First case.

[dorkwonder]

[As soon as Tim found himself suddenly transported to a strange new place, he scurried over to a shadow and began to gather intel. Wherever he went, a journal appeared at the area he was inspecting. After awhile he realized it was the same journal appearing over and over. So, he finally picked it up and began to read through it. The entries gave him a decent idea of what was going on. Combing the entries with the view of the sky made it obvious he was no longer on Earth. Tim was no stranger to the multiverse. He knew that the name “Wayne” was recognized in some of the alternative Earths.

When Tim finally dictates an entry of his own, his voice comes out sounding nervous and awkward. Instead of introducing himself as Tim Drake, the ward of multi-billionaire Bruce Wayne, he's Alvin Draper; confused high-school student.]

Okay, so I know there's the whole “be careful what you wish for”, but this is kind of overkill. And by “kind of”, I mean completely. I just wanted to get out of my Calculus test! A fire alarm or sneeze attack would have worked.

[His voice sounds increasingly nervous as he speaks.]

So, uh, my name is Alvin Draper and I'm not from around here. I don't even know if I'm from the same world as this place. This is what I get for wishing I was in all of those sci-fi novels I've read, huh? Ahaha. Seriously, I never going to wish for anything again. Anyway, um, if anyone could let me know what's going on here and how I get back home, that would be great. Thanks.

[ooc: Just as a side note, since Tim's father is in a coma and not dead in his memories, he currently thinks he's the ward of Bruce Wayne and not his adopted son.]

Comments

[dorkwonder]

You do realize a classmate is never just a "classmate" in stories, right? If Alvin is the king of dorks, then that means Stephanie Brown is a dork by association.

[secondchances]

Excuse you, I already have a reputation here.

[As that kinda weird girl that talks too much and says strange things. Borderline dork.]

Alvin is just that guy below my grade that sat in the corner playing games. By himself. Little did I know, he was the chosen one.

[dorkwonder]

The reason he played by himself is because he always won, because you know, the chosen one.

[secondchances]

We're totally going with this, by the way.

[dorkwonder]

Oh yeah? Then what's going to happen on my eighteenth birthday?

[secondchances]

I'll find someone trustworthy to dress up as a, uh... prophet. And they'll hand you a sword or something. Or maybe nothing happens because aging is weird here.

[dorkwonder]

I don't think I'd even need anyone to do that. All I'd need are a couple of key witnesses to say they saw miraculous event happen, and I'll have my prophet under the way. The latter is a good alternative, though. [Gives it some thought.]

[secondchances]

Poor Alv. Does anything ever go right for him?

[... that can probably apply to Tim, too. But let's not over-analyze, here.]

[dorkwonder]

Every now and then it does.

[In his mind, he's actually caught some breaks. For example, Conner and her almost died but they managed to pull through in the end.]

[secondchances]

[In her mind, Tim's going to have to re-live some terrible event twice, once the denial fades or his curiosity gets the better of him. Just another event in the life of Tim Drake...]

Maybe he got a cute date to prom, or his acne faded before school started.

[dorkwonder]

[On the plus side, at least he doesn't have to agonize over Conner's death and her death for a year or so. Yaaay silver-lining?]

I don't know about the first part. Alvin Draper was never exactly a hit with mothers when he went to pick up their daughters. [A small grin tugs on the corner of his lips.]

[secondchances]

[She smiles. Ah, nostalgia. Sweet, but awkward.]

That was a long time ago. I'm sure things have changed.

[dorkwonder]

He's cleaned up his act and become the chosen one. I'd say that's an impressive change. Maybe his acne cleared up on the night of the prom. [Just about every teenager he knew would consider that a godsend.]

[secondchances]

It's a heartwarming tale. I like it. He'll fit right into the rest of Paradisa.

[dorkwonder]

Sounds like it. I'll have to come up with a loss for him. [Which shouldn't be too difficult.]

Speaking of losses, what's your loss?

[secondchances]

[Any inappropriate thoughts ("He could forget that his father isn't alive.") are immediately wiped from Steph's mind at his question.

Awkward was the name of the game with Tim.

She wets her lips, glancing over at something or other in the room, then turns her attention back to him, hesitantly.]

I don't remember having a baby.

[It comes out easily enough, casually enough, but the feelings that come with it are anything but. Funny that it was easier telling her loss to people that didn't know about it at all.]

[dorkwonder]

Wait, what?!

[Tim is so caught off guard by her revelation that he doesn't have a chance to censor his reply or the expression on his face, which is saying something since he's well disciplined in doing just that.]

[secondchances]

[His reaction catches her off guard, enough that she jumps a little. She was ready for awkward staring and silence.]

Uhh--yeah. It's not like I'm missing nine months of my life, because when I think back to when it happened, nothing seems missing. To me, it feels like it never happened.

[Or maybe it was multiverse shenanigans!]

[dorkwonder]

[Steph, now is not the time for taunting >:V

Tim needs a second to catch up with his thoughts because....wow. Learning about her loss is disconcerting on a lot of levels.]

So, then...how do you remember your mother meeting Alvin Draper?

[secondchances]

You came over to [a brief pause, as the specifics are foggy] go on a walk, or something. Hang out, maybe.

[She looks at him, eyebrows raised.]

But I have a sneaking suspicion that's not entirely correct.

[dorkwonder]

Not at all.

[Reaches up and pinches the bridge of his nose. Okay, he needs to focus and weave things together to make sense out of this. The questions weighing on his mind are:

Can Paradisa really exchange memories and fill them in with new ones so easily? Or in Steph's case, sort of "hand wave" the impact something like that had in her life.

And why does she still not know? Sure, things between the two of them can be awkward, but it seems like one of those things that would have come up at some point.

Unless...multiverse! or you know, things aren't as awkward for him since he thinks he got the heads up when she went to Africa.]

Since you're sitting, it's probably safe to tell you, huh? Unless you don't want to know about any of it.

[secondchances]

[The Tim that told her at least clarified that HE wasn't the father. She doubts there's a giant bombshell awaiting her if she lets him talk.]

You can tell me. Barbara told me some details about the baby. [A girl, taken care of.] I don't mind hearing.

[It's never really sunk in. It might be a good thing.]

I mean, if you don't mind talking about it.

[dorkwonder]

[Looks and feels conflicted. When she learned about the baby, she was determined to go through the pregnancy no matter the cost, and even considered keeping the baby for a long time. Then when she had the baby, it was so painful to let go that she didn't even want to hold the baby girl.

Ultimately, he decides she deserves to know some of the details. He owes her or at least the memory of the her who went the pregenancy that much.]

You wanted to do everything possible to make sure the delivery went smoothly. [Probably in part to learn how to be a good mother.] Your mom was too busy to take you to go to birthing classes with you, so you asked me. I went with you to the classes as Alv.

[secondchances]

[She can only watch his face for so long before looking down at the hands folded on her lap. Yikes. If someone opened up a dictionary and looked up "awkward" this moment would be given as an example.

She's glad she had enough sense at that age to do what was right. Maybe that's part of the reason why her world wasn't shaken too badly by knowing what she had lost--the result was the same. She gave a child up for adoption so that it could have a good life. There was no shame in that.

Still, hearing these memories from Tim...]

Alvin can be a considerate guy. That's not too surprising.

[Maybe she wished she could remember that part, at least.]

[dorkwonder]

[Steals a glance at her before closing his eyes over. What a day this had turned out to be.]

He did his best. [Because she meant so much to him back then. She still does, but it was different back then. It wasn't tainted by all the complications that they ran into later on.]

The baby was adopted as soon as she was born. From what I was told, the family was excited and had been wanting a child of their own for a long time.

[He'll focus on that rather than how much she wanted to keep the baby, things are awkward enough as it is.]