( open )

[overclocking]

Date & Time: Several days after the necromorph outbreak
Location: A VR room
Characters: Chrono + Rosette + open!
Summary: Lil bit of coping in-between zombie apocalypses and civil wars, nbd
Warnings: None! KEVIN AND BREAK
Notes: Feel free to tag around also! ♥


[ Chrono doesn't bother to close the door when he finally decides to try one of these rooms for himself. Something about the last few days (weeks) (months) has left him unwilling to stay in enclosed spaces too long, with no obvious path of exist. Too much like a lab or an undead-lined hallway.

But these concerns slowly melt away as he sets about instructing the AI, and the room gives way to a place that isn't a room at all.

Mountains rise up in the distance, framing a blue, clear sky, and a faint breeze rustles the treetops of a thick Michigan forest. Birdcalls ride that wind, and the air smells cleaner, fresher, than any moon base could reasonably boast. Where the blanket of trees ends, a large, glassy lake gleams in the sunlight. He takes care with this part—instructs the AI to make the water a temperature a bit too low to be entirely comfortable for swimming, knowing full well that this won't actually be a deterrent. But it wouldn't be right, otherwise.

He takes his time strolling from one familiar landmark to the next, having the computer make adjustments as necessary. He doesn't miss details, either; for all the times that Rosette brought him to this very place, his eyes had missed nothing. They were wide and all-absorbing, like someone who had been born anew and was discovering the world for the first time.

(Likely because, in all honesty, he had been.)

He stops once he circles back around to the open door—a black silhouette hanging oddly in the landscape, and the only giveaway that none of this is real. It's here that he surveys the scene as a whole, the sum of all its little memory-parts. ]

Perfect.

[ Well. There's still a thing or two missing. ]

... Almost.

Comments

[theguideless]

[he crawls and fidgets around to sitting on his knees in front of her, his attention moving from her lap to her words to the "here" in question...

no high walls, no enclosed bases...] But... [he squints.] Where did you go to sleep? It's all open...

[soul_sister]

Well... there were a few nights we slept out here, under the stars. We got into a lot of trouble for those... My brother didn't deal with cold well either, so it was pretty rare.

[She smiles and gestures towards the west. It wasn't visible from this far even back home, the tall pines creating a shield. But she knew that Chrono wouldn't have recreated it. Some things don't belong here.] About fifteen minutes walk that way was an orphanage. We stayed there.

[theguideless]

[Martin gets a hard, thoughtful look, chewing on that. it was long ago, but...]

Or-phanage... Somebody said that once, I think. I think so...but I don't know what that is.

So it's a house?

[soul_sister]

It's a really big one. Children who don't have parents live there, and one person takes care of everyone.

Of course, so do the older kids.

[theguideless]

That most sounds like compound. [his smile gets a little vague.] How everyone lives in one big place together, I mean. Most parents stayed there until they had to hunt or...[he squints, then shakes his head.] It reminds me more of like everyone the same age raising each other, kind of.

[soul_sister]

[She listens intently, nodding a bit at the familiar tune he spins.]

The sort of place where everyone is siblings, even when you're not.

[theguideless]

[nodding.] Like that, yes. My home was like that, too... [looking about again.] But ...a lot different still. So...so not the same. [he shrugs and smiles helplessly.] So that only makes a little sense!

[soul_sister]

Differences never really mean that much, when you get down to it.

All that really matters is that its gorgeous, safe, and I'm with friends.

[theguideless]

[he mulls on that quietly for a while, sniffing and looking around as well. the whole place is like...some healthier Olvoski...

and Rosette...he peers at her for a moment before his thoughts automatically drop out:]

You seem different.

[soul_sister]

[The surprise on her face slides into thoughtfulness a long moment. Her fingers twist a few new flowers stems into a clumsy crown.]

I guess.. I'm just really happy.

[theguideless]

[a beat.

concerned:] You weren't happy before...?

[soul_sister]

[She laughs and shakes her head.]

No, there's a lot of good times. As long as you keep living, you can find more happy things.

But... there are levels of happiness I guess. Some make you feel lighter than others.

[theguideless]

[he thinks about that for a bit. feel...lighter?

his nose scrunches up against an itch until he has no choice but to scratch at it. the hand drops and pulls at some of the grass beside him.

different levels...]

That makes sense... [he huffs out a small laugh in his breath.] I just never think about it, like that. I'm just too busy with being happy now and then, maybe.

[soul_sister]

That's the way to do it anyway. If you think about happiness too much, it's really easy to forget that you have it.

[theguideless]

[grinning.] You sound like an expert.

[soul_sister]

Of course! You wont find anyone better at not thinking things through than me.

[theguideless]

I didn't mean that! [he ducks his head to hide his smile. once he's got that under control, peeking up:] I meant, you're really smart about that. Levels of happiness and things?

[soul_sister]

Heh. I don't know about smart.

[She leans over and drops the flower crown on his head.]

But... It's not bad to learn about what makes life good, right?

[theguideless]

[his head bobs down as if the flowers are overly heavy, holding pose for a moment before lifting his head, blinking.

he lifts a hand and pokes at some of the flowers, running fingers around some of it, trying to see it past his bangs. it's like putting string on a cat's head or something.]

I, I guess so...

[soul_sister]

Very regal. I think it suits you.

[theguideless]

[his nose crinkles with his smile.] So I should keep it?

[soul_sister]

.. I don't think it will last, outside of this room.

But I'll make another one when we make it back down.

[theguideless]

[still picking at it, but with more care, so as not to break it.]

Will you show me? How to make them.

[soul_sister]

Of course! ... Look for flowers with longer stems. [She indicates a few inches with her fingers.] Once we have a bunch, we'll work on a few.

[theguideless]

Right.

[he sits up so he can bend and scour around himself, pulling at flowers with little remorse for size – all this virtual little ones are getting plucked, too. he drops them in a growing pile between them that starts to snake as Marty himself scoots a little to reach further.

with a couple in his fist, he looks back at Rosette:] How many's a bunch?