Log: Settling In

[notyourrookie]

Who: Agent Washington (OU)+open!
What: Adjusting to life in Gulch
Where: Scoping out the city (Shopping District, Park, a cafe)
When: Between October 26th and 30th
Warnings: None



York's safe house really had turned out to be a good choice. The security was good and it does make him feel better knowing that it was there. Lets him sleep more easily, when he actually manages anyway. It's better than staying in the casino with the constant noise of people outside leaving him on edge.

Getting to grips with the city is a top priority though, and has him heading out . Exploring. Scoping out is probably more accurate, treating it like he would a mission.

The shopping district seems the best place to start, busiest at least, and a good place to figure out what's normal here. The helmet store has a wide variety of them in the window, and he scans a catalogue showing enhancements and mods that are available. Some of those would be pretty useful if he's honest with himself. There's weapons shops too; nothing as heavy as the weaponry he's used to having at his disposal, but it's a start. There's a nice set of knives in there too. Now that is something he's going to have to get hold of.

He spends lunches in the park. It's a little surreal to see the covered ceiling up above and know that the sky outside could kill him, but it's nice to take off his helmet for a while. The place is climate controlled, and considering the last places he'd been at home had been a desert, an icy wasteland and a humid pit of a canyon, he's not complaining.

There's a little cafe a few minutes walk from the safehouse that stays open all night, and it's a better option to be there than sitting awake and twitchy in the safe house when he can't sleep.

Comments

Wed. morning (28th) in the shopping district

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

Oquirrh has got to get out of the base. The rescue team hasn't returned, and though they've reported in, the anticipation is making her restless.

So she puts on her motorcycle gear and heads out for a ride. This is hopefully her last week as a rookie; next week, she will be the C-ranked mercenary known as The Kestrel. She needs to practice looking the part. The orange and the brown stand out more than she's used to, but she'll get used to it, she supposes.

So she drives, aimless and not really paying attention. It's not like she has a goal. She just needs to move.

Re: Wed. morning (28th) in the shopping district

[notyourrookie]

He's spent most of the morning in the safe house, trying to keep up with his training now that he's not stuck in a hotel room. There's nothing quite like getting out for a run though, even if he finds himself reaching for the armour and undersuit automatically whenever he heads outside.

He's finished his jog for the day, working out the ache by walking as he cools down. He pauses at the edge of the road, stretching for a moment before stepping out into it.

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

She comes whipping around a corner and barely notices the pedestrian heading into the road. People aren't supposed to be out this early! Swerving hard, she doesn't hit him, but it's a very near thing.

[notyourrookie]

He hears the hum of the engine, the screech of wheels and manages to throw himself back and out of the way as the bike swerves. Fuck. What the- Why did vehicles hate him? He'd been doing so well?

He pushed himself up, back to his feet and scrubbing the dirt off his hands before looking over to where the bike went.

Friday Afternoon (30th), Park

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

The park still confuses her. The only time Abby really likes to go without a helmet on the streets is during a street fair, where everyone is certain that there isn't a cloud risk. And then she only does it because she wants, well she wanted, to be able to stuff stolen food into her mouth quickly. But that isn't what she had to deal with now.

Today she's got something way different. Today she's got an afternoon off, a sister that she's giving some space to unwind before her exams, and a basket full of tasty treats for her picnic lunch on a blanket under a lovely little tree. Nature, she has decided, isn't too bad at all.

Re: Friday Afternoon (30th), Park

[notyourrookie]

Sitting in the middle of a wide open space doesn't exactly appeal to him. Oh sure, he knows that nothing is likely to happen in public in the middle of the day, but paranoia has kept him alive. He heads over towards a tree that looks like it could be comfortable to have at his back. Gives a good view of the park and that's nice. People watching is surprisingly good entertainment at times.

He walks around it to find that perfect spot, and nearly walks into someone else's picnic lunch.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't realise anyone else was here."

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

Abby smiles up at him, a friendly cheerful sort of smile. "It's okay, no bother at all. I guess I'm not exactly visible, hiding this close to a tree and all that. It's the open sky. Bothers me, yanno?"

Of course he would. All Adaptive natives get that paranoia toward the sky. Hers is just a little sharper, being a former street-rat and all that. Not like she always used to have somewhere to go when the clouds were threatening. And now look at her, set up with a little picnic and a thermos of the hot tea that her sister taught her to like, smiling up at a stranger without even considering how easy he would be to steal from.

Okay, so those pockets are SUPER tempting, but she's got restraint now, so it's cool. "Totally beat you to a super spot, didn't I? Sorry. Too few places you can have your back to in a park."

[notyourrookie]

"Yeah, I get that. Too much open space." Not necessarily the sky, although he's had to take down hornets before because they are incredibly fucking annoying.

At least he isn't having to explain why he was looking at this tree to her. Civilians don't always get it, the need to have something solid at his back. "It's okay. Fair is fair. I like it in here, but it could do with more cover."

[shipitsupersonic]

TC is theoretically job hunting, but mostly he's just wandering. He didn't see Nida at the shop, so for now he's checking out the helmet mods. Those are a thing he's never played around with before.

Someone else is looking at them too, and he says, "So, the GPS route overlay looks useful, but I'm wondering what justifies the price."

[notyourrookie]

He'd noticed the man coming up beside him, of course he had, and when he speaks, Wash glances over at him. "I suppose it depends if it comes with immediate updates, or if it's working on pre-created maps. You want something that takes account of changes in terrain. Roadworks for example."

[shipitsupersonic]

"Yes," TC agrees, "but it's not a subscription and it doesn't say how often it updates. Just that they're regular. That could mean every five years. Or that you have to rebuy the software every time it updates. Or both."

[notyourrookie]

"I'd stick to what you know then," Wash replies. "Probably not worth the money if they don't want you to know that kind of information. Now, the motion trackers? Those look pretty handy for a busy city."

Friday, around lunchtime, at the park

[wanderingmemory]

Epsilon's been trying to be good Trying to spend time at home. Especially with recent events. But he needed to slip his leash. Get some freedom again. And the park worked for that today. Maybe he'll go barhopping later. Getting drunk sound too good right now.

However, unlike some, he's keeping his helmet on. It's just... Habit. Even if the climate is controlled, he prefers the helmet outdoors. Then again, outside the parks, he spends a lot of time in place without climate control.

Friday, around lunchtime, at the park

[notyourrookie]

There's a bag swinging from between his fingers when he steps into the park. The sandwiches for lunch he's supplemented with a rather less healthy bag of candy. But really, there's no-one here to care if he sticks to assigned rations. He hasn't been able to indulge in a long time and they'd looked so tempting in the shop that he couldn't help himself.

He reaches up to pull off his helmet as he walks, looking for a spot to sit, and only just dodges around someone else while his attention is divided.

"Sorry," he says, ducking past them.

Re: Friday, around lunchtime, at the park

[wanderingmemory]

Epsilon's quick to dodge as well. He's used to ducking through crowds when doing jobs. "In a hurry? Or are you just that excited about lunchtime." Epsilon is actually curious.

He hasn't really gotten to know the native Washington well. So he's just checking out the interesting stranger.

Re: Friday, around lunchtime, at the park

[notyourrookie]

Really? He's apologised. Does this guy really want to start talking to him? This wasn't how it was supposed to work. "Yep, that's me. Absolutely thrilled to eat a sandwich. Highlight of my day."

[alphawho]

It's the middle of the god damn night. In fact, it's closer to morning than it is night. Church doesn't always stop by, usually electing to go straight home after work, but occasionally there's a little cafe he likes to pop into for something quick to nibble on or something to wind down with.

So he doesn't even notice Wash there at first, just gives his order at the counter and leans back against it. There's almost never anyone in at this kind of hour except maybe drunkards (that he may have told to leave). And when he does notice Wash there, he almost leaves without his food.

Which one is it? It's hard to tell from here. So he pays for his shit and...shouldn't, should not do it, but goes up to his table and says hi. "Up pretty late, dude."

[notyourrookie]

He's got used to functioning on a few snatched hours of sleep here and there, napping when he can, whenever he feels safe enough to close his eyes for as long as his mind allows him.

He's got a cup of strong coffee and a tablet in front of him, reading up on the requirements for becoming a registered merc. He'd always assumed that mercs were the kind of people who didn't get registered. Showed what he knew.

He looks up when the familiar voice breaks in, and lets out a soft sigh. "Church."

[alphawho]

He looks Wash over, frowning inside his helmet, and snaps his fingers. "New guy, not Ranger Rick, huh? Or you're you but crazy-sounding you..." Look it's complicated, there's Wash, and then there's Wash who makes no sense.

About 3 a.m. Thursday morning

[aimforthejugular]

By now, Emily Grey has lost track of how many people have told her that she needs to "get out more." She's never really understood what they meant by that. Emily leaves her house all the time! She's a doctor, for goodness sake. She only performs surgeries in her home about once a week, and those are special circumstances. Gosh.

Tonight, though, she's decided to take her work to a small cafe near her house. It's more about eliminating distractions than anything else. These calculations aren't going to do themselves, and she can't progress without more data. Her ant farm has been to distracting lately -- it's breeding season, and she has to remind herself that she can't name all the nice little ants until after she's finished her work. She's taken a table meant for multiple people, and spread all kinds of papers, a computer, and two calculators out in front of her. She orders a coffee, then pulls out a bag of white powder and sprinkles a little in the drink. Perfect. This'll keep her awake for hours. Days, if she's not careful. It's strong stuff.

About 3 a.m. Thursday morning

[notyourrookie]

The cafe he's head for is small, quiet, and doesn't seem to mind it if he sits there at strange hours nursing a mug of coffee. Bad night. Nightmares. He thinks seeing York again has brought a lot of stuff to the surface, things that he's been repressing instead of dealing with. Not that he has any plans to deal with anything. Avoidance is his preferred tactic.

He enters the cafe, goes up to the counter to order his drink and shifts uncomfortably while he waits for it to be made. He needs to sleep, fidgets to keep himself awake. The coffee should buy him a few more hours. Maybe it'll be easier to sleep if he does it in the daylight.

[aimforthejugular]

Emily doesn't even look up when the other man enters. She's too busy working, fingers taking a break from typing only to sketch something on the graph paper beside her. Sometimes she'll pick up her computer, squint at it, set it back down, and keep on going. Every so often, she chews on a wayward strand of hair.

Until everything falls into place. Yes! She's got it! It was all so simple, how did she not see it before? She takes her schematic over to the only other patron -- the tired looking blond guy, and gets way too close for acceptable social skills.

"The wires! It was all in the conductivity the entire time!"

Yeah, she's really excited.

Thursday 30th Afternoon (Backdated); Weapons Shop

[the_deadeye]

He fully knows well that he should be back at base and keeping it under control while the two idiots on his team fight over that damn college kid. However Jersey had been doing what he thought was a damn good job for the past two days and he was more than happy to get time away from the lower levels. There was only so much bullshit he could take.

The shopping district was his target for the day in order to go in the back of his favorite weapons shop. Control wanted them to be low key and not peruse through the black market to wind up getting screwed over with shotty equipment. So he was in the market for a new scope for his rifle, the piece of weaponry hidden away in the case in his hand, and maybe even some more high calibers. His own stash was starting to look a tad depleted. No way in hell was he going to stoop to asking for some from the idiots he had to work with.

Giving a wave to the shop owner, he waits for the counter to clear but takes note of the guy ogling the knives. Some of them were higher end and it didn't look as though the guy was looking to merely stop a mugging.

"Never understood those things. Always require you to get too close."

Re: Thursday 30th Afternoon (Backdated); Weapons Shop

[notyourrookie]

There's a set with deep red hilts. Wooden, not plastic or metal. Makes for a better grip he's always thought, easier to mould to your hand over time. He'd have to test the balance and have them modified for his hand if he wanted them to be really good, but he was decent with most knives if he had to be.

He looks over at the person who'd spoken and shrugged. "Sometimes you can't help it. Sometimes a gun is too loud. And if your aim is good enough, you don't have to get up close."

Not to mention that they could be better than guns at getting in between the plates of armour an enemy might wear. But no-one here needed to know that.

[the_deadeye]

Looks like the other customer will be taking longer than he first thought so he rests the weapon case on the counter before leaning against it. He cocks his head in thought before giving a simple nod.

"Depends on where you're shooting from and with what mods. You sound like my partner. She's into using damn things a lot more than I am," he scoffs.