Welcome to Gaia! ::

Cyrus chuckled a little, listening to question after question before taking one quick puff, dropping the cigarette to put it out beneath his boot. Isiah would have thought that wasteful- someone could have smoked that last... inch of cigarette. But Cyrus wasn't exactly hurting for those sorts of things.

"I would think in this heat, most do," he responded to Bornes' statement. "I been here about a month and a half. Others come and go. I dunno if there's anywhere else nearby, but if there is, it's s**t because this place is filling up faster than we can feed people." He turned his boot once or twice in the dirt, words punctuated by excessively sweet smelling smoke. "As for a dog.. other than these stupid bitches, no. Not recently."

Cyrus leaned back against the wall he was against more heavily, as if his weight had become more to bear, all the sudden. He chuckled a little as he heard the pseudo excitement in Bornes' tone, rolling his eyes back. "I treat women like women, and they treat me like a man. Dunno if that's how you define 'like crap' but I'll let you draw your own conclusions."

His eyelids fell half shut, quirking a brow upward. "Nothing to get excited about. They're so loose you might as well be ******** a knothole."

Cyrus tilted his head to the side. Colors were starting to intensify, his pupils dialating. He shifted on his feet a little, his shoulder blades dragging back and forth minutely on the bricks he was leaning against. "Nope," he managed, followed shortly by a brief chuckle. "But the water is north. Go that way."

Isiah had indeed gone north after following the directions of other 'townspeople', pulling a now empty thermos out of his bag to quickly fill it up with murky but drinkable well water, sighing with relief. He hadn't paid much mind to the people around him until after he'd taken a long, satisfying drink, glancing up quickly to notice a strange feeling- he was shirtless, waist deep in people and nobody had given him a second glance. It was odd to be invisible, for once- and as he lifted up his head he noticed an even stranger trend- he recognized faces.

No names came to his head- his eyes darted away before he made any eye contact but.. He recognized ink, too. And finally a name came to mind.

Isiah didn't utter a word- in fact, should Q be watching he would have seen a completely new man standing there by the well- he was stiff with fear, eyes wide, skin pallid, mouth dry as he surveyed the older man before him.

"Isiah," the other man spoke first, but there was no malice or anger in his countenance or tone- it made Isiah seem sa though he was scared of nothing. "You're alive."

Isiah backed away a step or two, stiffly, clearing his throat before responding. "No thanks to you, Kaegan."

The newly donned Kaegan winced- the creases in his face deepened for a moment, before he sighed. He wasn't as tall as Isiah, but as wide, old sinewy muscle lining his arms and torso, legs obscured by faded, torn BDUs, feet bare. His once dark hair had gone peppery, wiry, braided into a messy tail that stopped four or five inches down the nape of his neck. "I don't want to fight with you. I'm glad you're alive." There was a pause. "Lord knows I lost most of your brothers in the fallout.."

Isiah scoffed- his stance changed from one of tense, ready-to-flight unease to stiff anger, fists clenched, shoulders held high. "The same 'brothers' who defaced me? Those brothers?"

Kaegan winced again. "I'm sorry that had to happen to you-" he offered, fleetingly and quietly, as if he was afraid that someone would hear. "But things are different now-"

"Why?!" Isiah barked. "Because you're desperate!? How are things different?!" His hand tightened around his steel thermos, ready to bean Kaegan if he came any closer to him. "It doesn't matter now, does it? Who cares about the f*****t now that everyone's dead! All it took was a ******** atom bomb for you to get that through your head! I'm ******** impressed!"

"Because all of that bullshit is dead!" Kaegan barked back. "The people who believed it, with it! The least you could do is accept my apology as the man who raised you!"

"RAISED me? You took me in for one year and all the sudden you RAISED me?" Isiah was turning a dark red, the veins in his neck and temple standing out. "Radiation has gone to your ******** head, old man.."

Kaegan sighed, eyes glancing back behind him- a teen was glancing from around the back corner of a ruined structure, his eyes wide. "Go back inside, Tsurai," he warned, quietly. The boy stalled, earning quick ire from him. "Now." He darted back behind the wall. Kaegan turned back toward Isiah, frowning. "If you can't make peace then I won't have you here. I'm trying to rebuild what we had, and I won't be able to do it if you are here spreading around old dogma." He turned to start to walk away, glancing over his shoulder. "But," he began, quietly, as he moved away from him. "I could really use you, should you find your senses.."

He was into the same building he ushered the boy into before Isiah could answer. His eye twitched, lip curled upward in an unconscious snarl before he kicked at the rotting brick of the well side, letting a substantial piece fall into the water feet below with a plop, then an echo, cursing under his breath.

Isiah's brow furrowed downward a little, choosing to ignore any questions Q had for him. "You can stay if you want," he grumbled, handing the thermos to him. "I can't. Take your share out of the duffel before I get out of here." His shoulders slumped downward, growling quietly in his throat. His ears burned with anger and frustration. He'd finally found shelter and of course.. his past followed him. He wondered if fighting it was even worth it any more.

Isiah kicked the duffel bag toward Bornes' feet. "Last chance," he hissed. "I'll take it all if you don't hurry up." He was in no mood. Q couldn't possibly begin to understand what Kaegan had did to him- even if it wasn't direct, he had the power to stop it, and never did. Kaegan had betrayed him, as a father and as a friend, and Isiah wasn't sure that he'd ever be able to forgive him- especially now that Kaegan wanted him to just forget everything and go back to his place beneath him.

Isiah's eye twitched. Why did Bornes have to make this so hard? He couldn't just let it go... Sure, he'd been somewhat.. loose lipped with the hybrid previously, but that was before he really really thought they'd ever find anything out here. He was wrong.

He knelt in front of the duffel, dragging it over, peeling it open to grab the six pack of beer before leaving it and walking in the opposite direction of where Kaegan had gone, his stomps leaving heavy bootprints. He tore a can free from it's plastic ring, popping it open with his teeth before chugging, tossing the quickly emptied can behind him before pulling off another, plopping down a good five minute walk away. He had hoped Q wouldn't follow him.

Isiah had slid down into a seated position against a crumbling wall, releasing a loud belch before thumping his chest with his fist, grumbling inwardly. He hadn't noticed Q yet, picking up whatever pebble or crumbled brick bits he could find, throwing them one by one. He was turning inside, delving deeper into a past he didn't really want to remember.