( open ) made you a prisoner inside your own secrecy

[gevurah]

Date & Time: nov. 7th – 14th
Location: various locations
Characters: kate & you
Summary: kate (sort of, but not really) doing things and having feelings around the base and people maybe interrupting her.
Warnings: tba.


➊ bathroom / showers ( closed to the first person who gets it anne boleyn )

[ Is she up earlier these days? Kate has to wonder this to herself as she exits the individual shower unit. Time is funny up in space; when days begin and end begin to blur together, but the implemented Earth hours seem to help a little. Whatever the time is now, it’s a good time to grab a quick shower despite the water never rising above lukewarm.

Wrapping herself in a snug towel that she had lifted off the hotel in Basel, she moves toward one of the mirrors and begins to dry herself off before she slips into clean undergarments, shorts, and an A-shirt. The USMA sweater (that she’s also lifted from her previous mission with a heavy heart) is tucked into the duffel bag along with her other belongings. She digs through it, extracting scissors and a small, fine comb. Once she’s combed through red locks that she’s allowed to grow far too long, she parts it and leans in the mirror to quickly examine its condition.

She uses the comb to separate a thick portion of it and she begins to snip away, shortening the length bit by bit. ]


➋ cafeteria

[ The coffee brewed from the stolen machine is shit compared to what Gil had brewed her a while back. She tells herself to consider asking him for some of it in exchange for whatever she can afford to trade.

But beggars can’t be choosers. While she picks up some of the freeze dried fruits like banana slices, strawberries, and apples, Kate’s lived on far less – and worse – in the past. She’ll take jarred pickles that may have been sitting around too long over snake... although she sorely misses sushi.

She’ll think of it as Washington Hall; a really cheap and sadly lacking Washington Hall.

After she picks out some vegetable canned soup and heats it up, she makes her way down the floor to an empty table and seats herself. Her hair no longer spills over her shoulders and hangs before her line of vision: it’s neat and short once more, and it feels like a tiny, trivial weight off her shoulders. ]


➌ virtual simulation room

[ She returns to the Academy.

Not the Academy in the 2200s, that’s not hers – not really. Neither is this one, though AI does a magnificent job with the little details in her memory. The room converts itself into one of the familiar grounds Kate once used to trek up and down in her cadet days. The buildings towering above with such historic beauty, the grass a lively and perfect green, and the memorials frighteningly committed to being as accurate as they can to her memory. The text glints in the false, bright rays of the sun above, displaying the words she’s engraved in her mind long ago:


THE CADET HONOR CODE
A CADET WILL NOT LIE, CHEAT, STEAL,
OR TOLERATE THOSE WHO DO.

The grass “crunches” softly beneath her feet as she hikes closer to the honour memorial. She grips the strap of her bag and pulls it forward, unzipping it, and pulling out the sweater she’s been meaning to wear proudly once again, but finding difficulty in scraping up any pride to do so. It may be a silly thing to wrestle with morally, though questionable morals is something she’s found herself facing more often in the past several months. ]


➍ observatory

[ Without any bags to punch or weights to lift, Kate hasn’t had much of a workout since the necromorphs outbreak. She’s restless by the implemented time of nightfall. The observatory doesn’t comfort her much, however; space is supposed to be some incredible frontier filled with endless possibilities countries have raced each other to get to first, but under the glimmer of the stars she can finally see so clearly, she wonders what’s so great about a dark, empty place like this.

She positions herself against a wall and stares upward, lost in thought. At some point, she’s sitting on the floor with her tablet, reading through the information the AI’s decrypted a while back once more. ]

Comments

[lucency]

Such as?

[ while belle enjoys technology, it's still a bit awkward for her to get used to, in all honesty. she prefers the physicality of books to things glaring up at her from a screen. she crouches down next to kate. ]

[gevurah]

[ She scrolls through the network, glossing over the posts and casually saying: ]

Is everyone alright? Where am I? Are zombies the norm? Do I have to fight, etc.

[ She pauses. ]

The occasional philosophical question.

[lucency]

[ belle chuckles, shaking her head and taking a seat against the wall. ]

Do people think things like that expire? Is that why we get so swamped? [ because really, she's found everything she needed to know. that's why she's never asked anything herself on the network. ]

[gevurah]

People need to socialize. It's human nature.

[ Strangers have told her things she never asked about, things maybe she didn't want to know. People need to talk to someone or they would go insane in silence. ]

[lucency]

Fair enough. [ she bites her lip and, really, she won't argue. even if being locked up for thirty years almost killed that instinct in her. ] It's creating a sense of camaraderie. Building bonds. That's certainly a plus.

[gevurah]

[ She has to wonder if most people on board trust each other, or simply need someone to vent to. ]

At least some have someone from home.

[ It's a conflicting feeling, needing that company, but not wanting to put them in harm's way. ]</small.

[lucency]

You don't have anyone?

[ she tilts her head to the side and frowns slightly, sympathy seeping into the expression. she is lucky, she knows, even if she'd never expected rumplestiltskin to put in an appearance. and it isn't that she takes the company for granted, but - ]

[gevurah]

There are people.

[ She adjust her position against the wall, focusing on the stars. One of those bright lights is home, isn't it? ]

But we don't know each other well.

[ In Dick's case, he doesn't know Kate Kane in his time.

An empty second passes as she deliberates sharing a small tidbit with someone she doesn't know too well, although Belle is relatively easy to converse with. She can appreciate it, never mind her own penchant for secrecy. ]

My... [ Ex? So maybe she's not quite so ready to reveal someone she held strong emotional ties to is gone. ] Someone I do know got sent back recently.

[lucency]

You don't speak to them? Try to get to know them better? [ she tries to wrap her head around that concept. belle's familiar with the concept of preferring to be alone, make no mistake, but in a situation like this, she can't imagine that it would do much good. a strategy she's never considered, perhaps. ] Were they enemies?

[gevurah]

We talk, but not much.

[ She doesn't like to be alone, but she's accustomed to keeping people at arms length, too. ]

No, she...

[ A soft sigh. ]

She's my ex.

[lucency]

[ well, the good news is, belle understands the sentiment. ] Oh.

That -

[ she glances around for a moment. ]

That must be difficult.

[gevurah]

[ Difficult doesn't begin to explain the endless drama and baggage Renee and Kate carried as a couple or as exes.

She lets another sigh escape through her nose this time. ]

A little, but she's better off at home.

[ Wherever she is. ]

[lucency]

Would she agree?

[ a tiny smile. belle's unaware of the history between them, but kate's actions tell her enough, really. and she takes a moment to try to interpret what those feelings really are. ]

[gevurah]

Pretty sure.

Anywhere's better than the moon.

[ Even Exsilium, haha.

She puts aside her tablet after turning the power off, placing her hands on her knees. ]

[lucency]

[ she shouldn't really approach the subject, she knows, but there's some blurring between kate's opinion and the presumed opinion of her ex-girlfriend's - and belle's rarely not been one to pry. ]

You miss her. Even through all of that. [ it's a guess, but she has a hunch. granted, hunches have been wrong before, but. ]

[gevurah]

[ She pauses, holding her breath half of a second. ]

It's that obvious?

[ Her shoulders sag a touch. She's quick to shake her head. ]</small. I do, but... I'm with someone else.

[lucency]

Pretty obvious, yeah. [ she doesn't mean to be sarcastic or humorous, and the lilt of her shoulders in a laugh isn't one directed at kate, though the mirth leaves her at the tired response. ]

Is it someone you met here?

html no

[gevurah]

It is.

[ Roslyn's been nothing short of wonderful. She's the kind of person and woman Kate can appreciate. Strong, opinionated, dedicated. All the things she both loved and hated about Renee. They had clashed countless of times on things, both too hotheaded to see reason. ]

Do you have anyone here?

sighs drearily.

[lucency]

[ but isn't there always the chance of her leaving as well? belle doesn't ask this, but the question's on her mind - even as it applies to her, too. instead, her smile turns soft. ] I'm glad.

I - yeah. Yeah, my boyfriend's here, actually. He was just brought in with the last group.

[gevurah]

Oh.

[ There's no mistaking the surprise in her voice, albeit a pleasant sort; it's nice to have that sort of company from home, despite their situation. Her lips curl into an amused smirk. ]

How's he settling?

[lucency]

He's... [ belle trails off and tries not to laugh. ] He's doing well, I think. Not that he's happy, but - he has a very good reason. I think we all got our plans interrupted, to be honest.

[gevurah]

I think most of us can say the same.

[ It seems that most of them were in the middle of something important when they were brought here. ]

[lucency]

[ she nods, with a light sigh. she knows time freezes - supposedly, but she still wonders whether or not storybrooke is safe. ]

What was it that you had to do? Before this.

[gevurah]

I don't have a day job, if that's what you're asking.

[ It's a touch sheepish in response, but it's mostly the truth; being the heiress of a multi-billion dollar businesswoman means she doesn't have to do anything.

Of course, Kate indulges in her luxurious life, but she's still a soldier first and foremost. After an evening of letting loose she'll on the rooftops and watching out over the city of Gotham as she's been trained to do. ]

[lucency]

No, no. Not a job, but - [ okay, yeah. a job. but still, nothing professional. it seems, for the most part, they've all managed to squeeze into something in these parts. ] Anything you were taking care of?