Issue 1 Downtime

Robyn had been stretched out on one of the common room couches reading a book that had managed to put her to sleep. Now she was dozing quietly, but her mind had decided to take a small wander and so her body had faded considerably, making it look like a ghost was sleeping on the couch. In the Astral, she was dressed in a wide-brimmed had with a flat crown, a feather coming out of the band. In one hand she had a sturdy walking stick and her avatar was dressed in an ankle-length, simple peasant's dress with sturdy walking boots on her feet. Her avatar seemed distinctly unaware of her current sleeping state.

((Open to telepath interaction or for someone to wake up))

"Fuck, not again..." Haley cursed.

She'd been napping in her room, minding her own business and then her stupid powers decided to suck her into the Astral again. Seeing someone who at least looked like someone at XU, she cautiously approached, her own avatar looking like someone at a rodeo or a country concert.

"...hi?"

Robyn adjusted the brim of the hat and looked at Haley. "Hello," she said, her accent even more obvious than it was in the real world, "Nice night for a walk."

"I guess...nothing good ever happens any time I come to the Astral..." she said looking around fearfully.

"Seems fairly quiet here," she said, tapping her stick on the 'ground'. Haley might catch glimpses of things in the swirling potential of the Astral, bits and pieces of things that she might be afraid of, but never anything whole and never coming close.

Haley tried to remain calm mostly unsuccessfully, trying to make sure she kept her shields up tightly.

"Are...are you from Xavier's?"

"That's where I go, yes," she said, "What about you? You look like one of the teenagers."

"Yeah...I'm Haley," she said, eyes still darting around nervously.

"Something bothering you?" She stepped closer to Haley and Haley could tell there was something different about Robyn. She seemed more solid somehow or maybe more "real", if anything in this place could be termed "real".

"Every time I've been here, something tries to eat me, no joke."

"It isn't exactly a safe place," Robyn agreed, "And much less safe for the ordinary lone traveler."

"...do you know how to get home? I'm...usually a bit hazy on that stuff."

"I know a lot of 'ways', though whether they lead to 'home' or not is a different story altogether." The things in the fog stirred again, but something seemed to be holding them at bay. Haley might almost catch a whiff of fear coming from them. "I suppose you're asking if I know how to get you back to your body though."

"It's like you're a telepath or something...." she smirked a bit, inching ever closer to the girl who felt real and seemed to be keeping the monsters at bay.

"Okay, well, the road's not going to move under us on its own," she said, tapping her stick on the ground again. She regarded Haley for a long moment and then looked off in a different direction. "I think our road lies this way."

"Okay. Lead the way," she said after a moment's hesitation. She certainly didn't have many other options.

"Distances can be deceiving here," she commented, maintaining a 'brisk pace'.

"Yeah, I've noticed..." she said still very much on guard.

"....your accent is really pretty."

"Why thank you," she said, smiling. She stopped for a moment and looked at Haley and then looked around. "This way," she said, before taking off in a new direction. "Do you come to the Astral often?"

"Not really...still more than I want to though."

"...are you from Ireland?"

"Indeed I am," she said. "Born and mostly raised by what some people call gypsies, though the people who call my folk that are ignorant."

"What do you call yourselves then?"

"They call themselves Pavee or Travellers. I'm not one of them anymore, not properly anyway."

"Why not? I'm still a Texan even though I don't live there anymore."

"They kicked me out when I was thirteen. Something about being devilspawn or something."

"Oh man, that's awful," she frowned. "My country might not really like what I am but my family was pretty okay with it. I'm sorry."

"In their defense, I was scaring the living daylights out of them on a regular basis," she said. "Psychic projections of your greatest fears will do that to a person."

"...yeah, I can see that being a problem." Haley shuddered, thinking back to the spirits Regan had pulled into her bedroom at night, the demon...thing...that they'd fought in the Astral and countless other nightmares that regularly haunted her.

As Haley thought about those things, she began to see resembling shapes just out of sight in the Astral. Robyn frowned at her, stopping in her tracks to turn to face Haley. "Be mindful. Thoughts have a great deal of power here."

"Shit...right." Haley tried to clear her mind and keep her shields up.

"Better," Robyn said, looking around them. "There is so much possibility here that it only takes a little coaxing to turn it into something. And for those of us who have a deep connection to it, it can respond without even conscious thought." For a moment, as they started walking again, Haley got the impression that there was indeed a road that they were traveling on.

"And that's why I hate this place," she grumbled. "My TK is so much easier and more useful."

"This place has its own charm. You just need to spend more time here." They seemed to be passing along a street now with houses on either side. The houses were of wildly different styles, though Haley might see one that she recognized.

"...how the hell is my grandma's house on this street?"

"If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that would be the way home," she said. "Never underestimate the importance of symbols in this place. Nearly everything *means* something."

"...well. I guess that makes about as much sense as anything here..." Haley said stopping at the walk up to her grandmother's wrap-around front porch.

"Do you know where you're going or are you just...wandering?"

"A little of both. Discovery is half the fun," she said, not approaching the walk at all.

"...can't you come with?" she eyed the house warily even though it seemed so...safe.

"That's your mind. I wouldn't want to intrude."

"You're sure it's mine? Not some trick?"