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

[notyourrookie]

"That sounds... complicated." And he's not sure what to make of the fact that she's just talking about it, here, in the open, to someone who is more or less a complete stranger. "But I think i know the type. I mean, I'm not sure how an evil mercenary organisation differs from a 'good' one, but... sounds like you have it all figured out. Sometimes you sell your soul to get what you want."

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

"Nah," she waves him off. "It's not about that. When you sell your soul it's for someone you love. You care for. Want to protect."

she smiles and looks up toward the sky. So it works. "That's the most important part."

[notyourrookie]

Wash looks away from her, watches his fingers dig into the artificial grass instead. "I guess I'm just not that selfless."

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

"It's not selfless," Abby dismisses with a wave of her hand. "I'm selfish. I love the woman that more or less adopted me. She's my family. I made her unhappy with it, mad even. But I did it because I can't lose her. That's selfish. But I own it. It's how I survive."

[notyourrookie]

That was certainly one way of looking at things. "It's safer to not get attached. Then you have no reason to give part of yourself up like that." No reason to sign up with someone you didn't want to.

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

Abby shakes her head and looked carefully at him. "That's a really sad way to look at the world, Jam. See, you're stronger when you're fighting for something that isn't you. Trust me. I spent years living on the streets, yanno? But I find I have more reason to get up in the morning and keep working when it isn't just survival. I fight for her, for love. Attachments are strengths, just like they're weaknesses. It's a good thing. It's being alive."

[notyourrookie]

"Tried that. Tried fighting for a cause, and for a team. Didn't work. So I decided no more teams. No more partners. The only person I trust at my back is myself."

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

"Well, then you should meet him," Abby suggests playfully. "But I'll have your back if you ever need it, Jammy. It's as simple as that. Besides, a team isn't the same as family. As people you love. Teams are people you get forced to be with. Family is the team you choose."

And that is that. She offers him the cupcake tupperware once again.

[notyourrookie]

He snorts at that, shakes his head. "I don't think we'd get on." He isn't sure he would trust his other self. Everything he's heard... yeah, he's sceptical. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks," he says wryly at the offer. She sounds genuine, but she's only just met him and he can't trust her yet. If ever.

"I thought I had that," he says bluntly. "It was a mistake."

He hesitates when she offers him the cupcakes, and then takes another one.

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

"We learn from mistakes," Abby shrugs. "Like, not carrying a gun or more than one knife."

She's young. There is nothing that can't be overcome.

[notyourrookie]

"I did learn." Just not the lesson that she's trying to impart. The people he'd trusted to have his back had abandoned him. The man who had given him everything had been a monster who betrayed them all. "Always carry as many as you can get away with, and ammo."

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

She chuckles at that. "I'm still learning guns, so I only carry the one when I'm working. And my knife skills are SO terrible. But I can't talk to Necklace about it, because he's a white hat and I'm a black."

[notyourrookie]

He rolled his eyes at that. "But normal socialising is okay?" That makes no sense. You were enemies or you weren't. "You should get him to teach you anyway. Useful."

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

"I'm complicated like that," she laughs. "I don't want my bosses hacking my helmet and seeing how he fights. Or listening in to conversations with training. No good place for us to meet. I was gonna work with my boss's friend, but she's... left. So, yanno."

[notyourrookie]

"That makes more sense, I guess." Not wanting to permit espionage was reasonable enough.

"What kind of knives are you using? And are you using them for throwing too?"

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

"I had a folding knife," Abby says. "Big Red got me one that is bigger, like... dude. Like... Um... How do I describe it? Like, tv shows have military guys using them."

Wait... she tilts her head curiously at that. "You can throw knives?"

[notyourrookie]

"A combat knife? Machete?" Plenty of different kinds that could fit that descriptions.

He pauses n eating his cupcake when she asks that, and raises an eyebrow. "Yes. Can't 'necklace'?"

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

"I think the first," Abby says easily. "Maybe Necklace can but... Well, I don't know. We don't talk about it. I just didn't know ANYONE could throw knives. They're like... sharp."

[notyourrookie]

"Of course they're sharp. You want to hurt people with them." He smiled. "And you're holding the blade. Helps if they have the right balance, but it's not required. Just a good aim."

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

"See, sharp!" Abby protests. "Holding the blade is, like, dangerous, right? You could cut yourself."

[notyourrookie]

"Not if you hold it right. It's like any weapon. If you know what you're doing, you're set."

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

"But I don't know what I'm doing and no one will teach me," Abby shrugs. "And I don't like guns so much."

[notyourrookie]

"There's other options than guns. You should get a taser at least. Or a shock stick. That would buy you time if you hit someone with it, or you can mod them to cause more damage."

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

"Yeah, but guns are better at a distance," Abby points out. "And I don't have the strength to make hitting people with sticks all that useful. So knives. Those always hurt."

Dude, as someone who uses knives, how does he not get that they're a good option?

[notyourrookie]

"That's why the sticks deliver a high voltage electric show on impact." Sure, they take a bit of training, but so do knives. "But if you're using knives, you want to start with something small. Not too heavy, but still needs a bit of weight."