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

[alphawho]

"I don't even really know what he does. I don't ask. They come to my bar, they drink my drinks, I get paid, I don't get my head shot off. It's a good arrangement."

[notyourrookie]

From what York had said, 'recovery' sounded like a rescue unit. For the Project? Recovery had been there to get rid of problems and get back the tech. Agents were expendable. The hardware wasn't.

"Sounds like life is a thrill a minute. I'm sure you must be very pleased."

[alphawho]

"The thrills I get come from the guys that get really drunk and want to start harassing my patrons. And I'm fine with that being my only thrill in life. I guess things have gotten a little more soap opera-y lately than I'd like, but thrills? I like living. Making an honest one. It's all I need."

[notyourrookie]

"That sounds surprisingly domestic," Wash said, and he gave a tired smile. It sounded like what Church had wanted; a quiet life in his stupid fucking canyon. "I wonder what that would be like, because I'm going crazy already and I've only been a civilian for a week."

[alphawho]

"...I guess. Don't make it sound mushy." He still goes home to his tiny shitty place alone and some weeks barely has enough cash to make sure he's fed, but hey, more domestic than being some super military black ops group's operator or whatever. "You went from all to nothing in terms of action. Gotta be an adjustment period."

[notyourrookie]

"Hey, it's better than getting shot by your own team. Again." Better than being torn apart by your own mind.

"It's gonna take a while. I'm not good with downtime."

[alphawho]

"Dude. How did you piss off your guys that they shot you on multiple occasions?" Seriously, that's horrifyingly fascinating.

[notyourrookie]

"One of them was a treacherous bitch who shot me in the back to save her own skin. The other was... Was not himself." Hadn't been himself for a long time. It's all said in the same cold, flat tone, as if it's a report he's reading off about someone else.

[alphawho]

Church has to stare for a moment. This is beyond anything he's ever had to deal with. Or heard other people deal with. "...What the fuck, man."

[notyourrookie]

Wash stares back, expression hard. "I survived. That's what matters." No matter what he'd had to do to get through it.

[alphawho]

"What the fuck! That's not...fucking hell, Wash, that's not normal!"

[notyourrookie]

He shrugs, honestly a little unsure why Church is taking this so badly. "I'm stuck in an alternate reality. Now that isn't normal."

[alphawho]

"...Okay, point..." Just. Wow. What the actual fuck, how does something like that happen? "Guess you don't make friends easy, huh."

[notyourrookie]

"I don't make friends," he says bluntly. "It's a liability."

[alphawho]

"Sooooo you're letting me talk to you why, then? Or let York talk to you why? Reconnaissance?"

[notyourrookie]

"One conversation doesn't mean we're friends," he replies, and it sounds like an excuse even to his own ears. "Nostalgia, maybe."

[alphawho]

"So was I as devastatingly handsome in your world as I am right now? Be honest, I can take it."

[notyourrookie]

"You definitely have more distinctive features here, I will say that."

[alphawho]

Church has to squint through his shades at that. "Real informative, Wash. That is totally an appropriate answer to a yes-or-not question. Should I be worried?"

[notyourrookie]

Wash rolls his eyes. "What, am I supposed to write a sonnet about your face? I never really saw you out of armour, okay?"

[alphawho]

"The fuck's that supposed to mean? Everyone had to have down time, right? You never saw my fucking face? That's bullshit."

[notyourrookie]

"Not much downtime. Mostly we wore armour for everything except for sleeping. It's not a big deal."

[alphawho]

"Sounds boring as shit. Don't you guys bone? And why would an operator need to wear armor, helmet included, all the time anyway?"

[notyourrookie]

Fuck, why did Church have to turn out to be a narcissist and make it a problem. "Sure. When we had shore leave. And just because you were support, didn't mean it was safe."

[alphawho]

"Uh, that is actually exactly what it should mean. It means I wouldn't be sitting in the middle of a battlefield."