voiceinthedark | [Mission 002] Video/Action

Entry tags:

*ic,
*luceti

[Mission 002] Video/Action - Joint for Sam and Simon

[Sam switches on the camera and tries to set it up so it’s not horribly blurry and smiles at the camera when he thinks he’s got it right.]

God it feels weird to not be telling someone to raise the gates.

Uh... hi? So, I’ve been in Luceti a week now. Maybe a bit more and I was just wondering about, well, the houses are nice but they’re not very secure and I wanted to know if anyone knows how I’d go about finding stuff like fencing, barbed wire, concrete....

[A voice interrupts from the background as Simon starts to protest.] What? Oh no. No, you are not concreting up my damn windows, Sam. I’m putting my foot down. No. N-O.

It’s a weak point, Simon! Points of entry, that’s what Janine always says. You need as few as possible.

[The journal is jostled a moment before Simon’s exasperated face appears in the feed, giving Sam a Look.] Which is great. Awesome. Janine’s the voice of annoying reason as always, but I’m sure we can think of a better way of securing them in case of emergency that still allows us to enjoy the fresh air and actual sunlight when it’s, y’know, not.

[Which has his attention turning to the journal feed and giving it an apologetic look.] Please excuse him, he doesn’t get out much.

[Sam positively glares at him, a look of long time exasperation and why does he have to deal with this idiot?]

I get out plenty! Well, I mean, not at home obviously because oh yeah, apocalypse! I’m pretty sure a lot more people would be alive if they’d had concreted windows before the end of the world.

Oooor we might have all mutated into some strange sort of psychotic mole-men instead. [Simon rolls his eyes.] The point is, we’re looking to secure the house a little bit better than it currently is and if anyone has any suggestions on where to get the materials to do that, we’d appreciate it.

Mol- do you ever listen to the stuff that comes out of your mouth?

Never. [Simon’s grin is cheeky and unrepentant.] Speaking of houses, we should have a party here, since we’ve now got an actual one and we’re not likely to end up on the menu. How’s tonight sound? Good? Good! Open invitation to a grill-out on the lawn of House 33. Swing by, bring beer or food if you like, it’ll be all casual-like.

What? You- you can’t just spring a party on people! This is the first I’ve heard about it!

That’s because I just made it up. And sure I can. Be spontaneous, Sam! Live a little! 5 o’clock sounds good, right?

Oh god, this is gonna be like a couple of weeks ago in New Canton isn’t it? With the hula hoops.

[Simon’s smirk takes on a wicked edge for a moment as he flicks a glance sideways at Sam.] Nope. It’ll be even better. I need to go get things.

[And with that, he vanishes abruptly out of the feed.]

[Sam sighs, rubs his forehead and gives the video a pleading look.]

Please don’t encourage him? He’s good enough at doing that himself. Although I suppose it has been a while since I’ve been to a proper party.

But yeah... security. Thanks for any help.

[He pauses for a moment, looking like he’s trying to think of what to say, because ‘Stay Safe’ is Jack and Eugene’s thing and ‘welcome home’ just doesn't work so he settles for another smile and then cuts the feed.]

Action
[Simon and (grudgingly) Sam can be found around the village for the rest of the afternoon, collecting food and drinks for their impromptu party. And later on they can be found on the lawn of House 33, where the burgers are cooked and the booze flows freely and there are not yet fences and barbed wire and sealed up windows.]

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You’d have to look in the Item Shop. [Although Pepper isn’t exactly thrilled to give that particular answer, she reminds herself of the world Sam and Simon are from. It really does make sense, and she can’t even say that it isn’t completely unnecessary, even in Luceti. Still, it’s kind of sad to see.] Although as far as registries for housewarmings go, yours is definitely unique.

Oh, Pepper! Hi.

Uh... yeah, I know it's not exactly traditional. But a few fences can't hurt.

A few fences. [Yeah, that's not what she heard you asking for a few minutes ago, Sam.]

[He gives an awkward sort of laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.]

Alright so maybe Janine has rubbed off on me a little over the past months.

I was mostly curious about whether or not you planned on leaving the house once you sealed it off from the outside world.

[Although she says it gently; Sam and Simon haven't exactly come from a danger-free community. Or into one, even if Pepper does think this is taking things a bit far.]

Well, yeah. Someone has to go and get supplies.

[He smiles a little but it's weak and he feels kind of like he's done something wrong, but this is normal now.]

It's safe here. I get that. Just... You kind of get used to fences and heavy duty concrete being the only thing between you and the undead.

Right. [And Pepper will very deliberately not point out that if Sam truly wanted to, he could probably find someone to volunteer to do that for him.]

It's okay. You don't have to explain. But I hope that you won't end up shutting yourself in. This place definitely has its good points. [And many more for Sam, given the brand of world he hails from.]

Then again, it sounds like Simon's determined to keep that from happening anyway.

It seems that way. I mean, I've seen it! The Battle Dome and the coffee shop. It's like Before, only... it's not Before anymore. And I'm not used to that anymore.

[He gives a soft laugh.]

Yeah. I kind of want to concrete just his window.

Give it time. [With a year now under her belt, Pepper's learned just how Luceti can creep its way under someone's skin--especially if they have no desire to go back to their home world. She thinks Sam will be able to adjust eventually.

And besides, it's not like he's alone. She laughs at the assertion.]

But think of how much more dull your life would be without him around. [Pepper's got someone of that type herself, so she can say that with confidence.]

Yeah. Time changes a lot. [Maybe he could learn to be sort of normal again and not crazy.]

Well, it's true that things are never boring when he's out on a mission. Certainly keeps me on my toes.

Only when he's away? [Because while she does know about Sam's former partner and her unfortunate end, she is mildly curious with the way those two interact. Of course, she's more aware than most that the banter and the teasing don't always mean there's a deeper connection than friendship.] I'd imagine he has to be a handful in person too.

[Sam shrugs.]

Everyone has their quirks, especially once you've lived through the end of the world. We're all a little crazy.

I didn’t say it was a bad thing. [The quirks, anyway. The end of the world definitely doesn’t qualify as good.]

[He smiles for a moment.]

Maybe not. It's good to have people who are cheerful around to balance out the crying and talk about our inevitable demise. I'm just protective.

Thankfully, that isn’t a frequent topic of conversation around here. [The casual mention doesn’t sit so well with Pepper, but it’s a reminder of how drastically different her world is from Sam’s.] And there’s nothing wrong with being protective—especially of someone you care about.

[Yes, she is testing the waters a bit more.]

Yeah, it's been a while since last time I had to have a conversation about what I wanted for dinner. [It's a nice change though. The luxury of that being the most important choice he has to make on any given day.]

They're my runners. It's my job to keep them alive. And it's my fault if they die. I've lost too many people to take that lightly.

Soon it'll be run of the mill for you. [Or so Pepper hopes. Sam is one of the few people she could honestly say were better off in Luceti, and she hopes that he and the others from his world will be around for awhile.]

I think that's a heavy burden to place on yourself. [To assume it's his fault should a runner fall. She hasn't lived in a world of zombies like Sam has, nor does she understand the system he's referring to. But deaths happen in a world like that. Rogue had pointed out that very same thing to Pepper when she blamed herself for her own infection.] But it's good you take it seriously.

That would be nice. Although I kind of miss the radio. [It's true though. There's something freeing about not having to worry about life or death situations every day.

He gives a small smile at that.]

It's true though. And sometimes I have to uh- clear up. Afterwards. But it's my job and every time I bring them back safe it's worth it.

You haven't talked to Eugene and Jack about their show? [She can't imagine the pair saying no to Sam, even if it's not the traditional method of radio broadcasting. Of course, that itself could be the issue.]

Good. You should get something rewarding out of it too. [Pepper neatly avoids that mention of cleaning up. It's clear what he means, but not something she wants to dwell on at all.]

No, not really. I think they mentioned something but, yeah. Their radio show at home is something I look forward to. They do good work. But you can't tell them I said that.

[Considering how grudgingly he'd patched them through to Runner 5 back at the start.]

I get to stay alive. And eat and stuff. That's a pretty good reward.

Cross my heart. [Although Pepper grins a bit at Sam’s worry that Eugene and Jack will end up with bragging rights.]

I guess it would be. [She remembered how hard it had gotten before she’d been infected, after all. To be in that situation all the time—Sam probably had the best position someone could manage, even with the weight of his responsibility.]

Things're going pretty well recently though! I mean, before we got blown up and had to start working with New Canton. Although we have plans now. Maxine's magic formula.

Getting blown up isn’t usually conducive to things going well. [Although Sam had mentioned it was before then, he still seemed pretty optimistic even in the aftermath. The mention of the other place made her curious, however.] What’s New Canton?

Well, there is that. We're still rebuilding. And New Canton is another settlement. It's a really big one too. They took over a castle a few kilometers from Abel. Seventeen thousand people. It- well, freaks me out just thinking about it honestly.

[She almost asks why—almost, until Pepper remembers how quickly the infection had spread in the hospital. She’d nearly gotten caught by it then, and suddenly she can understand all too well why that huge number is so terrifying.] Wow. That’s incredibly dangerous, isn’t it? I mean, it’s good if they can make it work, but…all those people.

[All those potential victims if things went wrong.]

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voiceinthedark - 2013-07-31 22:27 (UTC) - Expand

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