driftfleet | Don't Dead, Open Inside || Action

Entry tags:

Don't Dead, Open Inside || Action

Who: Carl Grimes, a bunch of zombies, and you
Broadcast: kinda?
Action: Waystation
When: Right now

(( ooc: This is a blanket content warning for blood/gore/death. So! There are zombies ahead and you’ve found yourself on the waystation! You have two options: evacuate, or fight them off. Things of note to remember: Being bitten or scratched are the easiest ways for infection. We don’t suggest being eaten. Magic will be hit or miss depending on player preference/discretion. Characters who become zombies will be treated as in-character deaths. Standard rules apply! The event will last a total of 24 hours. Have fun, and enjoy all the undead things. If there are any questions or anything at all, feel free to pm this journal or hit me up at

skorozima. ))

[ The Fleet has been floating along its predetermined path for the past few days, getting further and further away from the Yadrolla System and toward unknown territory. Along the way, those oh-so convenient waystations continue to pop up at their usual intervals. Identical in every way to every other, boring waystation. Neat, right? There are even some of those familiar orange-skinned aliens and some human travelers milling about and generally minding their own business. It’s a good place to stretch your legs, get sodas of questionable flavor, and take those nifty new pets for a walk!

Interrupting the general peace of the waystation, a shrill siren starts, and a robotic voice comes over the intercom as well as all communication devices on the station and surrounding spacecraft, repeating a monotone message. ]

ATTENTION. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY. LOCKDOWN IMMINENT. ATTENTION. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY. CALMLY EVACUATE USING THE NEAREST EXIT. LOCKDOWN IMMINENT..

[ Soon, it becomes apparent to those on the waystation what the emergency is. A gaggle? A murder??? Just.. a lot of undead. They’re not in any particular hurry, shambling and stumbling along.. until they spot what looks like some good eats. That seems to get them excited, arms stretching forward, teeth gnashing, and more growling than any sort of verbal mishmash meant to be words. ~~THEY’RE NOT A WORDY PEOPLE, OKAY?~~

For those looking to escape, it’s quite easy to outrun them unless you’re not paying attention to your surroundings. Corners can be tough! Just don’t get bit or scratched and all is well, except for their incessant attempts at making you a snack. For those who haven’t come across them before, or have run into some variation of them in another world, they’re resilient up to the point of losing their head or the brain being destroyed. Limbs being broken or missing don’t seem to slow them down, just send them a little off-balance.

All they know is attack and eat.

For those of the fleet still on their ships, they gravitate around the waystation, seemingly not wanting to go anywhere. There is a short window of time from the emergency alert to the entire waystation going on lockdown. Those wishing to help evacuate can do so- but they have to be quick!

Once the lockdown is in place, communication ceases with the waystation. All the rest of the fleet can do is sit and wait, and hope for the best. The doors will re-open twenty-four hours later, once it’s clear the situation is handled and they can regroup, count their losses, and wait once again for the perished to rejoin their ranks. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Her breath catches as he puts his arms around her. From the look on his face and the way he stood it should have been obvious, but it still came as a surprise to her. It takes another beat before she responds to it, wrapping her arms around him and hugging more tightly than she expected of herself especially with sore arms and she buries her face against him.

In the moment she gets the job done. She always has. She does it smoothly, efficiently and as compassionately as one can do that job while doing the other two things too. She'd even do it with witty banter sometimes. And she can't pretend she doesn't sometimes enjoy the art of a fight when her adrenaline is pumping. But the kill? She never enjoys the kill. And later when the battlefield's gone cold and she's as relatively safe as one can get that's when it comes back to her. When she feels the weight of it no matter how bad the bad guys were or how much it served the common good. It still adds to the burden of it all. More losses.

For all her talk of these people being dead she doesn't really know that for sure. Maybe they'll be able to figure it out more accurately or maybe they never will. But it was still a heavy night for her and while she wouldn't take hearing he thought she was wrong well, he doesn't say it. He gives her what she needed.]

Me too.

[He holds her tighter when she accepts his hug. Holding her for awhile before speaking again. What else really is there to say?]

Do you--[A beat.] Would you like to stay here tonight? [His intention is not to move things forward so quickly. He just knows if the roles were reversed he doubts he really would want to be alone.]

I'd like that.

[She's a little surprised he's offering so soon. She gets that it's likely the circumstances and under the circumstances she doubts he has anything in mind beyond sleep and and talking and cuddling. Which is fine with her. She's actually always had a hard time sleeping alone. He might have noticed a sharp change in her sleep patterns after Winn disappeared. Then again, the ships didn't merge that long before his disappearance and she and Winn split time between her ship and his for sleeping. But once he left Kitty tended toward more staying up until she was too exhausted to be awake anymore and she spent a lot of that time out in the common areas of the ship, preferring not to be alone if someone else was up. Sometimes on the Iskaulit instead or a planet they were visiting.

When she wasn't doing that she was sleeping in Kurt's room with him. Only sleeping. She does absently wonder if that was something Vash ever noticed or if he thought anything was going on between them. She never tried to keep it a secret, but a person who phases and a person who teleports don't have to spend a lot of time in open hallways either. Her sleep was usually restful despite her past as long as someone was at her side. She figured if things worked out it wouldn't be long before she was hoping Vash wouldn't mind someone to sleep next to regardless of how far along they were otherwise. It's nice to get the offer instead.

She probably would have worn something cuter, but it isn't about that now. Her arms relax, but she doesn't move away from him just yet. She just can't maintain that strength after tonight. It feels nice to be held like this. It would have felt needed and good even if tonight had been peaceful. She's just been missing it for a long time. She should probably be leaving well enough alone here. But it's Kitty, so...]

Aren't you supposed to be hating me right now?

[Kitty may be a little disappointed later when Vash will try to insist she take the bed and he'll take the floor. He's new to this whole "dating" thing. But that's a later problem.

He had noticed her late night sleeping habits, but had been left unsure if that it was normal Kitty behaviour or if it had developed after Winn had left. He certainly noticed it more after his disappearance.

Vash also hadn't missed the times she came out of Kurt's room or could hear her soft breathing as he walked past. It was another thing he didn't question. The two had history so he was never surprised or thought too much about it.

He doesn't let go when her arms relax. For now he can be the strong one.]

I couldn't hate you. [But that didn't seem enough.] I could only hate someone forced onto that way station who enjoyed it and felt no remorse when all was done. The type of people who don't worry if they're hated or not in the end.

[She can deal with later problems. The best part of them is that they happen later. For now, she just appreciates that he keeps holding on to her. She keeps her arms around him with fingers splayed on his back.]

Well that's definitely not me. [She's always had a lot of feelings about it. She's glad he said remorse and not regret though. There are things she regrets, but she doesn't kill unless she's sure it had to be done because the consequences of not doing it were worse. Though if it turns out those people could have been cured after all then she'll deeply regret tonight. She had wanted to find a different way. Maybe if she'd been with the others when it started she could have gotten the teamwork going and funneled them in somewhere secure. But those who had been bitten and scratched kept turning. She doesn't want to keep thinking about it though. She's already weary from that for tonight.]

Are you still okay with like liking me? [Using his term.]

It's like-like. [He teasingly corrects.] And yeah. I am if you are.

[Because he knows he's still not Winn.]

I are. [Gently teasing back.

Winn isn't an option though, is he? There is still a part of her waiting and hoping he will be again someday, but she thinks she can do this—be with someone else while part of her heart is reserved for him. Right now it feels good to be like-liked by someone else. To be held. And she cares about him too.]

I think I'm done being dramatic for a little bit. Want to sit on the bed again?

Alright. [He let's go of the hug, but doesn't let go completely. Instead taking her hand in his so it's easier to sit back down onto the bed.] I know you're tired, but are you hungry at all? I'm assuming eating wasn't exactly at the top of your priorities yesterday.

[Instead of simply sitting next to him, she curls up against him on the bed, not wanting to lose that physical connection. It has less to do with the day's events than simply just getting a taste of it again and wanting to keep it.]

In the morning I promise I'll want all the food. All of it, but right now I can't think about that. [Too many recent images conflicting with hunger.]

That's fair. [He won't press the issue.

For a little while, unless she says anything, he'll let the silence blanket them. Moving his arm around her as she curls up against him. To offer both support and comfort.]

Did you want to talk about it? I know some people feel better doing that. I'm not as delicate or as sheltered as I tend to act. [It was just so nice to pretend sometimes.] You know, beside the "dramatic" stuff. [As she said she was done with that part.] I promise I won't hate you, but you don't have to say anything either.

[He mostly wanted her to know his ears were there if she wanted or needed them.]

I know you aren't. [She's not always sure to make of his different sides. Is that veneer a way of hiding who he is? Is it so that if people hate him or attack him it's not the real him anyway? He keeps that safe inside? Or is it part of who he is? Maybe more of who he is than she gives it credit for. Maybe who he wants to be and aspires to be. She doesn't really know, but she's curious about him.]

Mm...talk about how I feel after a fight, huh? Sounds so reasonable and mature. [Definitely not something she did a lot of. It always seemed like it was hard for Winn to hear those things. After he was attacked by Sascha he stopped eating meat and slept with the lights on for a long time. She wasn't about to lay more horrifying tales on him. And before that with Piotr maybe she just assumed they were both already thinking the same things. Except they weren't, were they? They ended up in such different places by the end when they'd been such a close team before. Maybe they should have talked more.]

There were so many of them. And I wasn't scared for myself. They were slow and relatively weak [They weren't frail exactly. These were fresh zombies, but it wasn't a trained opponent with weapons and powers which she's trained to fight] and if anyone was built to deal with something like that it's me. But Tyrion was there and Chekov and I know they've both had to fight before, but it's not their whole life? With our crew we all know how to handle ourselves. [Less so when Yuri was around, but that was just one person to protect.] And there were all these aliens just there for snacks and whatever and more and more of them kept turning which meant I wasn't keeping up. I wasn't keeping them safe. I know I can't save everyone, but... [She never had that standard. It was too impossible to even think in her world. But it did feel more attainable in the prison and here and she still wasn't coming close.]

I don't know. I guess those are my kind of jumbled thoughts.

[Vash listens quietly as she talks. When Kitty gets to the part about the numbers becoming overwhelming he holds her a bit tighter. Trying to convey that she was here in this moment and not alone. As if he could somehow hug those bad memories away.]

I think I would be more surprised if your thoughts weren't jumbled. I'm glad that you were there to keep Tyrion and Chekov safe. [Even if he didn't agree with the method she used to do it. The fact he was glad that people were alive is at least true.] And I get the feeling that they're even more thankful you were there than I am.

[People have hugged and held her since Winn left. Friends like Kurt, Chekov, Tyrion, Kara, and others. She's lucky to have all of them. She doesn't feel like she would have gotten through it without them. Okay, she would have. But she would have gone back to her old tricks. She would have walled off the feelings and focused on some kind of task. There wouldn't have been any real healing or acceptance even if she still doesn't feel like that's fully complete. Maybe it never will be. But as much as their hugs meant to her there is something different about this which is nice. It fills a void that was left behind. Or at least it begins to.]

You're thankful I was there? [The sentiment surprises her not because she was in harm's way, but because of how she dealt with things. He doesn't hate her. He still likes her. But she can't imagine he supports her choice.]

[Now they were treading on dangerous waters again.] I would have rather no one been there. That you were all away and safe from that horror. I know you're capable of keeping yourself and those around you safe.

So; I'm glad. [There is a pause as he considers his next words carefully.] Glad that you and the others I care about are safe. Maybe they wouldn't have come home if you weren't there.

[She's not sure if she can sense him holding things back with the microexpressions training she got from her once FBI profiler boyfriend or if it's just her own insecurities stoking the assumption, but she's not sure she wants to push him more than that. What he said doesn't feel like a lie even if it wasn't the whole truth. Maybe that's good enough for right now. She's hard enough on herself. She probably doesn't need company there, but she also doesn't want him to feel restricted. He's trying to make her feel like she has some room to be herself and not be cut off, she wants him to feel the same way. She's just not sure how to do that with words just yet. She reaches up and starts smoothing back the bits of his hair that have collapsed from their usual vertical pose.]

I did try it another way. I thought if I could just seal off a room and phase them in there it would be enough. There were just already so many all over the station.

I'm glad you tired and did your best. [Not many would have even pretended to try.]

[She just rests against him quietly for awhile before speaking again.] I do feel kind of under dressed. Do you want to get more comfortable?

[Vash had let his mind wander off in the comfortable silence. Thinking over the things he had been told about the situation. What would he have done? The dead rising up again? He almost misses her question when she asks.]

Huh? Wha- [Did she say under dressed? He's seen her in her sleeping clothes before so he hadn't really given it much thought. Of course after everything she was probably feeling under dressed! He should have thought about that sooner before asking her to talk about things!] Oh! I'm alright. But of course you should change if you're not feeling comfortable.

[He's pretty dumb for a smart guy on occasion.]

No, I'm fine... [~~Are you a never nude, Vash?~~]

Okay, I know I've never really seen you wear anything else, but you don't really sleep in that, do you?

My jacket? [Then he smiles a little embarrassed immediately after asking that. Of course she means the jacket.] Haha! Well, I have a few times. [When he was chased out of town and on the run. Needing to be ready to take off running at any time.] It's surprisingly comfortable to sleep in!

But, no, I do have pajamas I change into.

Mmmhmm, maybe not all the time. [She has seen him in pajamas a few times sharing a ship with him and all.] But it's definitely a signature piece.

Want me to turn around?

I like the colour. It also has a lot of great pockets to hide things in!

[The colour red to remind him on his determination to see Rem's dream come true and lots of places to hide bullets.

He considers her offer to turn around. Very few people still on the fleet have managed to catch him without a shirt on and for good reason. What did he want from this relationship? What did Kitty want? Depending on the answer it wasn't really fair to her to keep hiding the physical scars he carried. Unlike the mental ones those couldn't stay hidden forever.]

Ah. That. See, um, the thing is-- [How do you not awkwardly tell someone you're hideous to look at?] --you may want to? I probably should have told you sooner, but I ah, I have a couple scars. Well, more like a few. Okay. Actually. I have a lot. I have a lot of scars. [Blunt is sort of working.] Most people tend to look away and are pretty uncomfortable seeing them.

[She looks up at him, brushing those little errant pieces of blond hair back. She'd offered to turn around because they hadn't gotten very far into anything physical yet, and she just wanted him to feel comfortable, but now she feels like it might be more important to see him, so that he knows it's okay to be himself in front of her.] Vash, I've seen scars before. Bad ones. [She doesn't mention her own because if he's this worried about it she's sure they're worse than hers which got proper treatment even under severe conditions. But she does think of Tyki briefly and the massive scars crisscrossing his body. And certainly she saw a lot of scars and wounds and amputations back home.]

[He likes the way her fingers brush through his hair as he idly wonders if she'll leave when she sees. He wouldn't hold her against her or anyone at all if they did.] Yeah? Have you seen someone who looks like a cheese grater, a lawn mower, and a wood chipper all had a party together on top of them?

[Maybe she has? But Vash had yet to see someone not act somewhere between surprised and horrified upon seeing what's under his coat.]

I've never told you about the cheese grater, a lawn mower, and a wood chipper parties from my world? [She gives his cheek a soft kiss, wanting to reassure him. Then she experimentally slides a hand down to one of the many buttons of Vash's coat, gently working it loose, and giving him time to object.]

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