( 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

[overclocking]

[ Turns on his heel.





Books it. ]

[anklets]

[Hot on them, as it were. His heels. What fool tries to outrun Lenalee Lee.] Chrono!

[overclocking]

[ Chrono is nothing if not a moron.

He actually does make good progress, in the sense that he gets it a few paces before his foot gets caught in the muck of the very lakebed he programmed, and he

faceplants

quite spectacularly.

(Fortunate that he's tiny, because the resulting tidal wave is mostly harmless). ]

[anklets]

[Abrupt halt- she had been cheaty and walked the surface of it.]

You've made me feel guilty, now.

[anklets]

[ a proffered hand! ] Here, come back up.

[overclocking]

[ He sits up, every inch a sheepish kitten that's been dropped in a mud puddle, and has to shove sopping hair and mud out of his face before he sees the offered hand. Years in questionable company has him wondering whether it isn't some manner of devious trap.

For better or worse, he's also never been good at making decisions. He reaches out and takes it, blinking water from his eyes. ]

It actually tastes like mud... [ HE DIDN'T ASK FOR THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL, COMPUTER!!! ]

[anklets]

[She is no Rosette-- how could anyone else ever hope to be?-- and pulls him to his feet in good intent. No yanking or turnabouts to be had, here! Bless your lucky stars.]

We're living the future. [ presses a finger to her lips, halving her smile ] This makes us square.

[overclocking]

[ He's pulled up easily, light even when lake water doubles his weight. Now all he has to do is resist sneezing, and he'll be golden.

Well—except for his pride, anyway. ]

Does it?

[anklets]

[When she laughs, it's with her whole body.]

I'd meant to return the favour-- [ tucking wet bangs behind her ear ] but, now...

[overclocking]

Ohh...

[ NTS: Probably don't fuck with Lenalee if it can be reasonably avoided ]

Maybe I dodged a bullet [ h e h ] with a mouthful of mud.

[anklets]

[Dodged a bullet? Wouldn't that be a change.]

Between the two options, [ gently ] you had a better chance with the mud.

[overclocking]

I... I believe it.

[ For starters who walks on water jesus christ (-oh wait) ]

Though I don't recommend the mud. Let's stick to water.

[anklets]

[Some might say it's an inherited talent, but some might also say that's a tacky way to put it.]

Mm! I prefer an even playing ground.

[overclocking]

[ Wonders if an even playing around is actually fair against Lenalee Lee, but very quietly dismisses it. ]

Or we could just skip any competition altogether. It's more peaceful that way, right? [ He says, having already lost the frog-catching contest miserably. ] Teamwork is more fun, anyway.

[anklets]

[As she trots back to shore, where she needn't wear dark boots to keep her socks clean and dry:] To be frank, I prefer it. I'm not certain I can see what calls for our cooperation, though- unless the frogs intend to rise up against us.

[overclocking]

What? [ Mock-horror, exaggerated. It's pitched the exact same way Joshua said it all those years ago, when Chrono was still blinking darkness from his eyes and raising similar doubts of his own. ]

There are plenty of things that call for cooperation! Collecting as many berries in a basket as you can, or fishing, or building a camp fire. I mean- [ amends, because logic is a persistent beast, ] they could be done alone, but...

It's better when they're not. Like building a sand castle.

[anklets]

[Tempted to pinch those exaggerating cheeks, but.]

I'm afraid I've only ever lent my hand towards the lattermost.

1/2

[overclocking]

... Really?

[ Mock-horror morphs into something dangerously akin to Actual Horror. For such a long time he's had it in his head that most humans enjoy idyllic childhoods of picket fences, berry bushes and fresh-baked cookies. ]

[overclocking]

[ But then, people who are blessed may also find themselves in sickbeds or caged inside monasteries, writing prophecies day in and day out. There isn't anything idyllic about that.

It doesn't take him long to come to a decision. ]

That settles it, then!

[ Shakes a remaining lake plant out of his hair and drags himself up onto the grass that rims the shore, mud making a sucking sound as he steps his way out. He turns back, waiting for her to follow. ]

It's time for a crash-course in berry picking. And then the fire, once it's nearer to dusk.

[anklets]

[Try not to hit so close to home, there...

She trots neatly after him, cuts a net semicircle around him so she stands between him and the rest of the "world".]

Ah, good! I'm a fast learner. [ without missing a beat, ] Though, I may skip the fire, if that's quite alright.

[overclocking]

[ He squeezes excess water from his braid as they make their way up the soft, sloped lawn—wonders yet again at how this computer can simulate the weight and temperature of lakewater in his hair. The Order would kill for technology like this in their training rooms. ]

Well, [ quirks a smile, wry, ] we're hardly going to slam the door and lock everyone in. You should at least try the marshmallows, though, even if you don't stay.

[anklets]

[She smiles back, as though he'd told a funny joke. Maybe he had.]

Marshmallows? [ quick thought is necessary to remember their relevance to a fire ] You mean toasted?

[overclocking]

Or roasted, if you're like Rosette and tend to get distracted.

I made sure to bring some back from a mission a while ago. So- they're the real thing. [ Not that the computer-simulated berries were terrible, but they certainly didn't compare to the real thing. It seems some sense really are harder to fool than others. ]

[anklets]

[What an idyllic picture this all paints. She's envious.]

It sounds lovely. I'll do my level best to attend at least long enough to sneak a taste.