[open] scent of silence under starlight spinning

[borntohurt]

Who: Charles Smith and YOU. Yes you. You.
What: Exploring Anchor with a new four-legged blob-friend. Come say hey!
When: /wiggles hands vaguely and gestures at month of February
Where: All over Anchor. Seriously, he's just exploring the full extent of what's there, so you can meet up with him anywhere.


He couldn't say he'd enjoyed his time there, but things had perhaps been simpler in the City of Sin than he'd given them credit for.

For one, he'd had a place to retreat to with some kind of certainty, when need be. And the need is rather dire, as it happens. He can feel that itch coming up on him, that sense of anxiety that needed release. It grows as the days go by, clawing, scrabbling to be let out, but he doesn't trust the people here quite the same. Here, there seems to be less space to run.

Granted, it wasn't as bad as the first few times. With practice and help, he had something of a handle on the transformation. But it wasn't as good as being able to control it entirely. When it wanted out, it was going to get out, and what it wanted always remained the same. Run. Hunt. Eat. Protect the Pack.

Better that not be around a bunch of people it didn't know.

---

So he's on the move through the city, level by level, looking for anyplace big enough -- and secure enough -- to work for the time being. He's managed to find some new clothing from the recent appearance of the Alien Hot Topic, replacing his worn-out boots and acquiring a new black leather jacket in the process. It's a strange mix of old and modern, still preferring the shirt he'd arrived in, still wearing his beaded necklace, an eagle feather twined into his hair and hanging delicately against his shoulder.

Charles isn't alone, either. Almost fittingly, one of the blobs seems to have taken a liking to him and is following him around in its current assumed form: a large gray wolf. It trots along at his side, quietly offering suggestions and encouragement through this strong bond they now share as they make their way through the levels, exploring as much of the available space as possible.

Really, they're going to make their way just about everywhere in the complex. They're bound to run into at least a few people along the way.

Comments

[nothinglikefather]

Jacob has walked with a wolf before. He and Charles had prowled the City looking for demons, although not always with enjoyable consequences. This time Charles isn't the wolf in question, but it the creature seems so in tune with him that Jacob has no fear about being so close to it.

They need to find somewhere safe for Charles, somewhere he feels is suitable for his transformation. It's been playing on his mind, Jacob knows that full well. There must be somewhere in this place sturdy enough, considering the efforts they went to in breaking open the flooded chambers.

"We could use the accommodation. Kick Angel and Connor out, although I don't think they'd be at risk." He says as they scout the level, filled with what seems to be empty storage rooms, although none have working or reliable doors. "You certainly weren't to me."

[borntohurt]

"No. I remember fighting alongside Connor at one point and...I knew him. I knew he was one of us, and not to hurt him."

Which is progress. When all this started he was blacking out entirely and the beast had no concept of 'pack' or allies. Now, little by little, he seems to be gaining control. Charlotte's to thank for that in part, and he still thinks of the fox at points, wondering how she's fairing in the city they left behind.

Jacob's played his fair part, too. Insisting on being there while he's changed, letting the wolf grow accustomed to his presence.

"It's possible. But I haven't been changing as much since we got here. Which means when it happens, it's likely to be more...intense," he adds, brow furrowing slightly as he glances towards the other man. And the last thing they need is him deciding what he really needs to do is go hunting.

[nothinglikefather]

Jacob knows that Charles has resisted changing in this new place as much as he can, knows that he's pushed the wolf back and away. If it does make the next change more intense, it might well be far more painful for him, the effects may linger. He hopes not, but they should be prepared for that.

Charles won't be worrying about himself, of course. He's worried that he won't have control, that the wolf will be hungry, that he'll hurt people. That's a distinct possibility too, they'll have to be prepared for it.

"We'll find somewhere," Jacob reassures. "There's got to be part of this place with locking doors and sturdy walls." They just haven't found it yet. They need to, pretty soon as far as Jacob can tell. He'd got used to the cycle in the City, but here? His sense of time has been thrown off.

"How many days do we have?"

[borntohurt]

"Won't be long."

The wolf nudges reassuringly at his hip, and Charles reaches down to rub those soft ears. He's okay. They're going to find a way to make it work. That's been the constant all this time. No matter how weird things get, they can handle them so long as they stick together.

It means more than he has words for, honestly. Though Connor's likely heard a fair few of them by now.

"What about the areas down below? We've explored a good part of them. Might be something there we can use. Fewer people wondering what all the noise is about."

[nothinglikefather]

That's not an answer Jacob likes. Tomorrow, the day after? Next week? It makes it difficult to know how quickly they need to act, how long they have to shore something up if they find something that needs work. Still, Jacob appreciates that Charles can't give him a better estimate. If he knew, he would tell him.

"Worth looking." He'll admit although not happily. He wanted to stay away from the lower levels, considering what had poured out of them before. He knows Charles is strong and the wolf is capable of defending itself, but they don't know what could be down there.

But if Charles wants to look, he must think the benefit outweighs the risk.

"I just want to make sure we clear it out properly before you're in there a long time. Make sure there's none of those creatures still hiding in a dark corner."

[borntohurt]

"That, and I'm not sure how secure it is." If there's a chance he could just come wandering back up again, then what was the point?

Charles reaches to scratch at the edge of his jaw, frowning thoughtfully.

"We'll keep looking. Lot of areas here look like they just need clearing out. Might be there just haven't been enough people to do it, before now."

Between him and Angel, a lot of it could be made that much simpler. But there doesn't appear to be a leadership, or much of a plan, as far as making this place more habitable goes.

[nothinglikefather]

Hopefully, he wouldn't. Jacob has every intention of being with him, and judging by previous changes, the wolf normally won't harm him. He's sure if it was comfortable enough and there was something meaty- like a Reindire- the wolf might stay put.

"You're right about that. I've poked around a bit and there's certainly enough empty rooms to make use of." Almost as many empty rooms as he'd found abandoned attics and hidey-holes in the City.

"Strange though, that no one has organised anything. You'd think someone would do that." Either someone who wanted life to be better and easier, or someone who was egotistical enough to want to run a colony. He's honestly surprised about that, given that people like that tend to rear their heads.

He reaches to pet the head of Charles' companion, scratching it behind the ears. "Maybe we'll find something to turn into a brewery while we're at this."

[borntohurt]

The wolf's tongue lolls for a moment, tipping its head up into the scratching. Charles, however, still appears to be caught on a particular point.

"Someone's going to need to step up. Somewhere along the line. Otherwise we'll just keep fumbling along here without any sort of real plan," he remarks with a shake of his head. "Everyone just seems lost and confused. Nothing's going to get done that way."

[nothinglikefather]

Jacob pauses, looking back at Charles with a slight frown. He's right of course, someone should try and organise this herd of cats, because otherwise they're all working independently towards different goals and probably not achieving half the things they could.

"Thinking of volunteering?" He asks, straightening up away from the wolf. It's said curiously, because Charles seems to have some fire in him about this.

[borntohurt]

There's a huffing noise out of him as he folds his arms. "No. I'm not a leader."

He doesn't sound defeatist about it, just stating fact. He follows. He does what needs to be done, what's asked of him. He's not the one to make plans, to have the broader scope of things in mind while acting. Someone else would be far better suited.

He just knows they need someone. Maybe a couple of someones. Who knows.

[nothinglikefather]

"But you see what needs to be done, and you have ideas for the best way of doing it. Leaders need that." It's very easy to think you know everything, because Jacob's been there, done that, without anyone but Evie to tell him where he went wrong. Of course, leading a criminal gang isn't anything like running a colony.

But is it?

No. No. That is a terrible idea.

"I suppose the first hurdle will be convincing people that we need a leader. I'm not sure how they'd take to that."

[borntohurt]

Charles just shakes his head again. He has ideas, true. Practical, pragmatic. But he's not one for plans. And he isn't the sort of person to inspire people to listen. No. Better to leave that with someone else.

Someone who doesn't lose control of themselves at least once a month, for a start.

"We could ask. See who responds." One eyebrow arches.

[nothinglikefather]

"A good starting point." Jacob agrees, as they continue on, still peering into dark broken doorways. "Then do we set up a vote? Let them get on with it?"

There's questions. Leadership sometimes works out when someone just takes the reigns, sometimes it doesn't. Jacob hasn't actually ever voted, he doesn't qualify, but then again neither does anyone in their little band of four.

And from the examples he's seen, that doesn't always work out well either.

[borntohurt]

"Dunno. Better than doing nothing. Something's better than nothing."

It's kind of niggling the back of his brain, why things are the way they are, why so many are just content to try to let things be how they are. Maybe that's just the nature of people, in the end. Foist enough comforts on them and they stop struggling to get anything else.

"You met anyone who might be interested in that sort of thing?"

[nothinglikefather]

Jacob laughs. "We're not really sit-around-doing-nothing types, are we?" He says, turning his smile on to Charles, and walking a little closer to his side. "We'll sort this place out. Everywhere starts somewhere. We just have to work out where we want to get to."

As for people that might go for it, he shakes his head. "Early days. There seem to be people around who want to improve things, but I don't know them well. Not enough to trust them with the lives of people I care for."

Which are far more valuable than his own life, obviously.

[borntohurt]

That's not true at all, but now doesn't seem the time to remind him of that point. Charles feels the same, after all.

"Doesn't hurt to find out. Who have you talked to so far?"

That might be somewhere to start. Something to ponder while they explore this place a little further. It's a lot more hallways, sleek in design but obviously in disrepair and neglected, save what the robots have been able to do with the place in the absence of a larger population.

[nothinglikefather]

"A few people. A police officer called Pratt. Looks after the deer on the Agricultural level. Don't think he's a leader. A... very odd guy that doesn't speak, just creates messages in text. Don't know his name." Jacob says, moving through another doorway and looking about within.

"There's a con called Cold, but he's nit the right sort. A couple of real bastards too. Chronos, some guy called Hanzo, a meathead called Kabal. They've got muscle, if we need it, but I wouldn't take my eye off them. Or trust them to arrange a piss up in a brewery."

He grins, and then pauses, considering. "There's a girl called Rey. Seems keen to get things moving. You know any of them?"

[borntohurt]

"Mmhmm." Not all of them, but.

"Pratt. Kabal and Rey. She seems like she could make a difference. Or at least that she'd want to. Might be worth asking what we can do to pitch in." His nostrils flare slightly.

"Don't like Kabal."

Guy just gives him a bad feeling, raises the wolf's hackles a bit every time he talks. Maybe a bad first impression, or maybe an instinct he should trust. He's not going to let his guard down around him any time soon, that's for certain.

[nothinglikefather]

Jacob nods. Rey seems a smart lady, one who has some drive in her, a desire to do something. "I've already said I'll do what I can for her. Got no problem in taking some time out and going to explore beyond Anchor."

As for Kabal. "No. I don't think many people do." He rubbed Jacob the wrong way too, but he didn't seem like the sort that cares much about the impression he makes. "But there's always going to be people like that. There were plenty in the City."

But Charles has senses about people. Jacob trusts that, trusts Charles intuition.

[borntohurt]

"Speaking of..." Charles lifts a scarred eyebrow. "That might be an option. Going outside, I mean. I know the air's poison, but. If we could get somewhere not so dangerous, where the air's cleaner, maybe I could stay there when I've changed."

It's not optimal, considering he doesn't really understand radiation or what it would do to him while he's transformed. But it would keep him away from most of the people here. So there's that to consider.

[nothinglikefather]

"What about those shops?"

Jacob and Angel have been there, it's safe and reasonably roomy. Both are trashed to some degree, but the one that sells clothes and strange junk might be a good option. There's at least stuff to curl up on and they can take food with them.

Jacob steps up to him, fingers resting on his arm. "I think it's safe from the radiation. And you don't need a suit. We'd be away from here, away from the people."

[borntohurt]

"So long as no one goes out there in the meanwhile."

For a moment, Charles just looks at the hand on his arm. Jacob, his friends, they've all been supportive. Here, being different doesn't seem to matter as much, and it could be that no one would really care. No one seems to mind what Angel is, and she's arguably the more dangerous of the two of them.

Even so.

His teeth worry the inside of his lip for a moment before a soft huff flares his nostrils. "We'll have to tell people. Eventually."

[nothinglikefather]

"We'll make sure they don't." Jacob is sure he can dissuade people from going out there, although he isn't sure what his reasoning would be. He's sure Beware: Werewolf could work but... there are people here that wouldn't be perturbed by that.

There's a gentle squeeze as he sees Charles worry, turning that in on himself again rather than sharing it, turning things around in his own mind.

"Maybe. But not until you're ready to. There's people here with strange enough abilities. Yours are pretty mind in comparison." He knows that was true of the City too, and he doesn't think anyone who knew about Charles turned against him because of it.

There's no one around, no one watching, and so he leans in and presses his lips to the corner of Charles' mouth. Reassurance, support, affection.

[borntohurt]

Never in short supply of those things, with Jacob nearby. He remembers what it was like to be without, to feel alone again. Moments like this, he doesn't take for granted.

And it does the job of pulling him back out of his thoughts once more, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "You say that. But you've used the wolf as a pillow before. I don't think you're in nearly as much danger as anyone else would be," he remarks dryly.

[nothinglikefather]

"That's because you are very comfortable." Jacob replies, his own mouth turning upwards into a grin. "And I'll remind you that I've also been used as a pillow. I might be in danger of being squashed."

But he doesn't actually believe that. Charles would never hurt him, in any shape. He isn't that sort of man.

"Then again I am planning to nap a lot out there. Or wherever we end up going. On top of you, as you seem to enjoy it."