Everyone can master a grief but he that has it.

[redwinekindofgirl]

Who: Julie Grigio & YOU.
What: Open and closed top levels, etc. Hit me up at hardtostarboard or by PM to plot!
When: All through August.
Where: All around - specified in prompts.
Warnings: None yet, will be noted in subjects if they appear.

Comments

closed to SCARAMOUCHE

[redwinekindofgirl]

So, we going out there or what?

[Julie has her face almost pressed against the glass, trying to peer out at the scattered remains of the massive robotic spider that had recently been dispatched over the graveyard. Scaramouche is really the last person she expected to want to go out there, but he's overall the last person she might have expected enjoying spending so much time around...

Yet, here they are, about to go on an investigating adventure(!) outside. Together. And she's going to trust that he won't pull some kind of weird prank on her.]

I'm ready, come on.

[Hopefully there isn't another one of those massive spiders. She doesn't know about Scaramouche, but she's pretty sure she isn't put together to fight something like that.]

[numerouno]

[Scaramouche's mood seems to have lifted after the morning he just had. Watching the liner depart without him had left him feeling more restless than ever, but the lingering frustration--the indignation--that came with it is starting to ebb. Nothing a battle with a deadly robot can't fix, right?]

Right behind you, Jujubug.

[There's an unmistakable spring in his step as he ventures outside for the second time that day. True to his word, he follows his favorite barfly into the wild desert wind. What's that sound? It's the blast doors slamming shut behind them. Three long strides have him falling into a light stroll alongside her, the blade inside the scabbard on his back and the sheathed dagger at his side clanking against his radiation suit.]

So? How'd you like the show?

[The question is slightly muted, words muffled by his helmet and the breeze hissing across the red dunes around them, but Scaramouche won't be silenced. He swivels his head left and right, excitedly taking in their surroundings.]

[redwinekindofgirl]

[She hadn't liked that nickname at first. It had been too personal, too weird coming from someone she barely knew. But Scaramouche was nothing if not persistent, and now she can't imagine him calling her anything else.

She glances back over her shoulder when he asks that question, the radiation suit making movement difficult but not impossible.]

The show? You mean the fight?

[If... it could be called a fight. That word didn't quite seem to fit what she'd been watching.]

Pft, I mean, yeah. We were due some action around here, right? What do you think we can salvage off it?

[numerouno]

A question for later, babe. I say we let them do all the work-- [he jabs a thumb over his shoulder at the colony, then gestures between the two of them] --while we play!

[The grin he flashes at her is wiped away as a powerful gust of wind knocks him back a step. A hand goes to his head out of habit to push down a hat that isn't there. He can only dig his feet in until the sandy blast passes.]

[redwinekindofgirl]

Shit--

[There isn't much to Julie and the wind catches her by surprise. She grabs out for Scaramouche's hand but falls anyway, hitting the ground with a pained oof and almost falling flat on her back.]

Oh, fucking hell-- [She spits out, grimacing.]

[numerouno]

[The gale overstays its welcome. After hanging around for what feels like an entire minute (it's actually ten seconds), it finally lets up and he's able to move again.

Scaramouche throws a brief glance in Julie's direction. Well, it was going to be brief, but that was before he noticed his shorter, less durable companion had been knocked off her feet. With a genial smile, he turns and tilts forward, bending close enough to offer her a hand she can reach. If she takes it, she'll be greeted by a firm, but not forceful, tug to get her moving.]

[redwinekindofgirl]

[Well, at least he doesn't laugh at her. She had kind of expected him to laugh at her.

She does take the offered hand and lets out a small, strained noise as he pulls her back up to her feet. Julie's first breath once she's standing is one that wheezes slightly, but the noise doesn't carry into the next one.]

Not cool. [She mutters with a small roll of her eyes.] I'm grabbing your arm next time.

[numerouno]

[Scaramouche's smile widens into a playful grin; he sticks out his elbow, offering the arm to her without worry.]

It's all yours.

open; physical exam

[redwinekindofgirl]

[Julie's no stranger to army-style physical trials, but that doesn't mean she's ever been particularly great at them. Running gives her asthma attacks, though running when she isn't scared for her life poses significantly less risk...

But who knows with these robots.

She goes for it because she has nothing to lose by not doing it, and somehow manages to make it to the end with seconds to spare off the time that she is sure is much less than she started off with. Covered in mud, with splinters in her hands and streaked with a bright purple dye that she hasn't noticed yet, she takes a shot of her inhaler as her chest wheezes on each inhale and looks over the course.]

Might go again. Maybe.

open; agriculture zone

[redwinekindofgirl]

[She isn't doing anything.

Julie lies in the middle of an open section of the agriculture area, on her back in the grass with her arms and legs slightly spread and her eyes shut. A white creature shaped like a small dragon curls around the top of her head, while a small cat lies curled on her chest, carried by the up-down movements of her breathing.

There's dirt under her fingernails and a trowel near her hand, but right now... Right now, she isn't doing anything.

And it's kind of nice.]

[abheirrant]

[All the nothing Julie is doing does not go unnoticed. She may hear some steps in the dirt, the crunch of stalks as someone approaches her through the tall grasses that cover the field, their weight snapping the blades with ease. It could be any one of the cattle that wander the expanse, as they do tend to meander near the fence on occasion.

But should Julie open her eyes, she'll see that's not the case this time. Instead, the aberration that normally guards the cattle has wandered to the field's edge, its skeletal head leaned over the fence as it gives inspects her — and the cat on her chest — closely, the chill of necrotic energy seething from its maw. Can it smell them with no organs? Or see them with no eyes? It's hard to tell, but it's obvious it has noticed Julie and her pets, and is trying to determine whether or not they are alive.]

[redwinekindofgirl]

[She can't help but hear the steps, the small sounds of movement, but when the animals she's lying there with don't stir in any kind of alarm she decides it must just be that guy who's always hanging around. Just doing whatever it is that he does.

It's when she feels someone - or something - staring at her that she opens her eyes.

Julie doesn't scream. She freezes in place as a cold fear washes through her entire body like ice in her veins, and the cat sleeping on her chest bolts up to hiss at the undead thing examining them.]

Ohmygod--

[abheirrant]

[The Thing in the Fields doesn't seem perturbed by the cat's hissing, nor by the look Julie gives it. It cranes its long neck closer, its sockets filled the cool, blue light of magic that keeps it animated—]

What are you doing over there?

[A voice comes from the distance — that would be 'that guy who's always hanging around, just doing whatever it is that he does.' As for today, he seems to be attempting to attach a collar to one of the cattle, but he's noticed his guard has wandered away from its usual post in the center of the field, having made its way over to the fence. It's only once he takes a few steps that he can see what has drawn the Thing's curiosity.]

No no no no, what are you doing?! Leave them alone! Did I tell you to come over here?

[He runs up beside the Thing, pointing back to the center of the field.]

Go. Back to your spot.

[The Thing in the Fields remains unbothered by its apparent master's chastising, but meanders away nonetheless, its hulking frame easily seen over even the tallest grasses. Carlisle straightens his apron, making sure the abomination is well on its way before addressing Julie.]

My apologies, lass. He so rarely moves from that spot that I did not think to keep an eye on him. Are you all right?

[redwinekindofgirl]

[Julie has ample experience with the Dead. Hell, her boyfriend back home is only halfway back to Living and she deals with the scale of Dead to Nearly Living every day.

But this... this is something that reminds her far too much of creatures she does not want to remember.

She can't speak at first. Her breath is locked up in her chest, clenched down in that sudden moment of terror. Julie fumbles for her pocket and pulls out an inhaler, taking a hurried shot of it and wheezing out her reply to her apparent rescuer.

That guy who's always hanging around, just doing whatever it is that he does.]

I-I--...

[There's something odd about him, this close up, but he's talking normally enough.]

Yeah-- Fuck. Yeah, I think so. What the fuck...

[abheirrant]

[Carlisle rubs at the back of his neck as he watches Julie use her inhaler, wondering just what that device is, assuming it must be something to calm her nerves, given how it seems to aid in her respiration. He's simultaneously mortified he lost track of the abomination, and relieved that it did her no harm. He vaguely recognizes her: they've seen each other across the field and through the trees dotting the Agricultural Zone on more than one occasion, the other little more than a speck in the distance, but haven't actually spoken face-to-face. What a terrible introduction this is.]

I- I know its visage is horrible, and it is truly an awful abomination, but it is quite tame. I've never seen it take interest in anyone or anything but the cows, but- but I should have been watching it. Are you sure you're all right?

[redwinekindofgirl]

I'm fine.

[There is a reason she's still on the ground, and that's because her legs have turned to complete jelly thanks to the sudden rush of fear. Her two animal companions are still close by, though the cat doesn't seem quite as concerned with matters as Julie herself is.

She scoots herself back, huffing out another slightly wheezing breath.]

What kind of fucked up zombie shit is that thing.

[abheirrant]

Wh—

[It takes him a second to parse her question. Carlisle looks over his shoulder toward the Thing in the Fields, as though they had somehow changed the subject in the course of a few seconds.]

It is an aberration.

open; network

[redwinekindofgirl]

Anyone up for laser tag?
I don't just want to play against the bots. I feel like they'll cheat.

[tsuyoi_ame]

I'm in! We can take the bots, even if they cheat.

[redwinekindofgirl]

How's your aim?

[tsuyoi_ame]

Great, I'm a swordsman and baseball player!

[Boy got skills.]

[redwinekindofgirl]

Wow, never seen those two things together before.

[tsuyoi_ame]

I always loved baseball and I love the sword too, I use my old man's style and then I got lucky and got to train with Squalo, he's the best! He's really strong! he thinks I can carry on his legacy. So I'm pretty good!

[redwinekindofgirl]

That's cool. I've never used a sword before. Got an assault rifle here but I haven't been able to find any bullets for it.

[tsuyoi_ame]

I could show you some moves and I bet I can find some bullets when I am exploring.