dreambigger | (no subject)

If there's one thing Eames has learned about Darrow in the few weeks since he's arrived, it's that it's unpredictable. Complicated as that might be, for some of the city's other residents more so than himself, that's a trait he can appreciate. There are people who spent far longer living on Tabula Rasa than he did, but after a year and a half of near monotony, only the occasional hitch to temporarily shake things up, he much prefers having something so different, whatever form that comes in. Some arrivals coming with memories of other places and some without isn't what he would have expected, but then, that's entirely the point. He didn't see it coming. He may not yet be as accustomed to life here as he'd like, but he's getting there. After all, he's always been good at adapting.

He's more inclined to accept this anyway, when it feels more like real life than the island ever did. He hooked himself up to his PASIV the day he arrived and found, for the first time in a year and a half, that it worked. It was a relief to say the least, in more ways than one. Whatever his feelings on the city proper — and so far, they aren't bad at all, though that's a fact of his own making, when he's always been an enterprising one — there are worlds inside that thing, and though he'd never let a dream replace real life, valuing his sanity too highly for that, he's glad for the break even so. Everyone could use an escape once in a while. Besides, he may yet be able to use it to his advantage someday.

For now, though, he's not really thinking that far ahead. Everything is with a long-term goal in mind, but there's no sense in planning that without reason, and he's got to play this part, keep himself valuable, trustworthy, to work what he can to his favor. He's still getting a feel for the place, anyway, physically speaking, which is what's brought him out to the park, a conveniently located thing. If there's one place it's good to frequent, it's right in the heart of town.

He recognizes her right away when he sees her, though they've never properly spoken — Eden, Lily's friend, the pretty one, on the island just about as long as anyone. What he doesn't now is if she'll remember anything, a nice variable when it comes to someone he has no attachment to. Still, he figures he might as well find out. Lifting one hand in a slight wave as he approaches, he smiles, small and amiable. "Hello, love."

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"That it is," Eames says with a nod, thoughtful. It's been his for a long time, but then, he chose that, and has made a point of being adjustable. There's a lot about this to get used to, the ways in which it differs from the island, but if given the choice, he'd have left there long ago, started over. How permanent this will be, now, is anyone's guess. He looks over at her, curious. However long they'll be here, they do have time now, and he might as well get to know the people he didn't before, an instinct he doesn't know how to shake. "Where were you before there?"

"Before the island?" It seems such a long time ago, a time Eden has tried to put behind her. She's failed, of course. The last minutes of her life ensured that, even if she could have left the rest behind, she could never really forget. All she can try to do is move on, let go. Now that certain aspects of that life have returned, though, she's not sure how to. "New York. So I guess it's nice to be back in a city, at least. And you?"

"Even if it is a quieter one," Eames says, an addition to her own statement, accompanied by a crooked lift of one corner of his mouth. That's a vast understatement, but they both know it and they've both been over that already anyway. "Me, I'd been living all over, really. I'm not much for keeping still. Mombasa, for a while, and Sydney, and I was on a flight into Los Angeles when I showed up on the island."

Grateful though Eden knows she should be — grateful though she is — simply to be alive, she finds herself deeply jealous of Eames. She doesn't know him or his story, why he traveled so much, whether or not he, like her, can't go back. All the same, he traveled. He saw more of the world than she ever did, than she ever will. "For business?" she guesses. "I've never even left the States. Except for these little exploits, of course. Although I did live in L.A. for a while."

"For business," Eames confirms with a short nod. It's completely true, though the story he knows he'd give if she asked for details isn't. He's told before about the things he did before, and while he has no real objection to potentially doing so again, it feels like he has to keep that part of his life a lot more guarded now that it's a viable option again. He won't be sharing anything just yet. "To tell you the truth, I've never been much good at keeping still, anyway."

"I wish I had been worse at it." Eden gives him a wry smile and a shrug. It can't be helped now. Island life has kept her still for much longer than she ordinarily would have chosen, but she can't regret it. Better still, after all, than dead. "I wanted to see so many more places than I did. It's nice business gave you a good excuse to travel, at least."

"I'm even more glad for it now," Eames says. At least if he had to be stuck in one place for so long, he got to do a lot of moving around before that; even before he was introduced to dreamsharing, keeping still was never one of his strongest suits, and he can't imagine that would have changed with time. There's no real sense in continuing to talk about it, though. It's only likely to breed restlessness. "What about around here? Anything good to see?"

"Depends on what you like seeing," Eden says lightly. "There's stuff, it's just... well, mostly it's shut down still. Museums, clubs, either way, it's still closed. So unless you're into abandoned mental asylums or graveyards, it seems like the park is about it. And the boardwalk." There isn't much there either, though, and she's not sure she wants to spend her time on the beach yet.

"Sounds eerie," Eames says, though that isn't necessarily a bad thing, and he wouldn't present it as such. He's too wary, though, to go running into any of that just yet. This place might seem largely abandoned, but as far as he can tell, that makes it all the more likely to bring trouble, and he isn't actually looking to invite any of that. "I don't think abandoned mental asylums is especially my style."