( 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

[soul_sister]

[It's like a cue for the door to open.

Rosette's expression was an interesting display in transformation. First flustered surprise at walking in on an inprogress VR session. The other rooms had been starkly empty... But any chance of yelling at Chrono for making her worry, for leaving for a whole day without a word... just melts away in overwhelmed, nearly childlike wonder.

She knows this spot. She knows it down to where the mushrooms grow, where you can find wild blackberries. Where she buried strawberries, telling Joshua she'd make an enormous strawberry farm and they could eat them forever like kings.

It was like walking back home.]

This...? [Is all she manages.]

[overclocking]

Oh-!

[ There's one missing piece. The last, unfortunately, they won't be able to retrieve for some time.

Chrono turns, feeling sheepish (and a bit like he's been caught in the act.) ]

You found me.

[soul_sister]

[She's dumbstruck a moment more before her expression just lights up. She laughs, an airy and pure sound Chrono really hasn't heard since childhood.]

This is amazing!

[She sits down in the soft grass and starts the hard work of pulling off her boots.]

[overclocking]

[ Feels a warmth that really only comes from making her laugh like that. It's been too long. ]

Close enough? I probably don't remember it as well as you do.

[soul_sister]

Right down to the last detail. [The boots drop, one right after another. The socks follow, knife left behind, unneeded.]

This is perfect! Were you doing this all day?

[overclocking]

... Was I?

What time is it?

[ He'd been so engrossed, the hours had trickled by without him even noticing. ]

[soul_sister]

[She holds out a hand to him.]

Almost dinner.

[overclocking]

[ He takes it, seating himself beside her. His shoes follow in short order; he's missed the feel of grass between his toes. ]

Sorry... I didn't realize it had been that long.

[soul_sister]

[She runs her free hand over the grass, feeling the soft soil and crunchy leaves from last autumn under them. She closed her eyes, squeezing Chrono's hand. She let herself forget the moonbase, even their quest...

For right now, they were home.]

I don't think I mind at all. ... Thank you.

[overclocking]

... You're welcome.

[ He flops back onto the grass, eyes trained on the crisp blue sky. He's looking forward to sunset, particularly because the computer already knew how to conjure a mid-eastern United States star pattern, when prompted. ]

I thought we could use a vacation.

[soul_sister]

[Flecks of the sun lose their bright gold as the sun sinks lower behind the pine trees.]

Mmm. I didn't even realize how much...

[overclocking]

I asked the computer to remember.

[ His fingers tighten around hers. ]

You can come back whenever you want.

[soul_sister]

You mean we.

[overclocking]

[ What a Rosette thing to say, and he really should have expected it. The laughter is light and genuine. ]

[ Amends; ] Or we.

[soul_sister]

That's better.

[She flops back in the grass next to him. From here, you can't see the blemish in this false reality of the door. Just the rosy blush of the sky deepening into purples.]

I wonder if it'll be the same...

[overclocking]

[ He turns his head to look at her, wayward leaves and twigs lodging themselves in his hair as he does so. ]

What will?

[soul_sister]

[Her expression is soft, gaze still trained upwards.]

The stars.

... This time of year, the Milky Way is really clear.

[overclocking]

Well... I told the computer 'spring,' so maybe.

If it isn't, we can always make corrections. You remember the constellations we made up, right? It's a shame we don't have the paper with us.

[soul_sister]

[She actually hadn't been able to catch a clear view of the night sky in their time here. Between the city lights and the clouds, it was like being in New York or Chicago. It was hard for her to tell if she wanted to see a familiar sky or not.]

Of course! The Swamp Serpent always was first in the sky, right?

[overclocking]

And The Thunderbird next.

[ He's seen this world's stars, from within the walls of a UE prison compound. It's one of the things he doesn't regret about his stay there; a confirmation, something he needed to know- ]

... They're the same here, you know. The stars.

[soul_sister]

Good.

[Her hand shifts, lacing her fingers through his. She lets out a long breath, contented.]

Do you remember the first time Joshua tried to build a campfire? He wouldn't let you help at all.

[overclocking]

I remember... it had been raining, so everything was too wet to really burn.

[ There was a time he would have withdrawn from contact like this—the very time they're discussing, in fact. But now he simply turns his hand to fit better with hers, palm-to-palm.

He hadn't noticed before, how much larger her hands are. ]

But he tried for an hour and a half anyway...

[soul_sister]

[They fit now, Rosette's actually just a little larger. She squeezes, gently. It's a far cry from when he used to pull back... and when she used to stomp on his toes.]

He always called me stubborn, but really, he was just as bad.

[overclocking]

It definitely runs in the family.

[ With no small touch of fondness. ]

Honestly, who gives candy to someone who tells them to go away?

[soul_sister]

Who introduces themselves to children as a demon?

[The first stars peek through the darkening sky, pulling Rosette's attention upwards.]

I always kind of like this time the best.