oh, look who showed up.

[holdsthethread]

There is a woman that suddenly appears in the Plaza (as one does, we suppose). She's wearing a dress that looks like it's seen better days--it's covered in sand, seaweed, and is a little bit soaked. Her hair is disheveled, her face is a bit dirty, and she probably smells like boats and ocean and starfish.

Oh, and she's pretty ticked off.

She's seen the helpful pamphlets. She's read the signs. She knows the rules. And so she speaks.

"What," Ariadne asks, through clenched teeth, "What do you do when someone who you clearly trusted, very very much, abandons you?"

What can we say? The princess of Crete likes to get to the point.

Comments

[attackpatternbattista]

Princess of Crete, meet a green skinned space pirate. Or at least a green skinned woman. For her part, Delia's in loose, comfortable, casual clothing, and settled on one of those Convenient Nexus Benches.

Her eyebrows raise as she looks over Ariadne's state, "I suppose that depends on when the abandonment happens, and if it's a true betrayal or not, but usually it'll at least involve a good stern talking to."

Delia looks thoughtful for a moment, "...Should we get you a towel or something to dry off with? Wearing clothes that wet can't be good, even if the weather's pretty permitting right now."

Which is a nice way of saying, Ariadne, that you're a mess and Delia's offering to assist a little with that. The eyepatch wearing woman clearly knows what going through a few circles of Hell is like, even with her casual and relaxed attitude.

[holdsthethread]

All right, so the whole "green lady" thing is a bit...odd. But then again, Ariadne's seen the Minotaur, so her threshold of "Gods, this is strange and unnerving!" is a bit skewed.

She huffs and pouts.

"I don't want to talk to him. I almost wish him dead." Ariadne frowns, trying not to cry, because she can feel it coming on and she hates herself for it. Emotions, why?

"Is that wrong?"

She almost ignores the second part about drying off, until she realizes her teeth are chattering.

"And yes, please. I've spent the night out on the beach. It was awful."

To put it lightly.

[attackpatternbattista]

To be fair, 'green lady', compared to a minotaur, is fairly normal. Her relaxed, fairly unflappable attitude probably helps with that. Even if she's in what amounts to modern-ish clothing. Delia sits up properly, holding up a hand in a 'one second' gesture as she reaches down to root through the bag by her feet, fishing out a fairly large towel, and offerring it to the other woman.

"It's not wrong, dear, what matters is how you act on it. Did he abandon you at a critical point, or should I not pry any further than that? Either way, you look like you've been through hell and back, and for what it's worth for a relative stranger from another reality, I'm sorry for that."

[holdsthethread]

She nods a silent thanks and takes the towel, immediately beginning to dry herself off.

"He left me on an island after promising he'd marry me," Ariadne explains, and she can feel the tears start to well up, even though she swore to herself that she was done crying. "And now I'm...here, in this place."

Which, admittedly, is less damp and sandy than Naxos.

[chiron_survivor]

Well, now there's a question that Adia can relate to. She looks up from the computer terminal she's sitting behind, surrounded by a trio of strange animals -- a fiery orange dog-like creature and what can only be described as a tiny dinosaur are sitting at her feet. There is a bird perched on the back of her chair, already staring at the newcomer and puffing its feathers.

That woman looks vaguely familiar. Maybe it's her style of dress... it reminds Adia of an illustration in one of her storybooks. How curious.

"Um... well, in my case, I tried to move on..." Which didn't go so well, based on the look on her face. She frowns sympathetically. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

[holdsthethread]

She peers back at the bird, seemingly unfazed by the strange creatures. Ariadne's used to scariest beasts than these. That thing the woman's sitting in front of, on the other hand--well, that's truly puzzling.

"Move on?" She says it like it's a foreign phrase. "Explain."

[chiron_survivor]

It's a good thing she isn't scared, because the dog creature is padding towards her, nose twitching at the distinctive smell of the ocean. Did she ride on the back of a lapras to get here? It sits in front of her, tail wagging in a greeting.

The other four-footed beastie lifts up its shiny shield-like head, but doesn't leave Adia's side. The bird narrows its eyes, not appreciating the woman's eye contact, but Adia murmurs something to it and soothes its feathers. "Sorry, Bucky's wary of strangers... Sarah is friendly, though. Ethel, too."

She looks a little taken aback by needing to explain such a ubiquitous phrase, but this woman has clearly been through a lot, so she'll try her best. "It's, uh... it's like learning to put your faith in someone -- or something -- new. There was someone I trusted, very much... and he abandoned me, too. I spent a long time trying to understand why he did it, why it happened to me. But it... after a certain point, it was like being stuck in the past. I had to let go of that grief and move on with my life." She gives the computer screen a small, guilty look. "It's hard, and it took me a couple of years to do it, but... it's better than the alternative."

[mynameisnotbrad]

"Kill them."

Someone was bound to mention an extreme method in due time, however, the disarming part about the statement is how serious and unwavering it sounds. To Ariadne's left sits a man who's clearly not even paying attention to his surroundings, his nose stuck in a book, but is still able to answer her question impulsively.

It's the scent of the ocean water that snaps Josh out of his reading trance, eyes moving away from the pages to stare blankly at the beautiful woman, immediately realizing that she is one asking for advice. If it was an average male, he wouldn't even be attempting to take back those words, but women have disarming personalities. He also doesn't want to sound like an obviously weird psychotic killer, so he scrambles to make the conversation sound less strange.

"Hypothetically speaking, of course. You should find a method of revenge fitting of the crime." He gives her an apologetic smile, putting aside his reading material to give Ariadne his full attention.

[holdsthethread]

Ariadne turns to look at him, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. She doesn't quite trust his smile, but then again, these days, she doesn't really trust most men's smiles. They hide their deceptions, she thinks.

"I don't disagree with you." Because nothing says "well-adjusted and even-keeled" like a woman scorned by a lover who dumped her on some random awful island after she helped him destroy her city, right?

"I could not do it, though." Ugh, womanhood. How it gets in the way of things like revenge.

[mynameisnotbrad]

He's quite used to the skeptical looks and takes no offense to Ariadne's initial reaction to his presence. Women being hesitant around men is nothing new, even in the Nexus. He stands up and calmly approaches her, reaching up with one hand to remove a bit of seaweed from her shoulder. The smile never leaves his face, even as he takes a few steps back, tossing the green piece of algae over his shoulder.

"Why not? You seem like a capable and strong woman who would be able to accomplish any goal you set your mind to." He's not sure if Ariadne is that type of woman, but the words sound good to him. "Would you like to talk about it? Perhaps I can show you around the Nexus as well? There's a wide assortment of clothing shops and places to get a drink around here."

[russianfairy]

Yeah, Even at fifteen, Yuri is well familiar with THAT particular circumstance.

"You call them on it - don't let them get away with it! Even if they pretend they forgot a promise to you, make sure they know about it and then it's on them! If they still don't live up to their responsibilities, screw 'em, they aren't worth it!

[holdsthethread]

She appreciates his passion, at least.

"If only I could--he left me and sailed away on his stupid ship," Ariadne replies, pouting a little. "He wanted more adventures, I suppose."

And she was baggage, or something like that.

"I'll probably never see him again."

[russianfairy]

Seriously? What kind of man does that?

"So why can't you go out and have adventures of your own? BETTER ones! And if you ever do see him again, he'll see that you didn't need him at all and maybe he'll be sorry that he took you for granted."

[rekindledtitan]

"Track him down and hit him," is the recommendation of the mechanical soldier nearby. Though she does pause then and amend, "Assuming he could take it. Make him answer for his actions, anyway."

[holdsthethread]

"I would intend to, except that he sailed away on his awful ship with his awful sailors, and I will probably never see him again."

Hmmph. This is terrible. This feels terrible, this fierceness within her, this anger. Ariadne kind of hates herself for feeling this way.

"But yes. That is what I would love to do."

[rekindledtitan]

For such a mechanical-looking person, Blaze can do a pretty good sympathetic groan. "Bah, I hate it when they do that! One time I got the jump on a F- uh, a pirate officer. Biggest one I'd ever gone after, back then. Just when I thought I had him, he disappeared off into his ship, and took his whole pack of dregs with him." She snorts ruefully.

"Guess you just need to take care of yourself first. Save some anger for the next time you cross paths with him. Do you want a blanket? I don't have any human clothes but there's a stash nearby you could search."

[sumarusfinest]

"Do you need a place to freshen up?"

The drizzle falling in the Plaza may be good for getting some of the sand off the young woman, but Katsuya offers her his umbrella nonetheless. She looks like she could use a fresh set of clothes and a warm meal. He's sure he can help with the latter, and as for the former...well, he'll ask Radio for help.

"As for your question....I try to find them again."

[holdsthethread]

"Yes, please," she says, moving to stand under the umbrella. "I'm terribly cold."

It's true--her teeth are chattering a little, and Ariadne is shivering. Besides, she feels like an idiot. Sand and seaweed are not a good look.

"I hate to admit it," she continues, responding to his answer, "but I don't think I could find him. He sailed away."

She sounds pretty hopeless.

[sumarusfinest]

"Here. Use this until we can get you something warm and clean to wear."

The officer removes his suit jacket and drapes it over her shoulders as he turns and heads toward his cafe on the more urban end of the Plaza. He's unsure if she's from a world accustomed to magic or not, so the jacket will have to do for warmth for now. Katsuya doesn't want to frighten her, after all.

She seems to have been through enough already.

"My brother also left someplace I cannot go after him. I understand your frustrations." The officer's voice is sympathetic and quiet. He glances down at her out of the corner of his eye as they walk down the streets. "But it hasn't stopped me from looking. This is a unique place. If there is a way to find the man you seek, it may be here."

[tenthdoc]

The Doctor knows this one better than he should, and with a somber look on his face, he thrusts his hands into his pockets. And as he looks to Crete he takes in a deep breath of air, and he exhales.

"I try to remember the time I spent with them, and move on." As sincere as The Doctor sounds, he is full of shit. The loss of his friends has always hit him hard, and moving on has gotten harder and harder to do. And as he steps back, The Doctor takes a seat in a battered leather chair. And he is going to do his best to make sure this conversation stays on the one who asked the question in the first place.

"What about you? How do you handle the loss of someone you cared for and trusted?"

[holdsthethread]

"I--" She's caught off-guard by how reasonable and calm the man sounds.

"I don't handle it very well, apparently," Ariadne says finally, sighing. "I loved this man, and trusted him, and then--he dumps me on the beach of an island, alone."

And now she's here. Which, she admits to herself, is slightly better than Naxos.

[tenthdoc]

The Doctor grimaces if not for Ariadne being dumped, but maybe for his habit of dumping people and leaving them behind. He reaches his hand to the back of his neck, and gives it a nervous rub. And squinting his eyes The Doctor tries to find something nice to say.

"Maybe he thought you deserved a nice vacation."

His voice squeaks, as he lowers his hand back to his side. "And that he'll be back once things are sorted out. Well that's if you have things that need sorting out."

[tielle_mortevus]

Hearing the question posed, Tielle pauses for a moment, contemplating the many times she had been let down along the course of her rather long existence. Letting out a melancholy sigh as she turns towards the woman, she replies.
"Quite literally tear the heart from his chest, though in his defense, he was simply a hollow shell of the man he once was. He really left me no other choice."
Walking over tho the woman, Tielle rests her arm on the nearby fountain in the Nexus square, giving the woman a slight smirk.
"Though for the poor bastard's sake I hope you don't follow my advice to the letter."

[holdsthethread]

"Sounds tempting, though," Ariadne replies, even the idea of it is gruesome. Revenge would be nice, she thinks to herself.

"I don't think I could be that ruthless. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for him."

[tielle_mortevus]

She nods.
"I wish I didn't have to be, but I had no choice. It was that or lose my daughter. Enough about my sordid past though, what is it he did to make you so angry?"