best for them to go to places that would likely be actually useful to them versus areas they may never go to again. Practicality wins out over proper sightseeing, at least in this specific case. Tifa smiles back at him.

"Let's go see more shops? Maybe we can find some that look like they won't rip us off."

It's half a joke, but also something they may need. The other problem with looking too obviously new is that they're probably easy targets for potential scams. Tifa is still annoyed by going into debt immediately on arrival.

"That sounds good to me," Steve agreed. "I think this way is probably the most likely." He gestured to his right and waited to see if she'd agree, willing to head the other way if Tifa felt strongly about it.

He fell in beside her. "So you're not from here either - what's your home like?" Steve asked her curiously.

She will head in the direction he chose; they can always turn around later and head the other way if they want, so there's no rush.

Tifa takes a moment to consider his question, trying to think of the simplest way to describe her home without giving out too much boring information.

"It's similar to here but also not," she begins. "The last few years I was living in a city that reminds me of this one. It actually had a similar structure, where the really rich was separated from everyone else. It was kind of upsetting to see it happening here too."

Despite working several different part-time jobs that could very well make it difficult to have free time, any time that Alisaie did manage to find outside of doing the bare necessities to keep oneself functioning had been spent exploring diffusion zones.

Her own personal project of mapping them and their locations hadn't wavered since arriving. There was a randomness to everything they had encountered thus far it's true, but she believed that there had to be something that would become familiar sooner than later. It is no surprise then that she stumbles upon the wedding party around the same time that Steve does.

She's just as surprised as he is really when people seem to appear out of the aether though her surprise doesn't last long. In fact she seems positively delighted as she turns to him with a reassuring smile. "I am - isn't this amazing? I thought this would just be some sort of setting but the fact that there's actually specters of people - do you suppose they can hear us?"

Steve looked over at her, noting the ears and assuming that meant 'elf', since that had been the case so far.

He waved a hand at the nearest figure, who went right on talking to another of the figures, ignoring Steve. "I don't know - but kind of doesn't seem like it. Is this like ... ghosts with unfinished business who just hang around?"

It was definitely weird, but interesting. "I think the food's real, I can smell it," he said. "Whoa," he added as the brawling added a few more figures to what was plainly a looming all out fight.

Steve's assumption would be correct - mostly. And it is perhaps a good thing that she had been to the First prior to this so she didn't mistake it as some purposeful insult.

Though her delight would be a difficult thing to conceal, she does seem to watch with a certain sort of tension as Steve tries to get the attention of the nearest wedding guest. The specters fighting isn't good, but neither is the prospect of them getting caught up in whatever it is that's happening here. "That would imply that they had perished at this wedding though, wouldn't it?"

The bridesmaids who had previously only been verbally bickering suddenly launch themselves at one another and Alisaie moves without thinking. It's a little silly in hindsight, given that they can't hear them. But well, she thinks, maybe they can touch them. "Hey - stop that! One of you could get hurt," she exclaims, trying to force herself between them only to come up short as they pass right through her.

There's a brief moment where she pauses, torn between embarrassment and uncertainty before righting herself and very solemnly offering, "I think we can rule out trying to interact with them in any meaningful way."

The car, as it turns out, is one of the decoy strategies many of the raider groups around these parts use to lure people into a false sense of security, and to take advantage of any, if not most, of the newcomers. Cloud, for his part, is not constantly on the road trying to help anyone who might fall victim to such schemes, but he so happens to be on the road now—

And he recognizes the familiar jacket on the man approaching the oblivious guy.

Vroom! goes his motorcycle, as Cloud dials up the accelerator, jumping off a cliffside and landing between the raider and the other guy, wheels burning rubber as he skids to a stop.

"Not you again!" The raider yells, dismayed, and running back to his car. Cloud revs the engine, sword held out, and he slices right through the open door of the car, stunning the raider. Poor Steve probably has no idea what's going on and can't help but assume that this blond asshole is the villain here. That is, until the raider pulls out a gun.

Finally, Cloud speaks, a command at the guy at the other car.

"Keep your head down!"

There's no telling what raiders are prone to do when frantic. Luckily for all involved, Cloud manages to drive his motorcycle close, bullets pelting on the flat of his sword, before using that very same sword to knock the raider off and out, onto the side.

He stops the bike a few feet from Steve's car.

"More will come after him. Why'd you stop?"

Steve watched the approaching figure, probably not as wary as he should be of strangers in this environment.

Before the guy got close enough for Steve to say anything, he heard an engine, and then some guy pulled up holding what looked like a big-ass sword.

The guy who'd been walking his way plainly recognized the guy on the bike, and that obviously wasn't a good thing since the guy ran for it. And the new guy cut his car. Just plain sliced off a door. "What the hell?" he said, staring. The warning to get down made him instinctively duck his head a little, but he scowled at the sword-guy. "What the hell are you doing?"

Great. Must be some new guy who has no idea how dangerous the fringes can be. Cloud sets his bike to idle as he steps off, boot heavy on the asphalt.

"What does it look like? I'm saving your ass," he (tries to) reassure, clipping his sword onto his back, and approaching Steve. "That's a raider scout. The rest will be on you to steal your car and whatever you have on you."

Which might not be... much, Cloud gathers, but still.

He repeats his question. "Why'd you stop? Somethin' wrong with your car?"

If it has a quick fix, maybe Cloud can help jumpstart it, get this kid (Cloud's barely older than him) to safety.

"It mostly looked like you were running some other guy off," Steve said. "How do you know he's a raider?" He'd just looked like an average guy to Steve.

Steve watches Cloud sling the ridiculously big sword over his back. How could a guy that size even swing that thing around. Especially while on a motorcycle. He must lift a hell of a lot of weights. Or maybe it's a magic self-lifting sword.

He shook his head. "I just got a cramp and was walking it off," he said. "I didn't know there were raiders." And he still didn't since he didn't know if this guy was telling the truth.

A new guy, then.

Cloud sighs, then motions over toward the car from the alleged raider. There are some modifications to the car, parts of other cars welded onto it, as well as an awful paint job done with spray paint and actual paint. It's a little stereotypical, but that's what a lot of these raiders have gone for.

"I've been on their tail for a while," he huffs out, not like he's actually policing this place or anything, but there's some talk among raiders of the 'asshole blond with the big fuck off sword' ruining their fun. Given the direction of the car Steve's parked, Cloud surmises where he's going. "Headed to the scrapyard? I'm headed that way, too."

So, he can offer some protection. For free, too!

"If you want. Name's Cloud."

The only reason, really, why Wanda was staring at Steve was because he was staring first. That, and his thoughts were a touch too loud, like someone who was looking at the world for the first time. It wasn't so easy to ignore that sentiment of someone who was brand new, trying to make sense of the world around them.

Though uncertain, he seems to have enough sense to respond quickly.

"Hey," she answers back. "We just closed."

She motions at the store with the shutters, given that it was getting quite late. Was he looking to shop, but lost track of time?

"Oh - that's cool. I was just kind of exploring. You work here?" he asked, peering at the storefront to see what it sold.

The woman was pretty and had a kind face. And seemed human, which made running into her a little less surreal. It was kind of cool to see people other than human just walking around, but it did make Steve worry that he didn't have enough nerd-knowledge to talk to them.

"I'm Steve," he offered, hand held out to shake. "I just got here a day or so ago."

The place has a sign up top, Eko-lite, and some cliché slogan or another such as 'once a place of goodbyes, now a place of good buys!'. There's a sense of relief that he wasn't looking to go in (as she definitely closed five minutes too early).

She glances down at his hand, then back at his face.

Steve seems, all things considered, like quite the normal guy. He sounds very American, but the general scattered emotions and thoughts that lead to something a little more nervous makes sense after he explains that he got here about a day ago. That's very recent.

Wanda returns the handshake, if only to not feel his anxieties spike. "Wanda," is the simple response, and it's clear from both her demeanor and Central-European accent that she is used to slightly more colder interactions. "This is a thrift store. We open every day at nine, so you can have better luck tomorrow."

Bringing her hand back onto herself, she crosses her arms. Even if the rain has stopped for now, it's still pretty cold.

"Were you looking for any place in specific?"

Steve's face heats a little and he almost draws back his hand when Wanda just looks at it. But she finally reaches out and he relaxes again.

"Nice to meet you," he says. He can't place her accent, but it reminds him slightly of Russian, which Steve has uncomfortable memories off. But it's not the same enough for him to assume she's Russian. She might not even be from a place WITH a Russia for all he knows.

"Oh, nice. I'll drop in during open hours sometime." He shook his head. "Not anything in particular. Just looking around. Do you live in the city, or just work here?" He wondered how that worked - did people go in debt over getting an apartment or something too? He was guessing so, or Eddie wouldn't be sleeping in his van.

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Getting Around

Hunting for Oil

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prowling the city

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diffusion zone!

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on the road-ish(?!) sorry for how final fantasy this is

No, it's great!

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panorama

Re: panorama

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