intraspective | ??????????, Gaia, Wednesday Late Afternoon

She was never, ever taking any portal that had stopovers ever again. Sure, their hosts had been great, she now played one hell of a mean game of croquet (it would have been two-time world champion except Reno had stolen one title from her on a technicality, damn him), but really, all being stuck in croquet hell for three years the local time had done was kill any momentum she'd had for saving the world.

Iris still came out of the portal swinging her mallet, just in case. (Look, before croquet hell there had been some much less friendly worlds out there and old habits died really hard.)

Nothing attacked her, though she did startle a man feeding his chickens as she stepped out into his yard. Ignoring his yelp, she glanced around their surroundings, her mind reaching out to judge any potential threats.

"Oh thank fuck," she said cheerfully. "We're someplace peaceful. I demand a shower!"

Sure, they'd have to figure out where and what reality they were in. But this was a start.

[For that title-stealing guy!

NOTE: The second thread has talk of torture, actual murder, torture, and blowing up a building in it.]

"Ah, hell yeah," Reno said, leaning his head back and peering up to the sky. His phone had lost a charge and refused to play nicely for him for... about two years now. Had to get that replaced, right along with his EMR. Mental note.

In the meantime, hey, he wielded a mean croquet mallet.

"Ah, hell yeah," he said a moment later. "First thing I'm doin' is gettin' a frickin' shave, yo."

They could worry about whether they were even in the right world after their phones were charged again.

"Okay," Iris said, frowning at the mansion. "I'm getting some seriously unfriendly vibes from that."

The fact that she hadn't yet been able to pinpoint a person giving off those vibes was more than a little freaky. The sun shone, the birds chirped, they had spent the night before getting their pretty princess on…

And the mansion was just this ugly blight to her senses.

Ugly, and sad.

Neither really made her want to go anywhere near it.

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Nibelheim, Gaia, Thursday Morning