north by north lest we have to settle down

[boughtabookstore]

Date & Time: March 25th through April 1st.
Location: Bars, training room, police headquarters, assorted other locations of your choosing.
Characters: Roslyn Small (boughtabookstore) and YOU (aka OPEN)
Summary: Roslyn is out and doing, well, about the usual. But running into people at the same time. Whatever format you want, if one of the given options doesn't work for you feel free to come up with one that does.
Warnings: Most likely not any, will change if that changes.

one. bar hopping.

[ She's actually in bars a great deal less these days - more commitments, both to her job and to her friends (and isn't that a change from a year ago), but she's always found that people in bars can be excellent sources of information and she still does enjoy alcohol, though her drinking right now is a great deal more in moderation.

It's still fairly easy to find her in one of her favorite bars at night, talking to the natives or to friends or simply sitting in a corner by herself and watching. ]

two. respectable citizen (??).

[ During the weekdays during normal work hours most of her time is spent either at the station working on paperwork or out on the streets looking for things that will then give her more paperwork to do. She never was a beat cop of any sort, and though strictly speaking that isn't her designation she can't take inactivity while working enough to let her stay stationary. It's interesting. When she was an agent they never stayed long in one place on a case. Certainly not long enough to gain contacts or really get to know a place.

She has to say she likes it. It's good to have a purpose again, and it's interesting to be - for lack of a better word - engaged in the place she now lives in. ]

three. also about those missions.

[ She goes to the mandatory training sessions, but as well as that she tends to also show up at the training hall early in the mornings before work to put in a workout routine, make sure she's staying fit and prepared for anything. On the weekends she comes in for a slightly longer time, works on her target shooting and sometimes looks for someone to do hand to hand with.

The missions are unpredictable and frequently dangerous, and she'd like to ensure that she's always ready. ]

Comments

[boughtabookstore]

[ It is there - her team had meant the world to her for a few years, but she'd snapped those ties as well as she could and she'd moved on before she even came here. They still mattered, but she found it easier and easier to simply not even think of them. ]

There are more bad memories than good associated with it.

[firstroar]

[it's terribly sad to him, sensing that detachment. sad...frightening, in ways. he hopes such a state of mind isn't waiting for him if he lingers here.

even those bad memories...]

Is it the opposite here? More good than bad?

[boughtabookstore]

[ It is unlikely that it awaits him - Roslyn was purposely ruthless in her cutting of ties, in a way that is rarely spurred by anything other than tragedy.

She glances over at him, smiles a little. ]

Sometimes. Perhaps it is around even.

[firstroar]

[quiet again, Blue considers this, his own expression still faintly knit with his concern. he is sorry for those circumstances of hers, causing such replies.]

This work you do...do you do this with hopes to tip the scale in your favor?

[boughtabookstore]

[ A thoughtful pause. It is rare for her to consider why it is that she does what she does - it is just what she knows. ]

We all have our duties. I consider it mine to use what I know. That is all.

[firstroar]

[this gives him much to consider. he's silent then, mulling it all over.

she's from a different world, different circumstances...it's easy even for a Mu to think his own perspective is more natural than others. yet it still strikes him very sad...so lightly she speaks of cutting ties! maybe it's his power that keeps him from entertaining the idea kindly.

yet he's not sure if he should feel bad for her or not. strange...]

[boughtabookstore]

[ She lets the silence pass for a long moment, quiet and reflective herself, and then she glances over at him, a little curious. ]

What is it about your world that you miss so much?

[firstroar]

My people. [he doesn't need to think about that.] They deserve to have experiences like this...in places where they can travel in the open freely, safely.

[boughtabookstore]

They were not able to in your home? [ Tilting her head to watch him in turn. ] Why not?

[firstroar]

We are considered monsters. [he returns the gaze, his expression growing withdrawn, stony.] We are killed when we are found, subject to torturous study if we are strong enough to survive.

'It's not natural to hear another's thoughts,' they say.

[boughtabookstore]

Ah. [ A half voiced sigh. She had hunted her fair share of 'unnatural creature's, but they had tried to distinguish between those causing no harm and those hurting people.

Others had not. ]

I'm sorry. That cannot have been easy.

[firstroar]

[he can't see the real depths of the truth of that reaction – more the reason to stare at her with no shortage of curiosity, scrutiny.

but he nods all the same, accepting her words. he makes himself look away from her, to stare ahead.]

I want them to know a place like this. Even at its grimmest, the people here...

[boughtabookstore]

[ She waits a moment after that trail off, still watching him curiously. ]

Are different?

[firstroar]

Freer. [he looks back to her.] Here, on this island at least. It is a restrictive life, but...their hearts and minds are still free to feel as they will about it.

[boughtabookstore]

Mmm. [ She considers that, leans back. ] I suppose that is true. We are at least not told what to think.

[firstroar]

We seem plenty told, [smiling faintly.] but it is still our choice what to decide is truth enough for each of us. The mood toward our hosts is as varied as each person's own fingerprints.

[boughtabookstore]

About the United Earth, perhaps. But about each other, not as much. We are left to draw our own conclusions about our community and how it should work.

Yes, that it is. We have a fascinating group of people here.