LOG: Sunny Sky Lunches

[the_informant]

Who: Florida (Native), OPEN
What: Florida has a little picnic for him and his friends
Where: Reid Gulch Park
When: Saturday, 3/12
Warnings:

The days when he doesn't have work or information to collect are so rare. Florida would have thought that taking less kill jobs would mean more time for himself, but between watching out for Tex's family, trying to be there for his girl, and everything going on with the team lately, getting out and about has been hard. So today, on his afternoon off, he decides there is only one right thing to do: enjoy the time.

He packs up a large picnic lunch, sends out messages to his teammates, Sigma, and dear little Wash from another world, and heads out to the park. With him he takes all sorts of foods, games like ring toss, a few toys for Rex, and a book for himself in case no one decides to show up. And once he arrives at the park he finds a nice sunny spot to lay out his gear, updating the messages with a gps marker in case people decide to join him.

That done he takes out Rex's frisbee and gives it a toss to watch the now full grown dog frolick off for his toy.

Today is going to be a good day, with or without company.

Comments

[notyourrookie]

He stares down at the dog's head, still scratching it's ears. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

[the_informant]

"It would work," Florida smiles. "You're staying at York's other place, right? He could give you permission to get a cat there."

[notyourrookie]

Of course Florida would know that. Still, he shakes his head. "He already did. But I'm not rally... not someone who should have pets." Shouldn't be trusted with anything.

[the_informant]

"No, I am the sort of person who should not have pets. And yet, here REx is. Trust yourself with something good, my friend," Florida counters.

[notyourrookie]

"I'm barely functional as it is," Wash replies. "What chance have I got taking care of another living creature?"

[the_informant]

"You're completely functional," Florida counters. "I've seen your work record. Well, not exactly. Just some of hte general stats the fixers put out there."

[notyourrookie]

"Work is different," Wash replies. "I can handle work fine. It's everything else that I have problems with." The normal stuff, like sleeping or relaxing.

[the_informant]

"Would it hurt you to try?"

[notyourrookie]

"I..." He stares down at the ground, teeth clenched. "Might hurt the cat."

[the_informant]

"You would not," Florida says firmly, dismissing the idea too easily.

[notyourrookie]

"I might. I have a temper. I have..." He swallows thickly. "Nightmares. I have nightmares. And I forget stuff."

[the_informant]

"And a cat is more than smart enough to deal with that," Florida points out.

[notyourrookie]

That's true. Cats are pretty smart, able to survive. Still, it scares him. "Why are you so invested in me getting a pet?"

[the_informant]

"There are shadows in your eyes," Florida informs him. "Having things, having people and creatures to ground you helps. I know. I see those shadows in the mirror."

[notyourrookie]

That gives him a chill, runs right through him. "I've spent the last couple of years avoiding having anything to do with people. Attachments just... they get you killed."

[the_informant]

"They don't," Florida counters. "I'm learning that. But how does a cat get you killed?"

[notyourrookie]

Okay, that's harder to explain. He shrugs. "It feels wrong. It's the kind of thing you do when you're settled somewhere, get a pet. It feels risky. I couldn't just leave if I had one."

[the_informant]

"I see your point and raise you Maine," Florida counters. "You could give him the feline if you had to go. Leave him a message. Or York. Or my friend Oquirrh and her sister Abby could do it. I believe you've met the girl. She calls you Jammy I think?"

Of course he keeps track of runners for the other major merc group in the city.

[notyourrookie]

The idea of Maine with cats is amusing enough to drag a smile from him. It's a compelling case honestly. "Yeah, I know her. And I met Oquirrh too." The other Washington's girlfriend. "It's weird knowing this many people honestly." When at home the last remnant of his friend had been plunged over a cliff and he's probably going to prison for the rest of his life. Or maybe they'll just execute him this time. His record probably warrants it.

"How did you do it?" he asks after a moment, giving Florida a serious look. "Adjust to being around people. Having people you care for. I can't remember how to do it."

[the_informant]

"The people themselves are what change you," Florida says after a long silence. Minutes long. Long enough for Rex to come back and flop down with his head in Florida's lap. "Just over a year ago I was a very different man. I lived my normal life. I killed, tortured, maimed. Rankings aside, I'm one of the best assassins in this part of the settled systems. I wasn't trained to be truly social, and definitely wasn't taught to care for people. And taught is the right word. Men like me, we're a strange combination of born and made."

Forged would be a better word. Constructed. He still shudders to think of it, and his hand goes to the back of his shoulder to rub the old tattoo. It's since been replaced by a super stylized rose with the greek letter 'Beta' hidden inside of it.

"It... for me it honestly started with a yarnbombing of York turning into a prank war turning into trying to seduce a man, turning into a bet that turned me into someone's servant for a week. That turned... God, I don't even know how it turned into a relationship, but before she left I proposed. I'm so involved with her family now, that even if she never comes back I see them as mine. I made friends through these people."

He strokes the dog's head, the fur so soft. "You start spending time with people. Take the offers when they're given. For me it was always to build resources. But you spend time with people. Learn about them. Let them learn the things about you that won't get you killed. Food you enjoy but not love. Go to a movie. Read a book. Join a club based on some silly game. And before you know it you've spent so much time with them that you're fond of them in their own way. You're their friend. Maybe more. But it starts small. There are those of us you met since coming here that you trust to some degree, right? Not me of course, but people like York. Spend time with him. Let him guide you."

York's a good man, even if Florida wont' say it.

[notyourrookie]

Wash doesn't mind the silence. he's happy to wait for Florida's answer. If he didn't want to answer, Wash has no doubt that he would have said so. No, he sits down on the grass instead, watching Florida pet the dog, and it's moments like this when it's easy to forget how deadly Florida is, with how well he plays his part.

When he does talk, Wash keeps his peace. He wants to hear this; it's about as much of Florida's past as he's ever heard. He can believe it. Although he's not sure how it maps to the Florida that he had known. The way Florida rubs at his shoulder is not ignored. It's an instinctive reaction, the same way Wash scratches and rubs at the back of his neck.

He smiles a little, lets out a soft huff of laughter at the explanation of how everything came about. Sounds like York honestly. Sounds like the kind of chaos that the Freelancers would have got up to. "Sounds like quite the story."

Florida proposing? Well, someone has to be happy out of all of them.

He nods when Florida says that. "York's been trying to socialise me," he admits. "I think I'm a project." And he's grateful in his own way, but also terrified. They'd all died. They'd all left him.

He hates them for that, a little.

"It's hard, knowing they've got their own Washington, and I remember being like him, but I know I can't go back to the way I was. it's like... being an impostor."

[the_informant]

"Then seek someone else," Florida shrugs. "Someone on your own. That isn't about them. Someone you don't have to..."

There must be difficulties like this. "I'm sorry if my presence makes you uncomfortable. If it helps, I like you better than the Wash I know. You're more... realistic."

[notyourrookie]

Wash shakes his head. "No. No, honestly, you've been great," Wash says honestly. "You actually treat me like an individual, not a glitching copy of someone." They've got over it mostly, at least York seems to have, but it's still an uncomfortable feeling.

[the_informant]

"Each person is a carved piece of wood," Florida notes. "Even if the shape it is pushed into is the same to the casual eye, looking close shows why each should be cherished for itself. The grain of the wood, the specific color. Where did the knots and gnarls make the wood harder and more difficult to shape? Where did the artist's chisel bite a little too deep, or not deep enough? Every man is their own man, different and important, to be viewed in what makes them themselves."

That makes him smile. "I'm an information broker, a spy, and a former top-notch assassin. I never would have gotten anywhere if I couldn't view a person for who they are rather than who they were, want to be, or might be like."

[notyourrookie]

"That's very poetic," Wash says, smiling slightly. It works as an analogy though. The other Washington hasn't been through what he has, and god, Wash hopes he never has to.

"Well, I appreciate it anyway. Made things a whole lot easier to deal with."