Downtown
Towering skyscrapers make up the majority of buildings in Downtown Dallas. The area isn't entirely comprised of concrete jungle, as the historic West End isn't that far off, offering buildings that have been converted into trendy lofts or two-bedroom homes. The streets are generally busy here, both vehicular and pedestrian traffic as people make their way to and from the office. Despite the size of the downtown area, one can easily walk anywhere be it the grocery store, the pub, or a small restaurant.
The afternoon has just reared it's head into the day, and then sun shines brightly through the clouds. Despite the fact that Wit looks like he's just woken up, he hides it well. His squinted eyes are hidden behind a pair of cheap sunglasses that keep the light mostly out. A cigarette hangs from his mouth as he paces in front of a bus stop. There are a few other people waiting, but for the most part, Wit is all by his lonesome. His cigarette is starting to collect a generous length of ash — a fact which goes mostly unbeknown as he takes a cell phone from his pocket, beginning to type in a message on the keypad. As he does, he says the words quietly out loud. "Waiting… for… the bus. Will try to be there later…" Pause. He starts to type something else before backspacing and just ending the message. Somewhere along the way his erratic typing motions cause him to lose his cigarette to the slushy wet pavement. "Bollocks."
If the day was not bright enough already, it is about to become a whole lot brighter for any in the vicinity of the bus stop. Walking casually down the sidewalk is none other than Faith, but don't tell her that or she may think that someone is out to steal her identity. Both of her hands are held before her chest, an item of great value being kept tightly within them.
'Rose' takes a moment to look at that item, the day pass that she's been granted, and it brings forth a smile that practically is written upon her entire appearance. Pressing her pass against her chest she continues to the bus stop. There is an eagerness to her joy as there is very much fun to be had.
The pacing man already located at her destination is clearly noted but at first the young woman says nothing to him. She isn't immediately afraid or even intimidated. Instead she's content to merely observe him.
Wit's cellphone chirps, and he looks down at the cheap thing, brows quirking. Sighing, he starts to send another response. "No… I won't… go pick that up… for you. Don't you have a mum to do that or something?" He asks, his British accent growing a bit more heavy towards the end of that sentence. He clicks 'send' on the phone and puts it back in his pocket, rolling his eyes greatly to the heavens. For a moment he rummages in his other pocket and pulls out a pack of winterfresh gum. It's only then that he notices Rose from the corner of his eye. Wit turns towards the young woman and flashes his best one hundred watt smile at her, winking behind the glasses. "Gum?" He asks, holding the pack out to her.
Well, if that isn't something. "Does it type what you speak, or cause you to speak what you type?" Somehow when asking the question Rose manages to almost come across as completely innocent, almost as if she believes what she's asking. In all honestly she likely does think that this is some sort of new level of technology. Silly Rose.
His smile mixed with the great treasure that he holds causes her serious expression to melt away. One of her hands pulls slowly away from her great prize and cautiously approaches the offer of gum. Rose pauses, however, and looks at him cautiously. "Are you sure that you don't mind sharing?"
Crickets. Silence falls over Wit for a long moment after Rose's first question, before he just grins at her once more. "No, sometimes I just have a hard time concentrating, you know?" He asks, moving his other hand to settle his sunglasses on top of his head. It's only when Rose reaches outward for the gum does he seem to notice she's got something she's holding dear to her. "What've you got there?" Wit asks curiously, before he nods. "Of course I don't mind, otherwise I wouldn't have offered." He smiles at her, although he doesn't quite /stare/ at her. Wit is trying to be as unassuming and gentle as possible at the moment for whatever reason.
More people should be as Wit is acting currently. It would make things so much easier and aid in the healing process. Those darn Nazis, however, cannot give her the proper time to adjust to her new life. Parents just don't understand.
A firm nod is given as he responds to her cell phone question. "I can understand how that is. Some days are better than others and sometimes habits can help when I want to concentrate." Rose is not ignorant or uneducated at all. She just has had a short circuit that makes her memories quite unusual.
The hand of her outstretched arm opens in anticipation of the treat. "Thank you very much. I would love a piece." Her pass remains pressed tightly against her chest, even through his question. "Oh, it's nothing. I just have a habit of losing things so I need to remember not to drop it."
"Is it small enough for a pocket?" He asks, raising a brow. Nimble fingers move to extract a piece of aluminum-wrapped chewing gum, the piece offered to her. "Whatever it is must be important if you're holding it like 'at." Wit looks up towards the sky — ouch, wrong move. He winces at the sheer brightness of the sky, though he doesn't suddenly burst into flames or sparkles, nor hiss at the light. "I think most people are like that nowaday. Everyone has ADD or some other ailment, right?" Wit asks with a quiet laugh. "Nothing that pills can't be prescribed for, or something silly like that. What's your name, bird?" He asks Rose curiously, letting some of his more native British slang slip up.
There certainly is no resistance to the appearance of the more British aspects of this stranger. If anything it seems to keep Rose at ease. Seeing differences in others is always refreshing. This is something that would be easily explained if he were to meet her doppelganger.
Rose attempts to accept the gum but finds herself startled by Wit's reaction to looking up. The gum falls to the ground and so does she, dropping down quickly as soon as she realizes what is happening. "Oh! Sorry!" Now flustered, the young woman only holds the pass closer to her fearing another incident.
Despite the frustration that is growing inside of her, she manages to laugh. It is the polite thing to do, after all. "Well, there certainly does seem to be a medication for everything." She would know. Looking up at the Brit, Rose's cheeks flush slightly. "I need it to get back to where I came from. One time I put it in my pocket and still lost it somehow." Pickpocket. "So I've just been holding on to it and not staying out too long." It almost seems to hit her all too late that he's asking her something relatively personal, yet she doesn't mind. As long as he doesn't openly appear to have fangs, psychic powers or some sort of alien antenna growing from his head he can be trusted. "Rose. And you?"
Wit nods a little bit Rose's explanation. There's no doubt about it — that display was strange. But Wit the Brit does his best not to let it show. When she hits the ground along with her piece of gum, he simply raises a brow and offers her a hand. "So, it's like a bus pass or something?" He doesn't particularly seem to find this odd. "Name is Wit. Just Wit. Like Cher, only prettier." He winks at Rose before pulling his glasses back down over his eyes. "Sorry if I, uh, startled you. I had a late night last night and the sun is just takin' it's toll on my head. Had a little too much to drink…" He trails off there, hand still outstretched to Rose.
This time he makes the wise decision not to look back at the sky just to see if there's something there he missed.
If this were a few years ago she might actually be embarrassed. Unfortunately she doesn't really seem to mind so everyone else around her gets to suffer. There are reasons why she's normally out alone.
"Are you old enough to drink?" Again with the being forward, but she doesn't even seem to pause to reflect on the question. "Don't worry about me. I've just been known to be jumpy. I'm not exactly sure why, and I don't remember always being this way. It just happens sometimes." Rose takes the hand that is offered and mostly helps herself up. Instead up looking up at the glasses she is instead intrigued by the tattoos that she's just now noticing.
There's a certain moment that passes where she merely contemplates what she can see. "I was planning on getting a tattoo. Does it hurt?" Obviously this Wit must know! "And it's a pleasure to meet you, Wit." The pass is finally slipped into her back pocket, reluctantly, but she's certain that it will be safe for now. "And yes. Something like that."
There's a long pause at Rose's question regarding if he's of legal age. Eventually he chuckles deeply within his throat and moves to sit down on the bench, licking over his lips as he considers. To be, or not to be? Honest, that is. "Old enough to drink in England," Wit says, grinning at Rose. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Rose." There's another pause now as he considers Rose's inquiry about tattoos.
"It depends on your pain tolerance, really. I have a fairly high one, so it's never bothered me. Some people say it hurts a lot. Of course, it depends where you get it, too. Obviously somewhere bony is going to hurt quite a lot, so I'd pick somewhere that has some meat to it." He reoffers a stick of gum from his pack, smiling at Rose easily. "And don't worry about being jumpy. After you've lived in a few big cities, nothing seems weird to you anymore."
She's obviously offended him. Why else would he possibly be taking his time to respond to her? Now he's laughing. It really is taking her less and less time to make a fool of herself these days. Yet the answer does come eventually and she just nods. "Well, that makes sense. I mean, we're not in England, but you were at one point so that's all that matters." Besides, he's kind of cute so she's not going to nitpick about what he should and should not be doing.
The explanation of tattoos causes her to take a seat next to him. Rose nearly hangs on every word because it is a subject that she's highly interested in. The new stick of gum is taken and this time she actually holds onto it. "I've been told that I have a fairly high pain threshold. I don't know for sure but I have no reason not to believe what I'm told." The woman looks about then as if someone might actually be spying on her. The next question comes out as but a whisper, just in case the aliens are tuned in. "Do you know where I could go to get one?"
Suddenly bringing herself back to normal demeanor and tone, Rose shakes her head. "Hang around me for a while and I have a feeling that you'll take back that last statement."
Chirp! Wit's phone goes off, and he breaks away from the conversation momentarily to read a text message. Whatever it is makes him grimace and throw his phone back into his pocket with some annoyance. "Well, if you don't know if you have a high pain tolerance, starting out with a small tattoo would be best. And you could take someone along so you could hold their hand. I've seen other people bite on belts so that they didn't cry out or whatever." He seems relieved that she has retained her piece of gum this time. Wit leans back against the bench and takes in a breath, shifting for a moment to withdraw a bent pack of cards from his pocket.
Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. "I think I know where you could get a tattoo. It may not seem like it, but it's a cleaner establishment than you'd think." Suddenly Wit's voice takes on something of a more proper accent, less slummy than before. His sentences grow more articulated. "In our world today, what is strange? I don't think there's been a standard for normalcy in quite some time. Tomatoes may be strange to you, after all. To another man they could be… well, totally normal. Just tomatoes." Wit fluidly shrugs his shoulders before fanning the cards out. "Pick one."
The chirping of the phone makes Rose look down into a small pouch that she carries. For a moment she believes it to be her phone but quickly realizes it isn't when he reacts. Then again, she honestly doesn't have a cell phone with her. When someone figures that out she'll be in trouble, but for now she is content to know that no one is worrying about her.
Hopefully.
"Well, that may be a bit of a problem. I think anyone that I would take with me would try to talk me out of it." There are good reasons for this but good reasons have never stopped her before. "I'm not really afraid of it. I'm just not from this area at all and I know very little about where I want to go." Rose would continue to ramble about it all but is suddenly caught but the dramatic change in Wit. She merely watches him, not suspect but almost in awe. "True. Things are weird, scary, or just plain normal. I guess everyone reacts differently to things." As she says this a card is selected but she doesn't actually show it to him. In fact, she forgets to even look at it herself.
"Talk you out of it? Why?" Wit asks, raising a brow at Rose. "Why would someone want to do that? You're a grown woman, and in my experience, once most people have something in their heads, it's hard not to act on it in some way or another…" He shrugs his shoulders a little bit, considering his own words for a moment. "Not from this area?" Wit smiles now, looking halfway amused, halfway concerned. "Humans are adaptable. So you'll get used to it. I'm not too familiar with it either, but maybe together we can like, explore or something?" His dialect suddenly jumps back into street talk.
Eventually he realizes that she hasn't looked at her card. He grins a bit. "You have to look at it for the trick to work," he comments gently. The other cards are still fanned out in front of them. "Anyway, sounds like a lot of people worry about you. Is there reason TO worry? You hiding some deep dark secret? You got like, a hidden agenda? Maybe you're actually a princess?" Wit asks, winking at Rose through her glasses with a chuckle.
Now that is a heavy question even though he has no idea what the truth really is. Rose looks at him as she debates just how much she is ready to reveal. "Well, there are people who have taken away my freedom so I don't always have the choice to do things. The Nazi says that I can't make that sort of decision on my own." The woman is trying her best to explain without going into detail but doesn't stop to think just how much or little that a stranger will know about her just based on a few moments of conversation.
Her cheeks turn a shade of pink as he mentions exploring the area together. "I don't think that is very possible," she finally says, looking down at the card in her hand without actually looking at what it is. "Sometimes it's hard to get out and about without some sort of chaperone, but my doppelganger is busy so that's why I'm here now."
Oh! Rose looks down at the card in her hand and Wit may be able to tell just how hard she's concentrating on it to remember exactly what it is. At least she isn't saying it out loud! The card is offered back at him before she pulls her legs up on the bench and hugs them tightly. "I'm not hiding anything. I'm quite vocal about everything, actually. They say that there's a reason but I don't see it." She doesn't remember it.
Nazi? Doppelganger? Huh? What? There's no doubt that Wit is confused for a moment — perhaps wondering if he's still a little drunk from the night before. "Taken away your freedom? That's kinda rough. Aren't there like, freedom fighters or summat?" He asks, his nose twitching a bit. He reaches up to thumb at it before watching Rose a little more carefully. He tries not to be /too/ obvious that she's being scrutinized, and quickly looks over towards a street sign. "That's really not right. Can't you move out or something?" Wit chooses to believe that he thinks the Nazi is one of her parents. Or at least he chooses to make her believe that it's what he believes.
"Put the card back in anywhere you want, then I'll try to see if I can find your card." Wit says, smiling at Rose. "Well Rose, sometimes secrets are necessary, y'know? Can't go around telling everyone your business or else some of the mystique is lost." Then he pauses, reaching up to scratch at his nose again, sniffling lightly. "You've got a doppelganger? Like…" Wit thinks for a moment. "…An actual doppelganger? Huh. I don't know if the world could handle if there're two of me running 'round."
She did promise him a whole world of weird if he spoke with her much, and that is exactly what she is going to deliver. He has hit the nail right on the head with at least one aspect of it all, even if he may never fully understand. "Well" Rose isn't exactly paying all that much attention to Wit, admittedly, so she can't tell just how much he is reacting to her. "I am a legal adult, and I could probably fight for my independence. But I've been told that no evil can get into where I am, even if I don't like the rules there. I don't know that I'd feel safe on my own." Or remember to eat. Or breathe.
The card is slowly placed back into the deck. Only at this time does she actually look back to Wit. "Maybe, I guess. I just don't have anything to hide. My life is an open book." Literally. Anyone who finds out her full name can find out exactly what happened to her. "People just don't like what I have to say. But if other people can be open and honest, I'm going to be." A slight chuckle finally comes from Rose as she nods. "Well, it's not that uncommon. I have a twin that lives in the area. You might like having a clone. It's fun."
"Oh, a twin! Whew." Wit says, grinning at Rose. "I was hoping that was the case. And I don't know if I'd like to have a clone. I have an older brother, that's enough for me." He reaches up to run his fingers through his hair, shifting the cards to one hand momentarily before he takes them again and tries to decide where Rose has stuck her card. "You don't know that you'd feel safe on your own, but have you ever been on your own?" Wit asks her curiously. "Maybe you're more capable than people give you credit for."
Wit draws out the Queen of Jacks, flashing it to Rose. "This your card?" He asks as a bus pulls up. "That's mine…" He politely awaits her reply before he makes a move to get onto the bus, smiling at her. "Your life is an open book? I guess that doesn't leave much of a margin for secrets or mysteriousness after all. Shame, that." He sighs briefly and smiles at Rose. "I know how it is though. Sometimes you have to invent a new persona." Likewise, anyone who knew Wit's real name would be able to tell where he came from if they did the research. Hence the one-word moniker.
This causes the woman to smile even more. "Yeah. She's the coolest person I know. It's not so bad, having a twin. It only gets annoying when your parents do dumb things, like give you stupid names." There are many reasons why Rose refuses to acknowledge her real name, after all. "I have a brother, too. But they tell me that I don't. He doesn't visit me and they make excuses for him." Stupid people. She does pause, however, at the question. "I don't know. Maybe. I'm sure I'll try eventually. Maybe back in New Orleans."
More chuckles come as he reveals the very card that she was looking at! She thinks. "That's it! You're good, Wit." The bus is examined as it pulls up, causing Rose to dig her pass out of her pocket. She studies it for a minute, briefly flashing a bit of the information on it in the process. "That's not mine," she eventually concludes. "Everyone is mysterious in some way. Some people just refuse to believe the truth, is all." She -can- see the future! If only her name change was as clever as his. "Thank you for the gum."
"Yeah, my parents tried to give me a dumb name once too. If I ever have children, god forbid, I may just let them name themselves. But then they have to live with it! If they want to be called Princess Doctor Who Bathory Banana Muffin, they can't change it later. Not 'til they're eighteen." Wit sagenods at this very fine idea and slowly repacks his cards into the thin cardboard package they came in, stowing them in one of his spacious pockets. He stands up from the bench a little reluctantly, smiling at Rose. "Sounds like your brother is a bint. And I'm sorry the others are too."
Now Wit seems surprised, namely that he guessed her card right. He quickly covers it with a look of supreme knowledge. "I guess I'm gettin' pretty good at that." He says with a 'heheh' chuckle afterwards. "Well, Rose. It was nice to meet you. Maybe we'll see each other at another bus stop some other day." Wit starts off onto the bus now, grinning over his shoulder at the girl. "You're welcome. It was a big sacrifice, but…" He winks through the glasses at her, then boards the bus.
