[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

(cafeteria)

[oncearanger]

[Billy's always overloaded with tools these days, fixing here and tweaking there. When he stops for his bland daily supplement, he catches sight of Charlie bent over...something. Lots of research, it looks like. He waves from across the table.]

I didn't think we had all that much to read up here, but it's probably a good idea.

[alittlesweptup]

[The motion from the corner of his eye catches Charlie's attention, though for a moment he willfully tries to ignore it - not because he doesn't necessarily want to talk to Billy, just it's a difficult passage and he's almost-- almost--

Oh for Christ's sake.

Charlie taps away from the file on his tablet and looks up. He lifts a hand in a dull semblance of a returned wave.] The AI's got some odd stuff in its files; makes for a good way to fill the time.

[oncearanger]

How odd?

I imagine it's old, given all the glitches we've experienced. But I never thought to investigate why.

[He crosses his arms and sighs. He recognizes Charlie's irritation, so he doesn't plan to stay long, but he is curious]

[alittlesweptup]

[That gets an impassive shrug, noncommittal in a lot of ways.] Mostly it's historical documents - old government dossiers, half the contents blacked out. That sort of thing. Dull as dishwater unless you've a head for it. [Half declassified files left over from old versions of the world aren't his favorite thing right now. Any other day? Absolutely. But having to sift through them while trying to unearth useful files is like separating wheat from chaff.

Charlie nods to the tools Billy has with him.] I see you're keeping busy.

[oncearanger]

I'm still fixing the base. I'm learning how to operate a spacesuit so we can fix the breach in the shower walls now.

I guess it's a little grueling---fix something, something else breaks, and we never quite know what's happening.

[alittlesweptup]

Breach in the shower walls. [He repeats carefully. Lovely.] My advice would be to keep the helmet on, for starters.

[oncearanger]

I have been, don't worry.

[He grins, but it's not quite sincere.]

I'd love to get home before a bigger catastrophe can happen. A few good punctures and we die.

[alittlesweptup]

[Charlie raises his hand slightly - like a vote that he's right there with Billy.] You're preaching to the choir, mate. This space nonsense isn't really my thing.

Day after zombies?? Day after zombies. Fingers crossed this goes well.

[totallytrustworthy]

[Infection effectively dealt with, patrols less vital than repair-work, Chloe doesn't skip a beat swapping out the hefty rifle on her back for a banged-up hammer. It means running a full double shift's worth of serious labor, but if she's honest with herself, she'd rather be pinning up holes than creeping back to a room that's too cramped. Too cold.

Too likely to have Charlie Cutter curled up for a post-disaster rest.

So she waits. Bolts up and beats on walls till enough time's past that she feels comfortable creeping in and catching nearly nine hours of sleep. And from there it's--

Well it's aimless. Not tired enough to sleep any longer, nothing to fixate on; it's entirely on accident when she meanders past one of the VR rooms and spots the soft glow of artificial light illuminating the near unmistakable outline of Charlie's profile.]

If you're thinking about remodeling, you might want to shift housing more to the south.

[alittlesweptup]

[It's not that they've been avoiding each other - at least he doesn't think that's what they've been doing -, it's just...they've both been busy. And she wasn't wrong; the first thing Charlie had done once all the zombies had been cleared out of the base was to crash in their reclaimed closet and sleep uninterrupted by dreams or anything else for almost seven hours.

So they'd just missed each other. Which should mean he's more pleased to hear her voice than he actually is. Instead Charlie pauses slightly, tipping his head in her direction (though his gaze doesn't follow to catch her until a beat later). He's not unhappy to see her, just--]

Let the AI know, shall I?

[totallytrustworthy]

Dunno if it'll be all for making this place look like a giant cock, but you never know.

[She knows, though. It's not in his expression when he (finally) moves to glance her way-- might be in his voice, but they're both worn enough to be split at the seams. More than anything she knows how he feels because it's the reason she's propped up against the doorway instead of at his side. Like there's a line drawn on the floor dictating what's his and what's hers.]

[alittlesweptup]

[He laughs despite himself - not loud or long, but there's a genuine note of pleasure there and his mouth quirks briefly at the corner.]

It would go a long way to explain all the wanking about that's been going on though.

[He absently glances back to the schematic, tweaks something negligible more as an excuse to put his hands to something. There's a beat, then:] Want to take a look at this?

[totallytrustworthy]

Well the Initiative does need a mascot, doesn't it? [There's no grin on her end when he laughs (or when he teases for that matter) but there's something there tugging at the corner of her mouth as she drops her chin in a sort of agreement. Steps across the threshold and settles down in the space just next to his elbow. Close, but not terribly so.]

[alittlesweptup]

I thought that's what Goodman was.

[It's as safe a topic as any. Charlie doesn't shift to close the gap between them or anything, just turns the schematic over so she can get a proper look at the thing.] It's not to scale or anything, but it'll do. [Not that he hadn't tried; he'd walked up and down the corridors in housing counting out how many strides it took him to go from one end to the other.]

[totallytrustworthy]

[Okay. Her turn to laugh. Sort of.]

Right, so. [There's a solid pause as she opens her mouth, lifts her brows as if she's about to say something that's relevant (or at least that'll qualify as valuable input) shuts her mouth again and thins it out into a line.]

It's...a building.

[alittlesweptup]

Oh don't be a nob. [He does cross the distance then to give her shoulder an easy shove.]

Seriously now, I've all the doors and that sort've thing marked in. We just... [Strange how looking at a proper map makes it more intimidating. More like something they've got to actually plan for.] ...you know, have to work out how to use it.

[totallytrustworthy]

Ohhh. [It's a slow, quiet little sound. More exaggerated than necessary, but it's intended to be.]

You mean aside from just locking all of them.

[alittlesweptup]

[Charlie snorts. Please woman, as if he hadn't thought of that already.] We can't bloody well lock the whole base down. People'd want our heads on pikes.

[totallytrustworthy]

So, what. We just start playing musical doors? Don't think they'll be too happy about that idea, either.

[alittlesweptup]

[No one's going to be happy about anything, that much he's almost certain of. So from here it's about minimizing the damage.

Christ, he likes this better when all they have to do is worry about how to cover their asses on the way out the door. He's very rarely the brains behind much of anything, and this isn't anything like the gigs he's used to running anyway.]

What I'm saying is we'll have to keep some paths open - keep the cafeteria and sections of housing accessible? Musical doors isn't a bad thought, though.

[totallytrustworthy]

[Part of the problem when it's the two of them charting this course: they don't usually chart courses. Chloe hums out a low note under her breath, tilts her head to see if the map might make more sense at an angle.]

Toilets.

[alittlesweptup]

[Charlie taps a few keys which highlights a few points on the schematic.] Should be able to keep those free as well so long as housing's left alone. The only problem is that leaves us stuck in, well, wherever else.

['Us' being the people they've theoretically got in on this with them, naturally.]

[totallytrustworthy]

Well if things go smoothly that won't matter all that much, right? [It's a genuine question. Whoever throws themselves into the heart of it along with them probably shouldn't be someone that's going to get itchy after a day or two of camping out.]

[alittlesweptup]

[Which is fair enough. Maybe he's just getting antsy - barricading himself in somewhere isn't really their usual M.O., is it? Sitting round, waiting for something to give, waiting for someone to catch them red handed. -No, not even waiting. Purposefully putting themselves in the position where people'll know what they're doing and why.

Charlie taps a few buttons and the schematic blinks away entirely.] No, you're right.

[totallytrustworthy]

[The room goes remarkably dark after the display's shut off; Chloe's eyes strain for a moment or two to make sense of everything-- the dim light creeping from outside against his silhouette, the slope of his shoulders-- before she gives up. Decides the dark is more appropriate for the conversation she wants to have.

No expressions, no distractions.]

You don't have to go through with this, you know.