(no subject)

[werewolfing]

Date & Time: about 10/25 on
Location: VR room
Characters: Peter and whoever
Summary: Peter's made some of Hemlock Grove in the VR. he might show some people, but anyone can wander in.
Warnings: Peter has a dirty mouth?


It takes him the better part of two weeks, but after a lot of trial and error and database combing, he finally manages to get it right. Home. Well, home for the moment. The VR opens right into the middle of a winding, nearly-shoulderless Pennsylvania road, facing a rusty mailbox that reads Rumancek in peeling reflective letter stickers. There's a break in the metal shoulder-guard and a set of stairs leading down a rather steep hill to a flat area below, where an old blue trailer sits in a bit of clearing upon which the woods is definitely encroaching. It's nothing much to look at; whoever lives there obviously does not value any sort of lawn maintenance. The backyard has a hammock stretched between two trees and an ancient fridge that's entirely purposed for beer storage, judging by the bottles littered nearby. There's a creek nearby, and on the other side of it and up the hill a bit is a pond overlooked by a huge house. Mostly there's just a lot of trees, though, and the occasional low rumble of a train passing in the distance.

Sometimes it's summer, all verdant green and buzzing cicadas and humid heat that just barely avoids being oppressive. Other times it's autumn, and the trees are ablaze in red and orange and brown. Either way, there's almost always a breeze making the leaves whisper overhead and the screened back door of the trailer is always propped open.

Peter can often be found in the hammock, but sometimes there's no sign of any human presence in the VR at all. Sometimes, the only hint of another presence might be the brown blur of a wolf running near-silent through the trees.

Comments

[locked to isaac]

[werewolfing]

[when isaac steps into the vr it's autumn, that sort of day that has warm sun and a breeze that's refreshing and not quite chilly. the air smells like damp leaves and the distant smoke of someone else's fireplace. he'll find peter out behind the trailer in the hammock, his boots sitting on the ground nearby]

[freezerburned]

[Isaac tilts his head up at the breeze that seems to rustle through the leaves, glancing down across the ground strewn with bottles and other miscellaneous items. At first, he doesn't really know why someone would recreate the litter, but after a moment, he looks back up toward the trailer and starts to notice the smaller things. The rust clinging to the bottom of the metal, the dirt streaks through the plastic outer shell. Whatever this place is, it's been recreated lovingly, with every flaw intact. Odd, but not reprehensible by any means.

It's after noticing all of this that Isaac rounds his way around the trailer, noticing the hammock and it's inhabitant, and letting a little smile grace the corner of his lips.]

Enjoying yourself?

[werewolfing]

[it's kind of obvious, seeing peter in context, that this is his natural habitat. everything about him, from his hair to his clothes to the lazy sprawl of his gesturing makes a lot more sense somehow when taken in along with the rusty trailer and the leaf-littered yard. for as much as peter has moved around all his life, it's from one place to another that never stray too far from this mixture of the well-worn and the natural. waste not, want not, he'd said before, but it's obvious now that they actually live that.

and as much as peter knows this isn't real, he still seems more relaxed here, under the trees and the sky.]

Hammocks are one of man's finer inventions. Check it out.

[he doesn't get up, just moves over, which makes the hammock tilt in a way that looks somewhat precarious. but he doesn't fall out, just gives isaac an expectant look and waves a hand in a 'come on' gesture.]

[freezerburned]

You want me to get in the hammock with you.

[Isaac lifts an eyebrow, looking at him for a moment, and then back to the hammock, but- they've done worse, all things considered. So, after a moment of hesitation, the werewolf just rolls his eyes and delicately moves to sit on the edge, rolling himself into the netting without tipping it over and dumping them to the floor.

It takes quite a bit of effort, all things considered.]

I've been in one before, you know.

[werewolfing]

Then it's downright sweet of you to humor me.

[it's sarcastic, but not in a biting, mean sort of way. peter's too pleased with the illusion of being outside again to be mean. he doesn't say anything after that, though, just goes quiet and watches the trees gently swaying far above them, leaves occasionally pulling free of their branches to spiral slowly to the ground. between the branches, the sky is almost the same blue as isaac's eyes, bright and vivid as a photograph.]

[freezerburned]

[It's almost cathartic, laying here like this, and Isaac doesn't roll closer or cuddle against Peter or anything, but he makes himself comfortable in the hammock, resisting the urge to close his eyes.]

-haven't really been sleeping well. This moon thing has me really out of it.

[The moon thing, and not Scott's departure. At least, that's what he chooses to blame it on.]

[werewolfing]

[peter hears the lie and what it is. he shrugs, stretches the arm away from isaac up and tucks it beneath his head.]

It's still bothering you? Well, I'm still sleeping as a wolf, so...

[he shrugs, leaves isaac the space to draw the obvious conclusion. they're both aware that the only way isaac could sleep before the initiative got off their asses and offered them a way to take the edge off the moon's influence was basically with his face buried in peter's fur, and if he wants to pretend that the moon is still the problem then they can pretend that peter's offering nothing more than the solution to the moon problem.]

[controlledvariable]

It always surprises her a little, when people leave simulations accessible to anyone; whenever she's in Gotham, she makes sure the door is locked, and sets up the program so that the AI will alert herr if anyone does enter.

It could be that she's just too paranoid.

Maybe she should leave it open one day, because it's nice to wander into something that someone else made. She isn't sure who this little world belongs to, but it's pretty and warm, enough that she tugs off her sweater and leaves it hanging over a tree branch, so she's content to explore on her own.

By the time she finds the pond, it's hot enough that she doesn't even hesitate before stepping out of her boots, peeling off her socks, and wading in up to her knees, glad that she's in a dress today.

She should probably announce her presence to whoever might be in here, but for now she's just walks idly through the shallows and hums to herself. Maybe they'll hear her, anyway, she can be silent as a shadow in a city, but she's had a lot less practice in environments like this, so her wandering wasn't exactly quiet.

[werewolfing]

Peter does hear her, but he's not in a rush. He leaves the door open because as much as this place is his, it isn't private. He doesn't care who sees it or what they see in it. Hemlock Grove is on the Pittsburgh side of Pennsylvania, but it's still close enough to New Jersey that the atmosphere of the place might still feel a bit familiar.

The first Steph might see of Peter is the blur of the wolf racing through the trees. He doesn't come up to the pond that way, though. If she's watching, she'll see the wolf lope out of the trees and into the trailer, slipping through the propped open screendoor. A few minutes later, Peter emerges, barefoot and shirtless, jeans belted around his hips one hole smaller than the place the buckle has worn the leather smooth. He hops across the creek with practiced ease and comes up the hill towards the pond.

Since coming to the moon, Peter pretty much always looks calm. Here, he also looks relaxed.

"Fancy meeting you here."

[controlledvariable]

Maybe she should be a little more on edge after spotting the wolf, but she's fairly sure it's Peter, and anyway, she's pretty sure if there was a wolf looking at her as dinner, she wouldn't have noticed it.

Or maybe she's thinking of sharks.

Either way, her confidence is rewarded by Peter, rather than ending up as a wolf snack, so she's happy with how things turned out.

"Hey," She smiles, easy and comfortable. She'd put two and two together about Peter being one of the people she argued with about the whole... moon thing, but since he doesn't seem to be holding it against her, she's inclined to just let it be water under the bridge, "Home, I'm guessing?"

[werewolfing]

Wolves or sharks, in this case she's close enough. Not that Peter has any intention of or inclination towards hunting anyone ever, but if he had she would never have seen him coming. He doesn't bother to roll up his jeans before he wades into the water. There's more muscle to Peter than one might've expected from seeing him fully dressed, but he's not super impressive either, and he's certainly not bothering to posture or show off. It's just warm.

"Lately, anyway. We move around a lot." He gestures out around them. "Hemlock Grove, outside of Pittsburgh and just this side of bumblefuck. Used to be a steel town, just like everything else round here. Now it's medical stuff instead." He shrugs. That's better than what happened to a lot of steel towns, after all. "Where's home for you? You sound like you're from somewhere aroundish here."

[controlledvariable]

Steph's seen Dick Grayson in various states of undress when they were both working out of the Batcave, so she's not easily distracted by shirtless boys.

"It's nice, I can see why you'd wanna stick around," Bumblefuck isn't really her preferred sort of place; she's a city girl at heart, but she can appreciate why someone would want to live in a place like this, and it's nice to visit.

The question gets a wry smile, "Gotham, New Jersey. She doesn't seem to exist in a bunch of worlds, including this one."

Which is sad, but she's used to it by now.

[werewolfing]

"City's okay, but I like having elbow room. Lived in Pittsburgh for two years before this, though." Peter's lived a lot of places. He wades out deeper into the water, past his knees, letting the fingers of one hand drag just beneath the surface. "Don't think my New Jersey has a Gotham." He turns back to her and shrugs. "Couldn't find this place either, if that helps. No Hemlock Grove, no Godfrey family, nothing. Which is weird as hell, they're practically Rockefellers. Had to do it from memory."

[motherofnemesis]

She's never investigated the VR rooms all that closely. Used them for training, sure, but she doesn't have anywhere that she'd particularly like to call up to remember, which seems to be what a lot of people like to do.

But it's pretty useful for other purposes, though today she's more just taking the first door that presents itself as she tries to duck away from people and take a quick break from people's general presence. It's not until she's halfway in that she realizes she's walked into someone's simulation, but after a long moment she relaxes and considers it.

It's nice to see trees and the sun again, and she takes a step forward and holds her hand out, head tilted up to catch the fake light. She's forgotten the constantly present gun holstered at her side, the grime and dirt of the station. Just for a little bit, she's a little more relaxed.

[werewolfing]

If Peter was making a mental list of people that he expected to show up in his VR, Chasseur would definitely, definitely not have been on it. But there she is, standing there looking like the sunlight is a brand new thing. Peter's heart stutters in his chest. The last time he'd seen her, she'd shot him full of tranquilizers and threatened to slit his throat. And then...well, Peter didn't know. He'd woken up unharmed other than a wicked tranq hangover and where Chasseur had ended up hadn't been on his priority list at all. There had been far more important things to worry about.

But there she is. Could she have been one of the new arrivals, and somehow he didn't notice? Somehow she didn't notice him? That seems weird. He's pretty sure Chasseur wouldn't have missed him.

This is too damn surreal.

Peter climbs up the steps toward the road, a friendly smile pasted on his face. "Officer," he calls. "What brings you to this fine simulated neck of the woods today?"

[motherofnemesis]

The presence of a person doesn't register until he speaks, really. It would be unusual but she's become desensitized somewhat to their constant presence, is having some slight trouble distinguishing between individuals until they're closer.

She doesn't quite jump but her glance over is immediately sharp and calculating, unsure. He's addressed her like he knows her, and she's never seen him before in her life.

"Officer?" The confusion in her voice is genuine. She's never pretended to be an officer here like she had at home, and she's almost positive he's not from home. "Do we know each other?"

[werewolfing]

For a moment he just blinks, stunned, before something in the set of his posture relaxes faintly. Either she doesn't know him yet or it's just an uncanny resemblance. Either way, he's safe for the moment. Probably. He scratches the back of his neck with an air of faint embarrassment.

"Guess not! You just happen to bear an uncanny resemblance to someone I know. I'm Peter, anyway. Peter Rumancek." He gestures at the mailbox, where the peeling letters spell out his surname.

[motherofnemesis]

The wariness doesn't leave her body, because people recognizing her when she doesn't recognize them has so far gone very poorly. Last time Starbuck threatened to shoot her, so.

She's a little paranoid.

"I'm Max. Who do I look like?" It's a little blunt, sure, but it's a question she'd quite like an answer to.

[werewolfing]

"Dr. Clementine Chasseur." He says it in a slightly different accent--an imitation, although it's not really mocking. "She was working with the police around here." He waves a hand, meaning the place in the VR, not Exsilium. "Some girls died in the woods out this way, they thought it might be an animal attack."

Peter shrugs, hooks his thumbs in his pockets. He's not lying, but he's definitely not telling the entire truth, either. And he's had a lot of practice at that, it's all very natural.

"But it must just be an uncanny resemblance, because you're obviously not her."

[hyanaimne]

Tempest has no idea what she's looking at.

Which, to be fair, isn't a surprise. Trees she recognizes, roads she recognizes (but not the material it's made out of - how strange) but a mailbox? She can't help but reach out and touch it curiously, before her attention is drawn to the stairs, and down to where there's more things she doesn't recognize.

She heads down them, almost warily, eyeing the trailer almost as if it'll attack her if she doesn't keep an eye on it—and then it's all ruined when she hears the train - louder to her ears, thanks to her heritage, and she makes an embarassed squeaky noise and whirls in the direction it came from. There went all her cool cred, right down the shitter.

[werewolfing]

Peter is down in the hammock, but he still hears the startled squeak, a break in the familiar sounds of this little piece of Hemlock Grove. It's summer in the simulation because Peter's tired of being cold on the moon, and when he climbs out of the hammock and into Tempest's view he's barefoot and shirtless, pushing his hair back off his face like he's just waking up from a doze. His jeans are belted a notch or two tighter than the worn place on his belt, just before that point where they start looking like they don't fit right. When he sees who it is, his mouth stretches into an easy, teasing smile.

"What're you looking like that for? There's nothing in here that'll hurt anybody. Unless you fall down the stairs or something, and you're home free there."

[hyanaimne]

Tempest turns back around and huffs a little, though more out of annoyance that she embarrassed herself than because of Peter's teasing. She gives one last look over her shoulder, just in case though, and heads over him.

"I thought I—" She stops as she gets momentarily distracted by something she sees - something new and fascinating and modern - before she quickly draws her attention back to Peter. "—erm, heard something strange. That's all.

[werewolfing]

It takes him a minute to figure out what she might have heard, and then he makes an ooohh face and snaps his fingers. "The train. You heard the train. It's just a sound, putting the tracks in was too much like work." As though the rest of this wasn't work--it's obvious that the whole area has been reproduced in loving detail, down to the rust and moss on the trailer, the wear on the bark of the trees from the hammock and the proper smells of a forest in summer. Peter looks at home here, more relaxed and natural than he ever does on the moon base.

"Anyway, welcome to Hemlock Grove. Or a little piece of it, anyway."

[hyanaimne]

"Train?" She repeats it with a frown, then her face lights up, albeit briefly. "Those are vehicles, yes?" She's been doing her reading on that sort of thing, ever since an unfortunate driving adventure.

She looks around again, though, only this time it's so she can take a better look around, now that she's gotten past the it's modern, I need to stare at it stage. This time? It's to appreciate the detail put into all of the nature surrounding them. She knows it isn't real - she can't feel it, and she certainly can't draw any of her magic from it - but it's as close to real as she's been to a genuine forest atmosphere in a while.

"It's beautiful." Is what she finally says, glancing to Peter again. "You live here?"

[werewolfing]

"Yep. Basically a bunch of big boxes on wheels pulled by an engine that runs along metal tracks. This used to be a steel town--they made metal for buildings and shit here--so the trains were really important."

The forest is as real as he could make it, which is unfortunately not entirely real, but just about the next best thing. It's good enough that he can still pretend it's real even as a wolf, which is good enough for him. "A couple months, but this used to be my Uncle Vince's place, so I'd been here plenty before that."

If she's past the staring-because-it's-strange stage, Tempest might notice that there's nothing about this place that speaks of any sort of wealth. It's modern to her eyes, but it's also old, weathered and not kept up with particular pride or care. Peter's uncle was apparently not particularly house-proud, and Peter and his mother haven't changed that, at least on the outside. But there's also nothing about Peter that seems defensive or embarrassed about this place. He lives here, it is what it is, and he seems totally unconcerned about her judgment of his situation.