shessomarvelous:

Grace had been busy since school had started. She was only taking her gen eds at the local community college, but she was up to her eyeballs in schoolwork. She'd also gotten a job at a local boutique downtown. She could really own work weekends and some nights, but she didn't want to leech off of Dad and the rest of the Defenders. It wasn't going to get her rich, but it would give her some spending money.

The local Starbucks down the street from her school had become her best friend, as Grace was basically living off of coffee these days. The concept of eight hours of sleep had been thrown out the window at the start of the school year, as Grace found herself up until the early hours of the morning, buried in a school book.

Today, however, Grace only had two classes, both in the morning, and she had the day off from work. She'd changed into her bikini the second she got back to Defender's compound, and made her way to the beach. She laid out her towel, before running straight to the water for a much needed swim.

cosmic_son:

There's an abrupt shift in reality, and the Exiles find themselves... well, not in Kansas anymore.

In all times previous to this, the air has been fresher than that of the world they know. This one... well, it may be fresher, but there's a very distinct tang of faint coal dust in the air. The colors are muted, mostly tans and browns... except the ones that aren't. the women walking by in the distance are examplary of the era when more complex dyes and dye mixing was being discovered, the women in extremely opulent finery in many cases, the wealthy among them in a wash of bright, vivid greens and reds and blues and patterns, and even their maids in complex dress compared to the ages of simplicity and necessity they've left behind. The men are all in hats, shirts and jackets.

Everywhere, there's signs of the city being powered by a mix of old style gaslights, steam power, clockwork and electricity, sometimes with little rhyme or reason.

Over it all, a single craft, the size of a city block and being supported by numerous dirigible balloons hovers, casting a shadow over all of what could be recognized by long term residents as some ancient and steam powered version of New York City.


Iason is the first to speak.  "I... do not recognize this as similar to anything from Earth's history."