faster than you think

[gevurah]

Date & Time: 10/10 – 10/13
Location: Basel, Switzerland
Characters: OZ, GILBERT and KATE
Summary: a pharmaceutical supply run courtesy of Gil's nicotine addiction.
Warnings: it's these three who knows.


[ Kate isn't one to allow herself to be pushed into anything she doesn't want to do, whether it's her father ordering her to take the night off after being poisoned and almost teetering death. Or a teenager pestering her into helping him and his friend out because said friend is having a situation up on the moon.

Despite not knowing what to make of Oz, Gil did comply without question last month when people were wandering out of the city's boundaries and being snatched up the UE for experimentation. Besides, what else is she to do up in the base when she's not training? She needs to make herself useful.

She might also be able to question Oz about Jack Vessalius privately, depending on whether or not Gil doesn't hover too much around his apparent master.

It doesn't take long; the Initiative sends them out via Transporter to Switzerland, a country she's vaguely familiar with having been to Geneva once as a child, back when her life was less blood-splattered and when her sister and mother had been alive and well. The location invokes memories, old and bittersweet as they set off. ]

Comments

TRAIN

[gevurah]

[ I'm on a train, motherfuckers.

Compared to most trains in her time and certainly Oz and Gil's, this train is runs smoothly down its tracks with very little noise, most of it isolated from the outside. Everything is sleeker, brighter and cleaner. Each seat in their compartment is filled, otherwise it's just as quiet in here. There's the occasionally screaming of a child and someone snores loudly or a child kicks the chair behind, but it's relatively enjoyable ride. ]

THE CITY

[gevurah]

[ Shops line the streets as far as the eye can see. People pour and disperse from every corner, walking in twos or threes or sometimes fives and sixes. Noise is largely concentrated on the streets and traffic. Locals trams can be spotted making their way through the city.

There's an abundance of tourists, too, stopping to shop in every building they come across. There's also a long line of people waiting to eat in a restaurant at furthest corner of the street.

While Kate herself is focused on the mission objective, it is tempting to steal a moment and take in all of this. The energy of the crowds, the noise, the smell of food mingling in the air. It's a peace she's longed for for nearly a year. ]

HOTEL

[gevurah]

[ Lucky them, they get to stay in one of the fancier hotels.

But they're roomed together with only two beds. Still, it's a quaint room. Catches good sunlight, there's a small balcony to step out onto and view the city's landscape. A large TV is positioned in the middle of one bedroom, along with a chair set up against the side.

The two bathrooms are just as lustrous and polished as everything else they've acquainted themselves with so far. The toilet automatically flushes and there's a lovely aroma in the room so it maintains its fresh smell. ]

MISSION

[gevurah]

[ This isn't a vacation you lazy assholes.

TBA. ]

[velveteened]

( oz has got his face all but plastered to the window, fingers making imprints on it not long after they've departed from the station. it's fascinatingly futuristic and, more importantly, very much on earth — a living earth, green and blue and bright and with the sounds of people he won't yet have the heart to even consider complaining about. )

— Did you see that?

[gevurah]

... Hm?

[ Kate sits with her ankles crossed, gazing out the window to view all the scenery they pass as they won't see civilization and a thriving world like this once they've returned to the base.

Her own green eyes fall on Oz, peering through bangs that are in desperate need of a trim, waiting for him to explain. ]

[velveteened]

The mountains!

( he looks over his shoulder with a grin, gesturing at the indeed impossible to miss mountain skyline. it's exiting okay. )

And it looks like we'll be passing a lake soon.

[gevurah]

[ Oz had told her back on a previous mission he had never seen the ocean before, but does that mean despite being landlocked he's never seen a mountain? Her gaze drifts to the skyline, thinking about the people at the lodge at the top and enjoying hot cocoa and other hot drinks before heading out into the cold, fresh air and skiing downhill. ]

Switzerland's mountains are famous; they're called the Swiss Alps.

[ She looks back at Oz. ]

No mountains where you're from either?

[retraced]

[Gilbert isn't a part of this conversation. He's too busy nervously tapping his foot and staring out the window at nothing in particular. While it's great to be back on earth and breathe fresh air, he's also breathing fresh air. Which means that if he had tobacco, he could smoke it. But they've been in a hurry to get on the train and start this mission, and he's too mortified to bring it up in front of Kate. So instead he suffers silently. Well, silently minus the sound of his foot tapping, which is helpfully (mostly) drowned out by the conversations around them.

Still pretty annoying, though.]

[velveteened]

The Alps?

( he feels like he's heard collette perhaps mention them in passing but that's all the familiarity he has, and finds himself wondering at the etymology of the name. at her question, he cants his head slightly — it's less the point of having seen mountain ranges before and more seeing ones now when they certainly won't on return. not that exsilium was so mountainous, of course, but at least there was exposure to fresh air and at least it was earth. it's hard to say when he turns back around without quite answering that if it's out of avoidance or just being that easily distracted. )

And there's the lake! I wonder what it's called...maybe we'll be able to find a map somewhere.

[gevurah]

When we reach the station they'll probably have one.

[ She removes Oz from her gaze and looks to Gil; she's familiar with those going through withdrawal -- Renee had been quite the smoker in the past. ]

You okay, Gil?

[retraced]

--Huh?

[Hearing his name snaps him back into reality, halts his tapping and forces him to sit up straight. His eyes move quickly from Kate to Oz, and then finally back to the window.]

Sorry, what about the lake?

[velveteened]

( oz keeps his attention on the window, but listens to this quietly. gil's withdrawal is of course part of why they'd come all the way out here in the first place. )

[gevurah]

We're about to pass one.

[ She surveys Gil for a brief moment. ]

Withdrawal, right?

[ But unlike Gil, Renee had gone cold turkey on alcohol and cigarettes and never went back. Not after Charlie died. ]

[retraced]

[He doesn't turn to look at her, but his expression alone, even in profile, is enough to glean that she's hit upon the truth exactly.]

...I'm fine.

[One hand moves to rest on his knee, trying to look casual but it's pretty clear that it's a conscious effort to keep his foot from tapping again.]

[velveteened]

That's right!

( without turning around. he'll answer if you don't!!!! )

[gevurah]

We can get some patches.

[ She uncrosses her legs, looking from Oz to Gil. ]

Have you thought about quitting? It's no good for you.

[retraced]

[ET TU, OZ.

He shoots his young master a very betrayed glare before turning to Kate, both hands up in a dismissive, apologetic but clumsy manner.]

Th-that's not important right now! There's no need to talk about it!

[velveteened]

You know, ( conversationally, ) I've said the same thing.

( it could be worse, he could be mentioning how many attempts gilbert's made. )

[gevurah]

[ Kate tilts her head as Gil grows avoidant of the topic. ]

We can't bring back cigarettes. We have limited oxygen.

[ Gil is going to have to quit one way or the other. ]

[retraced]

[HEAD IN HANDS.]

I know...it's been weeks now, I know we can't-!

[velveteened]

It might be easier to handle if you let someone help!

( brightly; gilbert he gave you your chance to do it on your own NOW YOU MUST SUFFER. )

[gevurah]

[ She just assumes Oz doesn't realize how difficult it is to put down a cigarette or bottle. She had spent a long time drunk and going to bed with countless, sometimes nameless women. ]

They might have better patches or electronic cigarettes in this time. Medicine and technology has to have made hurdles by now.

[ She peers out the glass again. ]

[retraced]

[It might be, but he's sure that in his case he could have a thousand people helping and the cravings will never go away. A weak person like him could never be so lucky.

But he doesn't recognize half of the words that she just used, so he cracks his fingers apart to peer up at her.]

Patches? What do they do...?

[velveteened]

( he doesn't follow either term she mentions, having the same questions as gil, but agrees that hopefully they'll be able to find something more effective in this futuristic time period. he's not had his fill of the window yet, but he does turn and sit with his back to it so as to listen. )