Log: All The Small Things

[notyourrookie]

Who: Wash (OU) and you!
What: Wash has completed his first job as a mercenary and is out to celebrate it
Where: Out and about in town, picking up some better equipment, and then to the Eagle and Asp for a drink
When: Afternoon to night 29/11
Warnings: None so far



It hadn't been the most glamorous of jobs, but any notion of glamour had been beaten out of him practically the day he'd enlisted. The important thing was that his first job as a registered mercenary had gone well and that was the first step to being able to take care of himself without having to rely on other people. Sure, it would take a few more jobs before he felt comfortable, but it was a start.

That was cause enough for celebration, right?

His first step is to head out to a supplier to stock up on equipment. Nothing fancy for now, but enough to get him started. A good gun or two, and a solid combat knife.

There's other things that he needs, an almost overwhelming amount, he realises now that he has the money to start thinking about it. Clothes that aren't fatigues or armour, and there's so many different kinds that it takes him far longer than it should to pick out what he needs.

And once that's done, he heads to the Eagle and Asp for a drink. It feels appropriate somehow.

Comments

[baruthumos]

Omega sighs dramatically. Maybe they'll turn purple in the wash. "They'll have to, though black's really more my sister's color. Thanks. What color are you looking for? You look like a yellow."

Or a blue. An Alpha-blue. But the same way Theta occasionally strays into pink.

[notyourrookie]

"They'll keep you going until you find purple at least," Wash suggests. "And I'm more... grey," he says. Sure, yellow highlights were fine, but yellow alone felt far too visible. "I'm not that picky as long as it fits."

[baruthumos]

"Yeah," Omega says dejectedly. "It's just, when there's so many little brothers, it's easier to just say "all the purple ones are mine." Of course, that hasn't worked since Theta came around." He shakes his head. "Grey isn't a color. Grey is what happens when Gamma does laundry. Maybe you're a blue. How do you feel about this one?" He picks up a shirt that would make Epsilon happy, holds it out to the stranger.

Look, he reminds Omega of a kid for some reason. And he has too much going on to remember that there are actually people in this world not part of his family.

[notyourrookie]

He sounds genuinely cut up about there not being purple shirts available. "That does sound like it would be more convenient," Wash agrees. Colour-coding had definitely made keeping armour separate easier.

And then there's that name. Gamme. He tries to stay nonchalant. It's just a name after all. Maybe it's common here, although he doubts it. In which case... this is one of the AIs. Which one though? Probably not Sigma. From everything said, Sigma would probably recognise him.

The shirt that's held up is a pale blue. Chalky. And it... "Actually, that doesn't look too bad."

[baruthumos]

"Yeah, you look like Al-Epsilon," Omega catches himself mid-word. Spilling family history is different now that they know where Alpha is. No point in looking for people who've heard of him when Omega can just wander on down to the bar whenever. "In absolutely no way except you're holding clothes that Epsilon might wear. Then again, Delta does most of the laundry, so maybe I'm thinking of Sig. Either way, glad you like it."

[notyourrookie]

That makes him freeze for a fraction of a second. Does he look like Epsilon? For a second he worries, that there's something in his eyes or the way he moves or talks that's seeped into him from the Epsilon of his own world, something about himself that has become other without him even noticing it.

He gives a small smile. "Interesting names," he says instead, blandly interested without sounding like he wants to pry. The laugh when the man says that is even more genuine. "I suppose clothes do have that effect. They can really change how a person looks. And I do. Wouldn't have thought of looking at that colour myself."

[baruthumos]

Omega sighs dramatically. "I know. My parents are idiots. It wasn't bad enough that they named us all Greek letters. They couldn't even get them right. I'm number three of ten and I'm Omega. We don't even have a Zeta!"

[notyourrookie]

Omega. Tex's AI. Alpha's rage. And one of the ones who'd helped to torture Alpha. He'd seen what Omega had done to the bases full of sim troopers, jumping between them until they went insane and slaughtered each other. And this is Omega in this world and he's not- he doesn't know how to reconcile that.

"Could be worse. They could have called you Omicron. That sounds more like a villain from a comic book."

[baruthumos]

Omega thinks about that for a second. "Omnicron. Well, I have been accused of being a comic book villian before." He gives this guy his best evil smile. "But I do like being called the end."

[notyourrookie]

It is, Wash will easily admit, a pretty impressive evil smile. "Very ominous," Wash replies. "Well, if someone tries to take over the city, at least I'll know who to make sure I don't piss off."

[baruthumos]

"If someone wants to take over the city, I'd help them," Omega laughs. "They can't possibly do a worse job, can they?"

Not that Omega's ever been out of town for more than three days.

[notyourrookie]

"I wouldn't know. I've not been here that long. But considering the sky is trying to kill people, probably not."

And the place is swarmed with mercenaries. And everything seems just a bit... off because of unfamiliarity.

[baruthumos]

"The clouds are poison," Omega corrects. "Not the sky. The sky is good. Are you from off-world?"

[notyourrookie]

"Close enough. The clouds keep people looking at the sky in fear." Wary even at the best of times. It was strange to him. "Yeah, I am. I was military and... now I'm here."

[baruthumos]

"But it's the clouds that are dangerous," Omega insists. "You can survive quite a while, depending on the weather. Or five minutes and you're dead. It's not a constant thing. You get sloppy once, you might get lucky. Five times, even. But it'd be stupid to think that's statistically significant."

[notyourrookie]

"Good thing I'm used to wearing a helmet then," Wash replies. "It sounds like a pretty horrendous way to die." And it would be embarrassing to die from something even little children are managing to avoid.

[baruthumos]

"Oh, it is," Omega says. "More than one. There's suffocation, and airway burns, and abrasions, and sometimes the particles clump together and puncture your lungs from the inside. That's not counting toxicity, and that has a whole slew of ways you die."

[notyourrookie]

Despite everything he's been though, the description makes Wash feel a bit sick. All he can remember for a second is Georgia. He'd never found out what happened to Georgia. And Utah's horrible death. "That actually sounds pretty awful, and I have seen some horrific deaths."

[baruthumos]

"Oh, it is," Omega says. "Wear your helmet. And a scarf, big enough to pull over your mouth and nose in an emergency. Wool or something else staticky. They make scarves that are supposed to work like filters, but they don't last very long unless you handwash them every week." Adaptive's a hard place to live, but they've been at it for a while.

[notyourrookie]

"I've noticed scarves being popular. I quite like it." Made it easier for him to hide things. "I'll have to look into getting something like that though, a wool one. Nice to have a backup."

[baruthumos]

"It is, but you have to remember. A scarf is to keep you from dying before you get inside." Yes, Omega's really beating this horse into a grease spot, but newcomers don't always get it. "It is not a replacement for a helmet if there's a pollution advisory. Sometimes they say it's clear and then change their minds later."

[notyourrookie]

"If I had my way, I'd be wearing the helmet and full armour all the time," Wash says dryly. He doesn't like how vulnerable he feels without it, how exposed everything is, physically and mentally.