[OPEN] we expected something

[alittlesweptup]

Date: various; post-zombie attack
Location: Various
Characters: Charlie Cutter and YOU
Summary: Skullduggery Charlie does his homework.
Warnings: None (as of yet, will edit if applicable)
Notes: Get yer pre-mutiny CR building opportunities here!

[CAFETERIA]
[Gathering supplies - food, medical kit - is all vital, but being well fortified isn't what's going to win them anything in the end. So more and more, Charlie can be found with his nose in his tablet reading and making notes, brow furrowed and mouth pinched into a thin line.

Reading, research, quoting lines back - all that he can do. But figuring out how to order his own words properly, anything to do with writing something respectable of his own? Less his forte. Oh, he's a good liar when he needs to be, but he's not stupid enough to think they'll slide through this with a little fast talk.

So he's hunched over a meager lunch from what's left of the cafeteria's stores in the wake of the zombie invasion, carefully making notations in hard copies of old speeches that he's found in the AI's database.

Christ, it's the sort of thing designed to produce a headache.]

[VR ROOMS]
[Charlie hasn't actually spent much time in the VR rooms, but they've got their advantages. Though he doesn't go so far as to bother with constructing anything complete, but rather spends some time tinkering up partial floor plans. It's something he'd usually prefer to have on paper, but resources are scarce and - if he'd being exceedingly honest - he's never been much of an artist.

He runs the builds late in the evening when someone's more likely to go off to one of the other compartments rather than take too close a look at what he's doing, but that doesn't necessarily mean his work always goes uninterrupted.]


(ooc: any format is a-okay and if neither option appeals to you, feel free to throw up something random and I can just tag in as is appropriate.)

Comments

[alittlesweptup]

[What exactly encourages him to shoot her another glance, he's not sure of - but it means he catches the vacant expression that hits her face the moment after the egg goes in her mouth.

Charlie wordlessly untucks his napkin from under the edge of his tray and wordlessly slides it over to her. If she's going to spit anything out--]

[gevurah]

[ Her eyes trail to the napkin and she takes it, spreading it around her mouth and pushing out the piece of egg into it before wrapping it up and placing it aside. She wipes the bottom of her lip neatly and then looks over at Charlie sheepishly. ]

Thanks.

[ A beat. ]

Sorry.

[alittlesweptup]

[Charlie waves her off, casual enough; plenty more napkins to be had if he could be bothered to go fetch one.] Don't bother yourself over it.

So: avoid the eggs then, shall I?

[gevurah]

[ She nods and instead opts to eat some of her instant noodles. Still not quality, but who is she to complain about food when survival is essential? ]

They're supposed to have a shelf life over fifteen years. Think it's gone past that.

[alittlesweptup]

Honestly? [Charlie's gives her a pinched look, corner of his mouth pulling slightly. It's as close to a grin as anyone post three full days of zombie apocalypse is likely to get.] I'd stay off the freeze dried anything if it were me. I don't care how long people've been doing it; food wasn't meant to be dehydrated.

[gevurah]

Not a fan of raisins, I take it?

[ She pops one of the dried slices of banana into her mouth. After she's chewed and swallowed, she continues: ]

Well, beggars can't be choosers.

[ She's eaten snakes before to survive. This is a sad upgrade from that, but an extreme downgrade when you're a multi-billion dollar heiress.

But fuck those dried eggs. That's nasty. ]

[alittlesweptup]

Only in pudding. Or bread. [Yeah alright, raisins maybe get a pass. But don't ever try to tell him that freeze dried ice cream is anything but awful.]

Who knows, maybe someone'll get sick of it all and go on a mission for a selection of fancy cheeses. [He punctuates it with a gesture that's dangerously close to 'jazz hands'.] Because that's not a waste of time whatsoever.

[gevurah]

People seem pretty good about bringing back necessities, at least. They just hoard the good stuff.

[ ... She did, too. Guess who has beer from Switzerland? ]

[alittlesweptup]

Getting off this bloody rock - that's what's necessary. [It's mild enough, a low tired grumble. Because who's he to argue against fancy soaps and a few innocent booze runs?]

[gevurah]

[ She can understand his frustration. Hell, most people she talks to are constantly making snipes about their situation on the base and who's to blame them?

Kate herself wants nothing more than to get back on solid ground, but she's lost herself in her emotions far too many times, so she keeps herself calm and collected. ]

Can't ever seem to get people to come to an agreement up here.

[alittlesweptup]

It's hardly a new thing. No one could agree on shit downstairs either.

[There's a reason people like he and Chloe were allowed to operate without much issue on the island; it's not like anyone could agree for much oversight or forcing responsibilities on anyone. And while he couldn't find it in himself to complain when Exsilium hadn't been a smoking matchstick (who can cry over being allowed to do whatever the hell they life), the change in scenery has gone a long way to putting a fine point on things.]

[gevurah]

Most did appear agree on one thing.

[ Her gaze trails to the instant noodles and she pokes at it with her fork. ]

[alittlesweptup]

[Which earns a cocked eyebrow and a doubtful look shot in her direction. Charlie absently pages through some of the data on his tablet, swipe of his hand automatic.]

Oh? Do tell.

appear to...* WORDS...

[gevurah]

Leaving the Exiles.

[ She had gotten a chill seeing so many people argue for abandoning half a million people. She still wonders why they didn't just stop the bomb using the Transporter.

It makes her wary of other Transports, the ones she doesn't know, that they would disregard not just one life, but many. ]

words are hard ok

[alittlesweptup]

[It's not something he's had a straight conversation with anyone about. He'd gone off on some mission, perfectly happy to do it for once in a long time, and come back to...-- this. Exsilium a dark spot on the face of the planet and them living out of a tin can. After a year of being culpable for so much - poisoning ancient farmland, watching Elmer's world burn, getting natives killed off with bombing and biological warfare and worse -, he probably shouldn't have been surprised to come back to ash and cinder and so little remorse but it'd been the first time he'd had the luxury of being angry at someone else for it.

Bloody barbecues in the VR room.]

Selfish pricks.

[gevurah]

[ Of course, Kate's up here too, meaning she ran with her own tail between her legs. The difference, she thinks, is that she can't forgive herself for any of it.

But there's a long pause before she says quietly: ] Sorry.

[ Not the topic anyone wants to discuss when attempting to enjoy mediocre meals. ]

[alittlesweptup]

[Which, believe it or not, actually counts for something. It at least makes Charlie pause anyway, tapping his fingers on the screen of his tablet. It's not okay and no one's forgiven, but he lets the silence string out for a few seconds and maybe that translates anyway: he doesn't blame her, whoever she is. He just wants to blame someone.]

It'll get sorted. [That much he knows. One way or another, something's going to give with the right pressure.]</small.

[gevurah]

[ She nods.

She doesn't know how or when, but her determination won't waver. If they can get through this, then maybe they can prevail after all. ]

There's plenty who haven't stopped working on a solution since they got up here.

[ Good people. People worth fighting for. ]

Kate, by the way.

[alittlesweptup]

[Charlie blinks at that, hand pausing over the tablet - fingers sprawled - as he gives her a second proper look.]

Ah. You don't look anything at all like what I imagined.

[gevurah]

[ The corner of her lips quirk with amusement. ]

I get that sometimes.

[alittlesweptup]

Considerably more ginger, for one. [Charlie abruptly offers her his hand.] Cutter. We had a lovely chat about how doomed we all are.

[gevurah]

[ Fun fact: Kate once beat up a serial killer of sorts named Cutter. He was a colossal jerk who was going to cut off her cousin's ear. ]

Good to meet you.

[ She takes his hand and shakes firmly. ]

[alittlesweptup]

[God all you people and your painfully obviously named serial killers. Not that it would be the first time his name's made him out to be more dangerous than he actually is. --Well. More dangerous than he actually is on a day when he's not working in any case.]

You as well. Any more luck with tracking down that rover?

[gevurah]

[ Her brows then furrow. ]

Beetle took a look outside and found one. Broken, but it's sending a distress signal.

[ Whether or not something's coming for it? She has no idea. ]

[alittlesweptup]

[Well isn't that just--]

Charming.

[He makes a disgruntled noise, lip pulling back gently.] Any ideas on how to handle it?