how to wrap a cat [OPEN]

[charismatic]

Who: Will and ~*you*~
What: Running errands, doing inadvisable things at work, drinking, dancing, etc.
Where: He works out in Serpolet and lives in Mog Hill but wherever works. Just specify a time/place when you tag in.
When: All this week and bits of last week.
Notes: IF YOU WANT TO WORK OUT SOMETHING MORE SPECIFIC/A DIRECTION/WEVS, just poke me on plurk or something. Be prepared for a lot of unnecessary capslock. Also, there is no cat, I was just watching this video.
Warnings: None as yet!

He's starting to settle in, as much as anyone can settle in, here. He's got a job he enjoys and an apartment he doesn't mind and maybe a couple friends. Will figures he's doing reasonably well for himself. Everyone knows him down at Tinker's Lot now, his neighbors don't bother him, and he's starting to piece together his favorite places to go to blow off steam.

So he learns the train routes and schedules, he goes shopping occasionally, and he gets used to mundane things like carrying a messenger bag and having hard currency. Nothing seems too jarring when everything is wrong, and Will's adaptable. If he focuses on the immediate problems of livability and keeps himself reasonably occupied, he's fine. Things start to look familiar.

He doesn't so much ignore the tension underneath as set it aside, put it away for later. There's not much he can do about it now, and he's a practical soul. If he wants to get to a place where he can, he needs to have his feet firmly under him and a clear head. Hitting up dance clubs doesn't always help with that, but a guy's allowed his vices, right?

Comments

[charismatic]

“Well,” Will says. “I'm probably going to be testing out something unstable and dangerous,” he sounds a bit too cheerful about it, “but as long as you're ready to run for the nearest shelter if the siren goes off, you should be fine. We should get you a hat, though.” He gestures vaguely at his own head, even though he's not wearing his helmet right now. It's hanging against his back by the tether.

[charismatic]

It doesn't actually fly, unfortunately. Not for more than a couple seconds. It didn't crash or explode, though, so it's ahead of plenty of things Will's tried out up here. He's really only coming back to snap a picture, since he'd forgotten to earlier (the thing doesn't have an engine at all, so far as he can tell), but the person sitting on top of it gives him a pause.

“Hey,” he says. “Are you lost?”

[controlledvariable]

"Oh, awesome. I'm good at running fast, don't worry," The idea of seeing someone test something unstable and dangerous is really exciting, and she is actually good at getting out of the way. But she sobers up a little and nods, "Where can I get one?"

[charismatic]

“They have extras up at the front desk,” Will says, peering back in that direction. It's not so far, in terms of straight lines, but there aren't a lot of those around here. “Otherwise I can see if the guy I was just working for has any to spare.”

[controlledvariable]

"I'll go grab one, head protection is important," Steph doesn't need straight lines, "If you wanna start ahead, I can catch up."

She bounces a little on her toes, giving Will a bright grin, before heading off in the direction of the front desk. She doesn't show off too much, that'd be dangerous in front of someone she's never met, but she does take the quickest route possible, even if there are things she has to scramble over.

[captaincocksure]

Jim's pleased by this. It's not that he disagrees that being in space or captaining a spaceship are less than awesome, he's just... heard it. A lot. And had to explain himself a lot. It's nice to not have to do that, in this instance.

"Orbital space," he echoes. "That has to be an exciting time. We're... I don't know, about two hundred years past that? Or so? Intergalatic travel."

[toooldforlosing]

Raylan shrugs lazily. "I don't know, the usual. Work. Drinking. Running. Not always that order. What do you do?"

[charismatic]

Will peers after her, shrugging. It's not an uncommon short cut, though the chance of falling debris makes it a slightly risky one, especially with no protective gear. She seems to know what she's doing, though, so Will just plops his helmet back on, pops the visor over, and heads toward his new job at a pace that should be easy to catch up to. There are enough forks in the path that he doesn't want to get too far ahead, quick on her feet or not.

[charismatic]

“I work out at Tinker's Lot,” Will says, paying for his drink when it comes up. “They have all kinds of weird stuff out there and they need people who are quick at getting out of the way if it blows up to test drive them.” He pauses for a moment, considering. He remembers the bit about the sheriff. He's just not sure if or how that connects to the Militia. “How's work for you?”

[charismatic]

Will nods, leaning forward slightly. “We have ships and shuttles – my family is actually from a space colony – but we haven't found practical ways to get too far away from Earth yet. Most space traffic is at least semi-orbital.” Or it was. It's a little more disorganized now, what with a rebellion going on and all, but Will wouldn't exactly be up-to-date on that, even if he hadn't been sucked into some weird monster city.

[toooldforlosing]

He makes a so-so gesture. He's not trying to wind Will up - he's just not sure exactly what he wants to say. Finally, he says, "From what I understand, as districts go, Mog Hill's mostly just people lashing out when they first get here. Petty criminals taking advantage of newbies. That sort of thing. We deal with most of it local."

I.e. with as little militia involvement as is practical. At least from Raylan's point of view.

[captaincocksure]

"I lived very briefly at a Federation colony."

Aaaand that's all Jim's going to say about that; not the best of times. He grins. "But for all our spacefaring, aside from that short off-world stint? I lived on Earth until I enlisted a couple of years ago. I always wanted to go, though. Be out there among the stars. It just took me a while to be okay with wanting to go, and then to get myself there."

[wingwalker]

"No," Xas says, peering down at him. It's half a lie; he doesn't know where he is, but he's not trying to go anywhere, either, so it doesn't matter. He'll make it back to the Inn eventually. Definitely before his time is up and they throw out his belongings or something.

He pats the pod beneath him and tilts his head at the man, frustration easing off his face. "Does this fly?"

[charismatic]

“Nope,” Will says, bringing a hand up to shade his eyes so he can see him up there better. It's bright out today. “It kind of hovers for a little bit and then it quits.” It's not that unusual to have curious people hanging out around sites, really. Will's not really clear if he's supposed to tell anyone anything, most of the time, but he hasn't gotten in trouble yet.

[charismatic]

Will nods, tilting his head. That doesn't totally answer the underlying question, but he'll take it. He takes a sip of his drink. “That makes sense,” he says. “It's pretty disconcerting.” He'd been too focused to freak out, but he supposes that doesn't happen to everyone. “Plenty of folks around here seem capable of doing a lot of damage.”

[charismatic]

The bartender gets back with Will's drink, so he pauses a moment to thank him before he turns back to Jim. “I'm kind of the opposite,” Will says. “Kind of. Most of the people born in space don't get a chance to visit Earth. I got drafted, though. Military school.”

[captaincocksure]

Jim raises his glass, a little salute of thanks for the bartender. He takes a sip and he turns back to Will. He was born in space, too, but that's another thing he would rather not discuss.

His life, sometimes.

"Starfleet's a voluntary service. You enlist and you do four years at the Academy, then you go into active service." There's the tiniest hint of triumph in his smile. "I went through a little faster than most. I'm already on active duty. I can't think of anything else I'd rather do."

[charismatic]

Will tips his glass. That's something he's a bit more familiar with, if maybe not in the same way. He was always on top of his classes, too. “My circumstances were a bit weird,” he says, but that's probably enough about that. “I'm technically retired,” he adds, changing directions.

[controlledvariable]

Steph reappears about two minutes later with a hard hat on top of her head and holding a cool looking piece of... something that she picked up. It looks a bit like a mini pulley system, and she's wondering if she can convert it into some kind of secondary grapple hook -- knowing her, the one she has now will break soon.

"What sorta stuff do you test out?" She's looking around at all the machinery in the Lot, wondering what exactly Will's job is.

[toooldforlosing]

"Ain't that the truth. And it's been a quiet few months, even." He almost sounds like this puts him on edge, and it does, a bit - he's waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[charismatic]

“I'm a freelancer,” Will says, unperturbed by the sudden reappearance. “A pilot. People make big scary vehicles, I try to drive them.” His tone suggests that it may actually be the best job ever.

[controlledvariable]

"Wow," Steph is already under the same impression, "How do you get the qualifications for a job like that? Or do they just want someone who's enough of a thrillseeker to want to try to drive big scary vehicles?"

[captaincocksure]

"Really." Jim looks Will over, impressed--the guy's around his own age, retired already? "Business was good, I take it?"

[charismatic]

“Pretty much,” Will says, laughing. “It helps if you can get out of the way quick when something goes wrong, too. I'm very familiar with piloting giant machines, but the ones I'm used to handle a lot better.”

[wingwalker]

Xas hums quietly and considers the machine for another few moments. That's comforting, actually. It doesn't look like it should fly. "Do you have anything that does?" he asks.