PORT ROYAL DOCKING PLOT : POST 1

[nottheotherguy]

At the university, Halloween was second only to April Fools' Day for people playing pranks on each other, so I woke up on Halloween morning ready to be on my guard. I figured whatever the station had in mind for us (if anything) it wasn't likely to be something I'd find funny, and I wanted to be ready for it, whatever it was.

It hadn't occurred to me that what the station had in store for us wouldn't be something that occurred on board. I hadn't expected the station docking announcement to play, and I sure as hell hadn't expected the world to dissolve around me when I was halfway to the hub to see what was up. I'd never transported before-- it had always been my choice, before, and I'd never planned on going anywhere the other guy might make a mess if I could help it-- but I had just enough time to figure out what the lurching feeling in my stomach probably signified before the station walls vanished.

When I blinked away the sun glare I found myself staring out a window at a bustling city full of people dressed like they were definitely not from 2012. "Well, this is... interesting," I said, turning around to the roomful of Proserpinians who'd apparently been selected to join me on my little day trip.

[Halloween docking plot is open, and this is gathering post style. Tag in, get your character dressed for some 1700s style adventuring, and see the mod post for more info!]

Comments

[acalltoarms]

Fresh out of the fancy futuristic shower, Kate had just wrapped a towel around herself when everything twisted sideways. There was a split second to be very annoyed and then she was barefoot and dripping onto a slightly dusty floor.

Kate let out a low frustrated sigh but then lifts her head and straightens her shoulders to her full height. She was the goddamn Batwoman, it would take more than being very nearly naked and apparently trapped in the past to rattle her composure.

"I'll say this right now. I'm not wearing anything ruffled."

[lastchanceforhonor]

Sansa was standing in her nightgown, her arms crossed in front of her, and she shook her head as she picked her way barefoot across the equally dusty floor as she swallowed thickly, feeling as if she'd be sick. "You don't need to wear anything ruffled," she said as a sort of hello, her hair in loose waves that curled down to nearly her hips. She'd actually been sitting on her bed, playing with Star, and being less than prompt about getting ready in the morning, and this was the only time that she truly regretted her own lackadaisical attitude.

"Although if I don't find something else to wear soon," she murmured, even though she was covered from neck to wrist to ankle. "Here, I can help you find something, if you like?" It looked like a storage room of sorts, the kind like where the maidservants had kept all of the Queen's clothes in King's Landing, just with a more considerable amount of dust on everything.

[the_iceman]

Seconds ago Mycroft had been sitting on a chair in his room, savouring the Napoleon brandy the replicator was kind enough to provide. It was a moment of relaxation, and - as Murphy dictates - it was that unguarded moment that the station chose to beam him away.

He looked out of the window and saw Englishmen, dressed in 18th century style, in what could not possibly be England.

He resisted the urge to down the brandy. "Well," he noted dryly instead.

[notjustapiece]

Peeta's actually been in the kitchens trying to learn how to make something that vaguely resembles what he's used to baking in District 12 when he gets beamed out and back in to some place very different.

It's almost like being in District 12 again, in The Hob, only this time everyone's dressed in an old-fashioned way that reminds him of a Capitol theme party. Someone passes him a tankard of something and doesn't seem to care how old he is or how he's dressed.

"Um, what just happened?"

[6seasonsandamovie]

"We were teleported into the Caribbean," Abed answers, from his spot by the window, as he watches what is happening outside, trying to place them with more accuracy than that, and shooting a few frames while he's at it. "Sixteenth or seventeenth century, it's hard to say."

He can't see anything that will help him pinpoint it further for now, so he turns back around and moves to the clothes. "I can help you pick clothes that mean people won't notice you," he offers, because that's what he is going for. He has to, anyway. With his skin, picking out wealthy clothing would have been impossible to pull off, unless this world is very different from his.

[morethanhuman]

On his way out of the building, Erik scooped the mug right out of the boy's hands and dashed its contents on the ground. "Drunk in public's not a good look on anyone," he said flatly, giving him a once-over and taking in his clearly non-time-appropriate attire. "And you'd better get dressed if you want to avoid people asking awkward questions." Stepping back, he opened the door to the shop and pointed the kid back inside.

[livinginanhgwellsnovel]

It was with annoyance that Lady Grantham registered that she was no longer walking along the corridor toward the observatory, but instead in a dusty clothes shop far to reminiscent of the one that she had been dropped into in Venice. All fondness for the providence of that shop had left her once she had discovered the wardrobe room, and she was loathe to give up on what only she seemed to know was appropriate attire. She was no fool however, and one brief step outside confirmed her suspicion that the Station had helpfully put them here for a reason. The fact that it was trying to help while stranding her here against her will made her press her lips thinly together.

She sighed and after taking a better look, through the window this time, Lady Grantham begins her search.

"This is rather tedious, you know. Would it not make more sense to announce our destination and allow time to peruse the wardrobe?" She asked, to no one in particular. It was hardly worth mentioning allowed that for the first time they had not come here voluntarily, let alone with any warning or forethought.

[the_iceman]

"Perhaps it was a fault in the system," Mycroft remarked to the Lady. "One can't help but think it a somehow a very convinient fault."

Mycroft wasn't looking for anything to wear. He was wearing a suit. There was no occasion on which a suit was unsuitable.

[nuadasvengence]

Nuada was trying to read a poetic saga in old Elvish. The language and writing was soothing after so long absent from his life. He was simply relaxing, as much as he ever did, when the world around him shifted.

He looked around himself in surprise. There had been no warning nor had he volunteered to leave the station. But then, their captors seemed to do what they wanted.

He joined the others, who had apparently been just as unprepared as he was, at the window.

"Ah, yes. I can manage to blend in without my magic," he drawled.

Not many masks involved this time, and no fair folk either.

[wholeworldoutthere]

"You can?" Klaus echoed, by the elf's side, as he watched what was going on outside, hands in his pockets, rocking on his feet. "Crowd like this, they're likely to take you for a demon and chase you down with pitchforks and all." A beat, an amused twist of his lips. "You might be able to get hired on a pirate crew, though. They like their demons there."

There was something about the way he said it that sounded almost like a joke, a private joke, as if he knew that first hand.

[joharvell]

Jo had been doing a round of stretches, trying to keep the scar tissue on her back from limiting her movement. She couldn't get full range yet, as the injuries were too new.

She was barefoot wearing yoga pants and a muscle shirt when she continued a move that almost hit Kate. A rather wet Kate only wearing a towel. Just peacy.

"They have a sense of humor," she muttered.

Like everyone else she took a turn looking outside. "Oh, hell no."

Women were all wearing skirts. Bustles even. She'd bet there were even corsets involved. You couldn't fight in that get up.

"It looks like a fucking Disney ride out there."

[acalltoarms]

"Was that you just kicking me?" Kate couldn't help but laugh a little, because potential violence actually made her feel better. Besides, they hadn't talked through it all but Jo had been a familiar face when they'd been fighting on the sphere ship. She knows she can hold her own in the event of disaster.

"Maybe holding out for a sports bra is too much, but I insist on no violence until I've got pants." She cocked her head to the racks of clothing while everyone else takes stock of the situation. "Want to pick something out together? I'm more of a dashing pirate than buxom lass myself."

[livinginanhgwellsnovel]

"Hold your tongue, girl," Lady Grantham snapped peevishly, "Unless you intend to blend in with the slatterns outside." It had hardly passed her notice when she had first peered out that scattered here and there among the ladies who were being properly escorted were women of ill-repute. The sight offended her almost as much as the sudden smell of the city. So long used to the chemically clean smell of the station, she found it quite repugnant.

[born_guilty]

Well, frankly, the last pirate movie she's seen was Captain Blood starring Errol Flynn. She's got a feeling this crowd would chew up that charming mug and spit out every last one of those gleaming white teeth. Definitely not the direction to go in.

So while everyone else is pulling corsets, boots and dusters out off the racks, Mystique is flickering through her own options, which includes not only clothing, but varying heights, hairstyles, and faces. First, she's an imposing brute with more bullion at his belt than teeth in his mouth; next, she's an older woman, maybe an innkeeper's wife, shrewd and hardened. She seems settled as she scrutinizes her reflection as a gangly, dark-haired youth with a shameful attempt at a beard. As much fun as she might have in a dozen other bodies, she tends to do better in these sorts of situations when she's first overlooked and underestimated, so 'Alonzo' the swab fits the ticket.

She gets into character by picking out what she imagines is Junior's First Cutlass; sure, it's a little painful to her pride, but it's more than she's been working with on the station. Besides, she's hoping before her time is up here, she'll get herself an upgrade. No idea how long they'll be here or what the point is, but this week has to be an improvement on the last few.

Anyway, her needs are simple: as long as she goes back reeking of gunpowder and rum, this really can't disappoint.

And hey, while she's at it, it's been months since she scored any booty of her own, so, y'know, that wouldn't suck either.

[And because gifs are great, and I'm a huge nerd, here's a visual to get the look across. xD]

[the_iceman]

Mycroft supposed the attraction lay in her admirable skills in deceit, but still he didn't quite understand why his brother enjoyed this woman's company. Or well, enjoy was perhaps too large a word. He didn't mind her. For someone who defied the laws of the science his brother held in such high regard, that was an achievement.

Mycroft had not dressed up, except to exchange his usual tie for a cravat. If anyone asked, he would claim his attire to be the hight of fashion in London.

He regarded Mystique's change wearily. "Interesting choice," he remarked.

[acalltoarms]

Kate's winding a sash around her waist but she can't help stopping to stare when the blue woman starts shapeshifting. For over a month, she didn't even know this woman on the station at all, and the meta powers just make her more interesting. Also she was blue and that was not at all a bad look on her.

"That's a handy skill," she commented as she finished the sash and buckled on a belt that had a place to put a sword. Damn, she hoped that she would get to use a sword out of all this.

[wholeworldoutthere]

Once he was done, by order of priority, making sure that Caroline was alright, and looking outside to assess where and when they were likely to be, Klaus happily turned to the clothes that lay at their disposal. He dismissed the poorer clothes and the uniforms to pick something that definitely marked him as a nobleman of some sort.

He wasn't certain where precisely they were, but he intended to live through it in style.

"Don't forget to pick a hat," he told the person going through clothes beside him. "The sun can be a powerful thing in these parts."

[the_iceman]

"And you wouldn't want anyone to see your face," Mycroft remarked dryly. He hadn't changed his clothes and was still wearing his (supposed) Savile Row three-piece. All he had changed was his tie, which he had exchanged for a cravat.

In addition he had found a cane he rather liked the look of, and on which he leaned as he spoke.

[6seasonsandamovie]

Abed had changed into clothes that would make most people look him over as some random brown-skinned youth, probably apprenticed somewhere if not looking for work, and likely to end up on a jacktar on a ship somewhere, as soon as the recruiters got their hands on him (and enough alcohol inside him to make him sign on). He made sure to pocket his communicator (in a pocket that would not be easily picked, too), since he intended to go back with great footage, and opened the door to stand on the threshold and watch the passers-by.

Which was when Murtogg and Mullroy walked down the street right under his nose, and he blinked, figured he would not have time to get his communicator out in time to film them, and instead turned back inside.

"Has anybody else seen the Pirates of the Caribbean movies?" he asks, mostly to the people from Earth, but not only. The others could have watched them on the Cortex since. Unlikely, but who knows.

[joharvell]

"Yeah, why?" Jo was tying her hair into a knot as she asked. "I'm not sure acting like a pirate would be a great idea around here."

She turned around and presented Abed with her back. "Do me up, tight on top, loose at the bottom."

Hey, anyone can pull laces, just not the ones at your own back.

out in the city

[nottheotherguy]

It hadn't been hard to find an outfit I only felt slightly ridiculous in, and I could see from the total lack of staring as I made my way through the city that I'd done a decent job making myself fit in. My communicator was heavy in my pocket, though, the photo of a bone in a patch of moonlight a reminder that we weren't just here to take in the sun.

We'd all agreed to split up, to meet back at the abandoned shop if we ran into trouble, and I'd decided to take a walk and see what I could learn about where we'd ended up. I'd been walking for awhile when I heard footsteps closely echoing mine, and a moment later a hand closed on my shoulder.

[find him anywhere in the city, any time before sundown.]

Re: out in the city

[proserpinian]

Norrington had been watching this fellow for some time and wondered, exactly, what he might be up to. He seemed entirely too curious about the city and that was always a harbinger of something...unpleasant. Pirates were known to send scouts, after all, and this man could very well be one of them.

"What business do you have in Port Royal today, sir?"

[brightestlight]

The down side? She appeared next to a window streaming sunlight, and ended up flailing backwards with a high-pitched, panicked sound - but after that small fallback, Caroline was pretty alright. They had a safe place to be, it wasn't impossible to stay back from the windows; and honestly the clothes were pretty cool. She spent quite a while trying on clothes, until she had settled on a dark green dress, the hat left on the mannequin.

There had been a flurry of activity, with people helping each other get dressed, and when she finally turned in place, knowing full well that she'd have to stay in here for the next few hours until the sun set, she still couldn't find it in herself to be unhappy in that moment. "At least we're not on the station, right?" Count on her to look on the bright side.

[wholeworldoutthere]

"We're not on the station, and you look ravishing," Klaus tells her as he walks up to her. He's been keeping an eye on her while he decked himself out, and watching with a smile on his lips as she changed from one outfit to the next, having so very obviously quite a lot of fun. He loves watching her having fun, there's no denying it, and he tilts her face up to press a happy kiss to her lips, while they're in the privacy of the shop (privacy is relative, but none of the station's residents will be quite as offended by the kiss as people in the streets might be).

He's dressed himself in a gentleman's suit, as was the fashion at the time, a light blue-green trimmed with gold thread that he ended up picking when he saw which dress had earned her preference. He wouldn't be surprised if he were the only person in the room to actually fully be period-appropriate, but what can he say, this is like a trip down memory lane for him, just like Venice had been.

He only wishes his hair were longer, but this lovely shop isn't providing them with any wigs but the powdered white kind, and that wasn't even his style at the time.

"Ravishing, and quite improper," he adds, teasing, fingers feeling for the laces of the corset under her dress, down her back. "You're breathing far too easily still." He couldn't do anything about it without taking off her dress off again, and it hardly matters anyway. Not until sunset, and he very much intends to have found them a home before then.

[girl_who_waited]

Amy can't really help besides grab a cutlass from the wall, and she plucks a hat to put on her head. She's not really interest in the skirts and things, but far more so pants and boots and she's a pirate. Done, done. Pirate Pond, and she doesn't realise that she's repeating the future, because she'd be Pirate Pond sooner rather than later, but right now she's just smiling and glad that she's waving the sword around, and she's not anywhere near bad with it, surprisingly enough - she's actually pretty passable, minus that she's waving it around like an idiot.

[wholeworldoutthere]

She's waving it around like an idiot in a shop full of people that aren't necessarily paying attention, and Klaus grabs her wrist to stop a particularly wide (and surprisingly well-executed) arc of the cutlass that might have cut into his midsection if he hadn't. "Careful with that, Miss Pond," he tells her, and lets her wrist go. "You might just end up hurting someone."

Not him, obviously, but someone.