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secondplacing ([personal profile] secondplacing) wrote2015-09-21 08:21 am
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Voice; action available for New Bark Town

This is Agent Carolina, reporting in from New Bark Town.

[Carolina’s tone is just as militaristic as ever, as though she’s making a call straight from Chorus. She holds the pokégear steady despite the squirming, wiggling growlithe in her other arm. Of course, the growlithe can't be seen, but his little wiggly yips can certainly be heard.]

I understand that I— hey, calm down—

[Yeah, hold that thought. Carolina has to put the growlithe down before she’s going to be able to say anything else.

There's a sigh before she starts to talk again.]


...Sorry about that.

I understand this line is a public channel, so if any of my men are hearing this, please send me your coordinates. Or.

[Right. They can't do that.]

...Just let me know if you're here.

Assuming they aren't here, I’d like to put out a request. I’m in charge of a crew of soldiers who refer to themselves as the reds and blues [(though, the way she says that, it sounds more like she’s their babysitter)] and if I’ve turned up here, it’s just as likely they will, too.

If you hear from anyone going by the names Washington, Church, Tucker, Simmons, Grif, Sarge, or Caboose, please send word to me. They can be a bit of a handful, but I’d really appreciate it.

[That last bit is said with a hint of an affectionate smile in her voice.]

In any case, thank you in advance, and it’s… nice to meet you all. I’m sure we’re not all here under the best of circumstances… but…

[She sounds lost for a moment, as if searching for the next thing to say.]

Anyway. Thank you for your time, and if… anyone is experienced with the pokémon ‘growlithe’, I’d appreciate any pointers.

Agent Carolina, signing out.

[but before she can disconnect..]

Hey, what are you-- No, don't bite that! What are you doi--

[As for action, Carolina can be found just outside New Bark, glaring at the ledges.]
ratherbelocky: (I am a soldier baby △)

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[personal profile] ratherbelocky 2015-09-21 04:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[He moves his hand to cup the side of her face. The weight of her, the warmth: This is real. Not even the best dreams feel like this.

He keeps his eyes on hers while she speaks, still and serious, but unafraid of anything she has to say, now. He doesn't understand half of it (what's the Meta?), but that doesn't matter anymore.

D-2, on the other hand, fidgets nervously as she watches Stripe.]


It's okay, Carolina. The Project, I know what that meant to--

[Hhhhold that thought.]

Wait. Wait, you...you were alive?
ratherbelocky: Art by aromanticyork.tumblr.com (I wonder if this is △)

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[personal profile] ratherbelocky 2015-09-21 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[Stripes, please, your nose is cold and D-2 is shy. She squeezes her eyes shut and sends him a nervous plea to pleeeeease not get so close.

In the meantime, York sits back on his heels while the pieces fall into place.]


Oh.

[Putting that together with the time he seems to have missed out on, he comes to the obvious conclusion: Carolina outlived him. By quite a bit, it appears.

He brightens.]


Hey, that's great! And also, makes a whole lot more sense. Seriously, a little old spaceship crash doing in Agent Carolina? Never happen.
ratherbelocky: (The youngest was still △)

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[personal profile] ratherbelocky 2015-09-21 04:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Why? What the hell would I be mad for? You survived, Carolina, that's--Delta kept running the probabilities, trying to let me down easy, but I didn't...

[He slows down, then breathes out a faint laugh and lowers his head.]

I didn't believe him for a long time.

[Oh. Well. Nice doggie. D-2 waits a moment, then raises her hand to flash a little light sequence at Growlithe in greeting.]
ratherbelocky: (But you will never understand  △)

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[personal profile] ratherbelocky 2015-09-21 05:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[He savors the feel of her grip for a moment--how long has it been since he could touch someone like this, someone he could trust?--then shifts so he can thread his fingers through hers. Skin to skin. How long was it since the last time he hadn't worn gloves?

Comfort and regret. Carolina is here and he let Delta down.]


Yeah, well. Me too.

[He rubs his thumb along her skin.]

I guess you already know what happened to us? Me and Delta.
ratherbelocky: (Sweating through the pain △)

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[personal profile] ratherbelocky 2015-09-21 05:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[Well, all right then. York glances around, which diverts Delta Two's attention from Stripes, and then nods to Carolina.]

We can get some ways into the trees. There isn't a lot of shelter otherwise, and I don't think we'll find a place to talk back in New Bark Town, either.

[He gets back to his feet without letting go of Carolina's hand.]
ratherbelocky: (Face-down in the stream △)

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[personal profile] ratherbelocky 2015-09-21 06:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oh, he can see it now. He and this lone stripe, they are going to be in competition for a valuable resource, and York already knows where his puppy eyes rank.

Ah well. At least York was always one of the least sore losers on the squad.]


Up you get, D-2. [He finally releases Carolina to scoop up his little grey partner and walks at Carolina's side into the trees, alert to the telltale rustling of Pokémon in the undergrowth. Wouldn't want to be interrupted at this point by a random encounter.]
ratherbelocky: (Our mother a serene △)

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[personal profile] ratherbelocky 2015-09-22 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
[He makes to put D-2 down once more, but she clings to his jacket with her nubby LED fingers, so he just sighs and resigns himself to holding her. Robbed of the ability to cross his arms, York still finds a good, sturdy tree to lean back against and props his foot up on a protruding root.]

I'm as ready as I can probably get. Go ahead, Carolina. You know I hate feeling left out.

[They all had their fill of lies and secrets aboard the MoI.]
ratherbelocky: Art by malcolm-hargrove.tumblr.com (Pearl teeth △)

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[personal profile] ratherbelocky 2015-09-22 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
[Whoa, she wasn't kidding when she said he'd missed a lot. York's eyebrows rise when she says Delta somehow survived him--did Tex take him?--but while he opens his mouth, he doesn't end up asking.

Instead, he glances away for a moment, thinking, then shakes his head.]


Dude fell off my radar ages ago. Don't think I've heard from or of him since the crash.
ratherbelocky: (This hotel's home to me △)

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[personal profile] ratherbelocky 2015-09-22 11:37 am (UTC)(link)
...Son of a bitch.

[North...York spares a moment of sympathy for Theta--poor kid--but North had been his buddy. His best friend in the snakepit. Not that York hadn't been one of them; not that North hadn't, either. But it still drags at his heart to know North had been killed by a teammate, someone York had once trusted.]

South never even got an AI, why would he--no, they would've been together. Damn it.

[He rubs Delta Two's shoulder absently, like she's the one who needs comforting. He adjusts her weight in his arms.]

But I don't get it. How did he end up with Delta? Wyoming shot me, not Maine, and I know Alli--Agent Texas wouldn't have given him up to anybody.

[And it goes without saying that when Tex doesn't give something up, it stays ungiven.]
ratherbelocky: (They thought he was asleep △)

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[personal profile] ratherbelocky 2015-09-22 04:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[And York was told about Homestuck. So now he knows about Homestuck, too. Everybody knows about Homestuck.]

...

Holy shit.

You fought how many Texes?
ratherbelocky: Art by malcolm-hargrove.tumblr.com (This is never △)

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[personal profile] ratherbelocky 2015-09-22 06:16 pm (UTC)(link)
And you won with a squad of sim troopers?

[There are other things he could press, here--like the part where the Freelancers were done, the Project finally exposed, the Director and his lies done for good. How Carolina must have felt then. His own fight put to rest.

But a ragtag bunch of idiots taking down a Tex army? Come on.]
ratherbelocky: (You trust me don't you baby △)

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[personal profile] ratherbelocky 2015-09-22 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[All of a sudden, York feels complicated, and he always tries to present himself as a simple guy. Carolina's grown so much. She's gotten past Project Freelancer, past the Director--and past York, too. And he's happy for her, because it's so good to catch those hidden softnesses again, to understand that she found something else to give her survival--her life, the endless battle given every soldier after war--meaning.

It's just a bittersweet to know that that gentleness isn't for him and his. That he and the other Freelancers are her past, now, and her future's going to--got to--be a stranger to him.]


They sound like a fun bunch.

[His smile's genuine, though, and his voice light as ever. Warm.]

If they do show up, you've gotta introduce me. Especially to the Red leader guy, he sounds like a real party.
ratherbelocky: Art by malcolm-hargrove.tumblr.com (Cracking calculus by three △)

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[personal profile] ratherbelocky 2015-09-22 10:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[The image of Wash awash in a sea of regulation blue makes York laugh, and he lifts a hand to idly rub the sides of his face as if the motion of the smile surprised him.

(He's not that bad, of course. He and Delta had a one-and-a-fraction-man comedy duo all ready to hit the circuit, so it's not like he forgot how to talk or laugh or be with people. But it's different now, for some reason.

For a few reasons.)]


Of course he does. You know, good for him. The dude always did deserve better than what we gave him.

[Says schoolyard bully numero uno. But he's proud. Or, no. Maybe just glad.]

What about you? Red or Blue?

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