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[motivation]

@yalena.yardeen | ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

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@john.jaqobis (during the event or right after, you choose)

[stabilis]

Hey. Still awesome?

[ it's their brand of 'are you ok', ok. ]

[motivation]

nothing i can't handle

[ she's bruised and the wound on her arm will turn into a new scar, but hey. ]

did you have fun? [ he better be okay, too, or she'll burn this whole place to the ground ]

[stabilis]

You know it. Got real sweaty in a dumpster, picked up a few cracked ribs.

[ somehow completely factual. ]

I'm at one of the safehouses. Are you home?

[motivation]

what is it with you and ribs, johnny?

[ how often is this now? hells. ]

heading there now
which safehouse?

[ she might make a detour ]

[stabilis]

Funny, I thought you'd home in on the dumpster instead of the ribs.

NW corner of the square. I'm fine, Dutch.

[ Which isn't a 'don't come', because he'll be just as happy to see her. It just isn't urgent. ]

[motivation]

and make fun of you for finding your way home? nah

[ he left himself wide open for that one, and the "i'm fine" helps, too
she'll still make the detour, but now she won't hurry ]

action ➔ drinkin'

[resleeves]

[ getting out of that godforsaken safehouse had been the highlight of his time here in this weird fucking city so far. he didn't need to be coddled or babied or given a cot to sleep on or tucked in at night by all those that had come before.

no, he wanted his fucking freedom and as soon as the shackles had been metaphorically kicked off, he was delighting in doing his own thing. his own thing being finding new places to drink every night while he tries to figure out what the hell else he's supposed to do here.

tonight, when he pushes his way inside, he spots someone vaguely familiar at the bar. as he gets closer, he realizes he'd met her earlier, when he'd been but a boy in that stupid safehouse. now, the training wheels were off and he was just going to invite himself to sit beside her. ]

I know you.

[ hello and all that. ]

Glad to see someone in this city knows how the fuck to pass the time.

[motivation]

[ he knows her. she knows him, too. for a given value of knowing, anyway —there's familiarity because dutch is damn good at memorising faces, at assessing people, at figuring out whether she could beat them in a fight or not. (whether she could kill them, but she doesn't do that anymore. not the way khlyen trained her.)

she's not sure whether she could beat kovacs. it's not about how tall he is, the muscles his frame carries, but there's something about the way he carries himself, the assessing intelligence in his eyes behind the anger and the sharp words. it doesn't matter. (it always matters.)

he invites himself to sit beside her and she lets one corner of her mouth curl upward. ]

Good to know I'm not forgettable.

[ she's so flattered. not. ]

What's your poison? [ she works as security in this bar, so she gets a discount. ]

[resleeves]

Something strong. Don't serve me piss water.

[ anything that's going to make his lungs feel like they're on fire for a few brief moments is good. just nothing too watered down that he could go lick a puddle and get the same reaction from his body. ]

Guess I can say one positive for this place: plenty of places to drink. It's not some fucking backwoods planet with one open bar and a bartender that goes to sleep at nine at night.

[ it wasn't harlan's world, basically. he misses his home but he does like the amenities of a big city. ]

[motivation]

What do you take me for?

[ it's a rhetorical question more than anything else; he doesn't really know her despite his proclamation. so she doesn't take offence, just lets her lips quirk into a wry smile and gestures for the bartender to bring two more of what she's already got in front of her, mostly empty. (it's whiskey.) ]

Those are the worst.

[ all things considered, dutch honestly doesn't think this place is bad. the living standard's better than in the quad. no black rain, no executions she's seen so far. if she didn't have a war to get back to, if she didn't hate the fact that she didn't get a choice about being here, she wouldn't mind it. ]

[resleeves]

So, is that you agreeing with me just to agree with me or are you not from Earth?

[ either, he almost adds. he doesn't take her as the type to just say something to placate another person or to join in with a crowd so he's guessing she knows a thing or two about planetary travel.

at least someone else fucking does. ]

I was beginning to think no one else had gone to fucking space. Feeling pretty lonely.

[motivation]

It's my first time visiting.

[ dutch's only concession to the fact that they're both displaced is lowering her voice a little over the words. she knows this bar, there's often people interested in what others have to say, but it's also the kind of place where there's always noise, enough to drown out words spoken between two people sitting close to one another. ]

Ever heard of the Quad? J star cluster.

@john.jaqobis, on the train!! post dreams

[stabilis]

[ He'd start with 'are you okay', but her network post kind of covers that one. ]

You've seen the green in action, right? Do you remember how it works?

[ Translation: was it anything like the mess they just slept through (and woke up to). A few seconds later: ]

Are you at the bar?

[motivation]

[ she's fine!! isn't she always? (no) ]

i have
and not like this
similar, but not like this
and i haven't seen any bloody pools of green anywhere, either
i checked

yeah

[stabilis]

Okay. Shit.

[ Is that good news or bad news?? Not sure, honestly, but at least he's got an idea of where not to start. ]

Want company?

[motivation]

[ both

the good news: it's not the green
the bad news: they have no idea what it is ]

yours? always

[stabilis]

Be there in a few.

[ gotta squint at the network some more first obviously ]

And I know it doesn't need to be said, but for the record: I'm glad you're here. I mean, here generally, but on this weird ass train trip specifically.

[motivation]

yeah, me too
even though i meant to wait with the vacation until after we've won against the lady

@cassian.andor | sometime in new tokyo

[evasives]

Did you ever get yourself a jacket?

[ is this his way of checking in?? m...aybe. ]

[motivation]

i did
it's a bit big

[ it's fine. she knows how to make do. even if she hates the cold. ]

how's the tourism?

[evasives]

Bigger can be warmer.

Not entirely what I hoped. The snow has impeded a lot.

[motivation]

with enough layers, it is

annoying, isn't it?

[evasives]

That goes without saying regardless of jacket size.

Tedious, yes, but I do not mind snow in theory.

@john.jaqobis

[stabilis]

I hereby propose a "get drunk on the couch and watch the drama on the network" committee

[motivation]

i'll bring the whiskey
you better give me the cliffnotes

[ bc it's not like she's received ample training in statecraft......... ]