voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post April]

A New Platform [Intro Post April]

On the Train

Once again passengers are awoken by the morning announcement.

"Good morning passengers, it is day Sixteen of the month of Kazoo. Points have been updated on the system."

They have indeed, and everyone can spend the morning shopping. Those who have been on the train for a while will also be expecting the second announcement that comes after lunch. A lunch that may be a bit sparse: between the big eaters and the stress bakers, the stores have been stretched thin the last two weeks.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and the windows fill with the fog that means they are at a platform. The steam is thin, with blue skies seen above. The sun shines brightly down, warm light pooling on the platform.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers: Cassie Lang, Glorfindel, Jessie Custer, Olivia, Paddra Nsu-Yeul, S’reee, Thea Queen, Wei Wuxian.

But on the platform itself there are new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours, in various states of confusion.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam, billowing around them as they come to their senses. As their eyes adjust, they will see they are on a platform, open, with a vine-covered wall stretching high either side of the barrier. In front of them is a single track extending both ways into thick fog.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own and a style they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze; then the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not large, and seems smaller with eighteen figures scattered around. All facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. To both the left and right, tracks disappear into the mist.

A roaring sound, and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out step a strange assortment of people. Some are human, some are less so. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple, though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles. The doors close behind them.

The Train

After a short time, the doors hiss open again. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there's anywhere else to go, and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would lead to something terrible. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information (see
'Publications'). The store rooms have been restocked with fresh ingredients, including plenty more tomatoes.

For passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags. There is a suitcase stocked with spare wash kit items, for those who are running low as well as a box labelled Do Not Use Yet that is full of small bags.

New passengers will find their ticket allows them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk! Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches full of spare blankets and pillows.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers who are making the most of the sunshine. The doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, but they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view again as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express." A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog-filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady itself. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever-changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

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She doesn't need to be attentive. Crowley figures distractions are good... but he's no psychologist. He could be way off the mark, but he's at least tried to stay on topic of things that aren't really a big deal if she listens or not.

"It's alright. I'm sure you have better things to do." he answers, but her offer is appreciated. Alice is a bit of an odd duck, like him. The kind of person who would likely be comforted by a large snake coiling around them instead of frightened. Then again, it probably helps to know that the snake is sentient and completely disinterested in eating you.

"Can I get you anything else?" he asks after a moment of silence.

At first she truly has no idea what to ask for.

But after a moment or two of silence, there's a realisation that hits her like a truck. She looks up, over at Crowley, only hesitating for a moment by chewing on her lower lip before speaking.

"My rabbit." Not a real rabbit, of course. She means the old, worn-out stuffed rabbit plush that she's always got in her room. "Can you.. get it here somehow?" He can make things appear out of nowhere, after all. It's not too much to hope that he could then also pull an item from across the train, right?

Especially since Alice knows it's the one thing that comforts and calms her down the most. And while allowing that to comfort her would usually embarrass her way too much in front of others, she trusts Crowley on such a deep level that he's one of the few people she could ask for this.

Hes surely seen the rabbit before, hasn't he? He tries to think... perhaps it doesn't matter. Miracles usually don't. One wants something to happen and it does, that's how that works.

"Mm. Uhh.. nn, yeah." he stammers, then without another thought to complicate things, snaps his fingers, the rabbit appearing on the table in the room, as if it had always been there.

Crowley makes a face that's shrouded in complexity. He's not certain Alice had ever been this upset in his presence, and the rabbit itself is one of those human things he doesn't quite get. Alice is complex herself, and she deserves so much more than he feels he can give her.

The rabbit is a complex thing. Even to most humans, probably, since Alice is far beyond the age where she should still be seeking out comfort in an entirely worn-out and dirty stuffed animal.

And yet here she is. The moment it appears on the table Alice is reaching out and gathering the plush rabbit up in her arms. There's something very gentle and careful about it, yet with all the affection of a small child that's particularly attached to their emotional comfort plushie.

For a moment she just stays like that, even closing her eyes, like she's trying to take the soft comfort of the stuffed animal pressed against her chest in.

But then the embarrassment does slowly kick in. Even though she fully trusts Crowley, she still feels weird doing this in front of someone else. Even if he may not judge her the way regular humans would, it's still..

".. I'm being odd, aren't I."

At least she sounds more calm when she's saying it, though there's a definite insecurity in the tone.

Crowley would never judge, particularly not Alice, but he has his own items of comfort back home. None are nearly as cuddly, but one could argue the glasses he so frequently wears to disguise his eyes are an extension of comfort as well. For Crowley, they are a shield, a protective layer that masks his emotions and vulnerability to the outside world. It was never about keeping him visibly human, and all about making him impenetrable to those who could harm him.

Alice's voice is a relief in the moment, she sounds more grounded than she had all morning, and Crowley feels better knowing that he had helped. He chuckles at her question, shrugging.

"Define odd."

She exhales, and slowly lowers the plush rabbit a little. Even so, Alice still holds onto it, now carefully placing the thing on her lap and keeping her arms around it, as if she needs to keep it close to her for now so she's able to stay more calmed down like this.

"I am sitting here hugging a stuffed animal. It's not exactly what people my age are supposed to do." Even though she just can't let go of the creature. Sometimes it's like it still talks to her, after all. "Back home everyone thought I was odd for my obsession with my rabbit."

Crowley shakes his head, silent for a minute while he thinks. "Alice..." he starts, voice very frank, "There are people on board with blue skin, wings, and tentacles."

Himself being one of them. He takes off his glasses, tossing them to the seat beside him which exposes his serpentine eyes. Most individuals don't get the opportunity to even see those, but it means he trusts her.

"I don't think a plush rabbit is something anyone here is going to bat an eyelash at."

"Most of those just make people look more imposing though." Or rather, the true sentiment Alice is trying to go for here is cool, but of course that's not a word that exists within her Victorian vocabulary.

But it's there that the difference exists for Alice. She'd love to have wings. Maybe not tentacles, considering they make her think too much of the Queen of Hearts, but she doesn't see those distinctive qualities as something bad.

".. like your eyes." How could she not bring them up, when he's displaying them so willingly right now? "I really like those."

"Imposing?" Crowley winces, "I don't think that is intentional... nor in many cases desired."

Crowley's expression softens significantly as she addresses his eyes, hid head dropping to the side. "Flattery isn't necessary, but I appreciate it." he mutters softly. It occurs to him then that perhaps Alice wishes she looked more imposing, that she had something to hide behind like his own glasses, some sort of hard armor to keep anyone from hurting her, and makes a mental note of it for later.

She frowns a little.

"I'm not flattering you. I wouldn't be saying those things if I didn't mean them." After all, Alice is usually more the type to be way too honest and therefore much too blunt than someone who makes up meaningless compliments. So this is the same - she really does think Crowley's eyes are cool. Exactly because they're so unusual, so cool-looking.

.. but then again.. maybe it has something to do with how they seem to differ in opinion on this point. Since he is saying that it usually isn't desired. Is that what it's like for other people? Alice isn't too sure. But as for her..

"I.. I am well aware that I'm not an incredibly likeable person." Her gaze drops to the rabbit on her lap before she looks back at him. "So I'd rather look imposing. So nobody dares to mess with me."

(He is very much right in that sense. Alice just wants something to hide behind, especially to hide all vulnerable parts of her behind.)

There's a moment of stammering before Crowley asks, "Who said you aren't likeable?" in a way that's almost defensive of her. In fact, the demon looks ready to jump out of his seat and give whoever it is a good slap.

But he gets it. It's why he wears the glasses. Not because his eyes look different, but because with them on, no one can see that he's frightened or nervous, no one can read where his mind is at or hurt him. It's an impenetrable mask... and the only person he'd taken them off for before Alice was Aziraphale... who knew the real him.

Alice does notice the way he looks like he's about to stand up and go fight someone. It's not an entirely new or surprising attitude coming from Crowley, but it feels comforting at a moment like this, when the fire brought her back to such a vulnerable state.

That's the best time to have a reminder that someone has got her back.

And it calms her. Enough to openly be amused - trying to half-hide the fact that she lets out a laugh behind her plush rabbit.

"Pretty much an entire city's worth of people back home, you know." But that fact doesn't seen to bother her in the moment, not now he's putting her in a much better mood than before.

"You're a woman before her time," he huffs, sitting back now that the threat isn't imminent. At least what he knows of Alice, she's not from an era of modern technology, or when it is fashionable to be moody and dark (at least in the circles Crowley may run in).

"People don't like what they don't understand. And humans need to understand." he says with an eyeroll, "It's why they fear the unknown. I think. I dunno... I'm not trying to be profound right now."

"... I thought it sort of came with the job description." You know, being profound and all.

There's that very brief pause before she says it, and her voice doesn't exactly sound energized, but it's a slight joke all the same. Just Alice trying to get back a bit more to her usual self.

Especially since it's so easy to recognize his effort at this point.

"Thank you. I.. suppose I owe you once more." Because it doesn't even feel like the first time he's looked out for her. It really does feel like having a guardian demon of her own.

"I'm retired." exclaims the grumpy old fart, in the most grumpy and old and fartiest manner he can. He knows she's trying to regain their usual snarky rapport, so he's not judging.

"You don't owe me anything." he murmurs, softer and more serious in tone. "The universe owes you a lot more... a better hand than you've been dealt, anyway."

Edited 2021-05-27 18:27 (UTC)

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A New Platform [Intro Post April]

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