Learning Curve (Open)

[Avalon Salabim]

It came as no surprise that one of the first things Avalon had done after trying to adapt to this world was to get a library card and use it.  Often.  Despite the digital age they were in, there was something welcome and familiar about being able to hold a book in her hands, and today was no exception.  The glorious sunlight was warm, if painful on her eyes as she stepped outside, pausing long enough to place her newest set of books - textbooks, to be precise - into a cloth bag that hung from the crook of her elbow.

Now all she needed was somewhere quiet to start in, but she still wasn't sure what the city offered for that.  A park, if she could find one, or a coffee shop seemed like the best idea.  She walked the streets, looking for one that might call out to her, even if that meant looping around the marketplace blocks a few times. 

[Leif Adamson]

Leif finally decided to see what the city might have to offer her. She had wandered the beach until she had the entire thing memorized, stared at the walls of her apartment, and even visited Prota... but she still had little clue what Palisade had, in way of anything else. She wandered almost idly, stopping to look at the different stores for what might have been the first time.

She snatched an apple off a kiosk - a different one than her usual - and just walked around. So far, nobody had caught her thievery, and she was careful to only take apples from places that looked like they were doing well. She had eaten so many that she was starting to get tired of them, which she genuinely thought would never happen.

With a deep sigh, Leif rounded the corner to pull out her stolen goods, and managed to just barely sidestep yet another stranger. She kept her grip on her apple. "Oh. Hey. Sorry..."

[Avalon Salabim]

Avalon was in the middle of switching arms for her sack, the other one almost numb for keeping it there for so long, when someone rounded the corner. Inhaling a silent gasp, she stepped back and turned, the books rustling in the sack as some toppled to the ground before she could catch them. As it was, she managed to save one from hitting the pavement, a classic in this world's realm of literature.

"It's alright." She crouched to gather the others, mentally chastising herself for not being more aware. At least they hadn't actually crashed into each other. Looking up at the woman, the dark circles under her eyes were more pronounced.

"And you? Are you alright?"

[Leif Adamson]

Leif immediately lowered herself to one knee, reaching out to help her gather the books she had dropped. She winced slightly, checking each one she lifted for damage before handing them back to the stranger.

"I'm fine. No harm, no foul. How are your books? Are they okay?"

[Avalon Salabim]

"I'm glad to hear it." The books Leif picked up seemed to be well-used, with fraying spines and dented covers. One was a tan cover with a couple of stains on it for college-level advanced calculus. The other one was a colorful middle school textbook boldly claiming its expertise in world geography. "Mandy" was written in all caps on the pages with a little heart in bright pink ink.

"They seem to be." She brushed any debris from the top book and nodded in satisfaction before slipping it into her bag. "I appreciate the help, Miss...?" She trailed off, letting the other woman decide how she wanted to be addressed.

[Leif Adamson]

"Leif. No need for the miss." She offered the girl a nod as she stood back up, tucking her hands into the pockets of her jacket. She would worry about the apple later.

"I'm glad your books are okay. They look well loved... Are you... Mandy, was it?" She nodded towards the bag, assuming the books belonged to the stranger. It seemed odd to her to have something with another person's name on it.

[Avalon Salabim]

"Leif, then. Thank you." She neatly slipped in the other text as she rose to her feet, shaking her head as it joined the rest.

"Ah, no. I'm afraid the book was previously owned." The blessings of libraries and used bookstores came at a cost. She planned to do something about that when she returned home.

"My name's Avalon. A pleasure to meet you." She hesitated for a second, then continued as she hoped Leif would be more knowledgeable about the area.

"Are you familiar with this part of the market, perhaps?"

[Leif Adamson]

Avalon. She made a note of the girl's name, knowing she was bound to forget it at some point. She really was terrible with names.

"Ah... unfortunately, no, not really. I'm new here. I have an idea of how to get to the beach, or to the apartments I'm staying at. Other than that, I'm probably at least as lost as you."

She glanced around the area for a moment. She knew where her typical apple kiosk was, as well as a nice looking shop filled with "hunting" gear, but those were the only places she had really made any sort of note of.

[Avalon Salabim]

It was worth a shot. She didn't think much of Leif's hands in her pockets, assuming she just preferred not to eat in front of some else while talking to them. She nodded at the explanation, catching interest in that this was someone else from the Apartments and wondering if she might have seen the other woman in passing and never noticed.

"It sounds that way." She nodded to the street they were on, behind Leif. "I've been trying to get my bearings here, but I'm afraid I don't know my way around much beyond the Apartments." She shook her head. "How is the beach?"

[Leif Adamson]

Ah. So another person from her world. That was... almost comforting. Leif's shoulders lost a bit of their previous tension, and she seemed to almost relax. She had heard so much about Anti-Meta groups and seen so much prejudice... It really fueled her sense of paranoia.

"The beach is... beautiful, actually. Because its so close to the Ark, its basically empty, all of the time. I walk the shoreline a couple of times a day, just to chill."

[Avalon Salabim]

Avalon noticed the tension ease in Leif's shoulders, but chose not to comment on it. She didn't need to; they both seemed to know what it was like to be welcomed with false smiles and more danger than this world promised.

"That sounds lovely." She smiled, the tension easing from her face at the thought. It came as no surprise that most people avoided the Ark. it had brought them safely here, but this world turned even that moment of safety and heartbreak into something else. She'd do everything she could to avoid it for a variety reasons.

"Perhaps I'll take a look at the beach sometime, then." She nodded to a nearby cafe, the sign hanging over the doorway. "I've been looking for a quiet place to study, as well. Most people seem to head towards places like that." She had her doubts on what kind of food she'd find here.

[Leif Adamson]

"There is a little bakery slash restaurant near here, owned by some people from our home," Leif said, as she surveyed the Cafe. Having survived as long as she had on whatever vegetation she could find, she found it difficult to trust places that so openly served food.

"Its pretty quiet, at least in the off hours... and its nice to just... not have to hide, or pretend to be someone you're not."

[Avalon Salabim]

It sounded nice. Even to hear that it was run by people from their own world felt like a relief, though Avalon knew that that meant anyone could be running it, too. Still, Leif spoke highly of them, so it couldn't be scraping the bottom of the barrel.

"Wonderful I'll have to look into it. You said it's not far from here?" Hopefully not too far. Avalon wasn't looking forward to getting lost on the way there.

[Leif Adamson]

"Its... somewhere around here. Its called Prota."

She said the name carefully, glancing sideways at Avalon to judge her reaction.

[Avalon Salabim]

"I see." Avalon blinked once, slowly, and reached up to adjust her glasses. It still felt strange to be wearing them after all this time, but not as strange as hearing the familiar name. Whoever ran it was out in the open to anyone in the old world, and there were worse things it could be named. She wondered what it was like for them in this world, especially from a lesser society where they needed to physically augment themselves instead of honing the inner strength they had.

Despite all the internal narrative, Avalon's expression was perfectly neutral, besides a touch of caution in her tone.

"Clever for them. It sounds like a place to see, indeed." She smiled, the caution fading away. "If you have other plans, I wouldn't want to interrupt them. But if you're willing to point me in the right direction, I can buy you something from the bakery if you like." She didn't have much, but it seemed a fair enough trade.