[ooc: I'll also match prose if you prefer that <3 I'm also sick and I'm basically voice testing, round 2, so apologies if I'm rusty!]
i. A Train
[Noah didn't remember having fallen asleep. He hadn't slept in seven years, so he thought it was the kind of thing he should remember when it happened. But he didn't.
He stepped off the subway, unfamiliar cell phone clutched in one hand, and looked first one way and then the other along the platform. He was overall a little rumpled, pale hair mussed and high school uniform wrinkled and uneven.
He supposed he should have been more- he didn't know- afraid? about waking up in a strange location with no memory of how he'd gotten there, but there were more pressing matters on his mind. The most important one was the fact he felt real and solid. He hadn't been real or solid for, well- seven years. It was enough to make him shiver, the sound of his own footsteps when he started walking actually spooking him. He kept looking over his shoulder like he expected to see someone following him but there was never anyone there.
As soon as he'd made it to the top of the stairs, he froze, less like a deer caught in headlights and more like a rabbit hoping the wolf wouldn't see it if it didn't move. He wasn't the only one in the station and he didn't know what to do about it. He couldn't help but stare, slowly sliding the phone into his pocket. When he realized the other person was looking at him- actually looking at him and not through him- he startled.]
Can you see me?
ii. City Park
[The park was surprisingly nice. Not that he, by default, thought parks were bad, but he'd expected- something different, when it came to this one. A spooky subway station with a non-spooky park? Color him surprised. In fact, the longer he lingered along the paths, the more relaxed he felt. He could almost believe no one and no thing was going to jump out at him.
The lamp posts were a nice touch, too, and he choose a bench by one of them to settle onto. Almost immediately, his knee started bouncing and he tapped his fingers along it. He might have felt more relaxed than before since entering the park, but he still felt like he was going to rocket out of his skin at the slightest provocation.
So, when he heard a noise behind him- a footstep, a twig breaking, someone clearing their throat, whatever- he shot up off the bench like it'd suddenly caught on fire. Whirling around to see who or what was there, he nearly tripped over his own two feet.]
Sorry!
[...What was he apologizing for?]
iii. The Graveyard
[After leaving the park, he'd discovered the statue garden--which he'd promptly fled from thanks to how creepy the whole thing had been. He'd figured that, surely, the path would eventually lead back to the park, so he'd kept following it. Except it hadn't looped back around after all, and instead he found himself in a cemetery.
He froze as soon as he realized where he was, blinking and looking around slowly. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, a sensation he hadn't felt in years. Shaking his head slowly, he said out loud-]
Oh. No. No way. Not a chance.
[This place gave him the creeps.]
iv. Alcohol Before Art - cw: underage drinking
[Noah held a miniature snowglobe in one hand as he entered the art exhibit building. The globe had glitter in it instead of snow; he'd picked it up at one of the convenience stores, since there hadn't been anyone around to stop him.
The lobby was...not what he'd been expecting, but he was starting to get used to that by now. It was still a little more disorienting than he would have preferred, with all the neon lights and the mirrored ceilings, but- his eyes kept going to the bar. He looked around, looked at the bar- rinse and repeat- until finally, he went over.
Carefully, he set his little glitterglobe down on the bar-top before stepping behind it and rooting around until he found a bottle of vodka. When he turned back around, clearly intent on drinking straight from the bottle, he saw he wasn't alone and stopped short.]
Noah Czerny | The Raven Cycle | OTA
i. A Train
[Noah didn't remember having fallen asleep. He hadn't slept in seven years, so he thought it was the kind of thing he should remember when it happened. But he didn't.
He stepped off the subway, unfamiliar cell phone clutched in one hand, and looked first one way and then the other along the platform. He was overall a little rumpled, pale hair mussed and high school uniform wrinkled and uneven.
He supposed he should have been more- he didn't know- afraid? about waking up in a strange location with no memory of how he'd gotten there, but there were more pressing matters on his mind. The most important one was the fact he felt real and solid. He hadn't been real or solid for, well- seven years. It was enough to make him shiver, the sound of his own footsteps when he started walking actually spooking him. He kept looking over his shoulder like he expected to see someone following him but there was never anyone there.
As soon as he'd made it to the top of the stairs, he froze, less like a deer caught in headlights and more like a rabbit hoping the wolf wouldn't see it if it didn't move. He wasn't the only one in the station and he didn't know what to do about it. He couldn't help but stare, slowly sliding the phone into his pocket. When he realized the other person was looking at him- actually looking at him and not through him- he startled.]
Can you see me?
ii. City Park
[The park was surprisingly nice. Not that he, by default, thought parks were bad, but he'd expected- something different, when it came to this one. A spooky subway station with a non-spooky park? Color him surprised. In fact, the longer he lingered along the paths, the more relaxed he felt. He could almost believe no one and no thing was going to jump out at him.
The lamp posts were a nice touch, too, and he choose a bench by one of them to settle onto. Almost immediately, his knee started bouncing and he tapped his fingers along it. He might have felt more relaxed than before since entering the park, but he still felt like he was going to rocket out of his skin at the slightest provocation.
So, when he heard a noise behind him- a footstep, a twig breaking, someone clearing their throat, whatever- he shot up off the bench like it'd suddenly caught on fire. Whirling around to see who or what was there, he nearly tripped over his own two feet.]
Sorry!
[...What was he apologizing for?]
iii. The Graveyard
[After leaving the park, he'd discovered the statue garden--which he'd promptly fled from thanks to how creepy the whole thing had been. He'd figured that, surely, the path would eventually lead back to the park, so he'd kept following it. Except it hadn't looped back around after all, and instead he found himself in a cemetery.
He froze as soon as he realized where he was, blinking and looking around slowly. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, a sensation he hadn't felt in years. Shaking his head slowly, he said out loud-]
Oh. No. No way. Not a chance.
[This place gave him the creeps.]
iv. Alcohol Before Art - cw: underage drinking
[Noah held a miniature snowglobe in one hand as he entered the art exhibit building. The globe had glitter in it instead of snow; he'd picked it up at one of the convenience stores, since there hadn't been anyone around to stop him.
The lobby was...not what he'd been expecting, but he was starting to get used to that by now. It was still a little more disorienting than he would have preferred, with all the neon lights and the mirrored ceilings, but- his eyes kept going to the bar. He looked around, looked at the bar- rinse and repeat- until finally, he went over.
Carefully, he set his little glitterglobe down on the bar-top before stepping behind it and rooting around until he found a bottle of vodka. When he turned back around, clearly intent on drinking straight from the bottle, he saw he wasn't alone and stopped short.]
Uh.
[He tipped the bottle invitingly.]
Did you want some?