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 Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 1:56 pm
He wasn't really lost.
Chance knew this, and yet he still probably looked as though he had no idea where he was going. His expression was as vague as ever, and he had a rather small, faint smile that was on his lips; to any outsider, he might have appeared to be off in his own world (he was, sort of), but his mind was just as clear as it had been earlier, even if Jack had thought otherwise.
He was outside, not on the training fields, but somewhere in between the dormitory building and the main building. Dressed in a pair of worn, faded jeans, a teal sweatshirt with gold stars, and a set of black Converse All-Stars, he looked more like a high school senior than a new trainee.
{ - you could perhaps go and find where the sun division is - }
Chance merely gave the equivalent of a mental nod, though he made no move to actually get up; he was sitting cross-legged on a rather comfortable patch of grass, idly plucking up a few of the strands and tying them together as his dark eyes raked the area around him.
I'll figure it out eventually.
{ - sooner, not later - } Asher reminded him, and Chance smiled a little.
Sooner, he promised.ayeavast wow look at this terribly lame opening post
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 2:46 pm
If the newly arrived Trainee looked like a high school senior then it seemed to be the theme for the day as Abbi appeared to be playing the part of one as well, though in more of a boarding school manner. Dressed in a simple white button up shirt with a pink ribbon tied at the neck paired with a short, pleated grey skirt and pale pink thigh high stockings, the teen meandered from the main building in a sort of leisurely manner only a student could perfect. Both her arms raised above her head in a stretch, one hand pushing the other up all the higher. "Glooooob... You'd think they'd at least try to make a class like 'The History of Hospital Ethics' more interesting." She said out loud, pausing to wiggle and shake. "But no! Five hours of blah blah don't fall asleep in class blaaahhhhh!" As much as she did honestly enjoy taking more traditional sorts of classes at Deus, especially ones in her particular field of hopeful specialization, there was still some sort of boredom that accompanied lecture classes, especially when compared to the excitement of field training. { Wasn'a that bad. Ye only dozed off once! }"Gee, thanks." The girl hopped onto the path from the main building to the dormitories, checking her phone to confirm she had a few hours before her shift in the Infirmary. "Having trouble sleepin', yanno." Maybe she could take a nap before dinner and then work? { Ah know, Little Bit. It'll get bettah, ye never ken. }"You're funny. You know it took me literally forever to figure out 'ken' means 'know'?" Fully prepared to begin a very long conversation about her headmate's funny dialect, and to make a number of rebuttals about her improper usage of 'literally'. Abbi said nothing. Instead she paused on the sidewalk, tilting her head to one side so that one pigtail fell against her neck. "Hey!" She called in a loud voice to the man on the grass. "You ok? You're just... Sitting there?" All her practices of first aid popped into her head and she jumped in place, both hands clenching in the air suddenly. "You look dazed! Did you hit your head? Do you think you have a concussion? Are you ok?!" xkuroopu also not lame cause you started *7*/// /squishes
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 5:28 pm
He'd been sitting there for maybe about ten minutes before someone came by and actually noticed he was there. Chance was used to people passing him by, their eyes moving from one place to the next without ever settling atop him; and for the most part, he seemed not to mind, seemed almost to thrive on his apparent invisibility and his ability to blend into his surroundings.
The girl with the orange hair, however, was the first to stop, which was interesting. She looked like she'd come straight out of one of his old roommate's Japanese manga books, complete with stockings, pleated uniform skirt and a pair of bright pigtails on either side of her head.
Chance blinked slowly up at her, slanting a gaze in the girl's direction and into the faint sunlight that was currently obscured by a series of thick gray clouds rolling across the otherwise blue sky. Inside of his head, Asher gave a little hum of curiosity.
A slight smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He pushed a hand into the grass and stood slowly, his long legs unfolding beneath him until he was standing completely, absently brushing the grass from the back of his worn jeans.
"I'm fine," Chance said, and there was laughter in his voice as he added, "I was just sitting down for a sec, taking a breather."
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 6:29 pm
Blue eyes tried to pick out where he could have suffered the hit, the man wasn't favoring any place like most injured typically did, but he could have also just been totally dazed from the incident to ignore the pain. A suggestion of pause came from Viveca, but the teen only pushed her hands together in worry. He was taking soooooo long to respond and she couldn't help but start to shift her weight between her feet once he finally stood up. Surprised to find him so tall, but then again everyone looked short on the ground, Abbi only continued to stare up at him in what could best be described as a worried pout. So he was smiling and doing something mundane like brushing grass off his pants, but she wasn't convinced. Not until he finally spoke. The worry left her in a sigh and a lopsided smile finally moved her mouth. "WHEW! Ok, you like... Had me worried there for a sec." A hand gestured to him before it sought out a pigtail to worm through, only now realizing how awkward she had been. How ridiculous must she look, jumping some poor guy trying to take a break. "Sorry I just... Deus is a crazy place, obvi... And you just never know what crazy thing coulda happened and... I just wanted to make sure you were ok!"After a second she laughed, knocked a fist against her temple lightly in a pantomime of having made a mistake. "I just got out of a class for my training... Uh, Battle Nur-- Medic! I'm training to be a medic and I guess I kind of got in that mindset of thinking everyone was hurt. My b... Sorry..."{ Now that ye've made a fool of yerself... Go nap. }"So um! Hi!" Since he was here, she might as well introduce herself. "I don't think I've ever seen you around before... Which isn't hard, there's a ton of people here, yanno?" Another laugh left her, chirpier and happier sounding now that she was sure he wasn't hurt. With a hop and a skip she moved closer to him and shoved a freckled hand in his direction. "Abbi Killian, Moon, Intermediate! Nice to meetcha! Sorry I interrupted your breather!"
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 11:01 pm
She was pretty, he guessed, though he'd never really been one to care much about prettiness or handsomeness or whatever else came between that. People were just people, and this girl was just another person. Her bubbling concern for his well-being was at least well-intentioned, and she seemed perfectly pleasant, if not a bit much.
Chance waved a hand in front of him, his faint smile back. "Don't worry about it," he told her. "I've heard stories already about what sort of things happen here, so it's not a big deal." One shoulder lifted and fell in a sort of halfway shrug. "I'm not hurt, so that's a good thing, right?"
He lifted a hand and ran his fingers through his head of curly black hair as the girl babbled on, and her enthusiasm and outgoing personality were kind of amusing. Chance found he didn't really mind it, and once she had finished talking about medical things and had actually introduced herself, he was almost cheerful as he reached to accept her offered hand.
"Chance Bones," he said, and squeezed her fingers in his once before letting go. "I've been told I'm in Sun Division, though I'm still figuring all that s**t out. Seems like a pretty good division, though, I'm looking forward to getting out there and getting started."
His lips quirked up slightly at the corners. "I just got here the day before yesterday, so you probably haven't seen me around."
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 6:11 am
The more she talked, the better she began to feel about her previous jump to conclusion, especially when he began to reply once she had finished. He seemed very at ease, of which Abbi was more than just a smidge jealous of considering she was still a bundle of emotions and reactions she didn't know what to do with. And though she wasn't entirely sure if it was for the better or not, she did nod with a smile when he questioned her and chirped a happy, "Right!". She was curious to know what stories, and from whom, he had heard, but was not given much of an opportunity to ask as introductions came first. Close enough to shake hands, she smiled up at him and tried very hard not to think him handsome because it was only doing something to make her more nervous. Distraction from that came in two parts, of which she addressed both happily. "Bones? Really? That's... Ohmigosh please tell me you were like... Pred-med or something before you came here." She really needed this to happen right now. "Oh! Sun yeah! That's the Offense group! The ones who run in and bash stuff!" A hand lifted to raise a pointer finger in the air, all indications of knowledge being shared. "Moon is Defense. I'm Moon, B-T-W! We keep everyone safe type thing. There's Life that does um... Well I know they do Infirmary stuff but I'm not what they do on field entirely beyond boss people around and then Death collects like information or whatever? Mist fills in the gaps! But obviously Moon and Sun are best." Now she shared a conspiratorial smile before her hands folded behind her back. He hadn't invited her to stay, but he was talking to her more pleasantly than some so she was loathe to leave. Her expression shifted in a pause to something more neutral before she leaned in. "Wow so you're like... Mega fresh! WOW!" Abbi clapped her hands together. "Congrats then! And welcome to Deus! If you need anything, like where to find something or help or something just let me know! I just sort of not really celebrated my first year here!" Celebration being a heavy handed way of putting it.
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:25 pm
His last name had been his mother's, though that hadn't been her maiden name. She'd gotten divorced before he'd even been born, but had left her new son's last name as Bones out of sheer spite for her ex. She hadn't said this, of course, but Chance had learned quite early on, mostly just from various comments she had said to him or perhaps just about him on occassion.
"Nah," said Chance with a smile. "I was never good at that doctor s**t. I mostly worked on miscellaneous stuff here and there. Nothing really fancy."
Listening to Abbi list off the divisions and all their functions was actually relatively helpful, since Chance hadn't been given even a smidgen of information other than "Your division is Sun, here's your coat" from the tech on duty just outside the Dark Cove. He wasn't particularly nervous about being on the front line; Sun Division at least sounded much more preferable to some of the other divisions, and Chance listened patiently until she was finished.
"I think I have a good division, then," he said, laughing lightly. "I'm looking forward to just jumping right in, which it seems is a big trait of Sun."
Asher said something about talking too much inside of his head, but Chance merely smiled, though it didn't quite reach all the way to his eyes. He slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans and his gaze on Abbi was slightly scrutinizing.
"I appreciate that," he said finally, still smiling. "And being here an entire year, that's pretty impressive. You gonna celebrate?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:48 pm
A little laugh leaves her, one of mild defeat. "Guessin' you weren't a big Star Trek fan then." No matter, she would probably still find a way to worm in some jokes about a particular doctor on a particular star fleet with a particularly same last name. He just wouldn't get it, is all. Wouldn't be the first and certainly wouldn't be the last, so the girl wasn't too broken up about it. "What kinda stuff?" There should have been a tacked on addition that asked his permission to ask such a question, but Abbi forgot it in lieu of looking up at him with a hopeful smile. Everyone had such interesting stories about what their lives had been like before Deus and she wanted to hear. "Jumping right in really is the best idea." This guy was all sorts of in control about his situation, something Abbi was admiring heavily and Viveca was grumbly about. The girl reached into her skirt pocket for the little moleskin she carried with her, producing both it and a brightly colored pen. "If you want I can uh..." Why was he looking at her like that? Had she said something weird? The look disappears when he smiles, but she was still sure he had been studying her. Or disapproving? "I can write down a list of some things to do... Places to go, things to do, that kind of thing to get you really immersed!" Another pause. "But only if you want I mean... I don't know everything I just um... If you want." Had she be given such a list upon her arrival she would have held onto it and worshiped it, instead of tripped her way around the Island for months and only just recently felt she got her footing. His final question catches her a little off guard and she waves the notebook in her hand around. "Nah, probably not... Lots of people make it their first year and I don't wanna be like... Well, ok see...Everyone, yanno, only gets a few days off a month of leave and they want to spend them carefully! So I don't want to... To bother anyone!" Maybe she should just switch the topic since she didn't really have a good reason for why she didn't want to celebrate. There were plenty of reasons to celebrate other things, but it was a bit of a convoluted subject for Abbi to tell him that the marker of her being at Deus for a year was also the mark of another birthday she hadn't done anything with. "What about you? You gonna celebrate your new life here at Deus?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 9:27 pm
"I didn't watch a whole lot of television when I was a kid," said Chance, a little dryly. "Didn't have a whole lot of money, so we couldn't afford it. I did manage to catch an episode or two of The Next Generation at a local laundromat whenever my mom dragged me along, though."
He smiled slightly. "Did some serving at a few places. Then I worked in a bookstore when I got older. Not the most exciting job on the planet, but it paid the bills, and I got free books, so," He shrugged. "It was pretty good to me, I liked it a lot better than serving."
Chance was still scrutinizing her, but his expression wasn't unfriendly. Instead, he glanced at the notebook in her hand and then at the pen, and her open, honest face, and wondered how someone could ever get through life with such a personality.
She was nice. Chance had to give her credit, and he smiled at her, an almost real smile this time, his lips curving upwards.
"That'd be great, yeah," he said, with a nod at the notepad. "I think I could probably use whatever s**t you can give me, so feel free to write down anything you think I should know. I do a lot of reading anyway, so it can be a good bedtime story."
Chance tugged absently at the cuff of his sweatshirt before sliding both hands into the pockets of his worn jeans. "Probably not," he said with a small laugh. "Don't really know anyone yet, but maybe that'll change. I could get a drink or something - is there beer on the island, by chance, or do they not want their employees drinking?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:03 am
"Next Gen is pretty good!" Abbi chirped quickly, partly to avoid mentioning the reason why he hadn't been a fan. In her dealings with Leslie, she'd discovered that, at least for him, talking about what he hadn't had was not an option and though this man seemed a bit more open on the matter, she was not going to even risk pushing it. Especially since her short friend was always so angry, she did not want to see what this guy looked like angry. So far he was calm and polite and cute, all of which she would like to keep for their first meeting. "I never watched much, I'm more a fan of the new movies. Where ya from?" If there had been other things she'd wanted to ask, they all vanished into a look of awe when he mentioned working in a bookstore. "Oh man, really? That's awesome! Was it one of those really big bookstores? I bet you have like a crazy collection... Hope you brought some with you!" He was smiling at her again, which had to be a good thing, right? All the more encouraged, Abbi felt it appropriate to continue being nosey. "So do you have like a favorite genre or author or something?" But oh yeah! Helping him! "I'll write down a list of books in the library to check out! Your basic need to know about Halloween stuff, some books on strategy, the boring junk. I like to learn stuff, I know a bunch of random facts about practically everything, so I end up spending a lot of time in the library. And let me tell you, there are some choice tomes here on Deus."And by choice she meant 'how did this ever get published with such a nice cover its a book on the finer qualities of runic disposal'. "You wanna sit down again? You can continue your break while I write." Oh, there was Abbi inviting herself. A hand rose to tap one pointer finger against her freckled nose before Abbi shrugged the playful look away. "There's lots of stuff on the Island, ya just gotta know who to ask. I have half a bottle of vodka in my room and I know a guy with a serious taste for whiskey. But beer... That's a toughie." Mostly because she wasn't so keen on beer, so she didn't know who to ask. "Eh, its kinda like the army only they probably won't raid your room. Don't be drunk on the job and keep it to yourself." Telling him about this wasn't really adhering to that rule.
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 3:41 pm
If she'd pressed for more information from his previous living status, she would have gotten it; Chance had never particularly cared for hiding how he'd grown up, and it wasn't as though he'd ever let it be an issue. Feeling sorry for himself just because his life had been hard had seemed both pointless and much too much effort.
"Detroit," he said lightly. "Michigan. Down the street from the Eastown Theatre. Not really the most picturesque neighborhood, but it was just life."
He offered Abbi a smile, though it was vague, and said, "Just a local bookstore, both called and owned by a guy named Running John, who was half Potawatomi. Don't know why there was the 'running' part, but it was a pretty good place, lots of regulars. Not very big, but I got to relax while I was there, and Running John was pretty nice."
The smile grew a little. "I like history," said Chance mildly. "And historical oddities, anything with an interesting background, really. I did a lot of reading while at the home, so I got really into that sort of s**t."
A list of books would be good, and would help him stave off any of the boredom he was bound to feel when he wasn't training and there was no mission. Chance gave Abbi a faintly amused look as he slowly lowered himself to the ground again, looking as casual as ever, his legs drawn up and his arms resting on his knees.
"Vodka's fine, any alcohol is good if you just want a drink, really," said Chance, resting his chin in his hand. "But that's good to know."
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:21 pm
Feeling incredibly privileged and doing what she could to ignore something she couldn't change, the teen nodded along to the information provided. "Maybe not picturesque... But I betcha you've got a lot of cool stories." The lopsided smile came back, peeked out at him from behind a pigtail as she moved back over to where he'd previously been sitting. "Running John that's... Really cool, actually." A local bookstore sounded way better than some big chain, but she kept that to herself since she was busy preparing to sit. The moleskin and pen were tossed casually onto the grass before the girl turned around, pulled her skirt taut under her backside and lowered herself down. Once the skirt was surely under her, she stretched her legs out straight and snatched up the notebook to plop into her lap. There had been an intention of cracking it open to begin the list, but Abbi looked downright devilish with her wide grin poised at the man. "Historical oddities? Alright Bones, let's see... How did World War I start?" A finger rose in the air. "And you know I don't just mean the strict facts." If he was worth his salt he'd get it. "Well if ya ever get a thirst for some vodka I guess pay me a visit. But bring your own mixer. And a fake ID if you need it. I card for that, you know." Her nose wrinkled in a laugh because it was a hilariously hypocritical thing to say. She was three years from being legal, but damn if she didn't have something stashed in her room. The Island gave her that freedom to charade as an adult when she didn't know how to pay bills or cook for herself. It didn't matter if she didn't know basics, she knew how to drink and that seemed to be the only important thing from talk she'd picked up.
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:20 pm
He half smiled at her, because cool wasn't exactly the word he would have used to describe most of his experiences in Detroit. Interesting could have been one word, or maybe enlightening was more appropriate. But cool was far down the list, if it was even on the list at all.
"Yeah, it was a pretty good place," said Chance agreeably. "I think I spent more time in there than in anywhere else, which is saying a lot."
His eyes flickered briefly towards Abbi as she sat down, tucking her skirt securely beneath her, and if he thought anything of it, or if her slender legs, he said nothing, merely adopted the same vaguely interested look as he had before. A small, somewhat amused smile tugged at his lips.
"Everyone in Europe was fighting for power," he said lightly. "A few alliances were made, several arguments were squabbled, and basically everyone acted like a bunch of children. Then there was the arms race, which was basically a giant pissing contest between Germany and everyone else, the Balkan wars, and then finally the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, which basically set everything else off."
He flashed Abbi a look and added, "I'm twenty-two, so no fake ID needed, just a real one. But that's good to know."
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 9:56 pm
The smile he had given her was not the same as the others, lacking something she hadn't yet figured out how to label. Quickly Abbi leaned in, orange eyebrows raised in mild defeat. "You're allowed to think differently, but like... I bet they're cool. " Granted, Abbi's definition of cool was a wayward, amalgamation of various, shifting ideas so she would say nothing further on the topic. If his gaze had lingered on her legs he would be in for a bit of a show as the girl fidgeted first crossing one ankle under the opposite knee, then stretching it back out only to try it for the opposite side. When that wasn't comfortable, she realized she still had her coat on and hastily stood, turning herself in a circle to remove it and spread it on the grass before she resumed her seat once more, the band of lightly freckled skin above the tops of her stockings growing and shrinking during the whole of her movements. Only now did she open her book, laid bare wrists onto the pages, able to feel the breeze thanks to her short sleeved button up top. The pen was grabbed by her right hand but immediately was tapped against the inside of her left, particularly against the black ink there. An almost matching design laid on her right, but Abbi waved that hand too quickly to see. "Yeah, yeah that's right. But historical oddities! Who killed Franz Frerdinand , what were the circumstances? " She didn't want to judge him, but he was clearly holding back from the fun part of the story and she was totally going to tease him if her got her first question wrong. "Oh. " Of course he wasn't as young as her, that would be silly. "Good! I'm glad! But darn... I was hoping for a sneaky way to learn your birthday." A shown of tongue was flashed his way before Abbi turned her head down to begin the list, which required a doodle header.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2014 9:47 pm
She was relentless in her cheerful pursuit of information and companionship, not that Chance really minded. He could have been training, or maybe sparring instead, and that would have been much more productive; but at least Abbi was friendly and not exactly pushy, which would have been harder to bear.
She was still moving around, seemingly unable to get comfortable until she took her coat off, shifting this way and that, and then finally, a notebook in her lap, Abbi settled herself down on top of her coat and took out a pen. Chance waited in patient silence until she was ready.
"A group of assassins targeted him, one of which who was the head of the Serbian Military Intelligence," he said lightly. "Though obviously they only needed one of the six who decided they were going after him. They got his wife too. As for the circumstances surrounding it...well, there was a failed bombing, a failed suicide attempt by one of the assassins, and then finally they managed to shoot him."
A pause, and then he added thoughtfully, "At least I think that was how it went. I might be leaving something out."
Abbi's expression looked as though she was disappointed he was older than her; he gave her a slight smile even as she was turning to scribble something in the notebook she was holding. "November 19th is my birthday," said Chance. "Since you asked."
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