paradisa | ( first )

[Immediately after he woke up, he began to panic. This was the wrong place to be. He was alone and some piece of shit took his watch -- his watch, Jesus Christ, why? It was broken, it wasn't worth anything to anyone but him. He swears under his breath and envisions a slow death for the party responsible while he moves through the giant castle like an angry shadow.

Normally he knows how not to be seen, but with the confusing events clouding over his judgment he's moving a bit too fast. It's huge in here. He's nowhere near Tommy's camp anymore, that's for sure. What he needs to do is push forward and search every area for Ellie, just keep searching until he finds the little girl he's lost somewhere along the way. Again.

If you are unfortunate enough to bump into Joel first, he's got a backpack full of weapons and explosives and a hell of a lot of snap judgments to make about anyone he might run into. It might not look like the start of a friendly encounter.

But he has no idea to expect magic from anyone or anything. You're all normal, fallible civilians, right?]

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[Absolutely and completely normal, nothing weird going on here. He glances up as Joel moves past him, trying to step out of the way. Wow that backback sure has some dangerous looking things dangling from it]

Uh...you okay, man?

Not really.

[He grunts the reply under his breath and pauses to give the resident a once-over, from a safe distance away. That's what they are, aren't they? Residents in this bizarre castle place. Not threats. His mind is still reeling from this apparent truth, though he's not quite ready to give anyone he doesn't know the benefit of the doubt yet.

So he gives the stranger the same pissed-off, dangerously defensive glare he's been giving almost everyone. Nice first impressions, Joel.]

[At least Ben seems well used to that sort of glare. You have to be careful with who you talk to, you never know who's just looking for a good place on your back to stick the knife in]

Sorry to hear it. [At least that is genuine] What's wrong?

[Not quite an offer to help, he'll figure out if he wants to do that once he knows what the problem is]

Hn. I just woke up in this strange place I've never seen before and thought I'd lost somebody important, for starters.

[Joel's not one to overshare. Hell, he's not one to share more than two little words about anything most of the time. But he likes that this one is genuine without being trusting.

They have no reason to trust each other yet, but he's slowly coming to terms with the idea that they might all be on the same page as prisoners here. Different backgrounds, same circumstances in Paradisa. He averts his eyes, but his posture remains tense.]

[Wow, this guy reminds him of Lee, a little]

Yeah, this place is a fucker for not caring who it brings in or who it separates. There's a map showing all the floors and resident rooms in the lobby if you need it. You never know what name'll suddenly show up there.

I hear things run on "magic."

[It sounds like he would spit on the word if he could. Horse shit.]

[God does he know that feeling]

Pretty much. It's fucking ridiculous, but there it is.

Jesus.

[Sighing and shaking his head. He gives the young man in front of him a closer look and starts up with the introductions.]

Joel. And yourself?

I'm Ben. Welcome to Paradisa, I guess. As much of a welcome as you can get for being somewhere you're trapped in, anyway.

Thanks, I guess.

[Very dry.]

One thing you can't beat is the food supply.

Tell me about it. I'm still getting used to having a full meal whenever I want it.

Where you comin' from, Ben?

[He can sure relate to that statement, though it looks like he's got about twice the muscle on him compared to this kid. The word 'sickly' comes to mind.]

[Ben frowns, folding his arms somewhat defensively]

A place where modern luxuries are pretty much gone now.

Pretty much. Not all the way?

[He has a decent inkling this is another survivor after meeting a few others in the castle. If he has any modern luxuries left to speak of in the slightest, he's not from Joel's infected world. So he makes a guess and waits to see if he's right:]

Walkers?

Not yet, it's only a matter of time.

[He glances up, surprised. Ah, he must have talked to Lee, maybe Clem]

Yeah, Walkers. They're all over the place, more of 'em every day.

[Better believe it's only a matter of time. He exhales on a sound that makes it clear he wasn't exactly happy to be right.]

Ours don't walk. They mostly run. [Maybe he's spoken to Ellie yet, maybe not. Either way, Joel gets to trading war stories with the kid.] But they ain't dead, the way I hear yours are. Infected with a fungal virus that turns 'em.

[He nods]

I heard, they sound pretty difficult to get around. The walkers aren't much of a problem, unless you get cornered, or you get a whole lot of them in one place. [Because a herd is something you can't run from]

( first )

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