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]

[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.]

[secondchances]

That's good. I'm sure she's doing great. [Better than whatever Steph had to offer, certainly. With her father was a threat, and her mother still trying to find her feet, it's hard to imagine any kid in that household growing up happily. It was difficult enough for Stephanie, back in the day.]

This is really--well, awkward. But I appreciate you telling me about it.

[dorkwonder]

Story of our lives. You're welcome.

[Pushes himself up from the bed and straightens out his shirt.]

I don't know about you, but I've had my fill of "heart-to-hearts" for the next month. Let's track down my room, I went to get settled in there.

[secondchances]

Yes, please.

[She gives him a brief, honest smile as she gets up and heads for the door.]

We'll check the other towers, first.

[dorkwonder]

How will we know which room is mine? [If their names appear above the door, he'll have to do something about it. Checks her door on the way out.]

[secondchances]

[And there's her name, plain as day. "Stephanie Brown" on a nameplate.]

Because of this.

[She taps on it.]

You can take them off, but they tend to come back every now and then. I guess you'll just have to be vigilant.

[dorkwonder]

Noted. Maybe I can find a way to replace it with one that says Alvin Draper. That shouldn't be too hard to do in a magical castle, right?

[secondchances]

Super glue and duct tape to the rescue?

[dorkwonder]

Because the duct tape won't standout at all.

[secondchances]

Hey, I'm just tossing an idea out there.

[She grins and hops down a few stairs. She's not bothering to check upstairs on this tower, and is only glancing briefly at the doors on the way down. It was enough having the Borgia siblings and Ezio in this tower. Tim had to be elsewhere. She'd move him into another tower if need be. Any more drama and this place would explode.]

[dorkwonder]

And I'm just tossing some feedback out there.

[Attempts to memorize the different names and layouts of the hallways. He knows he won't be able to memorize them all, but it's still worth trying. Later on he'll make some blueprints of his own with notes. ]

[secondchances]

Right.

[Aaaand, awkward silence. Or maybe it's just silence. Steph thinks it's awkward, but she's scrambling for a topic with little success.]

[dorkwonder]

[Tim doesn't appear to be bothered by the silence, probably because everything is so new to him that it's easy to get lost in his thoughts. The silence continues to stretch out as Tim takes in the architecture of the tower. ]

[secondchances]

[She watches him as they reach the lobby, and she veers towards one of the other tower doors.]

It's pretty, isn't it?

[dorkwonder]

There's no denying that. This place could easily fit into some kind of epic fantasy movie.

[secondchances]

Have you seen the outside yet?

[dorkwonder]

Not from outside, but I've seen the view of the sky from a window if that's what you are referring to.

[secondchances]

I meant the castle itself. It's amazing. You've got to see it at least once.

[Before you lock yourself away to do research forever.]

[dorkwonder]

Maybe I'll check it out tomorrow after I'm settled in. You can join me if you'd like, as long as you're willing to risk having an even dorkier conversation.

[Gives her a quick yet meaningful look. What he actually means is she is welcome to join him as long as she doesn't bring up what Be thinks is his loss. ]