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

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.]

Sounds like a wild party. [He tries to make a joke, but honestly he's a bit nervous. Even with the reassuring kiss.

He doesn't stop her as she starts to remove the buttons. Telling himself that this was fair. That maybe this would give her a better idea of the mess she was welcoming into her life in a way that words couldn't rightly explain.

She may or may not be surprised to find that under that jacket is some body armor it's design is intended to let him move freely so it's not exactly bullet proof, but more to take the brunt of an impact. She may have felt it under his coat before.

It also means more things to unhook to get the full view of his chest. Even with most of him still covered she should be able to see a preview of what's hiding underneath the armor. Old burns, gashes missing from his flesh, angry scars that didn't heal well peek out near his shoulders. That area being left free so he has full motion of his arms.]

Whatever you feel when you see. It's alright. Good or bad it's fine. [Sort of. He will at least understand.

And if she keeps going? She will find one hell of a mess.]

Oh, yeah, they're real cut ups. [See what she did there? Is this the right conversation to be having as her fingers peel away the last of his buttons and then slide under the red fabric to gently push it down over his shoulders until she frees him from it leaving only the body armor?

She gets her first look at what he's talking about in the barest of ways. It does look like they were never treated or or never treated well. Or maybe something about his body doesn't heal as smoothly as it could or it was the environment or... Well, there could be a lot of reasons and it doesn't really matter. It is what it is now.

The body armor itself still covers a lot of him. It would be easier to just phase it off of him, but she figures that would be too jarring for him. Maybe her too. She's not worried about the scars that concern him, but this is taking things further. How ready is she? Easier to find out one fastening at a time.]

I already like you, Vash. It's not contingent on anything. [At least not contingent on what she finds as she works the body armor loose. Although as she sees more of the scarring her touch does become softer as if she's concerned she might hurt him more somehow. But there's no shock or disgust on her face or deeper within her. Once she has things loosened she looks at him for permission to remove it. Adding in a few words while she's at it.] Is this okay?

Yeah... well... [He trails off. Realizing it's rude to assume her so superficial as to care about how he looks.] Just, yeah, if you want to call them gross or anything. I've heard a lot worse!

[He reaches forward to help with the armour. It can be a hassle to put on and take off even when you know how it's done sometimes.] Yeah. It's fine. People usually find out sooner or later. Sometimes sooner is for the best.

[How much more awkward would this conversation have been in a year or longer from now?]

I know the feeling. [Not in body insecurity so much. Oh, she has some of those too. It's hard not to when you spent your teenage years with people like Ororo, Jean, and Alison. Ridiculous knockouts all of them.] I was feeling the same way about what I had to tell you tonight.

[It would be kind of superficial for her to see him differently or lesser because of the remains of harm that's come to his body, but sometimes she can be superficial. Not intellectually or knowingly necessarily, but there are people she's more attracted to than others before she even knows them and has anything else to judge them on. Maybe it's not ideal, but it's pretty common. She understands why he'd be worried. She assumes (especially since he just confirmed it) he's gotten less-than-pleased reactions in the past and even if he hasn't, she knows how hard it can be to fight your own insecurities. You're always with your mind and it can be kind or cruel to you whenever it wants.

She wants to steady herself and control her own microexpressions—as if she could—once he's fully revealed but she can't help but looking a little confused. It's not the scars. She understands scars.]

What is this? [Her fingers hover just above the metal...cage? covering part of his chest.]

[Vash grins despite the nervousness he was feeling. Reaching over to lightly knock on the grate on his chest. That one was always an eye catcher. Followed by some of the random bolts and other bits of metal that jut out or have been slapped onto his skin.]

Yeah, medicine back home wasn't exactly what someone might call advance.

Vash, it's a metal cage. How is that even backward medicine? Have you had a doctor here look at it yet? [Clearly concerned. Maybe this isn't where she should be focusing right now, but...CAGE! MEDICINAL CAGE!]

Well, the town I got it from didn't really have a real doctor. Or medical supplies. They did the best they could with what they had. [Just ignore the fact that they were trying to kill him before that.]

And no. I didn't even think to have someone look at it. [His scars have been a part of him for so long he didn't even think of it. His skin had healed over the metal and he was told by a respectable doctor so long ago that it couldn't be safely removed that he's just learned to deal with it.]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

CW: For butt in the last link

no subject

Omg... It's 2am. What am I doing?

You were so saved by my internet glitch!

no subject

no subject

no subject