(open) crash into me

[whatsupcroc]

Date & Time: Mid-afternoon Sunday, May 5th
Location: The Hold and Housing Complex
Characters: All who wish to be in the vicinity!
Summary: The Initiative asked for the Housing Complex to be evacuated starting early morning on 5/5, in preparation for the expected landing of the spaceship stolen from the United Earth. The landing goes horribly wrong when an undiscovered bomb detonates onboard the ship, causing partial engine failure. The ship proceeds to be crash landed into the Housing Complex; no lives, however, are lost.

Warnings: Spaceship crash landings it's all horrible!
Notes: Respond in action tags or prose, as you please!

The ship breaks cloud-cover as a spot of light in the dreary skies, leaving behind the beauty of sunlight above the broken cloud layer as it continues to descend. With the Initiative having instigated an evacuation of the area ahead of time, just in case, those watching in the light drizzle may find it an interesting sight to behold.

Doubtlessly, the United Earth, from its great distance, may have also found it interesting.

The first sign of something going wrong is an explosion visible from the ground. People who hear it might startle; the ship itself goes from a smooth, controlled flight path to one wobbly and filled with dark, flaming smoke. The whine of its remaining engine is slower to reach the ground, though the ship itself seems to pick up a spiraling speed, still controlled to those familiar with watching things that fly come crashing down to the ground.

The Initiative members on the ground are calling for people to get back and take cover. Inside the main Hold, one man at the transport pads hears his radio blast to life and swallows past his own fear, glancing at the active pad waiting to pull in another unlucky soul.

When the ship hits the Housing Complex, it demolishes the upper levels, though the force with which it hits doesn't seem to be the same as what it should be. Combined telekinetic buffering and excellent piloting from a former Guardian of the Universe Galaxy keeps damage to a catastrophic minimum.

Welcome to the fallout. What will you do from here?

Comments

[retraced]

But -

[Nope, there's no way he's going to let Oz pay for anything thank you very much. He can figure out this whole future money thing himself!]

There has to be more to it than that...

[velveteened]

Gil.

( f i r m l y. let him handle this one!! masters take care of their servants, he's said it from day one. )

[retraced]

[He just grunts under his breath. Oz is one step closer to winning this argument. 8( An unfair argument, btw.]

[velveteened]

( he is an unfair and capricious master! anyway since gil has clearly nothing else to say against this, he turns on his heel to head in the direction of the aforementioned bakery. )

You'll like it, I'm sure of it!

[retraced]

That's not the point at all!

[He glances around for that cat before following. Oz, you're going to have to explain this wagon eventually.]

[velveteened]

( yes he will but he can wait until gilbert asks about it!!! or something.

in the meantime he can walk at a confident clip a little ways into the city, the any remaining heat radiating off the wreckage fading into the typical evening chill. the wagon keeps up with them, squeaking occasionally and scaring the cat, but it's not long before they're approaching a bakery where the lights are indeed still lit, sitting next to aziz and ernie's, a place for tea - and, according to collette, the best chai in the city. )

Good, they are still open!

[retraced]

This place?

[The wagon gets a glance or two, but he has to look away from the cat before he has a chance to realize that it's moving on its own and not on a string in Oz's hand or something. Oblivious to the end, this one.]

Something feels off about it...

[Well, something feels off about the whole city, but.]

[velveteened]

It's fine, it's fine!

( moving to let himself in if gilbert doesn't beat him to it. )

[retraced]

[Sadly, he doesn't beat him to it, but he does follow him in.

He's not holding the door for the wagon, though. Not while the cat is still there...]

[velveteened]

( oz doubles back after gilbert follows him in, letting the wagon in - it has some things he'd thought to save from his room, underneath how the cat's made itself at home there. luckily, the shop owner doesn't comment on the cat's presence, but he does recognize and greet oz briefly, waving the two of them to take a look at his display. it's not especially pretty and a bit emptied out because of the time of day, but there are some perfectly respectable - and delectable-looking - scones and sweet pastries available, as well as seating. there's a limited selection of warm drinks, only a few with the bigger place next door. )

[retraced]

[Ugh, fine, Oz you win you can let the cat and wagon inside without complaint as long as--

Wait. Wait just a second.]

Oz, I should have probably asked this before, but...is that wagon moving on its own...?!

[/last horse finishes]

[velveteened]

That's right.

( matter-of-factly, like wagons wander around on their own all the time, never mind that he was as surprised as anyone else to discover this initiative "weapon" was capable of it. )

It's really convenient, isn't it? Though it spends a lot of time following Break around instead of me.

1/2

[retraced]

But -

2/2

[retraced]

How?!

[velveteened]

That's a good question! It was that way when I got it.

( from the initiative. as a sentient weapon. details. )

[retraced]

That's not an answer at all!

[Weren't they supposed to get food tho.]

[velveteened]

( he opens his mouth to answer - or, really, just say something else blithely - but is interrupted before he can.

the shopkeeper, forgotten, clears his throat significantly! he has a store to run, guys, and if you're not going to buy anything... )

[retraced]

[OOPS..........

He shuts up pretty quick and puts a hand on Oz's shoulder, shoving him a little closer to the displays and attempts to not make eye contact with the clerk.]

What did you want? Nothing here is really a full meal.

[velveteened]

( it's tempting to order all the cookies, but he instead goes for the croissants and scones like a good fake french victorian.

and


a few cookies........ )

[retraced]

[The words you're going to fill up on sweets and not be able to eat dinner drift through his head, but from the way Oz had said it, it sounds like this might be the only place open after that whole fiasco. That market had been close enough to be evacuated as well. And he doesn't exactly have access to an oven right now to cook a proper meal anyhow...

Ugh, the future is frustrating. At least most of what Oz is ordering is bread of some kind.

When it gets to be Gil's turn to order, he orders. Coffee. Just straight black coffee.]

[velveteened]

( how cool and adult of gilbert...! and more or less what oz expected, so it's a good thing he got enough to share, huh?

his wallet isn't something he forgot to rescue from his room before the destruction, so he's able to pay the man in the strange coinage that's commonplace here as their orders get made (in the case of the coffee) and wrapped up (in the case of the pastries) for them. in all honesty, there more than likely are proper restaurants open if they venture further into the city, but where's the fun in that? besides, tonight he finds himself not wanting to venture too far out - and there'll be plenty of time for that later, after all.

once their orders are ready, the shop owner sees them off with a cheery wave. )

[retraced]

[He watches the money exchange hands, but he doesn't catch how much Oz has actually spent since the system is different than what he's used to. But he'll just have to come back here later to get the prices figured out and make sure to reimburse his young master when he's able to. Oz said they get money for being here, and...he's pretty sure the guy in the hold said the same thing in all the commotion. But that's fine, it can be sorted later.

For now he'll just try to find a place to sit down so they can both eat and rest a minute.]

[velveteened]

( there are some park benches not far away, and they're near a street light that shines brightly in the ever-increasing darkness. they're also strategically placed under a particularly large awning jutting off from a nearby building, so the seats are only dewed where they could be slippery with water.

it's here that oz leads him - and the wagon, of course! - for a place to eat. )

[retraced]

[It's terrible weather to be eating outside, but at least there's an overhang of some kind. As soon as they're sitting down, Gilbert finally takes off his hat and settles it onto the bench next to him to look at the damage that the day in the rain has done to it. It'll need to be washed and let to dry, but luckily it doesn't look too bad off. Good. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself for ruining Miss Ada's present...!

But as soon as that's out of the way, he picks up his coffee cup, sighs, and stares down at it like he's not sure what to do with it.]

...I'm sorry.

[He finally says, filling the rainy-silence.]

I'm really sorry that I couldn't get here sooner, and then arrived at a terrible time. I left you on your own...

[velveteened]

( he's already taken a bite out of one of the croissants when gilbert speaks, giving him an excuse not to answer right away as he hesitates and masks it with a swallow. gil has no need to apologize, he knows, about something so far out of his hands. if there were any amount of choice in this at all, no matter how small, he knows gilbert would've been here the moment he was. on any other day, he would've already started in on punishments for tardiness - not that gil's going to be spared them altogether, but at least till now - but today was...very different.

expect nothing. pretend it doesn't matter. it'd be so easy. )

It's alright. You're here now, aren't you?

( it's only now that he looks up and over at gil. )