text ↪ un: weaverville

[wittingly]

Hey so

I've been screwing around with the network connecting the communications devices a little. I know there's no Spotify here, no internet, not a lot of music, which sucks. My MP3 player came here with me, so I figured maybe some people might like to have at least a few options. It might not necessarily be to everyone's taste, but it's better than nothing (probably).

I've uploaded the contents to the database, you should be able to access it or send/receive songs at any time.

Turns out they already had some music on there too, so you can poke around theirs and see if you find something you like more. I haven't gotten to go through it all, but at least some of it looks like 21st century Earth stuff.

Sidenote: you're welcome to criticize the contents of my MP3 player, just know that I've never felt shame in my life & I can and will sing all of these karaoke style to your face. IDK if you really want to live through that experience.

( feel free to threadjack as you like )

Comments

[wittingly]

( He sighs unhappily, glancing back at his desk like it has something to contribute to the conversation. )

I'm... I started drawing up floor plans. I planned to- I'm going to make us a place that's private. It's just that somebody else spotted them and got really... Tense about prioritizing ourselves over the bunker situation. I have to finish that first, I think, because it'll make us all look better to the locals. As soon as that's done, I should be able to finish up phase one for move-in. Maybe... Two months?

( Which is way too long to his introverted brain too, but... It is what it is. They need to be accepted into the community here. )

But that means pretty much all I can do is strong-arm you into starting on your list, so... When's the next time you're free to get a drink?

[lifetothefullest]

[That news is... Kind of painful, honestly, but it's what the situation calls for, and he's not about to argue with what Ian's decided is the best way to handle it especially since it's a big favor anyway. So he just nods, as though this is some sort of mundane information about the weather, though in addition to his actual dismay at the situation he's also a little concerned by what the locals might be expecting of the new arrivals. That's going to be an issue to keep aware of.

Just one more thing for the list, and he lets himself sigh at the question, not so sure he's actually ready to agree to this, but--]

Whenever. I'm mostly making my own schedule with helping out the medics, so it's more about when you have opportunity to dig yourself out from under your projects.

[wittingly]

( Lance does a great job selling that acceptance as not being particularity terrible. Even so, Ian knows how he feels about it himself. He also knows that all three of them have a few key traits in common, and sleeping surrounded by people is bound to be fucking all of them over slowly but surely. It's draining. He has a few short term ideas he'll pitch later.

The display on his watch goes dark, indicating that the transfer is done. He detaches both devices, and turns to offer Lance his phone back. )

I think I should be done for the night in... Like two hours? Give or take? If you're good for that. I can meet you at the...

( Vague gesture, finger snap, fuck, his brain is so fried he can't even remember the word.

Whatever, Lance gets his meaning, he's sure. )

[lifetothefullest]

The place.

[He says it flatly, but with a hint of an amused smile as he takes the phone; yeah, he gets the meaning, or at least he's pretty sure he does. No problem.

But he does add--]

I don't intend to be the only person talking.

[Just, you know. Putting that out there.]

[wittingly]

( His answer is one huffed out sigh and a lightly declared: )

Fuck.

( He's not exactly shocked, but he's already committed. Bailing out of letting Lance talk about what's bothering him for his own selfish sake doesn't really sit right. It's fine. He'll navigate.

Maybe. Probably. Fucking Lance. )

Yeah, okay, I know. Get out of my office. Go check out the robot.

( That's his absent dismissal as he turns around to get straight back into working. Already distracted, already focusing.

It's more like two and a half hours before he shows up at The Place, sorry man. Priority number one: get a drink. Priority two is apologize for tardiness. )

[unclesam]

well, shit
so you're just that kinda unlucky, huh?

[ goddamn miracle the boyfriend didn't get separated - Sam's just assuming that's an imported thing, though if they just went full-speed ahead, hey, who's he to judge. ]

seriously though, how you holding up?

[lifetothefullest]

[He feels smug enough at that response that he offers a small smirk and a wave goodbye, before he does indeed go check out the robot. The super cool robot. Wow.

But then he has a few hours of trying to mentally prepare himself for this conversation, because even though he knows logically it's the best thing to do, it's horrifying. It's made a little easier by the fact that it's just Ian, and that he's also dragged Ian into this with him, but that still doesn't help a lot.

The delay bothers him a little at first just because he's nervous, but by the time Ian does arrive Lance has his head on his arms on the table and is dozing a little. Not enough that he doesn't wake up and lift his head when he senses Ian approaching, but enough that the time wasn't wasted.]

Hey.

[wittingly]

Hey, man.

( No traditional Sup Nod this time, but rather a faintly worried assessment of Lance's physical state. Nodding off at the table isn't a great sign. He's not in Lance's line of work, but it's not exactly a secret of the trade that sleep is an important part of mental health.

He settles into his seat, sliding his cup softly along the table's surface. No kool-aid package this time. )

How much sleep are you actually getting now?

[lifetothefullest]

Enough.

[A few hours here and there, which isn't great, but better than just after returning from the Aerie. Not that that's a difficult bar to pass, but whatever.

He straightens up in his seat and pulls his own glass toward him, but it's just water; he hasn't started drinking yet, because he's still deciding if he's going to or not. It certainly makes hard conversations easier, but it also lessens the benefit of them.

And speaking of hard conversations, he immediately stalls, though the question he asks to do so is still out of genuine interest and concern.]

What about you? I know this isn't your favorite arrangement either.

[wittingly]

I guess it depends on your perspective. Anywhere is better than going home, so. Glass half full, I guess.

I'm good, man. Could be worse.

( he's awful, actually, and he's staving off anxiety attacks with moonshine and weed. Thisisfine.jpg )

[wittingly]

I'm six one and I'm sleeping in a fucking hammock.

( Blunt but chill, forever slow and calm in his speech. It would sound amused to a stranger, but Lance isn't. The annoyance deep down under there is legitimate. )

At least when I was stuck in the safehouse it was on a mattress. You have... no idea how hard it is to have sex in a hammock.

( TMI? Sorry, man, you wanted him to talk. There's a little realness for you. )

[lifetothefullest]

[He's about to empathize with the first comment--he isn't quite as tall as Ian, but very close and hammocks are definitely not comfortable--but then Ian says that last bit and it takes great effort for Lance to keep a straight face long enough to respond with--]

Wow, way to make assumptions.

[Correct assumptions, but still.]

Maybe the locals can give you some strategies.

[wittingly]

Hilarious, but believe it or not I'm actually not interested in hearing about other people who probably did it in the same hammock I try to sleep in.

( Ignorance is bliss, although he did recently learn about the couples privacy bunks. Also gross, but desperate times. )

As much as I'd love to keep talking about my sex life in ways that will slowly make you uncomfortable because you know all the parties involved, I'm actually gonna go ahead and acknowledge the stalling tactic out loud. I'm pretty sure talking about it ruins the efficacy.

[unclesam]

[ Sam thinks back to the phrasing 'the end of the world with no government out there to swoop in and save you from the aliens'. Yeah, this ain't hard to clock. Anywhere's better than going home, huh. ]

could be worse don't quite make it good. ain't gonna push you on that though. this place more like home or more like the power up timeline?

[lifetothefullest]

[Okay, he supposes that's fair, and also gross. It's gross enough sleeping in the same hammock someone else did, let alone anything else.

But... Hey. Hey. Lance gives him a look for a few seconds, and then shrugs and picks up his glass of water.]

Sounds like you're volunteering to go first.

[wittingly]

Home. The power up timeline had actual infrastructure. I had a career and an apartment again. Home was more like a compound. Maybe forty or fifty people, holed up in the national park by Crater Lake.

This place definitely has a better population and more electricity. Indoor plumbing. No restrictions on using metal, you'd be fucking amazed how hard it is to adapt to not using metal.

[unfastens]

Only twelve? I guess that makes me your elder.

[ not that he knows this guy is 14 years older than him at present but ]

[unfastens]

[ your dad has GREAT taste ]

Should I take offense to that, Trish?

[wittingly]

Nuh-uh.

( He protests, pointing his cup at Lance defiantly. )

The whole point was this being a you thing. You skate around talking to everyone else about their problems, you never let yourself talk about yours. You've been hitting me with that maybe later thing since, like, the Aerie at least. It's bonding time motherfucker, bare me your soul. Quiz me after.

[lifetothefullest]

[U g h. Could he argue? Maybe. But would it be a good argument? Not even a little.

So instead he rolls his eyes dramatically, especially since the levity will probably drop extremely quickly once he starts talking, but then sighs.]

Fine. But when you regret this, you're the one who said I should do it.

[Just, you know, as a warning. Also, he feels he should add--]

Also, um, more seriously... I don't want anything I say to be a reason why you think you shouldn't talk about something you're dealing with.

[Part of why he doesn't share things is that he just doesn't want to talk about them or have people look at him differently, but part of it is also concern that they'll think they shouldn't add to his problems. And sure, that's incredibly ironic and hypocritical since another reason he doesn't talk to people is that he doesn't want them to have more to worry about themselves, but whatever; he's never claimed he isn't a hypocrite.]

[wittingly]

Sincerely noted.

( Which might accidentally sound less than sincere just as a byproduct of his natural demeanor, but he means it. Thinks he can guess at the logic behind it, or at least narrow it down to two likely reasons. )

I'll thrust the full weight of my issues on you with no reservations.

( Okay, maybe that isn't quite as sincere. He'll have reservations no matter what, but they'd exist regardless. He'll just be mindful that he hedges for his own selfish reasons alone. )

cw from here on for discussion of child abuse

[lifetothefullest]

[He can tell it's genuine--genuine enough, anyway--and so that's a little bit reassuring, but what isn't reassuring is that he's out of good reasons to continue to stall any longer and is now very much regretting the decision to have this talk in the first place. He knows it'll be a good thing, and it's long overdue, and that not having to hide things will make dealing with it all a lot easier.

But there's just so much, and it would be so much even for someone who was used to being an open book. And he is definitely not.

So Lance chews on his lip again, a nervous habit that comes and goes, scratching his nail against a small chip in his glass and letting his gaze shift toward the table. Might as well just start somewhere.]

So um... I think I mentioned before, when I told you about why I hadn't really been dealing with dying at home to the extent that I should be, that it was because there was something else mixed up in it that I didn't want to get into.

[And he still doesn't, but he'd identified early on in Hadriel that it was a part of why this whole thing was so hard, and he'd only become more and more aware of just how much that was true and in how many ways, and that dealing with it all alone hasn't been working. So he gives a long exhale as he steadies himself and decides how to put this.]

I was um, I was adopted when I was six, but before that I didn't have the best luck in the system. One of my foster parents was really violent, and it was just... Like a year and a half of nothing but just trying to make it to the next day.

[There are, of course, so many different aspects to this story and what that time in his life had been like, but this is the part he's realized is having the impact now. But putting how and why into words that might make sense is a challenge, and he's now fixated on trying to remove a smudge from his drink glass as a distraction while he talks.]

It was a really bad time in my life, but it was supposed to be over, and it had been for a long time. But then I was beaten to death and ended up right back in that cycle where the goal is just to survive, first in Hadriel, then in New Amsterdam, and now here.

[And coming to terms with that is something he just hasn't been able to do. It just feels so unfair and pointless, and he knows both of those things are part of life, but that doesn't make them any easier to accept.]

[unclesam]

[ alright. so it is better than home, but closer to it than the power up timeline. goddamnit, Ian - that's not half full, that's just the glass tipping over without spilling everything. ]

we also still got the wreck to salvage things from. so no nine to five, but more stable than 40 to 50 people in a compound.

oregon, huh?

[figlia_morbida]

[Snort. He immediately assumes she's judging him. That's fair.]

Hm, only if you want to.

But when I think on it, jazz suits you perfectly. Mellow, abstract, contemplative.

I'll dive into the network and download some jazz for you. How's that?

[That one is a dig. Bruno is clearly too old to know how to navigate the network's inner mechanisms. He probably hasn't even heard of Napster! Unhip.]

[nonscriptum]

How's that working for you thus far?