open } {in the still of the night...

[cicerone]

The ship may seem quieter lately than usual.

It is a quietness that is both eerie and noticeable even to those who may not be as perceptive as others. The stars are brighter or perhaps it is that the sky that they are blanketed across is somehow darker. The waves seem to kick up so loud against the sides of the ship that it can be heard from the top of the deck.

The holograms and ghosts have all but disappeared for the time being.

Maybe it feels like the calm before the storm.

It should.

On the deck of the ship, there is a man who has a very specific purpose for being here. He is clearly not a hologram or a ghost. He is quite obviously very real, but there is something noticeably different about him that would be picked up on immediately whether you find him at the bar having a drink or find him smoking out by the railing. He is in black and white while the world around him remains in color. Ever seen Pleasantville? It's exactly like that.

Clark is specifically looking for Elena Gilbert but is happy to talk to anyone who might approach him. Elena is the one started looking for answers about the ship to find a way to prevent someone she loves from returning to the world he is from. The looking set forward a chain of events. More people are looking for the answers now too wherever they can, trying to poke into pieces of the ship.

The universe took notice, and now he is here.

The answers are out there, and Clark has been given the task of showing them the way to get those answers. He doesn't know the answers himself. All in all, it feels like he knows very little, like he is as much as a part of the mess as all of the people on this ship (even more so perhaps). He only knows what he is supposed to do, what his role is to play, and Clark intends to play that role whatever it takes.

Comments

[resuming]

"Uhm - "

Elena glances around, at a loss for several moments, before she turns toward the man that is standing before her. In black and white. He is not only a man that is standing before her in black and white, he most definitely looks like the man that was in one of the most celebrated movies of all times. Mystic Falls pays homage to Gone with the Wind enough it would be hard not to notice that right off the bat, and it's one of Damon's favorite books - she gave him one of the first copies for Christmas. She remembers that, along with a lot of other things.

She is startled enough by the lack of color on him, the striking familiarity - okay, the striking nature of him, period - and the strength of the waves that keep rocking the boat to and fro that she doesn't say anything further than that just yet.

I mean -

????!!!!!!

[cicerone]

Clark turns from the railing slowly to look at her, and it is only him that remains in black and white. The sky is color. The railing is color. There is no aura around him that indicates any light is shining on him to create this.

He has a description of Elena Gilbert in his head but not an actual picture so he can't be certain even if this young woman fits the description (Beautiful, dark hair, dark brown eyes with a lot of emotion and intensity to them). There is more that he has heard about her, and he'll decide through speaking to her if this is the young lady that he is supposed to speak to. At the moment, she looks rather confused, which is understandable given the fact that he is a man in black and white only standing in a world full of color.

He could point out many things. He could ask the beautiful woman her name, but instead he will simply acknowledge the obvious at the moment.

"It's the damndest thing, isn't it?"

[resuming]

"That's one way of putting it," Elena agrees wryly.

Just when she thinks she can't possibly be surprised by what the universe throws at them, it always proves her wrong.

Even the way he speaks is something Elena would expect. It's so surreal, and she can't help but wonder if he was brought here from a movie, or if there's more to it than that. He doesn't look surprised to be here, but he couldn't have been here that long, or someone would've seen him by now, wouldn't they?

She takes a step forward gingerly, the wariness still present in her expression. "Who are you?"

[cicerone]

Clark smirks a little bit.

It is almost a smirk, almost a smile as he looks at her face. No, he is not at all surprised to be on this ship. Despite the fact that he is so noticeably different than his surroundings, he doesn't look all that out of place on the cruise ship, taking a drag from the cigarette between his fingers.

There's a light, gray puff of smoke that leaves his mouth.

"The name's Clark," he says as he watches her step forward, and he takes another drag from the cigarette between his fingers. The wryness, the snark is another trait that he has heard about as well as the curiosity, the bravery. There's a light pause before he asks, "You wouldn't happen to be Elena Gilbert, would you, my dear?"

[resuming]

Elena keeps meeting people that know more than she does, and they are always terribly charming.

It's a problem.

Eventually, she steps forward along with him, her skepticism turning into full-blown trepidation once he happens to know her name before she's given it. Usually, her gut reaction would be it's someone another version of her has met, but considering he has that look about him - and he's Clark Gable - and he's lacking technicolor, she's going to go on a hunch and say this is not one of those situations like with James.

"That would be me," she confirms. There's no going back now, and even if there were, Elena isn't usually inclined to take a step back once she's plunged forward. It's also a problem.

"How do you know my name?"

[cicerone]

It would be so terribly boring to try to avoid jumping into an adventure, wouldn't you say, Elena Gilbert?

Though her trepidation is very understandable given her history. Not that Clark is aware of it himself. His knowledge is limited. He wants answers about why him, where he comes from, who he really is. He is in this for himself now too, and he half wonders if that wasn't part of the reason he's kept in the dark about so much. It'll make him a more effective guide.

"You've been looking into answers about the ship, haven't you? A way to control the door among others. Your reasons are honorable, pure." Protecting someone that she loves, keeping them from returning to their terrible world. "So I have been sent to help guide all of you toward those answers. I knew I had to find you in particular because you started that search so now here we are, doll."

[resuming]

That is a surprisingly good answer, Clark.

She doesn't know that she'd agree about her intentions being pure. Of course she doesn't want Damon to go back to a merciless world that treats Wanderers like them so inhumanly, but it's also selfishly motivated. She doesn't want to lose anyone else; she never does. Her expression shifts immediately, the guardedness leaving her. She can't afford doubts.

"How are you going to guide us toward those answers? What do you know?"

It sounds like he might be only marginally less in the dark than she is.

[comeandgetyourlove]

"Hey!"

The bellow rings out from further down the deck, followed by the heavy sound of boots on the boards. Under the dark sky, it's only when Peter steps into the light cast by lamps on the deck that he becomes visible. His long coat flares behind him as he marches toward the figure by the rails, revealing a blaster strapped to one hip and a Walkman strapped to the other.

"You, sir, are no gentleman." Yeah. He's seen Gone With the Wind. He steps close, the faint sound of music issuing forth from the headphones tucked under his chin. "You've got a lot of explaining to do, buddy. Why am I here? How did I get here? Why can't I go back through the door? Where are my friends? What the hell is going on."

He pauses. Casts another glance over Clark.

"...Why aren't you in Technicolor?"

[cicerone]

Clark has not seen Gone with the Wind. He turns at the sound of the voice though and the music spilling forth from the headphones. Those are a lot of questions all at once, and Clark doesn't have all of the answers. He doesn't have most of the answers, but there is a light smirk at that last question.

"Too expensive. Didn't want to blow the budget on that."

He doesn't actually know the reason for that either. His existence is somewhat of a mystery to him.

"As for the rest, I'm afraid I can't help you with it all. I'm here to guide to answers that I don't have myself. This is a ship in the middle of worlds. It takes people, and it doesn't always let them get to choose when to walk back to where they came from."

[comeandgetyourlove]

From the look on Peter's face, it's clear he doesn't grasp what Clark says. "What? How do you... 'guide to answers' you don't have? Does that mean there's someone else who has the answers?"

Someone else he should be staring down and glowering at, clearly, if that's what it takes. He's not pleased about being taken off his ship, away from his friends.

[cicerone]

"I know the way to the one that has the answers," Clark says, nodding after a moment, and he looks genuinely friendly despite the confusion on Peter's face. "In the meantime, you can get anything you might need here other than people. Can't call those through the door. Not in my power, I'm afraid."

He has some power, but he is limited. He doesn't even know what or who he is really, but he knows what his role is.

He knows what to do next.

[comeandgetyourlove]

"So what's the way?" Peter demands. He doesn't have time for games, for this mystical woo-woo about finding the way. "Show me where to find the guy that has the answers, so I can get them."

He pauses a moment, considers the rest of what was said. "So, wait--I can call things through the door? Just not people?"

[cicerone]

"It can't be done alone, I'm afraid. The ship needs to set course for the place where the answers are, which means first retrieving the navigational codes which aren't on this ship," Clark says after a moment, taking a long drag from the cigarette as he looks over at Peter slowly.

He shakes his head. "Not exactly. But the ship has a tendency to give you what you want or need within reason whether that's a ham sandwich or a room that can throw birthday parties."

Of course, sometimes it throws things at people that they don't need or want too but that is far more rare.

[impetere]

Cora Hale is mostly really confused.

She has never seen Gone With the Wind (she and Alek haven't gotten there in her movie education), nor does she know who Clark Gable is. She also hasn't seen Pleasantville. Basically she is that poor, clueless teenager that makes everyone feel old, but the point is that she's not so focused on the Clark Gable of it all, and mostly focused on the fact that the man is in black and white.

And everything else is in color.

Seriously, what?

She doesn't really say anything as she just stands there and stares at him, which is rude, but she doesn't really know what else to do other than stand there and try to catch a scent. And be confused.

Really, really confused.

[cicerone]

Clark gets the feeling that he is being watched, being stared at really. It's why he turns from the bar with a glass in hand, lifting up both of his eyebrows at the young woman.

"Can I help you, sweetheart?"

There's some light, friendly amusement in his voice. It's not like he isn't aware of why she would be staring.

He is in black and white. The rest of the world, it's in color. This tends to only happen on tv shows, movies. His voice sounds exactly like Clark Gable though she wouldn't know who that is. It has that classic movie sound to it, something low and gravely to it, charismatic that commands attention.

He smells like old movie film reels, like old pages of a book and cigarette smoke.

Not quite human at all.

[impetere]

Yeah, that's not disturbing at all. She continues to stare at him cautiously for a moment, trying to take in the scent and figure out what it means above all else, but for the most part she's still just really confused.

"You're not in color." She pauses, before deciding to clarify. "I mean, I've seen a lot of weird stuff since I got here, but never that weird."

[cicerone]

Clark nods, taking a long drink from the glass in his hand. The glass and its contents are in color unlike the rest of him, because he picked it up from the bar that he is currently seated at. His elbow rests against the side of it.

"Can't say that was my choice unfortunately," he says with a tiny but reassuring smile in her direction. It's not as though Clark knows if there is much to be reassuring about, but he likes to think so. "I'm curious, what's... some of the 'weird stuff' you've seen on this ship in the middle of nowhere? Maybe the more appropriate term would be 'middle of everywhere' given the way people are brought in from everywhere."

[impetere]

Cora doesn't normally do well with reassuring smiles, at least not from people she doesn't know. He doesn't seem like he's doing it to patronize her, however, so she'll take that and try not to react too adversely to what he's asking.

"I was followed around by a minion from a movie," she replies pointedly. "I've also met a lot of doppelgangers." She means that in the could-be-their-twin kind of way, not the Elena Gilbert way, just for the record.

[cicerone]

Clark tilts his head to the side as he looks at her, wondering if she is one of the travelers that he has heard about. There are several that he's gotten tidbits about in his head but not enough where he could recognize any of them straight away.

"That does sound very strange," he says after a moment, leaning against the bar slightly as he looks over at her. "The name's Clark, and I'm not a traveler like you, I'm afraid. Might account for the strangeness."

[waitress]

What the fuck are you?

[ how very eloquent of you, sookie. ]

[cicerone]

[The lack of eloquence makes him smirk actually. It's kind of charming to him.]

Can't say that I know.

[Clark offers out an empty glass in her direction.] Care for a drink?

[waitress]

Not really. I don't drink with the chromatically challenged.

[ was this guy even human?? ...asks the fae halfling. ]

[cicerone]

That a recent policy? [there's a charming smirk that tugs across his face even as he takes a drink from the glass in his hand just the same.]

Just wondering how many people you've met who are in black and white.

[he's not human, and with her abilities, she'd be able to tell that.

she'd know more than he does already about what the hell he is. all he knows is he's a guide, and both the mystery of what he is and why he is along with the little he knows about what's to come, about what he needs to do are there in his head for her to read.]

[waitress]

[ that cross of her arms over her chest says that no, she hasn't met any outside of him. still, it's a policy she feels needs to be in place. sookie can tell he isn't human, she knows that there are things he doesn't know about himself, because that's what sookie does: she knows things, hears things that other people shouldn't be able to. it's her blessing and her curse.

being fae sucks — pun intended. ]

You're not here for me.

[cicerone]

I'm here for anyone that wants answers to this place. I want them too. Believe it or not.

[there is a long pause though as he looks at her, and there's a tiny smile before he tilts his head to the side to look at her curiously, because there is something about the way she says it. she says it with such certainty like she knows somehow.

and he knows the people on this ship have powers, have ways, have abilities.]

But no, I came looking for someone that started looking for those answers for a very pure reason. That is what set the rest into motion. How could you tell?