❝ ── WASTELAND, BABY !

[vaermina]

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I.xdemigirlx II.xthe rebellionx III. an entertainer known as dahlia


indentconstance was silent as they listened to edwin's responses. their spoon nonchalantly stirred the contents of the tomato bisque. the future of the rebellion was looking uncertain right now. their tactics, their angles, the way they strike at the conclave; everything they know could be put into jeopardy because of the mission at fort themus. it wasn't worth it. they had lost good men and women for no reason. the file they were aiming to bring back was lost and the conclave was already beginning to impose tight restrictions upon the area. who knows if the consequences of this break-in would affect not only their operations in the dixon wasteland but the other four states, as well? given the government's views on 'blood purity', constance was surprised they even allowed wastelanders to perform in their bases, nevertheless hire them for entry level positions such as custodian work. the conclave works in mysterious ways. well, probably not that mysterious. constance had their suspicions. as the most advanced and largest organization to emerge from the ruins of the nuclear apocalypse, the conclave has grown arrogant in their power. they have the best technology, the best weapons, the largest military and the most structured way of life in the country. their youth are strong and groomed to serve their purpose. propaganda is shoved down their throats from an early age so they are indoctrinated to believe their leaders. they push for a democratic state and a world similar to the one before the nukes dropped. that life is only obtainable if they manage to tame the wasteland. how does one tame the wasteland? you force its people into submission and if they don't do so willingly, you beat them until their knees fold. you shouldn't worry about hurting them; wastelanders are savages who only understand violence, not diplomacy. after all, people born into the conclave's world are far more superior and important than the average tainted-blood. the enclave dominion worked tirelessly to push this message. they aim to ensure that the conclave's message is successfully communicated through art, music, theater, films, books, radio, educational materials, and the press. they encouraged passivity and acceptance of the growing violence and dominance over wastelanders because how else are they supposed to achieve their goals if wastelanders are acting resistant? the dominion depict the government as stepping in and restoring order when they unleash their wrath upon the wasteland, a message that is highlighted throughout the childhood of a capital resident. the dominion makes it appear that the general population is the one committing aggressions against the conclave. ambushes and murders committed by bandits and enemy factions are manipulated and displayed as acts carried out by the average wastelander. murderous, savage, violent, feral, barbaric, selfish: children who are born into the conclave are taught to both fear and hate the ordinary denizen. wastelanders refuse to obey the law and force must be applied if the united states is to be glorious once again. it's an atmosphere that breeds early apathy and indifference to the unjustified suffering of others. there was such a disconnection between those who serve the conclave and live in the wasteland that it was almost terrifying. basic compassion is not something that is prevalent in most people anymore. followers of the conclave do not blink an eye at the violence committed by their superiors because it's all for the good of their cause. wastelanders deserve it for not conforming to national law to begin with. of course, everything just so happens to be their fault.
indentthe entertainer smiled at edwin. "don't be sorry. i agree with you. on everything. the changing dynamics, the possibility of pointless sacrifices, all the fighting we're seeing. there has to still be a chance to turn things around and try and create an approach everyone is satisfied with. we shouldn't have to risk people's lives or go on a rampage and slaughter every conclave soldier we come across to get an upperhand." she paused before her eyes softened. "but honestly... i'm afraid, too. we're not superheroes, edwin. we're not warriors or gods or living fantasies. what we try and fight for, it's good. we're fighting for the right cause. we're trying to help people, whether they know it or not. some wastelanders look up to us. they believe in us. but you know what? people did the exact same thing for that mercenary group. they liked how they were pushing back against the conclave and refusing to conform to national law, and you know where that got them? burned alive or shot to death while their city was torn to the ground. they were a huge organization and within a day, their headquarters were reduced to nothing but a graveyard. like you said, people are pushing for reforms but they're forgetting that us just being able to operate without constantly having to watch our backs is a miracle in and of itself. if declan and his cronies get their way, what's going to happen to people like us, edwin? we know how to shoot a gun but we can't defend ourselves against a bunch of well-trained commissioned officers. forget about those damn androids, too. i mean, you've seen how the ones operated by the conclave are. they're not like those sweet dregs we help escape from hostile areas. they have no souls or compassion, and they'll break someone's neck in five seconds if their operator demands them to. and declan waters? well, he lost his humanity a long time ago, i think. killing people means nothing to him and that goes for both the rebellion and the conclave. so many lives have been lost on both sides because of his escapades." constance did not think there was an easy way out of this. headquarters and people like declan were slowly destroying the rebellion's current exploits and, unintentionally or not, pushing them to adapt more aggressive approaches. it was frightening constance because nowadays, she could not look one of their bandmates in the eyes and tell them everything will be okay. she would be lying and she does enough of that already. their chances of being imprisoned or even executed for what the conclave deems as treason increase with every violent step taken by their superiors and fellow associates. it was just like edwin had said. something is going to give sooner or later but what will be the outcome? the rebellion finally being hunted down and exterminated once and for all? the government has already proven by their handling of the black hand that they are not afraid to destroy opposing factions. if the conclave truly thought they were a threat - a threat that could topple the sinister regime behind the scenes - then it would be absolutely hellish for them. they would send their best men, their best aircrafts, their best androids and their best technology to hunt them down. they would be tracked down and flushed out of their outposts and hideouts like frightened rabbits. they would never be able to sleep peacefully because they'll always have to be worried about soldiers jumping them in the dead of night. hell, they wouldn't be able to even travel into cities without worrying about conclave snipers lounging on the roofs, ready to kill potential targets with a single headshot. constance did not want to have to constantly live on edge. she's done enough of that to last a lifetime.
indentwhen constance joined the revolution, they had wanted to help make this country a better place and that has not changed at all. they knew what it is like to grow up in the wasteland. the plight of wastelanders and the daily struggles of survival are something they know quite well. constance had lost their mother at a young age. they were forced to fend for themselves as a child. it had been rough and they had so many stories of their exploits across the country it wasn't even funny. granted, there was a period of their childhood where constance hadn't been on their own. for several years they had traveled with a man named josiah after he found them trying to steal some canned peaches from his camp a year after their mother's death. constance had been around seven years old then. why exactly he had decided to take constance in, they did not know but they doubted they would have lived for much longer if it weren't for him. for a year, constance had been floating around and just barely surviving. they were a child so they did not know how to hunt or properly take care of themselves. they fished for scraps in dumpsters and took shelter in old ruins. they stole what they could and took help from those who were willing to give it. to even manage to survive for a year at that age on your own is a miracle but constance had been so weak and frightened by the time they ran into josiah they would have perished sooner or later. constance had stayed with him for about six years until he died when they were thirteen years old but he had taught them a lot of skills and tips that later helped them survive. constance did not know much about him. he had been a reserved but cunning man who avoided straying into potentially dangerous situations. and constance on the other hand, well, had been the exact opposite. during their younger days, the entertainer had been quite the reckless person and full of aggression and confrontation. with a brimming independence and an intense hatred for life in general, constance had never put much thought into any of their actions. the demiwoman could still vividly remember when they were ten years old and ended up attacking a young boy who was throwing rocks at passing people in dodger city from his position atop a wagon. one of his parents had been a conclave officer, hence his appearance in the city to begin with. and why exactly he had been throwing rocks at people, well, constance had no idea but like most children born into the government, he had probably viewed wastelanders as nothing but savages and degenerates. constance could not recall most of the incident but they remembered having dragged the boy off of the empty wagon and battering him with their fists. josiah had come out of one of the general stores to see constance trying to wrangle the boy into a headlock. he had managed to separate the two children before dragging constance off before the boy's wails alerted his parent and nearby soldiers. constance remembered he had been ripping them a new one the entire time, snarling that he couldn't even go into a store and buy some supplies without constance attacking someone. it had often been like that with them. constance had been a firecracker who was always stirring up trouble one way or the other. they were surprised that josiah had stuck with them up until his death. if it weren't for him, constance probably wouldn't even be alive right now. he had taught them how to hunt, shoot a gun, start a campfire, ride a horse and other basic survival skills needed to endure the wasteland. when he died, constance was left on their own and that's when life really started to spiral. up until they joined the rebellion, they had been involved with some pretty bad people. they had done stuff they were not proud of. they had tricked people, used people and sacrificed their own safety and well-being just to survive. constance had taken up odd jobs and befriended people with bad intentions. that risky behavior and unstable lifestyle is probably what led to them having to get their legs amputated because of a bone infection. honestly, constance did not really like to talk about any of it. and sometimes whenever their crew traveled through southern new california, constance would take some time to ride out to josiah's grave to visit him. they usually went alone because last time they allowed some others to attend, danny had urged them to let him play the harmonica as a tribute of sorts but all you could hear in the silence was his agitated mumbling and screechy notes as he played the instrument poorly before someone snatched it from him. having never knew their biological father and losing their mother at a young age, constance's few years with josiah had meant a lot to them. constance still thought about him almost daily; the weapons they used now, their pistol and daggers, had belonged to him. constance missed having someone look after them in the sense of a older parental figure looking after a child. they missed the security that came with it, and the comfort that came with knowing someone was going to protect you. now, so many people looked up to constance they felt like they were in josiah's shoes.
indentconstance's attention flickered past edwin's head when she noticed khalil and fairfax were approaching them. the entertainer smiled as they startled edwin. as expected, the conversation was quick to shift to mikey and danny. what the hell the two of them are up to, constance had no idea. she had expected the two of them to haul ass into the basement as soon as they could but they can be so unpredictable at times. danny was just trying to prove a point to them all but it's not like he's in any real danger. help would swoop in if the wagons happened to fall under attack by ghouls or some wild animals. there's an old shed out back behind the church building that has been reverted into a stable of some sorts for incoming rebels to board their horses. naturally, there's a few guards out there to keep the mounts protected. if some sort of threat were to make itself known to danny and mikey, those men and women would help them. and that's if danny did not accidentally shoot them first. there was also a lookout in what remained of the church's steeple who would see potential threats enter church grounds beforehand. lookouts and snipers are utilized by the rebellion to warn them of potential conclave patrols and other threats that could jeopardize a location's safety. truly, danny and mikey are safe out there with the amount of rebels who are patrolling the church grounds but she was sure danny was going to concoct some sort of false narrative of him and mikey fighting for their damn lives. there's never a dull moment with that one.
indentconstance laughed at the three men. "who said anything about that? i'm afraid you boys are on your own if danny starts shooting that shotgun. he's not known to be an accurate shot," they joked. "but seriously, be careful out there." the demiwoman watched as they left before looking back at edwin when he spoke. they crackled a smile when he responded to their earlier whims about the soup. "oh, yeah? ending a friendship over some soup? you're so hard to please. i did not realize i was in that - what was that one pre-war show called - hell's kitchen." they teased. "well then, i guess that means there's no definite answer to it. it just depends on what soup you're having." constance looked down at their bowl again before shrugging. "and honestly, who knows. my guess is that they're eating some snacks they managed to hide despite claiming we've ran all out earlier. i guess danny and mikey are just intent to prove a point. they're morons but they're stubborn morons," they remarked affectionately before taking another sip of their soup. constance looked back at edwin when he began to talk about the rebellion once more, this time wondering what exactly the future has in store for them. the entertainer began to play with the soft fabric of their poncho. constance sighed. "i know. i don't want us to become just another violent faction who's trying to push for power. the conclave has already done a pretty good job at convincing their own followers that we're some sort of far wing organization seeking to overthrow their democracy through a different political ideology like communism or socialism. that narrative has worked for them, too, considering the great war was fought over political extremism. people have seen the outcome of that conflict. hell, we're living in it. but realistically, though, what can we do to try and get a hand over the conclave? i mean, seriously, edwin. we can ambush convoys and transport parties as much as we like but it'll only be a matter of time before the military begins to add more men to protect said groups from ambushers like us. we can't hold people for ransom because they don't barter for hostages anymore. we can steal as much weaponry and technology as we want but it won't put a dent in their sides because they can always produce more. forts and bases, well, we can attack them like fort snow but if we try our luck too much with that, they're not just going to sit by idly and let us do what we want. all these ramped up aggressions look fine on paper but how does it benefit us? realistically, stealing weapons and power armor from the government isn't going to do anything to stop them from enacting whatever sinister plans are brewing behind the scenes and they're just going to continue adding more protection to their forts and warehouses if they think we're starting to become a real problem. i mean, the assault on fort snow only worked out in our favor because half of its usual occupants had returned to the capital city for election night. if our colleagues had tried to attack the fort when it was in full operation? forget it! look, you know i'm not the type of person to throw constant pessimism at other people but i'm trying to be realistic here. we gain nothing through constant ambushes, violence and death. our work, the work we do in those forts by gathering files and whatever else we can get our hands on, that's what we need to be doing. people like declan claim that does nothing to help us in our plight but it does, edwin. what if we managed to find something incriminating, something that could potentially reveal something illegal and harmful the government's leaders are doing behind their people's backs? you and i know damn well there's something very wrong with the people who are in power. i mean, if we could get our hands on something inculpating against the government's leaders, who knows how the tides might shift in our favor? if we manage to expose them by coming forward with real, authentic documents that could not somehow be disproven? it could change everything!" constance was making hand motions as they ranted. "plus, acting out in violence and using aggressive tactics that harm and kill people will only help the conclave. i mean, think about it. they like to label us as violent anarchists, communists, socialists, whatever the hell sort of people who are threatening the conclave's attempts to restore the country back to a peaceful, democratic way of living. and if we fall into that stereotype by doing everything the conclave is painting us out to be? it'll be disastrous. their followers will only strengthen their beliefs in their government and continue to slowly demonize the message we're trying to push. we need to convince people - wastelanders and capital residents - that their government doesn't care about them. the further people like declan feed into the negative image the conclave pushes onto the rebellion, the harder that is going to get. realistically speaking, change is not going to happen by stealing weapons and holding officers for ransom. we have to dismantle the people who are running the show and that starts by shaking the belief and trust that followers of the conclave have in them, as well as trying to educate wastelanders and show them the exact dangers the conclave may pose towards their freedom in the future, you know?"
indentshe supposed that was the most difficult part about all of this. it's been no easy task trying to get the upper hand over the conclave but constance did not see how violence was going to achieve that. there was no way in hell that the rebellion could ever overthrow the conclave through aggressive upheavals. a dead soldier will just be replaced by another one and stolen weapons and technology will be manufactured again in less than a day. as long as the conclave has vehement support from their many followers, there's no way that the rebellion could do anything to alter the grip they have on this country. the agenda that rebels like declan waters push only benefits the conclave by fueling the narrative they force on the revolution. followers of the conclave view the rebellion as mindless, barbaric men and women who seek to overthrow the national government and establish their own sovereignty over the country so when declan and rebels like him only conform to that violent, brutal stereotype, it makes capital residents only further believe the lies spewed from their government's mouth. wastelanders are not exactly the most cultivated of people, either but when they see the rebellion stooping as low as the conclave? that's enough to make them turn their backs on them. they can't afford that. plenty of wastelanders admire the rebellion in secret but that number is beginning to dwindle as the conclave not only destroys their hope but slowly makes them turn against one another. people are inflicted by hysteria, paranoia, hostility and uncertainty as the conclave grows in power. they need to try and come together, not push each other away and create more divides. in certain ways, constance understood declan's rage. a decade or so ago she might have even agreed with his brutal tactics because constance too had wanted to see the world burn. it's so much easier to follow your hatred than it is to heal but that's just the way of life. it took constance a long time to get to where she's at today in terms of acceptance. "i just don't und-"
indent"edwin! constance!"
indentthe demiwoman peered past edwin's head to witness danny approaching them. they looked uncertainly at the man in front of them before clearing their throat. "hey. how'd you make out? and where's mikey? please don't tell me he got devoured by an animal because i think i'll feel more sorry for the animal considering mikey is made up of two percent water and ninety eight percent alcohol."
indentconstance watched as danny trudged past them and towards the serving area so he could get himself something to eat. "ah, so now you two are interested in our plights! we protect the livestock and our living space and now you two are curious 'cause we handled the threat! bah! i'll have you two know that, no, nothing happened and that's only because we were holding down the fort. we saw some creatures lurking outside the fencing but did they come near the church itself? no sir! they knew we were the alphas. that's what you have to do when you're protecting your property, you know. you let those animals know who's boss! and mikey? that big oaf went to take a shower 'cause he tripped and fell in a pile of horse manure outside the stables. one of them got spooked by somethin' and that's that. he might come over later, i dunno. mikey still ain't got good balance from having a few drinks earlier and, well, y'know how it is."
indent"no, i don't."
indentdanny ignored their comment. "one of the guards outside told me what happened to that group from fort themus. bad business, all that. i hope they didn't suffer. i mean, to think we were all so excited, too!" he came over to their table after getting himself something to eat before settling down beside constance. "what are we gonna do now?"
indent"yeah, we were just talking about that. and honestly, we're not sure yet. we're probably going to have to stay here for a few days and lie low. the area is gonna be swamped with conclave patrols. honestly, i guess we just have to wait and contact headquarters when it's safe to do so. and, of course, try and figure out how to get out of this area in one piece. every settlement will probably have at-least one checkpoint by the end of this week, depending on whether or not they get that file back."
indent"right, right. what were you two talking about, anyway? before i came over?"
indent"ah, just our assumptions and worries, i guess. you know, concerning the future of the rebellion and how the break-in at fort themus might change things for the worst. hey, you've met declan and some of his cronies before. what do you think of them?"
indentdanny cackled out loud. "oh, those suckers? i'm surprised none of them have been captured and executed yet. i mean, i guess the conclave's troubles with all these bandit hoards and enemy factions have been helping declan and his crew fly low but somethin's gotta give sooner or later, right? a man can only go around hurtin' people for so long until he kills the wrong chap. why does headquarters even let this guy roll with us, anyway? i mean, why the hell are we hiring bounty hunters in the first place when they were hunting people like us down for the conclave years ago? that man had no issues taking out people like us but as soon as the conclave did him dirty, we just decided to forget his sins and let him join up. i'm sorry but which bozo greenlit that idea? hell, are they just hiring anybody to join the rebel welcoming committee?"
indent"you know, you're not exactly wrong there, danny," constance smiled lightly, glancing over at edwin. "i'm all for redemption arcs but it's become painfully clear that declan is only interested in the rebellion because we give him easy access to the conclave. i don't know why headquarters even bothers listening to him but i guess it's because he preys on their fear that they'll never be able to get the upper hand over the government. also, hey, what type are soup are you eating? it doesn't look anything like ours."
indentdanny looked down at his bowl. it was neither chicken soup nor tomato bisque. he frowned before poking at the bowl's surface with a spoon. "i... don't really know, actually. this one was tucked in the corner and hidden by a blank- oh."
indentconstance could not help but snort in amusement. "you big duck, that's probably the servings the cook made earlier today. do you even know what it is?"
indent"it looks like... french onion... maybe... oh, i don't know! here, lemme have a taste of one of ya'lls." he made to dip his spoon into constance's bowl before she swatted his hand away. "get your own soup! lord knows we already share half of what we eat with you because you never like what you pick out to begin with."
indentdanny scowled. "is it too much for an old man to ask for a little compassion nowadays? all this back pain and lumbago and i don't get one ounce of sympathy. what happened to treating your elders with respect?"
indentconstance rolled their eyes at his classic spiel. "i swear to god, if you start spewing about ageism again. it's just soup, danny. go get yourself a new bowl." they looked back over at edwin as the old man beside her stood up with a grumble to fetch a new bowl. "anyway, danny's interruption aside, back to what i was saying. i just don't understand the point of acting out in violence because where is that going to get us? a ticket to an early grave? if we're being honest with ourselves, there's no way in hell we could actually fight the conclave and win when it comes to military strength. we don't have the numbers or resources. the conclave will just replace what they have lost. we don't have that type of luxury. if we lose access to the conclave's forts and bases then, well, i have no idea what we can do, you know? i mean, do you have any sort of ideas concerning ramped up aggression and where that could actually get us? if we ambush conclave patrols, it's only a matter of time before they increase their security, like i said earlier. they might even resort to solely aerial transports, as well and how the hell are we going to take down aircrafts? it just seems like the rebellion is slowly losing its grip because people are becoming impatient for change. honestly, it seems like headquarters is just becoming more reckless. can you imagine the way they'll react if bases and forts become unavailable to us? i can imagine they'll be scrambling for new options and it'll result in more failures than successes. i mean, in recent months i feel like things have begun to go south but now... this is really putting things into perspective on just how bad it might get for us. i guess i'm just wary. i don't want us to end up like the black hand. they pushed their boundaries and look where that got them? they did the exact same things declan is pushing us to do."

[vaell]

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxinr tactical intel. officer / covert ops. taskforce. | conclave military. | tagged: roland.
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indentas soon as the wet towel made contact with roland's open wound, his leg instinctively jostled in response. she knew she should have been more prepared for his reaction and yet here she was, stumbling over a series of apologies tumbling from her mouth as one of her hands flew up to secure itself firmly around his shin. her goal had been to keep him from experiencing any more pain than he had to and yet somehow she had already managed to screw that up. his exclamation of agony only solidified this notion too -- she winced at his voice, obviously in more discomfort because of her slip-up. how many times in a day can you be so reckless, jazmín? if it wasn't her endangering their lives, it was her being too distracted to properly disinfect a wound. although his leg was now still under her grip, the dampened towel she held - already bloodied from cleaning his unscathed skin - hovered warily over his open wound. it was just so in character of her to make things more difficult than they had to be, for now he had become distressed even further, and now she herself was nervous that she might somehow continue contributing to his suffering again. right off the bat, it hadn't been hard for her to notice the fact that roland was dreading the process of having his wound cleaned, at-least to some extent; it was evident in his stiffened posture atop the stool, in the way that his left leg had been bouncing in her peripheral vision even prior to cleaning around his wound. he was apprehensive under her ministrations even now. nobody enjoys having their laceration prodded at in the first place but she wasn't much help to the matter apparently. and of course she didn't purposefully mean to inflict any unnecessary pain upon him but she had allowed him to agitate his wound further by neglecting to keep him still. the last thing she wanted to do was magnify his unease and discomfort about the situation although things were already off to a rocky start. she supposed she would just have to be a bit more careful the next time around. so, following a short moment of hesitancy over the idea of cleaning his wound again, she finally took the towel and begun gently patting the fabric along the length of his laceration, careful not to put too much pressure onto his wound in the event that it might become irritated further. exhaustion has long been drawing her body down at this point but she did her best to steadily attend to his wound, every now and then sneaking a small glance up to his face to make sure that the process wasn't too painful for him. her hand was clamped around his leg, not uncomfortably but firmly. she could feel the palm of her hand grow slick with perspiration against his skin, nervous that she might have to wrangle him still once more. her other hand continued to carefully press the towel against his exposed flesh, although she could feel the beginnings of a tremble growing in her hand. whether this was because she was exhausted or because she was nervous she might hurt roland again, she couldn't tell. could her excess fatigue and growing headache be attributed solely to their long day in the first place, or was it also because she had not touched a single cigarette all day? she couldn't quite shake the urge to alleviate the buildup of stress she felt resting upon her, and knowing she was in possession of a pack only made things worse. still, roland's health was her upmost priority, hence why she had not pestered him about having a lighter on his person. right now focusing on taking care of him helped ease away both her discomfort and her pain into something of a background lull at-least. atop the stool, jazmín was only vaguely aware of roland shifting his upper body forward in order to inspect some of the contents of the medical kits sat on the ground. she was much too transfixed on ensuring any infection-causing bacteria was eliminated from his wound, such as dirt or detritus. its no secret that creatures of the wasteland are not particularly hygienic; most of them can carry an array of different diseases. hell, even the transmission of saliva in a wound could cause significant illness if it was left untreated. its why she wanted to make sure she was doing a thorough job cleaning his cut with water before applying any alcohol solutions. while jazmín was wiping away some small pieces of torn leather that clung wetly to his sliced skin, she could feel the faint sensation of his hand running down the length of her hair. the action didn't cause her to falter; she continued to cautiously remove any debris from his wound. it was only when she heard his voice did she momentarily pause - mostly out of fear that he might be expressing his discomfort over her cleaning methods, although to her surprise his words instead suggested she should continue working as she did before. so, she did as instructed.
indentapparently she hadn't noticed that roland plucked out a hairbrush and a bottle of detangler from the medical kit, for she shortly became aware of his hand gathering up a portion of her hair to hold while he ran the thistles of a brush through her tousled locks. an inward smile touched her lips, and her eyes flickered up to him for a moment, careful not to abruptly move her head in order to avoid her hair being tugged at. it was a sweet gesture and she was sure that keeping his hands busy might help distract his mind from his throbbing wound too. she hadn't particularly been planning to try and untangle her hair anytime soon, so she appreciated that he decided to help her out a bit right now. such an action coming from him wasn't an unexpected one, though, not for her; he has always been attentive to caring for her in some form. its why he skillfully tended to her hair, like he'd gone through the motions many times prior. luckily his grip was still loose enough to allow her a full range in accessing his wound, so she had no trouble adjusting her position depending on where she was trying to pat away at angered skin. with the gruesomeness of his injury, she was glad that it hadn't been even more severe than it turned out to be. at-least he was still able to walk; if he had sliced his achilles tendon things would be quite different right about now, and he would be in a whole different realm of pain considering that the tendon is the attachment to many important muscles of the leg. her comment about fort sancus elicited a wheeze from him -- hopefully, talking with him was actually helping him out a bit. if she had to guess a lot of his focus was being put into combing out portions of her hair but she was glad that she couldn't register too much strain in his tone. jazmín adjusted her grip on the towel as it further reddened with blood. "i think about the same. relying on the word of somebody who makes a living in arcadia is already precarious business enough and i doubt many people out here would go out of their way to aid their government like he so vehemently did, all things considered. plus, like you said, if it weren't for the fact that the names of those two cousins had not been registered in the exit queues, he wouldn't have an ounce of reliability to his name. he's lucky we even humored him to begin with." she spoke rather plainly. it was frustrating having no choice but to rely on zio's testimony. having information on a potential two suspects was the only way that they could deliver their overseer some tangible proof of progress in their mission thus far. they had no other explanations to fall back on besides the word of a tainted-blood vendor who seemed more likely than anything to be trying to rid himself of some pesky customers. for some reason these people believed that they could easily imprison those whom have wronged them somehow by lying to the same people who protect them on a daily basis. the bluffs and twisted stories have all been seen before in interrogation tents, so to try and pull that move would be a risky one. after all it doesn't take long to catch onto a lie. jazmín delicately pressed the towel against the length of his wound once again, applying some very light pressure against the torn skin. she could feel roland's hands picking up portions of her hair, moving along her head until he had come to a completion of the task. the entire time he had been careful not to accidentally yank her hair; sometimes he would pause to work through a knot with his fingers, although he was so gentle that doing such hardly distracted her. despite the fact that there was nothing inherently puzzling about him brushing her hair, especially considering the countless many of times he has chosen to do such a thing, there was still some degree of curiousness she possessed concerning the matter. not in a negative way, of course. through such actions did he make the point in expressing his affection for her, and really it wasn't until she got with roland that someone had gone out of their way to care about - let alone acknowledge - her troubles. she did not even do that for herself. with him, though, she felt safe, like she had some semblance of emotional giving from someone. ironically enough this safety also made her worried, however. it's not that she would ever distrust roland but she was prone to questioning when he too would leave her behind. if family, the people who are supposed to be supportive of you and help you grow as person can leave whenever it suits them, then what is stopping him? such a worry wasn't something she ever brought up to him -- how could she? it'd be more likely he'd leave her after that, knowing that she was so fearful of his supposedly inevitable rejection. it sounded absurd and to be frank, crazy. again, she didn't doubt him purposefully but as a person who grew up to think that something was wrong with her because nobody seemed to want to be involved in her life from an early age, it was hard to outgrow such a mindset. roland has had a huge impact on her life and to be fair she has grown a lot at his side but some things cannot be unlearnt so easily. it was a fear she suspected that would haunt her until she was the one who eventually ruined their relationship out of her own false worries.
indentwith the final swipe of her hand, she drew back the damp towel from his skin to observe what progress she had made. the skin surrounding his wound was no longer entirely coated by blood; just moments prior she'd wiped up what she could to the best of her abilities, although he'd still need to take a shower to make sure all the grime was clean from his leg. his laceration itself looked more painful than it had before, though. with her careful patting of the wound it took on a certain appearance, as if it had just been newly sliced by the griffin, considering that the flow of blood from the laceration had now grown rather sluggish. she let out a huff as she drew back onto her knees, clutching the bloodied towel. crimson had long soaked into the grey material, staining it a dark cerise. unfortunately for roland, things were about to get a bit more painful. she'd need to make sure to hold his leg in place quite firmly this time around, for if the towel had elicited such pain for him then the alcohol solution was sure to be hell. she set down the used towel beside her onto the grounds thick tarp, quick to turn her attention toward rifling through the medical kit to pick out that bottle of alcohol solution she'd used earlier. her hand paused as quickly as it had grasped the cold exterior of the bottle.
indentroland's words were quick to throw her off guard. she immediately looked up at him, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. he had been quick to step in before she could even start diluting any of the cotton balls, snatching up the extra towel she had brought along for himself. "wait, no, roland, you shouldn't be-" she protested, although he was quick to shut down any complaints she had as he rose up from his position on the stool. dammit, roland. her eyes travelled down his leg, already worrying for what stress he might put on his laceration simply by having to manage his way over to the basin. she looked back up to his face and frowned despite his reassurances. if he wasn't so adamant on tending to her own wound she would have attempted to wrestle him back into the seat but that would do neither of them much good. besides, he was being a bit antsy about it all, even when she had told him earlier that it'd be best that she look after his wound entirely first. jazmín wouldn't really have a problem with his advancement to treat her own laceration if it wasn't actively hurting him in the process, which it would be. she could have easily gotten up and drenched the towel in some water but he was stubborn enough that he wanted to do it himself. it was obvious he wasn't going to let down, either, considering he was being just as firm as she was earlier. so, she decided to slowly retract her hand from within the medical kit, eyeing him warily as she did so. "..okay. alright, sure. but i'm not leaving your wound unattended to for very long." she supposed it would help ease both of their nerves to be taking care of the other, at-least to some extent. he offered her a small smile of reassurance although it did little to keep her from watching his leg as he carefully made his way past her to head over to the basin of water. jazmín couldn't help but wince at the sight of him utilizing his injured leg in such a way; she was sure that with what irritation the wound had to endure just moments prior, his calf was not feeling so hot right now. this notion was soon confirmed by the sound of a small hiss escaping his mouth, too. she bit the inside of her cheek. "be careful," she urged him, shifting uncomfortably atop the uneven ground as she watched him from where she sat on her knees. he threw a small glance in her direction before he faced the basin of water. she hoped he wasn't putting too much strain on his leg; considering he had just sat through a rather excruciating period of cleansing the wound, she could only assume it must be especially tender right about now. jazmín's eyes happened to trail up from his calf and to his upper body; as he raised his arm to wipe away some sweat at his temples, she observed his muscles as they moved. it was difficult not to passingly admire his exposed thew. in the stark light of the tent the glint of sweat shimmering across his skin was made much more apparent. the tattoos on his upper back, his chest, stomach and right arm all appeared very vivid due to the coating of perspiration that clung to his skin. he was sweating in profuse amounts and she could only assume it was from a combination of pain and of stress. although she was not as drenched in sweat as he, she briefly became aware of a light coating of sweat having formed across her brow from concentrating on his wound for so long. she wiped the palms of her hands on the material of her pants, for they too had grown clammy with time. she'd nearly forgotten about the dull ache atop her hand from the slice running across her knuckles due to being so immersed in taking care of roland's wound, although now some of the more prominent throbbing was slowly creeping back in again. roland continued to soak two towels beneath the water of the basin, not spending too much time before he was pulling them both back out from the water. it was painful to watch him limp his way back over but she fought the urge to say anything about it, considering he had already made the trip over to the basin in the first place.
indentjazmín had not taken her gaze away from roland since he'd taken the few steps over to the basin, and now when he wheezed in discomfort to pull the stool directly behind her, she could not help but begin to feel a bit restless. if only they were both not so obstinate. she desperately wanted to help alleviate roland's pain further but before she could even try and persuade him to allow her to do such a thing yet again, he had already sat down on the stool behind her and pulled her back into her former position between his legs. this time, however, her back was to him. jazmín had no time to even react; roland was too quick. now, she wasn't exactly someone who enjoyed pain - nobody does - although she never found the actual process of cleaning a wound too disgruntling. they'd done it hundreds of times and had scars to show for it and to her, sometimes hurting was not unpleasant. still, she wasn't prepared to have her own wound examined and prodded at, especially not after dealing with roland's own. she was well aware how this would go and just how she too would react, based on treating his own laceration, and she was not looking forward to it. to be some help for him, though, she drew back a few strands of hair which rested atop of her shoulder with a hand, collecting it with the entirety of her hair so that roland could get a better look at her wound. she set her hair across her opposite shoulder, running her hand through the strands and finding that pleasantly enough, her fingers did not snag on any knots as she did so. after a brief moment, roland grabbed a small flashlight from the medical kit and shined it over her wound. nervously, she looked at the cut from the side of her eye as it was momentarily illuminated by the beam of the flashlight. the longer they sat in silence the more she begun to feel a bit of trepidation crawl in to her system. she couldn't say whether or not she'd been lucky enough to avoid getting any splinters of talon in her wound but things would become a whole lot more painful if she had. in that case, roland would have to try and extract the shards from her exposed flesh with some tweezers or alike, and that did not sound like it'd be fun for either him or her. jazmín sucked in a small breath, tearing her gaze away. mentally, she was beginning to prepare herself for the worse. in her lap, her hands found each other, uneasily wringing together as she awaited for roland to say something. when he finally spoke up, a bit of tension was lifted from her shoulders. he didn't mention the prospect of any pieces of broken talon in her shoulder, indicating that she must be in the clear in those regards. "it's okay, focusing on your wound helped distract me a bit," she admitted. in truth, the pain ebbing in and out of intensity in her shoulder had been taken off her mind by cleaning his own laceration. he then managed to sneak in the reminder that she could soon get back to addressing his own wound before she could even prompt such a mention again. this elicited a small nod from her. roland must have known she was going to make sure that they would not delay tending to his own wound any further than necessary.
indentroland extracted a bottle of alcohol solution from one of the medical kits in order to rinse his hands with the disinfectant, and of course the sound of his groan was enough to shift her attention toward him. for just about every time he grunted in pain throughout this entire ordeal, she would glance at him in worry, especially now that she was leaving his wound unattended to. she felt that she could have managed to at-least have pressed the alcohol solution onto his calf without it being much of a hassle before they looked at her own cut but then again she was only sitting here because roland had insisted so. when he took one of the towels to clean her face, she complied, allowing him to carefully run the fabric across her upper lip and chin. she briefly shut her eyes as he made to remove the last smudges of blood from her skin, letting the gentle way he touched her soothe her nerves. while she was still looking forward to a shower later, she already felt better without the prior layer of grime sticking to her skin. once he drew the towel back, jazmín let her eyes slowly reopen.
indentthe sudden presence of his hand at the side of her neck was new. she could not help but swallow thickly, even despite his grip being quite light. she could feel the perspiration from his palm against the bands of sweat which had formed at her neck, their sweat mingling. she fleetingly wondered how salty his skin tasted. for some reason or other she could feel a blush rise up her chest, although instead of letting out a pent-up breath, she felt her breathing grow shallow. his calloused fingers were ironically soft and gentle, and she would not have been able to find the will to move even if she wanted to. that in and of itself was a strange juxtaposition -- the lightness of his touch against the throbbing of her wound. it was doing nothing to keep her mind stable. the warmth that had been playing at her exposed collarbone threatened to burst into a flush; in fact, she could already feel her face beginning to grow hot, a slow heat beginning to creep up her neck too. she was supplied with some not-so-helpful images of what strong hands like his own were capable of; and that was when she caught herself. his hand was there to keep her from jolting at the touch of the dampened towel. jazmín made an effort to push any stray thoughts out of her mind. its the adrenaline. going through any near death experience always causes a leftover of emotions and desires. she told herself that it was perfectly normal. it was normal to have been observing roland's fit figure. it was fine to think about the weight of his hand settled atop her collarbone. she convinced herself that being hyperaware of his grip was completely reasonable even in such a circumstance as their own. so, she finally released a shuddering breath. as much as she hoped roland would not spot the blush that had risen across her face, she knew it was unlikely that such a thing would pass him by considering their close proximity. when he spoke again, jazmín managed to give him a faint nod. she wasn't prepared for what would come next although her mind was a bit foggy right now. when he finally brought the towel to touch her skin, she was forced out of her distracted state. jazmín visibly stiffened. a ripple of discomfort ran along the length of her laceration, her face contorting as he begun to edge around the torn skin. she hissed as he moved the towel around the area of her unscathed skin, her wound throbbing in protest as if expecting his next prodding to be directly atop it. he was quite delicate but even she had not touched the area around her wound just yet, let alone the laceration itself, so naturally she wasn't entirely too surprised by her own uncomfortable response. at the side of her neck, she felt the caress of his thumb as he continued to clean the immediate area of her wound. it was such a soft touch, barely there, just enough to remind her that the pain was temporary. still, the dabbing of the area elicited the occasional wince from her as he wiped away dirt and blood. for how conflicted she was, this flip-flopping between agony and yearning, she let herself focus on roland's touch. it was soothing. she had to make an effort to keep from further relaxing into his grip -- her neck felt too loose, almost languid as he stroked the pads of his thumb across the side of her neck. her nerves were flaring to life for a variety of different reasons, like a drunken haze of stimulation. it nearly made her want to shiver. again, she knew she should at-least try to fight against such feelings but very abruptly it became too difficult to think or to even remember why she was trying to keep herself from enjoying such a sensation. everything was hazy, from the hurt on her shoulder to the man sat so closely behind her. after a few minutes eventually passed, roland seemed to have successfully rid her skin of most of the grime.
indentas much as she was sure that any flush on her face might have eased up by now, his small praise only induced it further. her cheeks burned. how easily he could weaken her composure without even really trying. she gave him a feeble nod in response to his reassurances, feeling his hand briefly draw away from her neck to smooth out some of her hair before that same weight was back again. "i will. don't worry," she agreed. thus far, the pain hadn't been absolutely horrendous but surely that had just been the start. "i love you too. it'll be fine, i trust you." jazmín decided to lean back against his midriff, just as he had so invited her to do. while she was generally a pretty aware person, right now she felt like she was playing down just how bad this was going to hurt. again. it was a result of a mingling of different feelings so she could not control this, but as soon as he made contact with her wound this time around, jazmín had no choice but to be enveloped by shock. she cringed at the first pat of the towel, although roland's firm restraint helped keep her from flinching away. her breathing hitched. "nhn..son of a bit--" she cursed, feeling the sharp sensation of her nails sinking into the soft skin of her palms, deeply. could pain counteract pain? if so, then that was certainly how she was distracting herself. while he was being as light as possible, a new flare of pain flared in her arm. with a hiss, her body arched sharply at the sensation, drawing her upper back from his own body; while he was trying to make sure that she did not further agitate her wound, her body reacted accordingly to how she was being constrained, and that was with almost nowhere to flee the pain from. he continued dabbing her torn skin, and she tried her best not to further writhe about. it was growing unbearable but she did not want him to pause. it was better to get it over with right away. delaying the inevitable would only make things worse, after all. however, with a new stab of pain, jazmín reacted again, only this time she drove her back against the man, not overbearingly but with more pressure than if she were simply laying against him. she wanted to apologize but that was definitely not at the top of her mind right about now. it was bad. the pain was genuinely beyond horrendous, as if she were being tugged at by the griffin once again. she tipped her head back against his body, squeezing her eyes shut. "roland-" his name rolled off of her tongue in a soft moan as he dabbed her wound again, the hand of her free arm instinctively reaching across her collarbone to clasp the hand he had placed at the side of her neck, almost like a reflex. she exhaled sharply, breath trembling from the sheer abundance of pain racking her shoulder. luckily, roland spoke up again. she tried her best to focus on his words, deciphering them as he spoke although there were bits and pieces she had to fill in for she was too distracted to have honed in on his voice entirely. it was arcadia, the cousins, the rebellion -- he had resorted to one of her own prior tactics. "u-uhm.." she tried to stabilize her voice, to keep it from wavering but it was nearly impossible. her voice was trembling. she wanted to -- no, needed to constrain it. she sounded pathetic. she struggled against her own suffering to try and give him a somewhat coherent response. "i would..assume the s-same.." she grounded out through now-clenched teeth. "agh..yes. yes, to the armor. th..themus is closest, since we need to head to an..armorsmith. fort sancus would be out of our way. unless you want to head back there. i don't mind. if i'm being..honest with you, chasing a few rebels, if thats what they turn out..to..be, doesn't sound very appealing to me. i mean, how many times do you think we're going to get our asses handed to us by deceitful mayors if we are f..forced to track them down?" she was joking but the strain in her voice prevented her from conveying very much tone beyond her distress. she was struggling to string together words and often found herself needing to pause between them every time she was reminded of the angered wound on her shoulder. she didn't enjoy the sound of being assigned to go after those two cousins like roland had so suggested but if that happened to be the case in the end they didn't have a say in it. however at the same time, right now she was more worried about what would become of them in the taskforce period. would they be cut loose from the case? hopefully not. hopefully their overseer would be satisfied with what minimal evidence they had to show for today. she supposed even if a prospective trek out into the wasteland was not something she was looking forward to, she could suck it up if it meant they weren't going to be cut from the taskforce. besides, if those two cousins really were rebels the two of them could make quick work of those tainted-bloods. how much could they do against their advanced weaponry and technology? surely they'd catch them before they managed to head into the thick of the wasteland where technology reception became spotty. "..you're right..though. if that is the case, we'll have to meet up with our overseer in person, i'd..assume...hnng.." a light moan of pain escaped from the depths of her throat as roland gave a final few pats to the ruptured section of skin. as soon as his hand along with her own lifted from her neck she had to suck in some air. he hadn't been constricting her very much but with the amount of attempted twists she had made in his grip and the newfound beads of sweat rolling down her temples, it was relieving to feel that both the towel and his restraint had been lifted. she rolled her head back to look up at him, chest rising and falling in an uneven pattern. for someone who claimed not to be very bothered by much pain, she almost felt like her reaction had been similar to roland's own. her non-injured arm reached up to cup the side of his face; she attempted to give him a smile although it ended up being pretty weak. "uhm," she chuckled nervously, the lingering remnants of her earlier flush returning across her features and neck. she knew roland wouldn't judge her for reacting to her own pain but a part of her felt much too stripped, like she had laid out to him too much. she had been vulnerable with him, yes, and she has on countless instances but somehow it always felt like she was embarrassing herself. maybe blame it on the difficulty she has had to divulge personal difficulties with her parents but something about it all was uncomfortable. not the wound cleaning itself, but rather the action of him seeing her struggle heavily. she needed to make herself come to terms with the fact that such a thing was fine but it was difficult. "thank you. for bearing with me, i mean. and for cleaning the laceration too, of course. although you did mention i could get right back to your own laceration right away.." she glanced away from him and to his wounded leg, drawing her hand away from his still-damp face courtesy of the sweat which coated his body. her head lifted from where it had been resting against his torso. she was tempted to remain leaning against his midriff, as comfortable as such a position had become, but she needed to begin chipping away at having roland's own cut disinfected. "so, lets get to it. the sooner the better, after all."
indentjazmín slowly drew herself away from roland, scooting forward so that she could turn onto her knees once again to easily access the medical kits and his wound. she supposed she could've tended to his cut from where she had just been positioned although she had a bit more range of motion when she faced him rather than lay against him. besides she didn't want to be finding herself too comfortable, either. her hand slithered into the medical kits to draw out the bottle of alcohol solution from where roland had returned it earlier. she plucked out a few cotton balls, too, knowing that she may need to use a couple of them in order to fully cover the length of his wound. she didn't need to reuse the discarded bloodstained towel that sat beside the two medical kits for this portion of his wound cleaning. this time, the first thing she did was inch closer toward his leg, shifting her position so that she could wrap the crook of her outer legs around his ankle. she wasn't exactly facing him straight on but rather at the side considering she was now entirely straddling his leg. it was only incase the presence of her hand was not enough to restrain him from jolting away. his wound appeared to be fairing well still, even considering what weight he had put onto it before. a small smear of blood had freshly trickled from the laceration but that was about it. she glanced up to roland, placing one of her hands back to where it had previously been positioned atop his shin. her grip was quite light considering she wasn't actually tampering with his wound just yet. "you know the drill. it won't be that bad though, i promise. the worst part is already over, and that was me trying to clean the entirety of your wound and its surrounding skin. now i'll just be applying the alcohol solution onto your wound..it shouldn't take too long." for his sake, she would work quickly in an attempt to minimize his distress. "and you can tell me if it hurts too much as well. i'll stop whenever you want me to. and yes, i know, you'll want to disinfect my wound next. i promise you'll be able to right after this. just try to stay calm right now, deep breaths. i would offer you my hand but..you know." to be fair, she was saying that mostly because she wanted to remind him that she was there and that the pain would subside quickly -- but alas, she had no free hands. a large part of her own love language had to be distinguished as quality time coupled with physical touch. its no wonder why, either, all things considered. she had a tendency to cling to anyone significant to her - that person being roland - and the gentle reminder of her hand on his shoulder or her hand in his hand was one of the most certain ways she could express her own adoration for him when words failed. she wasn't overwhelming with it all, though. she knew how to gauge roland's mood fairly well and sometimes people want to be left alone regardless. her attentiveness was why she and roland could work in companionable silence next to each other without needing to feel put off by anything, and whether or not they spent the night in quiet peace or in wild abandon or cuddling, she was just glad to be near him. his presence alone was a reminder that things aren't how they used to be in her life, and she hoped that in these ways she also comforted roland. besides, quality time is the love language that centers around togetherness. to him she would express her love and affection with undivided attention, and often. its normal for her to intentionally set aside time for him alone, again whether it be in the many manifestations of spending their time together in different ways, or coaxing him into going out to eat somewhere for a date night.
indentjazmín glanced back down to his laceration. now clutching the bottle of alcohol solution, she diluted one of the cotton balls, tipping the bottle upside down atop the surface of the ball. she felt herself tense as she made to press the first dab of antiseptic at the top of his cut, unsure of how he might react; her grip had slightly tightened around his shin just in-case, although not to the point where he'd be uncomfortable. one of her priorities was to keep him from being in too much longstanding pain while still retaining as much thoroughness as possible. so, she worked quickly. after each moment she allowed his flesh to absorb the liquid atop the cotton ball, she moved onto the next patch of exposed skin just beneath it, down and down again until she was closer to his heel. "i'm sorry," she whispered, dabbing the cotton ball against his wound. "just a bit more, i promise, okay?" she didn't wait for a response, making sure his leg was still secured between both her legs as well as his shin with her hand in order to keep him from unnecessarily thrashing at the stinging after drenching a second cotton ball with alcohol solution. the first cotton ball had easily grown tainted with crimson and after patting it against his wound several times it no longer carried the same amount of the liquid as it had when she initially wet it. she brought the newly soaked cotton ball to his leg again, this time working from the bottom of the laceration to the top. she knew the solution must be cold against his leg, and a feeling of stinging must have enveloped the entirety of the wound by now but she could not pause and prolong his pain, not unless he requested her to do such. it didn't take long before she was able to go over his wound with a new cotton ball for a third and final time. the two used cotton balls had now both been discarded to the side. jazmín made sure to press the solution into his open wound with some light pressure, trying to ensure that she had got the liquid into every crevice of exposed flesh possible. the possibility for infection was something that she aimed to avoid -- and it appeared that her quick work across his cut had not sacrificed any of her meticulousness when it came to ensuring a complete coverage of his wound. her brows were knitted in concentration as she observed the cotton ball mingling with his laceration. with her own limbs acting as restraint of sorts, she was quick to shift her weight against his leg whenever the interaction of torn skin and alcohol solution might elicit a response from him. when roland is in any sort of distress its not uncommon for her to mutter soft apologies, either. the whole ordeal didn't manage to take as long as mopping up the area of the wound prior to disinfecting it, but it managed to feel like a whole hour had gone by regardless. she hardly noticed that she had begun to breathe a bit heavily from being so attentive to his wound. with a final delicate dab against his skin, jazmín drew away the cotton ball.
indentshe released a breath without even realizing she had been holding one. and to think that she was the one applying the solution, not the one feeling the pain of the liquid. "there; i'm finished," she relaxed her limbs around his own, slowly shifting her seat back to face him after untangling her legs from being wrapped around his ankle. "you did so well, roland." she soothed him softly, voice a bit weary. the back of her hand briefly ran across her forehead. if she had not been sweating excessively before, she was now. with what determination she had to get this over with as quickly as possible coupled with the immense degree of focus she had honed in on his wound, she wasn't surprised to feel herself crawling with perspiration. it coated her upper body in an uncomfortably warm layer. the entire space of this tent had begun to feel muggy, almost suffocating. it was strange to think that not too long ago she had been the one feeling the sharp jabs of pain through her arm. her shoulder was throbbing although she had not been too aware of the sensation until now when it began creeping back in. her chest rose and fell in a heavy rhythm. she felt out of breath. the last hour in general had been a lot to take in and their bodies were both going through similar yet completely different processes regarding the cleaning of their wounds. she looked up at him with a sigh. "looks like suturing is coming up soon..at-least we got the worst over with, right?" it seemed like just about every next step they had to take in this process was one that would be tenfold in pain. to be truthful, she had wanted to delay his own attention from being on her wound but it would've been selfish to purposefully lengthen the process of roland's own cleansing. her eyes flickered back to his wound. she was satisfied to see that although it was quite obviously irritated from what prodding had been bestowed upon it, it was otherwise looking quite satisfactory. red and agitated yes but nevertheless a clean slate for what was to come next. suturing was a different sort of pain, considering the fact that they'd be using a needle and some thread to close their wounds rather than applying water or alcohol solution. by no means were either of them field medics but having knowledge pertaining to the treatment of wounds was something that they needed to have a baseline of in their area of work. it takes time to develop steady hands and precise technique of course but they still managed to have a passable amount of skill. her gaze shifted back to his wound. she placed her hand on his shin, gently turning his leg toward her so that she could take a final look at his calf before he set off to tend to her own wound. roland didn't have any tattoos on his legs but she wondered whether or not he might decide to ink up this portion of his leg long after its healed. she wouldn't be surprised if he eventually decided to considering that a lot of his preexisting tattoos covered scarring. the skin around his laceration appeared to be quite sore and red still. this wasn't a disconcerting sight to her due to the fact that right after you sustain an injury, the area tends to be swollen, sore, or red. this is normal as blood is being sent to the area to supply oxygen and other nutrients for healing. considering she had been so careful and his wound still glistened with the light sheen of alcohol solution, germs or bacteria wouldn't be able to find a way into his cut and cause infection. she took her hand from his leg, allowing it to return back to its relaxed state.
indentjazmín let out a small groan as she forced herself to rise from where she had been perched before him, each vertebrae in her spine straightening out as she transitioned from the rather stiff position she'd been occupying for the past while. she briefly stretched her arms above her head. she wasn't particularly sore but did manage to feel a bit sluggish considering she'd been spending most of her time either sitting down or laying against roland. right now, she was pretty aware that he would not let her advance on stitching his wound without first attending to her own laceration if their prior discussion held any weight for the rest of their patching up. she supposed it made more sense that they take care of each other in dedicated increments of time to ensure that they both felt like their wounds were making some progress. she didn't really have a problem with such an approach, even though she had wanted to solely focus on roland's wound first. before he could make any attempt to situate her between his legs again, however, she took the opportunity to spot a position that seemed a bit more practical for him to easily disinfect her shoulder. a distant part of herself wondered who she was kidding, though -- it wasn't exactly the prime spot for the cleansing of a wound, however it didn't make anything more tedious. jazmín took a step toward him, one of her hands carefully coming up to settle atop his shoulder. "hey," she whispered. now standing between his legs, she daringly took up a seat atop his left leg. "i figured this might help ease your mind," she said, tone purposefully half a note off from a purr as she settled on his thigh. she was deliberately being ambiguous. was she referring to allowing him to tend to her wound now, or to something else? her sliced shoulder was now parallel to his chest since she was seated sideways, and her hand had come to idle against his exposed chest. her eyes momentarily shifted to his torso, a finger now lazily tracing the outline of one the tattoos across his chest before they flickered back up to meet his gaze again. her head was slightly downturned although she maintained eye contact with him, looking up to him in a rather coy manner. the ache in her shoulder was hardly present in her mind right now, not when the gap between them was already so short. she was fully aware that she was toying with him, acting as if she were suggesting they take a different course of action, and truthfully by now she had let her own silence since her last words stretch on far too long before she finally spoke up again to divert his attention onto her wound, the true subject at hand. her hand fell away from his chest to draw back any stray hairs that were atop her injured shoulder, pulling the strands to the other side of her neck to expose to him the entirety of her arm. "ahem, i was assuming you probably wanted to check out my wound before i continued working on yours, i mean. this might make things easier." she clarified softly with a gentle smile, although to be fair there had been something rather tantalizing about her previous statement considering the brief period of time it took her to clear up what her true intents and purpose atop his knee were. was it wrong to be teasing him in such a manner, especially when she was at his jurisdiction when it came to cleaning her wound? well, probably, but her mind was addled by the ache in her shoulder and a part of her wanted to torment him. besides, what had he not being doing before? he must have known the sway his grip, his words had on her. it only felt right to repay some form of titillation back to him even though he had no choice but to focus on her wound instead.
indentor would it be so wrong, just to give in for a second--
indenther eyes landed on his lips. the temptation to have a quick taste edged her mind the more she looked. she felt herself shifting toward him without much of a second thought, apparently no longer invested in painstakingly teasing him -- slowly, jazmín leaned her face closer to his own until she felt the warmth of her breath against his skin, tentatively drawing closer to his mouth. coaxingly, her lips gently touched his, as if testing the waters. in a matter of seconds her inner leg drew up and around his thigh so that she was now straddling his leg. in the heat of the moment she almost wanted to find her way completely atop his lap, legs wrapped around his hips, although she resisted such a temptation, remaining on his knee instead. her hips lightly pressed forward as she leaned in further to his mouth, her eyes briefly closing. his lips molded with her own almost too perfectly. the kiss was quick, however, almost like a flutter of light that was gone in a flash; her hand roamed up his neck and against his cheek as her lips withdrew from his own. it didn't occur to her that he might taste the remnants of blood, sharp and metallic but not freshly so. she moved to press a few small kisses down his jawline and scalene muscles, fingers carding through his hair before finding his mouth again although this time, her mouth hovered atop his own, and she briefly stalled there to see where roland would take this -- except suddenly, all at once she found herself completely pulling back from his mouth before they had the chance to continue deepening their encounter. she'd broke off from him just as quickly as she had initiated her advancement, restoring the former space between the two of them in the event that he might try and chase her lips. jazmín was quick to get in any words before he could though. "i'm sorry," she chuckled tensely albeit somewhat hurriedly, averting her gaze away from his own at the familiar sensation of heat prickling at her face following the abruptness of her withdrawal. everything had happened so suddenly that she didn't even consider the chances they might agitate their wounds or other aches somehow; she'd been so willing to forget about the reason why they were really here. it felt wildly unfair to pause such an interaction and this cut-off only fuelled the way she was starved for his touch but she knew they shouldn't get carried away with anything right now, not while their wounds were still half tended to. hopefully he did not get the impression that it was him who was the problem here though. "i don't want to hurt you or confuse you while you're in pain or anything. here, hold on," she slowly shifted her leg back to its prior position so that her shoulder was now in front of him again, rather than her facing him directly. jazmín leaned down to snatch up the bottle of alcohol solution and a few cotton balls from the medical kit, presenting them to roland in her hands so that he would not need to have to exert himself by shifting forward to retrieve them from the ground. "i promise i'm more prepared for the pain this time around, so you won't have to completely wrestle me down or anything. just as a reminder though, we're getting back to your wound as soon as possible. i hate to even leave it further unattended to but since you insisted earlier..well, i suppose there's not much i can do about that, is there?"

[vaermina]

ＶＡＬＥＮＴＩＮＡ ＫＡＬＡＪＩＡＮxxx
I.xcis femalex II.xno affiliationsx III. a wastelander


indentvalentina shrugged. "if that's what you think is best." she wasn't shocked that he did not leap at the chance of rifling through the old chest. it's full of memories that are best left untouched, and the topic of their parents' is not an easy one to discuss. the two cousins do not talk about their parents' a lot. naturally, loss is difficult for anyone to talk about but... she didn't know. she knew that julian had been close with his mother so obviously, her passing must still weigh heavy on him. valentina felt the same way with her father. she hadn't really been too close with her mother. obviously, she missed her terribly but she simply had not been as close with her as she had her father. when she needed advice, she had always went to her aunt because she and her mother had shared a tumultuous relationship. it had been nothing inherently awful but they had never quite saw eye to eye. her mother had been an accustomed, traditional woman with orthodox values and a habitual way of living. she had been stern and practical, a wastelander of unadventurous thoughts and fixed standards. much like her sister, she had been a devout follower of the akir but focused most of her worship on the goddess of love and marriage, moira. she had placed heavy emphasis on the domestic home life as well as family, children and nuptials. it had been all about self reliance, fidelity, patriotism, industry, faith, honesty, respect and conservatism with her. it's no secret why she and valentina had clashed so much. she had wanted her daughter to begin looking into the prospect of marriage and having her own life with a suitable husband once valentina became of age, and that was something valentina had no interest in. she had felt and still felt like marriage was much too restrictive for someone as boisterous as her. valentina wanted to explore and traverse and hunt and live, not stay cooped in some sweltering homestead all day doing tedious housework. some people might call that a cliché but valentina did not see how women seeking independence and focusing on themselves made them any different than those who wanted a family of their own. but traditional values are just not realistic anymore. nobody can afford to stay home all day tending to, well, what exactly? some pre-war house that's caving in? an old shack where the grime can never be scraped off its walls? that was not the life for valentina. she had never wanted what her mother wanted. becoming a wife, a mother, raising children and cattle in the middle of nowhere; that was not for her. granted, valentina is unsure what she does want out of life but she knew what she was trying to avoid. her mother had never approved of her hunting, either. she had thought there were more useful activities she could pick up. sewing, crafting, gardening; why on earth she thought that hunting was not useful, she had no idea but it all tied into her wanting valentina to marry and be supported by a spouse. it was absolutely ridiculous. of course, she had not hated her mother and she did not hate her now but they had definitely shared a strained bond. it's no wonder valentina had been close with her father. he had never pushed her to do anything she did not want to do. he had never attempted to make her conform to a certain standard or act a certain way. when she had wanted to begin learning how to hunt, he hadn't protested or tried to make her wait until she was older. sometimes, valentina was so intent on making sure she and julian survive that she forgot about their parents'. in all honesty, maybe that was a good thing. it kept her from becoming too muddled and sluggish by grief. wastelanders do not have the luxury of staying trapped in such a mindset. how would they survive if they do not keep clear heads so they could hunt and keep themselves fed for another day? what would happen if they're distracted while traveling and end up getting ambushed by animals or bandits? the wasteland does not allow people to linger on their grief. you get over it, whether you like it or not.
indent"mhm, sounds good. there's not much in the bathroom, anyway so it shouldn't take me very long," valentina told him. she waited until he left before she scooped up the bag of valuables and belongings over her shoulder. she rose to her feet and grabbed the room's singular lantern before heading over to the bathroom.
indentsituated at the end of the hallway, the bathroom was the only one in the entire house. its functionings have become severely limited over the years. it had no running water so the toilet was obviously unusable. they just use the outhouse that's in the backyard. the sink and shower do not work, either. like most wastelanders, they use buckets of distilled water to help them bathe or wash their faces. the bathroom itself was just as blighted as the rest of the house. various sections of the tile floor were chipped and broken. the drawers underneath the sink were rotted and the sink itself covered in grime and crazing. unsurprisingly, the bathroom's massive mirror was cracked and the towel holder that once sat on the wall had been ripped out. the light bulbs that were once present have long since been removed and sold for a few caps. they tried to keep the shower itself as clean as possible but that's easier said than done. lime and hard water stains were splattered permanently across the shower's ceramic tile, smudging it twice as dark as it would normally be. red residue sat at the bottom of the tub itself. they had an old shower curtain as well. valentina would not be surprised if there was mold growing in here from all the roof leaks they've had. it was not the cleanest of bathrooms, that's for sure. it was impossible to find cleaning supplies out here in the wasteland that can eradicate centuries of gradual damage. all the stains and grime had piled up for decades upon decades before they moved in. it was permanent and there was nothing they could do about it. luckily, they really only used the bathroom to bathe. their toilet was the outhouse and when they brush their teeth, they have to do it outside because they cannot spit into the sink due to a blocked pipe and lack of running water. it's not much but at-least they try and keep up with their hygiene. wastelanders do not have access to luxuries like clean water, electricity and upscale plumbing. you gotta do what you gotta do and it's not always a pretty venture. of course, she's witnessed electricity in action because of the generators that power a lot of the inns and taverns in arcadia. she and julian would be living in style if they had a generator of their own. they wouldn't have to worry about lanterns or candles or matches. generators are available to the general public but it's too much of a hassle trying to get one. not only do you have to find one that works but you have to be able to pay the hefty price for one - often inflated due to high demand - as well as have the knowledge of running it and fixing it if something were to malfunction. most wastelanders don't possess that kind of knowledge. you also have to make sure you get one that can power your whole house and more often than not, people pay way too many caps for one that has way too little horsepower. well, one can dream. it's not like they even need a generator now that they were leaving laurel oaks. and with the uncertainty that lay ahead of them, who knows if they'll even get one in the future. maybe the rebellion has generators. a working lightbulb would be nice.
indentvalentina set the lantern down on the sink's counter so she could get to work. luckily, there was not a lot she needed to grab. she found a small bag underneath the sink so she could snatch their toothbrushes and stuff them inside, along with a bottle of toothpaste made of baking soda, coconut oil, stevia powder and peppermint essential oil. she was quick to grab her hairbrush along with some hair ties and clips, as well. inside the shower itself hung a small soap saver pouch full of little cubes of hardened soap. when crushed between the palms with some dollops of water, they quickly morph into soapy rinses that one can lather their body with. they're far more convenient than soap bars and body wash because they do not carry the bacteria that bars and washcloths do. the cubes were crafted by a well-known soaper in arcadia. the woman made her entire inventory from scratch. it's easy for wastelanders to pick up on natural trades like that. arcadia's marketplace is home to dozens of soapers, wheelwrights, woodworkers, bakers, tailors, hatters, stonemasons, butchers, tanners, gunsmiths, weavers and other such craftsmen. wastelanders lack easy access to most things so it's no wonder that many people have picked up trades that directly correlate with the daily needs of their people. there's constant demand for basic necessities such as guns, durable clothing and organic hygiene products. people need horses for transportation and sand-cats to alert them of dangerous weather so plenty of people have made careers out of breeding those animals. wastelanders who want to spruce up their homes may go to stonemasons and woodworkers to look at ornaments and furniture that they can hang or set up in their homes. ranchers and homesteaders who live on land that has a lot of trees may even sell lumber to families looking to settle down and build their own homes. speaking of ranchers, livestock is also a profitable business. there's plenty of land out here that can be mended for crops but it depends on the land itself and the conditions. when crops are unable to be grown, livestock can be raised instead and people are always in need of cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens and other farm animals to breed and make a living off of. and of course, you have people like zio who buy random things from other people and turn said items around to try and make a profit themselves. wastelander society has something of an economy despite what the conclave may claim and assume about them. it's not exactly defined or orderly but it's there. people contribute based on their skills and how good they are at something. some people have a natural hand for crafting and carving; others like valentina thrive in the hunting sphere. there will always be a demand for hunters because people will always need animal meat, bones and pelts. surely the conclave must have a similar style with people pursuing interest in careers they have a natural keenness for? perhaps their careers weren't so, well, traditional but there must be something there.
indentvalentina grabbed the soap pouch and stuffed it inside the big bag. she was also heedful to snatch their bottles of coconut milk shampoo and conditioner. they'd have to try and stop at inns whenever they can to bathe. of course, they could just do so in rivers and lakes but it's common sense to avoid wading into bodies of water for long periods of time. every water source out there is irradiated and the longer you're exposed to the particles, the more damage you could receive. that's why they use distilled water to bathe, for it lacks harmful radioactive iodine and other particles that could damage the human body. as valentina continued to snoop about, she heard julian's call from the living room. the woman quirked a brow. "mongrel skull? oh, yeah, i totally forgot about that thing. we could probably get a decent price for it. we just gotta find the right feller." as with anything that's a bit more on the peculiar spectrum, someone is not going to buy that skull unless they're specifically looking for something like it. luckily, a lot of people like to collect animal skulls. there's so many types of animals out in the wasteland that collecting skulls, pelts and taxidermized heads are something of a passion for a lot of people. valentina could not blame them. it'd be sick to have the body of a stuffed sharpclaw or the head of an ophidian above your fireplace mantel. that mongrel skull has been under the floorboards for several years now, as well so she doubted it was in bad condition. truly, it might have been better if it had been lying underneath the sun for some time, though. skulls that are sun bleached sell higher than stained ones but she supposed it doesn't matter.
indentshe heard julian's call from down the hallway as soon as she finished her search. she grabbed the lantern from the sink's counter and took another survey of the bathroom before she huffed in annoyance. "well, a limited amount of medical supplies is better than no medical supplies considering we're going to have a bunch of well-trained conclave dogs on our tails. and can you please stop being irritating before i drag you behind mars with a lasso? actually... you know what, that would be good practice in-case we ever become bounty hunters." with the lantern in hand, valentina left the bathroom and trotted over to julian. "okay, come on, let's get going. i just grabbed a few of our hygienic stuff so we're not walking around all filthy by the end of the week." she raised the lantern so its light swallowed the surrounding area in yellow before she headed over to the door. she was only half joking about the lasso and bounty hunter thing. she's come to julian more than once about potentially picking up bounty hunting as a side job. obviously, it always fell through. bounty hunting pays well but it's dangerous. bounties are usually issued by local law officials for bandits, robbers, thieves, murderers and other undesirables that the national government itself has no interest going after. depending on the severity of the bounty's crimes, they may be wanted alive so they could be publicly hung or they can be brought in already dead. the bounties themselves are dangerous people who have no issues taking lives so, obviously, capturing them can be a whole other ballgame in and of itself. most of them won't go down without a fight. bounties who are accused of being bandits often reside in gangs who will protect them, as well. if that's not bad enough, the job field itself is extremely competitive and other bounty hunters may try and attack or even kill you to steal your hogtied bounty so they can retrieve the reward for themselves. the pay is usually pretty good but the dangers outweigh the benefits. bounties are rarely issued by the national government because if someone is dangerous enough to make themselves known to the conclave, they are usually hunted down by the military personally. that doesn't mean the amount of criminals in the dixon wasteland has lessened, though. a lot of them never rise to the conclave's attention so it falls on the locals to try and handle it. she wasn't too sure how she and julian would make out as bounty hunters given the ruthlessness needed for that line of work.
indentnight began to settle across the wasteland like a velvet blanket. the sun had nestled itself behind the cinder mountains and shadows had begun to crawl out and play. the sky itself was now painted raisin and dark apricot, dotted with the beginnings of straggly night clouds. valentina could hear the calls of cicadas and crickets in the thorny bushes that sat by the torn fencing of their lawn. mars was gingerly searching for some fresh grass to eat as the cousins approached him. valentina slid the bag off of her shoulder so she could attach it to mars' saddle. she was heedful to not tie it loose so it did not end up being dragged in the dirt. it was too big to fit in one of the saddlebags, anyway although that would probably be preferable given it had some valuables inside. there were several scabbard holsters on mars' saddle that they utilize for weapon storage but valentina decided to keep the rifle on her person. traveling through the wasteland is dangerous enough but traveling at night? that's a whole different story. they'll have to worry about not only animals, wandering bandits and unfriendly wastelanders but conclave patrols, as well. valentina doubted that any of the patrols will stray into the wilderness while the sun is set but who knows how badly the government wants this file back? she knew better than to underestimate them. they had to stay off the main roads. she knew that it'll increase their chances of trouble with wasteland occupants but it'll lessen the odds of running into soldiers. and honestly, valentina was fine with that. she'd rather tango with some mongrels than try their luck at escaping a group of soldiers. who knows what extra stops the conclave has pulled in order to find the missing report? if her memory served her right, that general had mentioned taskforces had been deployed to find the file. it doesn't take a genius to realize that taskforces are probably much more durable, skilled and cunning than the average group of soldiers. they'll have to be careful. they'll have to be very, very, very careful. they couldn't allow themselves to be trapped in a corner or walk right into an ambush. they need to use their wits and utilize the dangers of the waste to their advantage. valentina and julian know what the territorial markings of a sharpclaw look like but she doubted members of the conclave do. lone farmsteads in the middle of nowhere that are homes to gangs of gruesome bandits? they know to stay clear of those areas but the conclave's followers do not. their vehicles could easily catch up to mars in an open sprint across the plains but the horse could navigate around obstacles and through crowded areas far better than their vehicles could. valentina and julian could only stand their ground for so long in a fight against skilled military servicemen so they have to use all the resources and advantages that are available to them if they hope to remain out of the government's clutches. she doubted they could win a fight against them unless they happened to have some sort of support or advantage.
indentafter they finished packing the rest of their belongings on the horse, valentina turned to face the house again. "well... i guess this is it. we're really doing this, huh?" in the gloom of nightfall, it looked strangely uninviting. it was impossible to see inside of it due to the two cousins extinguishing its remaining lanterns. she could hear its foundations creak underneath the weight of the evening humidity. honestly, the woman had no idea what she felt right now. melancholic? sorrow? regret? apprehension? it was hard to tell. they were not born in laurel oaks but they lived here for a majority of their lives. they have spent many years hunting and exploring the surrounding countryside and they have traveled to arcadia so much she felt like it has become a routine of sorts to visit the city every week. this house, this settlement, this area of the dixon wasteland: it's all they've ever known. it was daunting to leave it all behind in pursuit of the unknown. she wondered how their parents' would react to all of this. would they have supported them leaving to find the rebellion or would they have tried to dissuade them? she knew that they were taking a bold risk with this. they might not even find the rebellion. there's no telling what could happen. nobody was forcing them to take on this burden but valentina almost felt like they had to because who else would? valentina was not going to let that group of men and women die in vain. they had been trying to fulfill some sort of purpose and she did not want that to go to waste. still, it was bittersweet having to leave laurel oaks behind. surprisingly, she did not feel as dejected as she thought she would. maybe it was because the memories of this place have grown increasingly sharp over the past few months; maybe she just wasn't processing it right now and it would all hit her later. it felt surreal to have to leave everything behind. their home, some of their belongings, their neighbors. if she had to guess, the severity of their situation would not hit her until later on. what she did know, though, was that they can't linger. they can't stand here and reminisce for an hour or try and visit the neighbors to say their goodbyes. they're risking not only their own safety but the well-being of the entire settlement. she could tell the conclave wanted this file back desperately, and there's no telling what type of wrath the military might unleash upon those even suspected to be involved with this file. the people who lived here, all these families, they're good people and they don't deserve that. valentina stared at the house for a few moments before she looked at julian. she nudged him, finally breaking the long moment of silence. "come on. the longer we linger, the more tempting it'll be to stay. we just have to rip it off like a band-aid."
indentvalentina gave mars a hearty pat before she mounted him, this time taking the reins. she waited until julian followed her lead before she directed the stallion out of the yard. she had tied her lantern to his saddle so they could have some light as they wandered through the shadowy wasteland. and as she directed mars down the cracked road and towards the entrance of the village, she did not look back at the empty house. she did not want to. she was almost certain that if she did, she might see the gloomy figures of their parents' watching them from the caving doorway. truly, it did feel like they were ripping off a band-aid by finally leaving laurel oaks but maybe it was all for the best. after the death of their parents', it felt like this settlement has grown increasingly haunted by their invisible presence. for years, valentina had wanted to leave the nest and find her own way in life. and maybe, just maybe, helping the rebellion might be the right path for her and julian. she had felt lost and uncertain of the future after her parents died and while she knew returning this tape to the resistance would benefit their cause as a whole, it also might help her find herself. her purpose in life, what she wanted to do. maybe this was it. she knew for the longest time she did not want to spend the rest of her days doing, well, whatever the hell her routine had become after her parents passed. hunting all day only to be scammed at arcadia's market and barely have enough caps to survive for the next week; who wants to live that way? valentina and julian have been stuck just barely surviving the past few years that she was almost apprehensive of what might be thrown their way. it would surely be everything unusual and dangerous, enemies and events they have never witnessed nor dealt with before. but hell, imagine what they might discover on their journey to the badlands! she has heard of the many different wastelander cities across the united states that parallel arcadia's uniqueness. she'd love to see dodger city although that was all the way in new california, as well as enterprise hall in the commonwealth. she has heard that there is a wastelander city built in the remains of the mall of america, though and that was all the way up near the badlands. she wondered if their journey would take them near there. they can't go around sightseeing, of course and they need to be careful with who they interact with but what's not to say they can't try and make the best of this?
indentmars' hooves clapped against the rickety boards of the wooden bridge that arched over the settlement's neighboring stream as the two cousins left laurel oaks behind. the light from the lantern washed the party and surrounding area in amber. instead of heading off towards the highway they had traveled on earlier, valentina took an abrupt turn west. she fished her compass out of her pocket as the two cousins diverted off the trail and began to instead trek into the unmarked countryside. it was always hazardous to veer off the roads. it's easy to walk into the den or territory of an animal or stumble upon an old house overrun with bandits. they can't take the highway, though. she already knew it was crawling with conclave personnel. they have a better chance of traveling through the wilderness because not only will it throw off any potential hounds but it'll make it more difficult for conclave vehicles. there are plenty of ruts, crevices, boulders, small gorges and clefts throughout the waste that makes it near impossible for vehicles to travel through without taking a detour. wastelanders utilize mounts like horses for a reason. she supposed as long as she and julian keep their wits about them and their guns ready, they won't have any trouble fending off potential threats. if worse comes to worse, they could always flee on mars. large roadways and even dirt roads might be slowly filling up with conclave patrols, though, so this was their only shot of getting out of the area in one piece. she supposed the only good thing about traveling at night is that they would be able to see any headlights or just lights in general from a distance.
indenttheir belongings clinked and clacked in their bags as mars navigated the now rocky terrain. the lantern was their only source of light and it only illuminated their surroundings to a certain extent. shadows licked and crawled outside the flaxen circle almost impatiently. luckily, the area surrounding arcadia and laurels oaks is home to few trees and mainly just acres of rough, hardened land. they did not need to worry about accidentally barreling into a tree trunk or something, and mars was intelligent enough to stop and show alarm if they were nearing a small crevice or something he could not easily navigate. valentina could hear the distant howls of canines and shrieks of animals; the noises elicited a wary snort from their horse. dry brush and dead weeds crackled underneath his hooves, and small rodents scampered for cover as the two cousins passed. a warm breeze stirred valentina's hair. with the sun now set, the rancid heat of daytime was gone and replaced by a muggy humidity. it elicited the appearance of insects and dreary creatures, ones who were hiding underground or within the undergrowth to avoid the noonday heat. her eyes grazed their dim surroundings. what town they were heading to exactly, valentina had no idea. the man next to the caravan had only mentioned there was a small settlement west of arcadia where his nephew, a freedman, was hold up. given the amount of villages in the area, though, surely it would not be that hard to find? she figured it might be easy to locate where freedmen are, anyway, given how their services are so widely requested. if they could not find the settlement on their own, maybe some rural locals would help them. they had a map in mars' saddlebag of the surrounding area but given how settlements and towns are being made and destroyed weekly, it was not exactly up to date. valentina glanced down at her compass to make sure they were heading in the right direction before she spoke to her cousin again, having been silent to muse over her thoughts for some time now. she kept her tone moderate to avoid attracting unwanted attention. "so, how are you feeling? you know, about all this? i already know you told me you thought it was crazy earlier but now it's getting really insane. i mean, we're really on our way now. who knows what's gonna happen? i hope that we can find those freedmen i heard about earlier so we can get a general idea of where the hell we need to go. if any group out here knows a thing or two about the rebellion, it would be them. and i don't know about you but i'm getting hungry. we haven't ate all day. i guess we gotta focus on getting out of the immediate area for now before setting up camp somewhere but we have two options. we can either set up camp and go out hunting or we can set up camp and lay down a trap nearby to catch something. option one is more dangerous because of obvious reasons but option two might take longer or we might not even catch anything at all. it is nighttime, though and that's when a lot of animals are more active so we might get lucky. what do you think?"

[vaell]

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xxxxxxxxxxxxentertainer / stage name 'floyd'. | the rebellion. aka 'vuledo'. | tagged: constance.
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indenthearing his own fears being expressed by constance..well, he felt a whole lot less alone in his nervousness. to know that they felt similar with the whole weight on their shoulders business was relieving beyond words. honestly, feeling weighed down by the responsibility they carried seemed to cross his mind more often than usual, especially while matters were growing tense within their ranks -- which they always seemed to be these days. sure, he and constance might not be known individually by wastelanders but as a collective they were the rebellion; they had a duty to uphold to the citizens of the wasteland whether or not people were aware of it. and just like constance said, people had also looked up to that mercenary group in hopes of true change and yet they had been decimated by the conclave. it would be unwise of them to follow in the same footsteps, but with people like declan at the helm demanding for more tactically aggressive methods to be taken against the government, it seemed like the commonalities between their situation and the destruction of groups who had utilized such strategies before were growing larger. the idea of the rebellion unknowingly falling into the same path of annihilation was something that continued to cultivate anxiety within edwin. he and constance, they weren't immortal, they weren't untouchable nor were they some sort of superheroes. they were regular people trying to make a difference and yet it felt like they had the weight of the worlds expectations on their backs. as much as today was tragic, he knew that their failure at themus would only further prove the point that base infiltrations were no longer enough; they'd lost some of their own people today yet edwin knew that someone like declan would only utilize this situation, their deaths, as a way to further his own agenda. he could already picture the preaching that would be going on back at headquarters with time. 'today, people died unjust deaths; i believe its time we reevaluate our methods, begin to pay the conclave back what they have done to us'.. or something along those lines. anyhow, it didn't matter. to a lot of people his veiled words would be seen as a great idea. after all, their infiltration missions have always been a bit precarious, and edwin could agree with that. however as much as declan would be trying to present himself as pushing the idea that he wants change because of rebels dying, he was well aware that his underlying motives would be to push the more aggressive narrative. unfortunately for people like constance and edwin - people who wanted change, yes, but not at the sacrifice of their current or future progress - the incident at themus was only going to condemn the rebellion down a brutal, bloody path, especially if it is used as an arguing point of sorts. he could only imagine what might happen if they truly acted on some of declan's more assertive ideas. would they soon be labelled by the conclave as a threat needing immediate extermination? would they need to watch their backs every waking hour, running from a decimated outpost to yet another not secure base? he didn't want to imagine living on edge for the rest of his life. because thats what it would be like, if they did something to strike the conclave that had no point of return. they would not be able to rest until their entire group was brought to 'justice'; the only rest they'd get would be death. it was a bleak image to paint but you cannot be so naive as to ignore what could potentially happen in the future. would the conclave have specific operations to target the rebellion? he had no doubt that something would happen sooner than later if the rebellion chose to abandon their more low-key ways. he supposed it wouldn't be long before they found out either.
indentwith the coming and going of both khalil and fairfax, the two poor souls who had to go check up on mikey and danny, constance and edwin were once again left to their own company. when the two of them are alone they can easily slip into different tangents, although to be fair a lot of their subject matter is quite involved and substantial, just as how it is right now. the narrative that the conclave has bestowed upon their organization was one almost farcical, considering the fact that they were being deemed as making attempts to overthrow the governments supposed 'democracy'. it only made sense they resorted to make the rebellion out as the true evil, considering that the great war itself was fought over political extremism. constance had raised a good point, though. what could they do try and get a hand over the conclave? "i know..it feels like we don't have many options here, do we? i guess thats the struggle of it all. they can replace their soldiers, produce more technology and weaponry; they'll always be one step ahead of us because of their holds over manufacturing goods and the general population. and if we did something like increase our ambushing of convoys and transport parties? well, eventually they'd notice the pattern, and it wouldn't be long before they doubled up on security for every single transport. in a way, everything is like a precarious balance between risk and success, although it can be hard to see any victories when we're up against something as large and domineering as the conclave. i mean, they have the entirety of the capital under their thumb and thats a given but their reach extends so far that its almost hard to feel like we will ever make a proper dent in their side. i totally get where you're coming from, though. it's hard not to sound pessimistic but honestly thats just the reality of our situation, both currently and prospectively. trying to throw jabs at them that will only result in them increasing their own defenses and hostility toward us? it's not gonna help. i agree with you. completely. we need something that'll actually expose the inner workings of their government. that's when we'll be able to shake their world. if declan could focus on dismantling the system rather than trying to fight violence with more violence then maybe we'd actually have a fighting chance. it doesn't help how divided we are let alone how divided the nation is." both edwin and constance were beginning to rant now. considering the fact that the residents of the capital have been undoubtedly brainwashed since the day they were born, for the conclave to lose their trust among the population of wastelanders too would be a major blow to them. one that they could not come back from so easily. "no, this is exactly what i'm saying! this is what our groups needs to hear. i mean come on, the reason why the conclave is in such a position of power in the first place stems from the trust of the people. if we, the rebellion, fit into the lies they're trying to sell us as, the capital citizens and their apprehension toward the rebellion and their hatred for us in general would grow tenfold. the problem is i don't think declan would think twice about his actions, though. he doesn't care about his public image, and thus he doesn't care about ours as a group. what i'm saying is, he's okay with feeding into the narrative the conclave is making us out to be. why should he care about being seen as a socialist or communist or anarchist or whatever the conclave is spewing -- he doesn't see the effects of what this might have for our future as an organization..like you said, we need to be able to convince people, both wastelanders and capital residents, that the government is far from what they believe. perpetuating the idea of violence and acts of cruelty, well, that's not going to win us a lot of favor. in the long run we need the support of the people. its crucial, constance. i don't care what he says, we can't afford to strengthen the trust and the belief that people have in the conclave by acting out the same way as what they're making us out to be." the thing was, while the conclave had the type of immense support from their people that is hard to sway; the rebellion has the sort of trust that is hanging on the line, like any sudden movement could topple it over. they could easily lose the trust of wastelanders if they enacted something that seemed to mimic the conclave's own actions, and rightfully so. the general population had the right to be wary of any group claiming to be some sort of a revolution. hope is a risky business and nobody wants to believe in something thats unachievable, nor do they want to place all of their trust into something dicey. they could lose the confidence of the people in the snap of a finger because their actions are so important to everyone. a lot of wastelanders support the rebellion in private no matter how much knowledge they possess of their group and its affairs -- why is this? it's because when your life is hell and theres a potential beacon of hope, you must cling to it. it's the human way. he didn't want to disappoint these people nor strip them of their hope for a better future by inflicting even more war across the wasteland. if declan got his way and they turned to being more aggressive with the conclave, edwin could not help but wonder how many people would die because they were suspected rebels? how many people would need to endure unpleasant interrogations, unfair executions, false imprisonments and raiding of their homes just because they had decided to start nudging the conclave's side a little bit harder? all of their actions affect the rest of the population too and they have to keep that in mind. they were the people who felt the repercussions, the consequences of any large-scale organizations feuding with each-other, even more so than the two groups in question. the last thing he wanted to do was make people scorn their cause.
indentas soon as constance began to speak up again, they were almost immediately cut-off by the sound of an all too familiar voice. edwin's head turned in the direction of danny's voice. past his shoulder the older man was now beginning to approach them although mikey was not in tow with him. now that's interesting. edwin could only imagine where the hell mikey had wound up if he wasn't at danny's side. it seemed constance had noticed the man's absence right away too - well, it was hard not to - given her prompt questioning of his whereabouts. edwin snorted at her passing comment about mikey, his gaze following danny as he passed by their table in order to head over to the serving area of the kitchen. danny of course was quick to fend off their inquiries, just as expected, telling the two of them that they'd spotted some creatures outside the fencing but they didn't dare come near, not while the two of them were occupying the wagon. honestly the image of danny and mikey cooped up in there with a single shotgun was comical enough. at this point edwin felt like if there had truly been any creatures out there, though, they simply avoided the two suckers because they were goofy enough to be sitting out there like an entirely different sort of menacing. mikey apparently had gotten himself a face full of horse manure and went to take a shower. the older man ignored constance's remark as he dished himself some soup. danny too had found out the news of what happened at themus by now. edwin glanced back to his bowl. it felt horrible to know that they had been so sure their colleagues had made it out alive one piece. they'd been oblivious the entire day and while that wasn't their fault it was still rather disturbing to think that while they were in arcadia, their other party was dead. when danny finally approached their table, he looked over to the older man. it felt like everyone including himself wanted to know the answer to that question; what will we do now? like constance said, he supposed they would just have to play it by ear. it would be best just to lie low for a little while and stay where they are at this outpost considering the fuss going on around the general area of arcadia. after a few days, hopefully they'd be able to make contact with headquarters. and when the time comes, eventually they would have to figure out how to navigate their way out of this area too. if that file wasn't in conclave hands in the next few days then like constance said, they'd have to be aware of the fact that each settlement would probably have at-least one checkpoint implemented by the end of this week. the idea of ramped up security was something that edwin was not looking forward to at all, whether it came to the general traversing of the land or when it came to their mission-specific duties.
indentthe mention of declan and his cronies was enough to make danny cackle out loud. edwin couldn't help but crack a small smile at the man's immediate response. now, danny always has some pretty interesting takes on things but sometimes he can be reasonable. in the moments you'd least expect him to is when he makes the most sense. "you do have a point there danny," he looked over to constance. "and that's true, declan really does know how to keep headquarters in his back pocket. condemning the conclave while also never batting an eye at one of our own death tolls. man, the guy sure is charismatic, ain't he?" edwin snorted, obviously being sarcastic. when constance redirected their attention toward danny's soup, edwin raised a brow at the sight of the mysterious liquid. it was neither chicken noodle nor was it tomato bisque. the older man briefly prodded the surface with his spoon, causing a ripple to run through the contents of the soup. apparently he had dished himself up one of the old servings the cook had made earlier today. "nice going, danny," he chuckled, taking another sip of his own soup. edwin didn't miss a beat when danny requested he try one of their soups, though. protectively, he slid the bowl into his other hand and momentarily held it at an arms-length away just incase he tried to go after his soup from across the table beside constance. danny attempted to get a tase of constance's bisque but they swatted his hand away just as quickly as edwin pulled his bowl away. "yeah! come on, there's plenty more servings over there, you know." he pointedly nodded his head in the direction of the kitchen. danny scowled at the two of them. his infamous spiel soon to follow their unwillingness to share their soup with him was quickly put to rest by constance. edwin chuckled as the older man grumbled, having no other choice but to just get himself a new bowl.
indentwhen danny finally ambled off to go retrieve one of the newer servings of soup recently procured by the cook, he returned his attention back to constance. now the two of them were able to return back to their previous discussion, at-least for now, and once again her words rang true for him. it really did feel like things were never looking up for them. edwin's wrist idly swivelled his spoon around in the remainder of what broth he had left in his bowl, the cold liquid swirling around the motion. "god, i know..we can't risk acting out with unnecessary violence, constance, we just can't, not after seeing large-scale organizations take similar leaps of faith only to get put into their place. i don't want everything that we've worked so hard to achieve collapse just because some idiots think it's a good time to start prodding the conclave in the side. if anything, right now while they're so concerned about the whereabouts of that missing file would be the worst time to make a aggressive stand against them. they're already pissed off, and if we just add fuel to that fire then to them we're just gonna end up being another group in their way and then we'll be dealt with accordingly. i mean, i agree with you entirely; any ramped up sort of aggression only seems to result in more hinderances for us going forward which we can't afford right now at all. i can't even think of a scenario in which the conclave won't ramp up their security as a result of any signs of obvious increased aggression, and then we'd really be screwed if they did something like resorting to transporting goods through aircrafts alone. honestly, we have every right to be wary right now, considering that this is going to alter a lot for us. how we handle the conclave, and how we go about or own missions.." with a sigh, he scooped up some broth from his bowl into his mouth. the unnerving part about this discussion was the fact that he really could see headquarters scrambling in search of new options should they lose access to bases and forts in the near future. it was almost abundantly clear that this sudden panic would spur recklessness and thus more failures than successes. "and declan? he doesn't even think about these sorts of things, what consequences our actions will have. he is so focused on dealing out hits against them that he doesn't even see the end result. like how you said, me and you? we can't properly defend ourselves against commissioned officers trained to a high level of skill, let alone those androids they've been utilizing. we aren't helpless but we aren't put through military grade conclave training. declan, he..well, about what you said earlier concerning his loss of humanity, you're right. its awful to say it, but it's true. if he's so intent on unleashing his wrath upon the conclave in ways that might greatly jeopardize our organization and the people in it..? then no, its clear that he doesn't mind sacrificing a few lives. or a handful, or a hundred. somehow in his mind the score must balance out, so long as we've taken the lives of enough conclave members, then our own losses won't hurt as much. it's just..no. i can't agree with it, treating people like they're so disposable. i mean come on, these people know that our lives as rebels can't be all clean and pretty but they're not asking to die. no one is. if there's a way that we can avoid unnecessary massacre on our own side, then that's the path we should be prioritizing. efficiency, but we take the proper steps to ensure that certain missions are worth it. do we really want to be taking risks just to come out with a group of people being killed, again? how many times must we witness this sort of damn scenario before we begin to realize that it's taking a toll on our group?" he couldn't help his tone of voice from growing a bit upset. this was something personal to him, something that hit close to home. these people that die, they have families, friends, people that care about them -- they have lives. the rebellion isn't like the conclave, replacing soldier after soldier after each dies but the undiscussed nature of risk-taking when it comes to missions seemed to be something of a taboo. maven had been one of the people to question the safety of this mission and just how high their chances were of retrieving this file and surely she had not been the only one with such suspicions. and yet headquarters thought the benefits outweighed the risks. again. it was something of a repeating pattern, even if it weren't so obvious or frequent. hell, it's how he lost his parents in the first place.
indenthe was only ten at the time, and both of his parents were involved in the organization. they were both former conclave technicians, hence where he'd picked up some of his knowledge about things such as holoprojectors and their workings. he isn't well versed in technology, but he could get by with what he'd learnt from them. like many of the members in he and constance's band, edwin ended up in the rebellion just like his parents had, growing up around these people and calling them his family. hell, he already knew most of them in the first place and his joining of the group was practically inevitable, no matter how wary his parents were when it came to him involving himself in the group. he'd honestly taken up his current passion, the violin, as a sort of tribute to his father if not because he was inspired by him. the man was one of the most talented people he's ever heard play the instrument and yet he could not follow his own musical path; he was much too valuable in terms of understanding and dismantling conclave technology that he aided the rebellion more so with such knowledge rather than if he were to be doing any undercover entertainment work. hell, he'd gifted edwin his first violin. nearly two decades later he still kept it around, even if he had since gotten an upgrade. at first he had trouble swapping the instrument in for a newer one although if he and constance were to truly impress the conclave soldiers at the bases they attended, then at the time it had been vital he exchanged the old for the new. both of his parents usually worked together so it's no surprise they also died together during the same mission. as much as they were great assets to the organization back at headquarters, they were actually often deployed into situations similar to the themus one. granted, they weren't snatching up top secret files but you get the gist of it. they were well seasoned with conclave security protocol as well as past convoy routes due to formerly packaging shipments themselves; he supposed you could call it an ambush gone wrong. it was one of the few times that the conclave actually fended off their attacks on a load of different technologies being transported out to a base. they knew the convoy was going to be heavily guarded just based on the sheer amount of important supplies being transferred and yet headquarters had still taken the risk. when he found out -- well, he remembered feeling nothing, if that is possible. it's a part of him that he has long shunned to the back of his mind, as unhealthy as that may be. it's why his reaction to maven's words wasn't overly shocked nor bewildered. he's been delivered the same news before just ten times worse considering both of his parents among a few rebels were shot dead. perhaps it hurt him the most that people were still dying in such a needless manner, even despite the fact that they had seen numerous variations of these situations transpiring throughout the history of the group. regardless, his loss of family has shaped a lot of his own opinions when it comes to striking against the conclave. its why he feels unsettled by declan. even if he hadn't lost his parents because of a mission gone wrong he'd still think it was wrong but his own experiences only solidified his stance. that day, the day his parents died, they'd lost two important keys to the mechanisms of conclave technology and still they did not learn. to this day he is still baffled by the concept of potential benefits outweighing the risks. how can you predict these things when even in his parents' situation they had gained nothing, just like how today they had gained nothing but the heightened unease of the conclave.
indentedwin shifted atop his seat with a sigh. "i don't know, constance..i just feel like a lot of peoples first instincts are to take on the more aggressive role against the conclave. and hey, i'm not saying i don't get it because trust me, i do, but that just means the divide in our organization wont be so evenly split. we're going to have to make an effort to get our point across if we want to be properly heard. i like what we discussed before. you know, focusing on actually exposing the government so that we can turn their followers beliefs upside down, rather than just keep trying to ground them down through armed conflict somehow. it's gonna be tough but we gotta try and conserve what is working right now, and i'm talking about the inside stuff. what you and i do. if we take declan's preferred route, i doubt we're going to be able to retrieve much information from any bases while we're performing out here. they're not going to be letting just anybody into their forts. not that they did before, but you get what i mean. extra staff will be something that they're fine with cutting back on if not entirely, and that's not good for us." he'd gotten so wrapped up in what they were saying that he hardly noticed that mikey had finally stumbled his way into the kitchen at some point or other. edwin only realized that the man had rolled in by the sounds of vague bickering coming from over at the serving counter of the kitchen. he looked at constance with a degree of wariness before throwing a glance over his shoulder. he narrowed his eyes at the sight of the two older men hovering before the different servings of soup. now, he knew danny had gotten up to get a new bowl courtesy of accidentally taking an old serving of soup but mikey looked like he was dishing up some soup from a container in the corner..in other words, exactly from where danny had first gotten his old soup from. edwin immediately turned to constance to see if she too was witnessing this same occurrence as he was. "is mikey..did danny-?" edwin cackled, looking back over his shoulder again in disbelief. "wow. danny really did trick that poor fool, didn't he? probably told him its a third soup option. seriously though, you'd think he'd know better considering he just dealt with having the odd soup out, but i guess not. watch, mikey's probably gonna catch on pretty quickly and then him and danny are gonna be near having a scuffle." edwin couldn't say whether or not danny was just plain cruel for tricking mikey into taking the older soup or not but either way things were about to get a bit more interesting. his own bowl of soup was nearly finished at this point, save for a small amount of chicken broth sitting at the bottom of the bowl. he scooped up what he could of the remainders, trying to squeeze the liquid onto his spoon before bringing it to his lips.
indentunsurprisingly, when the duo approached the table with their bowls of soup in hand, mikey didn't notice how danny had played him. "constance, edwin, long time no see! man, we had a hell of a time out there, you wouldn't believe it! you see, there was this huge ass creature, and we-" mikey looked to danny, as if catching some sort of pointed look from him. after a moment he cleared his throat. "ahem. this huge creature, i mean..it was uhh, prowling around! didn't come near us though, no, not at all!" he skeptically looked to danny from the side of his eye, as if to make sure he wasn't dishing out the wrong information. clearly, the two of them weren't on the same page for what their damn story was regarding what had transpired outside. edwin raised his eyebrows at the sight of mikey struggling to formulate the proper story. first, it seemed like he was claiming that they had an epic fight against some huge beast but then he quickly tried to backtrack and say that the creature had been staved off by their intimidating demeanors. "..yeah, we got an update on that from danny earlier. i'm sure whatever it was, it was scared out of its wits having to deal with you two. say, how was your shower? we heard you fell into some horse manure." when danny sat down beside constance again and mikey beside edwin, the older man scowled at the violinist, then at danny. he poked the contents of his soup with his spoon before speaking up. "ah, what the hell! can't have no shame about it, i guess. yeah, yeah, big deal. look, it was bound to happen, i was a little woozy and well- whoops, y'know? forget it! if y'all think its funny then so be it!" with an irritated grumble, mikey looked down into his bowl. admittedly, edwin had to sneak a glance over to constance because to be fair his incident was pretty amusing, all things considered. "heh. well, anyhow, just to fill you in a bit, before you got here we were talking about the break-in at themus, and how it might just change things going forward and all that. plus, you know about declan and his followers and their beliefs and whatnot..that came up a bit too."
indentmikey's eyes shifted back to constance and edwin at the sound of the former bounty hunters name. he still hadn't taken a spoonful of his soup yet although edwin was waiting for the moment he would realize that it was rather cold from being out so long. "psh. declan, the mighty ex-bounty hunter, revered by all, loved by none! that's all he's got goin' for himself, if you ask me. how many times is he gonna sound like a damn broken record tryna get that point across?" he finally scooped up some soup into his spoon, although didn't lift it to his mouth just yet. "talk about tryna drag out one 'achievement' your whole life just to try and claim to have some credentials. anyhow, what's the deal? you two thinkin' he's gonna try and push for some change soon because of what happened today?"
indentedwin nodded. "actually, yeah. to be honest, we're not really sure what to expect but we know somethings gonna happen. i mean, hell, you guys just joined the conversation and you two know somethings bound to break under all this weight sometime soon too, and its looking like today might just be that breaking point. we didn't get anything out of todays mission besides some more dead rebels and increased conclave activity and paranoia. the last thing we want to be doing is trying to rile them up some more, but if declan is so vehement about 'actually making some change' then i just know we're gonna piss the conclave off some more. again, i keep saying this but right now isn't the time to make our moves either. i hope he doesn't try and push for some expeditious missions right away but honestly, the way things are going, i wouldn't even be surprised at this point." edwin glanced over to constance in particular now, circling back to their previous discussion a little bit so that he could address another point. "we need to be careful. i mean, whatever we do will directly impact the inhabitants of the wasteland. we need to be mindful of that. if the rebellion becomes a massive target for the conclave, you can expect a lot of unjust deaths. you know, like people being executed or interrogated or jailed or- hell, the list is extensive, but either way theres a huge potential that a ton of people might face punishment for being suspected rebels. i mean, what do you think? i just don't want us to cause more suffering for wastelanders, because you know how it is when two massive organizations are going at it with each-other. its usually the people who suffer more than those actually at war." beside him, he caught the glimpse of mikey about to taste some of his soup from the corner of his eye. edwin quickly turned his attention toward the man sitting beside constance. "and uh, hey kinda off topic but danny?" he chuckled. he may as well expose him if he wasn't going to fess up himself, even if he had a feeling mikey wouldn't be super pleased considering the most recent events he had to endure outside and all that. most likely, danny would try and pull some 'more soup for us' kinda crap but it was still amusing to see the two of them mess with each-other. "don't tell me you guided mikey in the direction of the old soup, knowing it was old.."

[vaermina]

ＫＡＩＲＯＳ 'ＫＡＩ' ＬＯＵＫＡＮＩＳxxx
I.xcis malex II.xthe conclave militaryx III. an android deployment & utilization warrant 2 officer


indentkai smiled at her joke. "yeah, probably. we'd get pushed out of the ship mid-flight." it'd be nice for their duties to intersect, though. they'd definitely be menacing together. "and honestly, i'm not sure about the whole statistics thing. i only know what my uncle has told me and what they've released to us so far about the venators. i'm sure the shift would be pretty drastic." one could only hope, anyway. kai's knowledge of wulfgang and bandits in general is perhaps a bit more extensive than most due to his father's career. eugene loukanis not only spearheaded the fight against wulfgang but dealt with smaller bandit gangs in the commonwealth area. military leaders often seek his advice and opinions concerning the extermination of other bandit groups across the country, as well. for the most part, said tactics are never pretty but he guessed that you can't really be humane to such people when all they seem to understand is brutality. they're simply regurgitating the same ethics the bandits themselves live by. it's a tricky situation because there's no easy way to look at it. ideally, criminals and undesirables who break the law should be arrested and trialed in court but this world does not live by those rules anymore. life outside the capital city and conclave society is untamed, dangerous and undomesticated. plenty of bandits have been arrested and sentenced but those numbers are few compared to those who have been killed by the military. bandits don't surrender and allow themselves to be arrested peacefully. they love to ambush unsuspecting targets and open fire on groups traveling through their territory. most of them won't hesitate to murder anyone trying to put them in handcuffs, no matter how peaceful said person is trying to be. they are people who don't care for the law and believe it's their right to live the way they do. they don't have to answer to anybody, be it the government or military. it's their liberty to take what they please, maim who they want and destroy what they hate. the lack of a national administrative power the past two hundred and fifty years has allowed this type of mindset to infect generations of marauders. kai knew that it's not so easy to undo decades of that contamination. people who have lived a certain way for many years are not open to change, especially when said change involves the threat of a new way of life. tainted-bloods have lived unbridled for so long it was no wonder they scowl at the conclave. and either way, bandits cannot be allowed to live the way they do. all the crimes they commit - murder, robbery, theft, arson, assault - cannot go unchecked. there are consequences to everything in this country. his father did not even allow 'retired' bandits to go unpunished, either. there are plenty of men and women out there who have stepped down from their life of crime to live off the land peacefully with their families. he knew that his father often forces these said individuals to take up arms again and track down and kill their old gang members by taking their families as hostages and holding them in ransom for said individual's services as a hired gun. these men and women are then forced to exterminate their old bandit gangs - groups that are prime targets for the military to begin with. once these tasks were complete, the former outlaws are reunited with their families and allowed to return to their farms and homesteads. his father never failed to double-cross them, though. a few weeks later he would always return to their land with an extermination group and kill the former outlaw to effectively mark the end of that specific bandit gang. his father liked to collect trophies of some of his more popular targets; most of these were said victims of his double-crossing. he often beheaded their direwolves and put their heads on plaques. other times, he collected the weapons off their bodies or from their homes and stored them in weapon showcases inside the loukanis household. kai was not sure how he felt about all that. he supposed that it's only reasonable for those people to be held to the same standards as their former gang members. after all, why should they be allowed to settle down and live out the rest of their years peacefully after they murdered and robbed their way across the countryside? it also goes to show that redemption is never absolute and sometimes your past will never let you escape.
indenthis gaze followed mina's as the two warrant officers surveyed the empty fuselage. his attention flickered to the outline of the latch in the wall. "hmm, yeah, i thought so. i can imagine it must be pretty cool to be able to visit all those forts, even if the trip itself is probably brief." military forts and bases will always need supplies, so he supposed it made sense if mina's squadron helped out with that. it was safer and less time-consuming to transport goods via flight. "i guess having to help bases up north because of wulfgang sounds pretty accurate. bandits like to rob and ambush convoys so it's better to just transport everything on a ship, especially if an area itself is notorious for outlaw activity." he gave her a slight smile. "i know it's probably not always very entertaining but you guys are doing an important thing by helping freighters and cargo ships with transportation." he knew that she probably did not always enjoy doing it but her contributions were important, nevertheless. it always tends to fall back on the concept that certain things need to be done regardless if they're enjoyed or not. it was the classic phrase adults love to use to push lazy youth into doing what they need to do. kai himself had plenty of duties he was suspected to complete while on the clock that he hated doing. did he complain about it? yeah but did he do it? well, he sort of had to but that wasn't the point.
indentkai stiffened when the bot on his arm suddenly emitted a deep beep, one that sounded drastically different from its previous noises. when he looked in the bots' direction, the one on his arm was staring at him as if it expected something from him. he could not help but immediately grow wary underneath its piercing look. "why are you looking at me, you little twit?" he scowled. it was quite obvious that the bot had found something wrong with the panels but kai had no idea what that could be or what it expected him to do about it. if anything, the way it was staring at him made him nervous. he glanced at mina when she approached him, urging him to not freak out. the bot refusing to move off of his arm did not help his wariness. when his girlfriend mentioned that something must be wrong, kai grimaced. "oh, what the hell? why won't it move?" he shook his arm slightly to try and urge the bot to travel onto mina but it was refusing to budge. it appeared intent on fixing whatever error it managed to find in the ship's systems. it tilted its head when mina urged it to continue its revelation before realizing she was asking it to reveal what it had found. kai watched uncertainly as the robot turned back towards the mess of wiring. he was not sure what it was doing or what it has found but he assumed it was nothing good. had the pygmy gopher manage to mess with something inside the ship or was there something else going on?
indentkai's attention snapped towards the cockpit when he heard the sound of monitors slowly buzzing to life. the screens of mina's control panel were beginning to flicker on. the bot had taken control of the ship's systems and he could tell mina was none too happy about it. the bot itself appeared unnerved by her agitation. the monitors had quickly flickered to display a vibrant red, followed by a warning sign that flashed in the middle of the screens. uh oh. it did not take a genius to know that that was not a good sign. the bot had obviously managed to find a malfunction. kai looked warily towards his girlfriend when she told him to keep still while she checked it out. "okay," he said uneasily, eyeing the bot suspiciously as it climbed off of mina's shoulder to perch on his instead. this was far too much stress for him and he wasn't even the one involved in the air force. he just wasn't sure what was worse; the bot's unsettling look or the ominous warnings signs that flashed on the aircraft's terminals. the man watched as she scurried into the cockpit before he looked at the bot on his shoulder. it looked back at him before looking towards the other bot still lounging near the open panel. its attention had moved back towards him. he glared at it.
indentkai looked back towards the cockpit when mina called his name. he hardly had time to breathe before she immediately began to bombard him with information concerning the ship's malfunction. gopher. weapons systems. turrets offline. no warnings beforehand. bot detected it. mainframe of the ship. kai heard everything she said but only understood half of it. he could not help but instinctively wince when she raised her voice. "so... the turrets have been kept offline and the ship hasn't alerted you of the gopher messing with the armaments because of the weapons systems being offline in the first place?" he echoed. "jesus. i mean, i guess it's a good thing you decided to check up on it with the bot, huh? imagine trying to turn on the turrets while out in the wasteland but being met with an error instead." despite how menacing this situation was turning out to be, he was glad that the problem was being identified now and not while the turrets were desperately needed against something like an incoming aerial predator. why on earth her squadron was ordered to keep their weapons systems offline in the first place, he had no idea. he knew they weren't out there shooting down enemy planes and whatnot but there was always the threat of creatures like griffins and nightstalkers. not to mention, bandits and other undesirables who may try and attack an aircraft when its landed outside of a base's walls. it seemed awfully dangerous to kai but hey, what does he know? he's not in the air force. maybe that was for the best. he highly doubted he'd be flying anywhere without the weapons systems ready to snipe a fool but he supposed not everyone is a neurotic like he. he just didn't want anything happening to mina.
indent"but yeah, sure, of course," he said as she fetched the bot from his shoulder again. he was a bit apprehensive about it all but he wasn't the one doing anything. the bot is and he knew that it was quite literally programmed for situations like this. still, it just made him nervous. it was like he thought one wrong look at a panel was going to cause the whole gunship to go up in flames. malfunctioned technology never failed to make him queasy. given his line of work and how a simple error can be detrimental to the entire workings of a project, it made sense. kai slowly inched his way closer to the line of panels mina had directed him towards. the panel with the wires, not the buttons. the bot still sat rigid on his arm as he moved. it appeared quite impatient to begin fixing the problem at hand. kai eyed the robot carefully as he helped it gain access to the appropriate panel before glancing back over at mina when she began to speak again. her co-pilot, sydni, had left a panel open while the two of them grabbed lunch, allowing the sneaky gopher to climb into the ship's walls and begin messing with its systems. combined with the aircraft's lack of working turrets due to their orders to keep the weapons systems shut down, it sounded like a recipe for disaster. the young man grimaced at the sound of her distress. it sounded like she already knew what her captain was going to say about this situation. to outsiders, the situation looked pretty clear and cut but that's not always the case. mina's co-pilot had been the one tinkering and leaving panels open in the first place but even that sounded like a simple mistake. still, mistakes had to be put on somebody's shoulders and it seemed like mina was the one who would face the brunt of captain hayrmor's agitation. even if her co-pilot had been rather careless by leaving the open panel unattended in the first place, it sounded like an accident. nobody wants a pygmy gopher messing with their ship. they're small and cunning and sometimes it's near impossible to keep them at bay. from what he knew of hayrmor though and from little he has witnessed of the older man's behavior, he's the type of person that does not care to take natural incidents into account. someone has to be responsible and shoulder the blame. kai knew that the captain did not exactly view mina favorably to begin with which would surely not help his reaction to this situation. he could already hear the accusations of recklessness and disregard. the captain struck kai as the type of person who does not change his opinions of other people, either and he probably thought mina was unfit for a promotion due to the errors she has made. this incident would do little to change that. what did he want from people? pristine perfection? no mistakes and constant success? if so, he might as well resign from his post and enroll in kai's branch because that type of behavior can only be expected from androids. machines don't make mistakes. it just seemed awfully petty to get upset over a genuine mistake but he supposed such pettiness is not above captain hayrmor. it was reasonable to put some tough love on your subordinates when one of their mistakes could be potentially dangerous for their safety and health but hayrmor did not strike kai as the type of person who did that sort of thing. he'd probably just think mina and her co-pilot were acting reckless. was it reckless to leave an open panel unattended? he supposed so but it's not like they asked the damn gopher to climb in and begin messing around with everything. accidents often happen because of recklessness but surely, that wasn't always the case? kai wasn't there, though and he did not know her co-pilot so it was not his place to try and gouge all that. he could tell that hayrmor did not take mina seriously, either which probably wouldn't help the situation. he'd be quick to put the blame on her regardless if it were her fault or not.
indenta lot of superiors don't just accept mistakes as they are. someone always has to pay the price for failure. captain hayrmor is not the first of his type to have that type of mindset and he most certainly won't be the last. he wouldn't be surprised if there are others who share mina's disdain for him. you have the well-respected and pleasant headmen such as general alarie and then people like captain hayrmor: closed off, critical and secretly haughty. was it frustrating dealing with people like him? of course but he supposed in the grand scheme of things, hayrmor is just like any other person in his ranking. there were people like their parents who really shouldn't be in power and make hayrmor seem like one of the most charming people in the world. that did not mean it sucked any less having to deal with these type of situations where, either way, the outcome is never in your favor. kai looked at the bot as it worked before glancing over at mina. "well, i guess this is just one of those situations where you can't really win, huh? obviously, the best course of action would be to just be honest with him and explain what happened because like you said, he's just gonna put the blame on you regardless since your co-pilot isn't here. i mean, be as honest as possible, if you get my drift. a little white lie on the exact reason why sydni was messing with the paneling won't hurt anybody... although i guess doing that wouldn't be considered fra- pfft, you know what i mean." he was not sure why her co-pilot had been messing around with the panels in the first place and he did not bother asking why. he figured it wouldn't help the situation. if she had been trying to do some work or tinkering with some wires, he could see why but if she had been messing with the ship's interior for no reason? that might be hard to explain. was it better to just come clean and admit to everything with clear frankness? probably but kai did not want to hear hayrmor go into a spiel about safety and negligence and he was sure mina did not, either. pygmy gophers are sneaky little bastards and it's not uncommon for them to mess with vehicles and aircrafts when people are working on the models themselves. it's easy for them to scamper under somebody's nose while their backs are turned working on something else. "either way, though, i'm sorry. it's a crappy situation and you don't deserve to take the brunt end of it when it's not even your fault. i don't know much about your captain but i already know what sort of crap he's gonna be spewing soon." kai wouldn't even be the one getting scolded and he was already over it. it's not even like he could say anything to defend mina, either. who knows how her captain would react to that? kai was obviously of a lower ranking than he and while hayrmor does not have jurisdiction over him, that doesn't mean he can't be petty and retaliate by targeting his girlfriend for kai's insolence at a later time. he wasn't sure if hayrmor was that paltry but kai grouped people like him in the same category sometimes. he smiled jokingly in her direction. "don't worry, though. when you and i are rolling big and large, we'll send hayrmor a postcard from new hollywood with a detonation device planted inside. the front will say something like greetings from the bi- and then boom." he glanced back at the bot working in the depths of the panels. "say, you don't happen to be recording everything going on around you, right?" all he earned was a simple beep in response. "yeah, that's what i thought."
indentmina's question concerning android prototypes caught kai off guard once again. he wasn't sure if it was because he was just not used to someone showing such interest in his career or because he thought the conversation had shifted away from androids. he paused for a second before he responded. "well, yeah, there's plenty of different prototypes. there's generally two models of androids to begin with; mechanical and organic. mechanical androids are the ones like venators, gunners, striders and the like. they're the ones who look like androids with no extra steps taken to hide that. the organic ones are the ones that look exactly like humans. you can't tell them apart from a real human being apart from a neurological chip they have in their brains and some other small things. the variations of these two models are called prototypes so the venator itself would be a prototype of the mechanical model, if that makes any sense. the mechanical models have a lot more varying prototypes because the model itself is older and the technology is more familiar. the organic ones are still relatively new, though. there's not a lot of prototypes for them right now because of all the wastelander hysteria going on. there's like, one organic prototype that's really been utilized out in the wasteland so far and that's the recruiters. there used to be tons of recruiters deployed in wastelander cities but they've slowly begun recalling them because of the paranoia surrounding androids. that's kind of stopped a lot of the progression that was being made with newer organic prototypes because the council is trying to figure out how to go from here while treating the situation as delicately as possible. i guess it wouldn't really be a problem if wastelanders were just killing each other out of suspicion but they're targeting military and government personnel, as well. it's all sorts of messed up," he sighed, looking back at the working bot. he could see why people have no interest in the android utilization branch. there were so many issues and problems going on both within the branch and outside of it that it's only reasonable for people to avoid enrolling in its ranks. if it's not the limited amount of freedom and excruciatingly tight restrictions, it's the growing violence its officers can face at the hands of the general population while stationed out in the wasteland. it was getting increasingly dangerous for both androids and their operators alike as the hysteria phenomena grew.
indentkai agreed that they need to be careful with their next move but he didn't see why they couldn't direct their line of sight to other ventures, particularly towards that rebel group. his knowledge of the resistance is rather limited due to his branch not being very much involved in the fight against the rebels. surely, they could help out with that conflict just like how they're helping out with the fight against wulfgang? as far as he knew, who does handle the rebel threat tends to vary based on what stunts the rebels pull. the bureau of intelligence and research has some involvement with handling the group as well as the federal bureau of investigation. none of them focus on launching full-blown attacks on the rebels, though. they handle the damage committed by the rebels as well as help retrieve stolen files, technology and whatever else the rebels manage to steal from the conclave. the destruction of fort snow at the hands of the resistance was what garnered the bureau of intelligence's involvement by creating taskforces and specific delegation that handles the retrieval of stolen government property by means of deploying military-grade officers and armed forces. the federal bureau of investigation handles acts of domestic terrorism, hence their involvement to begin with. the rebellion has not been classified as such a group yet but their increasing boldness has led the executive branch to dividend responsibility onto the bureau's shoulders considering the rebels have already committed crimes that fall under their jurisdiction. but from kai's understanding, there seems to be no direct military campaign dedicated to solely wiping out the rebels. at best, it appeared like the military and government were just handling the revolution and fixing their impairment. his uncle agreed with his skepticism. he worried that sooner or later, the rebels would begin striking out and causing bloodshed that could have been prevented. they've grown brave in recent years with mounting attacks against convoys, patrols and forts. what's not to say they would not begin targeting high profile individuals involved in the government and military? kai's brother, mateo, had told him once that he wouldn't worry about it and that he highly doubted the rebels would try their luck by committing such violence. the consequences of such behavior have already been made clear by the destruction of the black hand. the rebels would be foolish to play such a dangerous game. kai supposed he was right. maybe he was just being paranoid.
indent"anyway, i'm sure more prototypes will pop up within the next few years. i guess it's just one of those situations you have to handle delicately. wastelanders aren't like us. they'll never understand the concept of androids. hell, they don't even like robots. they aren't ready for all this technology but it's been over three hundred years since the nukes dropped. we can't keep living in this type of world, y'know? life can be so much better if we all just embrace change and evolution. i guess that's easier said than done."

[vaermina]

ＲＯＬＡＮＤ ＹＡＮＥＺxxx
I.xcis malex II.xthe conclave militaryx III. an inr tactical intelligence officer & sniper


indentroland could not help but flinch at jazmín's pained reaction. the sound of her distress was far from pleasant on the ears. he had been expecting it but that did not mean he enjoyed hearing it. he was almost tempted to stop dabbing at her wound entirely but he knew it was better to get it over with and be as attentively firm as possible while doing so then delay it further. he just hated witnessing her in any sort of pain but affliction is inevitable with wound cleaning. her wound could get infected if he did not keep a firm hand. he'd much rather her be uncomfortable now with the towel than suffer some sort of severe inflammation down the road because of poor handiwork on his part. roland could almost feel her pain just by gouging her reaction. her body was twisting on instinct, trying to get away from the source of agony. her upper body distorted forward before coming back to rest against him once more. roland's grip remained unyielding although he found himself growing more conscious of its severity. he did not want to accidentally choke her but he had to keep her from agitating her wound further. he was always wary to exert any sort of constraint over jazmín in fear of hurting her. of course, she's not a fragile woman but that doesn't make the hazards of their weight and height difference any less real. "i know, baby girl, i know," roland soothed her with an surprising amount of sympathy. "i promise it'll be over soon. you're going to be okay." jazmín reached up with a shaky hand to grab his own. he leaned downward to press a quick yet reassuring kiss atop her head. despite the ache still present in his leg, he did not recoil or falter from the task at hand. if anything, focusing on her laceration helped divert the concentration away from his own pain. it did not feel as gruesome as it did when she had been cleaning it with the wet towel. the sharpness has faded into a dull throbbing. the wound pulsated in subtle irritation, ready to lash out should it become agitated once more. on the other hand, jazmín's gash appeared to be faring as well as expected. roland's meticulous cleaning has so far managed to rid the broken skin and exposed flesh of some of the obvious grime and mire that had gotten into the bare tissue. the laceration itself shone like vibrant merlot. he observed it for a few moments before he heard jazmín's response. her tone was reasonably strained and he could tell she was having trouble forming coherent sentences. a part of him was beginning to regret striking up a conversation with her because not only was she having to deal with her agitated wound but now she had to try and focus on responding to him, as well. roland continued to patiently dab her wound as she spoke; he did not rush her or convey any sort of frustration because of her struggling. "yeah, fort themus sounds like a much more convenient location. honestly? we're probably going to be dealing with a lot more than just slimy mayors if we had to track them down. and considering we didn't even handle that situation properly, i can imagine it would only be a matter of time before we run into a tainted-blood who manages to get us killed." he was joking but unlike how jazmín tried to come across as lighthearted with her own jest, he sounded rather somber instead. roland did not care for the possibility of being tasked with hunting down those two cousins. he knew it depended on whether or not they're even allowed to stay in the taskforce but still, he had a feeling that was going to be the case. if they were truly working for the resistance and have the missing file on their persons, it would be up to the taskforce to retrieve it. admittedly, roland did not think it would be that difficult. he and jazmín could make quick work of any tainted-blood, be it an ordinary wastelander or an irksome rebel. he supposed the only difficult thing concerning that venture would be catching up to them. rebels are notorious for sneaky behavior. it's not easy to track them down. still, they couldn't have gotten far. he was confident in their abilities to retrieve that file. why on earth roland felt such superiority over tainted-bloods in general, he did not know. well, he did know but there's been plenty of instances throughout the past few years where tainted-bloods have made short work of him. one of the most prominent instances that he has never been able to live down happened during a bar fight in his mid-twenties. he and his squad of advanced marksmen had stopped for the night to drink at a saloon in the quaint town of blueberry hill, located in the southern commonwealth. he could not quite remember the specifics of why they had been there in the first place. he believed they had stopped for the night while on active duty. one of his fellow snipers, davon wilson, had started the bar fight by pushing a man who had bumped into him when he was trying to leave the counter.
indentif there's one thing about bar fights in any societal atmosphere, one person swinging on another person will cause everyone else to attack each other out of both adrenaline and intoxication. there doesn't even have to be a reason why everyone is fighting. nevertheless, the sound of men and women brawling had attracted the attention of someone the locals called big joe. the only reason roland remembered his name was because he could recall the bartender crying out for the man to stay out of it when the sound of scuffling drew the big bastard out of his upstairs bedroom. he lived up to the nickname, too. he had to be over six feet tall and a bit below three hundred pounds. as expected, big joe had been quick to attack davon once he lumbered down the stairs by grabbing ahold of the smaller man and slamming his head against one of the tables. roland coming to his rescue did not go very well, either. punches had not even fazed big joe. he had turned around, grabbed roland by the shoulders and tossed him out the front window of the saloon like he weighed no more than a feather. roland had sailed off the front porch and landed directly in the mud outside of the building. roland had just barely managed to clamor to his feet before the man exited the saloon, snarling that he wouldn't be the first conclave pretty boy he's turned into an ugly bastard. luckily, the fight had ceased to escalate further for several men had managed to separate them. big joe and several other tainted-bloods were arrested for assault despite the fact roland's colleague was the one responsible for initiating the massive brawl in the first place. nevertheless, roland had been no match for the massive tainted-blood and the results would have still been the same had he not been drunk. he has come across plenty of wastelanders who are not afraid of the conclave and its technology. roland had his guns and his knives and his prowess but that mattered little when someone larger than him managed to get their hands on him. an outsider would probably say he deserved it for god knows he doesn't take tainted-bloods seriously. there have been times where he would treat them poorly and outwardly disrespect them, particularly during his younger days when he was drinking a bottle every morning and had no sense of respect for himself or anyone else. over the years, that ugly disdain has boiled down to something of a haughty indifference. it was difficult for roland to empathize with anyone but he found it nearly impossible to see eye to eye with tainted-bloods. he struggled to come to terms with the fact that bandits are not interchangeable with the ordinary wastelander. they're not all out to get them but how could they be so sure about that? roland found it easier to just throw his hatred into one pot. the more he interacted with wastelander culture, the harder it became to view each individual independently and not as some sort of lousy, bootlicking criminal. he supposed his line of work did not help with that, either. he's traveled to every region in the country so, naturally, he's dealt with a lot of interesting characters. he's spent quite a lot of time in the strip of las vegas due to the conclave's interest in some prominent criminal figureheads who reside in the city. if you really want to find some bums and lowlives, you can find plenty residing in that city. the strip is an exclusive area so a lot of the poor live outside its walls and in the ruins of las vegas itself. the strip is an exact replica of how it was during the pre-war era: casinos, bars, hotels, restaurants, theaters. the tarnish of the wasteland has made little to no impact on its flamboyant atmosphere of exuberance and playful bedlam. for years, the conclave has been trying to take control of the strip with no success. its political scene is controlled by powerful organized organized crime families whose roots stem all the way back to pre-war times. local and even national groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by these criminals dominate the stretch. they engage in activities such as cargo theft, fraud, robbery, kidnapping for ransom, and the demanding of 'protection' payments. it's not uncommon for them to dabble in murder, too. the conclave has dedicated quite a bit of time and energy into establishing themselves in the strip so they can attempt to find a way to gain control of the area but the organized crime families have run the strip for so long it was near impossible for the conclave to operate safely in the area. roland has been deployed to the strip numerous of times to not only garner information about high-profile targets but to also exterminate potential threats to the government, as well. the conclave and the families who run the strip have an unstable relationship, to say the least. the crime families control the strip's economy as well as social environment. they are respected by most of the strip's inhabitants and visitors, so trying to declare war on them would jeopardize the safety of the conclave members stationed in the area as well as it make even more difficult for the government to push national law onto the city. on the other hand, the crime families know that the conclave has the resources and men to specifically target their highest members, which is why they do not push their luck too much by trying to chase government officials out of the area entirely.
indentfrom a marksmen perspective, it was interesting to see the neon grandeur of the strip but the amount of chaos that goes with it was too much for roland. sometimes, anyway. if it's not people trying to rob you or convince you to buy them a drink, it's women of the night prowling the streets or people trying to stab each other in alleyways. damn animals. roland could not deny the fact that he's experienced some bizarre situations while at the strip. its colorful atmosphere and characters tend to drag you in for some crap, whether you like it or not. roland has never really indulged its citizens or partook in anything strange, though. he could not say the same for the men and women who had been in his squadron. one of his fellow snipers, travis mills, had been notorious for integrating himself into the frenzy of the strip. there had been one occasion where he had been trying to romance two women outside of a casino one night; he had tried to employ the help of roland and another sniper, ernsta, to convince the tainted-blood women he was the real deal and not like every other drunk bozo who wandered up to them. as expected, it hadn't gone very well. roland and ernsta had no interest in entertaining travis' scheme and roland ruined the man's chances at a feral night by indirectly insulting the women. ernsta had sourly asked one of the women how much they cost, for it did not take a genius to recognize their true intentions for lounging outside the casinos and bars at night. the two marksmen had been concerned travis would get robbed if the women managed to drag him off somewhere. he had been a young man, ballsy and squirrely and always trying to show off. it hadn't been the first time he's flashed his money around and attracted unwanted attention. when the woman questioned if that is how they usually talk to ladies, roland had sneered in response that he did not realize they were talking to a 'lady'. and as expected, it earned him a good slap in the face before the two women marched off. looking back at it, roland probably deserved that. travis had been furious with them for ruining his chances at getting with the two girls but by the next morning, he had forgotten about the incident completely.
indenthe relaxed his grip on jazmín once he finally finished cleaning her wound. his brow furrowed when she sucked in some air. had he been too rough with her? "i'm sorry," he breathed. "i didn- did i hurt you?" she reached up with her non-injured arm to cup the side of his face. roland turned his head to kiss her palm as one of his own hands traveled up to rest atop of hers. a shade of light pink had crept across her features. he had noticed it earlier; it was hard to tell if she was blushing or if it was just the strain of her laceration. he had noticed when he first placed his hand against her collarbone. he hadn't said anything although if they were in a less stressful situation, he probably wouldn't have been able to resist making a jest. roland was much more concerned about her well-being right now, though, which is why he did not allow his mind to linger on temptation. roland is someone who finds it difficult to stop himself from indulging in proclivity if he allowed himself to fall into the initial trap of it all. it ranges from simple vices such as booze and cigarettes to behavior that's borderline concupiscence. he often found it difficult to tell whether or not he truly enjoyed engaging in such activities or if he were just trying to indulge in feelings that were difficult for him to garner on a regular basis. roland had struggled with that when he and jazmín first got together because he had been worried that he was using her to fulfill some sort of void inside of him. he had been letting his self-doubt get to him. obviously, that wasn't the case. he loved her more than he loved himself. he felt nurtured when he was with her, like he was feeling a type of care he has never really felt before. jazmín has always been attentive towards him and he appreciated that about her. he grew up in a household where emotions were frowned upon; if it wasn't his mother becoming agitated at them for being too needy, it was his father constantly telling his sons to man up and stop being so emotional. old habits die hard but much like how jazmín has adapted to the way he acted, he's done about the same with her. roland tried his best to be as heedful as possible to her emotions, and when she spoke or tried to tell him a story he did his best to listen so she did not feel like she was talking to a wall. he gave her his time because she gave him his and never pestered him when he wanted to be left alone. isolation has always been a part of him although being with jazmín has often made him question whether or not he truly enjoyed being alone or felt like he just deserved loneliness. that feeling of an almost chronic forlornness bothered him the most at night. he could not tell you why or explain what he felt exactly but the most accurate feeling could think of was sadness. he was just sad and at this point, he could not pinpoint the exact reason why. he's always had trouble sleeping to begin with. he was constantly tossing and turning, sometimes accidentally jabbing jazmín in the side or kicking deedee at the foot of the bed. it was impossible to get comfortable from the get-go or stop his brain from running at a thousand miles per hour. melancholy and guilt has a way of becoming stronger at night. he was bothered by things he has not said or events from years ago that felt like they happened yesterday. ever since he and jazmín got together, though, it felt like her touch helped mollify him to sleep. it could be as simple as a hand placed against his back or arms wrapped around him; he just felt assuaged. roland has never scooted away or shrugged off her hands at night. there was something inside him that became raw and exposed when he tried to let his guard down to sleep. jazmín's presence soothed the misery he so often felt during those moments. he did not know how to explain it but he supposed he's never been much good with expressing his feelings in general. he did not like being vulnerable and he knew jazmín was the same. that's why her awkwardness did not phase him. he did not judge her for showing her pain but there's something just impuissant about it all. it's difficult to be vulnerable when you were never able to do so as a child. he smiled at her reassuringly, loosening his grip on her hand as she began to pull away. "you don't have to apologize. you did so well. i'm always going to be here to help you through anything." of course, the woman spared no time at all to jump back to the tending of his own wound. he sighed softly. can't say i'm surprised. he had a feeling she would be racing to the medical kits as soon as he was done. he knew her and he knew she was probably feeling restless.
indentroland stayed on the stool as she moved away from him to access the medical kits. he couldn't help but allow his eyes to travel down her backside as she did so, although he was quick to look away once she turned to face him. the sight of the alcohol solution and cotton balls made his skin crawl. roland was beginning to dread the pain again. this is not the first time he's had a wound patched up so he knew what to expect but alcohol solutions bring a much more different type of affliction than the towel cleaning. roland could only describe it as an intense burning sensation. it's a fleeting feeling - thank god - but the stinging can be miserable. they were going to disinfect their lacerations in sections and not altogether. maybe that was for the best. dumping an entire bottle of antiseptic on a wound did not sound very appealing; he'd rather take the cotton balls. unlike last time, jazmín appeared a little bit more prepared for any negative reactions. the woman shifted closer to his leg, altering her position so she was straddling his limb at an angle. she wrapped the crook of her outer legs around his ankle in an attempt to keep him from thrashing about and agitating his wound further. the restraint made him even more wary although he knew it was for his own good. he breathed unsteadily as she spoke once more, assuring him that the worst part was over and it shouldn't take too long. a light 'mhm' was the only response she received from him. roland had a tendency to shut down easily, and the apprehension he felt about the disinfecting did not help with that. he closed in on himself as a means to prepare for any extreme ardor or pain. of course, roland appreciated her attempts at being honest yet solicitous with him. he sometimes found it difficult to communicate what he was feeling but they've been together long enough that he felt like jazmín knew he appreciated everything she did for him.
indentit did not matter how many times he's been through this process before. there was little that could prepare him for the familiar bite of the antiseptic solution. a hot jolt of pain ran up his limb as soon as she pressed one of the wet cotton balls against his wound. it felt hot, like a match had been briefly placed into the torn flesh before being pulled away. it felt different than the towel cleaning. just like before, his body reacted negatively to the sensation. roland quickly swallowed the beginnings of a yelp as his leg tried to twist in vile reaction. unfortunately, he had nowhere to go. jazmín had been prepared this time. "ah, ah, ah!" he hissed. "motherf-" a flurry of unpleasant curses that would make any old harridan faint escaped the officer. he had nowhere to put his hands so he resorted to digging his nails into the underside of the wooden stool. the hot, stinging sensations were brief but consistent since jazmín was tending to his wound in sections. that invisible match felt like it was being drawn close to his laceration, pressed against the broken skin and then pulled away again. it was not as unbearable as the towel but it was by no means a pleasant feeling. it felt like he was being burned for only a few seconds at a time. roland was struggling to swallow any verbal signs of his misery for he did not want to irritate jazmín by being too loud and excessive. still, it hurt. he was breathing heavily and uneasily, his muscles tense in a mental battle of whether or not he should try and wrangle himself out of her grip. his brain was giving him mixed signals right now. get the hell away from the source of the pain. why are you just sitting there? on the other hand, you're going to have to get your wound cleaned regardless, and it's better to just do it now. don't make it any harder than it is. he wasn't trying to but damn, was it tempting to try and rip himself out of her grip. the pain was demanding to be felt and he hated it. the man let out a shaky exhale, the air rattling from his throat. "hmmph... god, why does it burn like a bi- hnng," a moan of pain escaped him despite his best attempts to stay quiet. she was working relatively fast but the burning kept coming, and the used cotton balls began to pile up next to her. she shifted her weight to keep him still whenever his leg would jerk or attempt to move away. she had told him earlier he could tell her if he wanted her to stop but that was only going to delay the process further so roland tried his best to be as cooperative as possible. he had no idea why he felt so much distress when it came to wound cleaning; it seemed like the process never got easier. this is not the first time he's had a wound looked at and it most certainly won't be the last. he's been bitten by animals before. he's tended to wounds much more gruesome than the tear given to him by the griffin. he's seen sights that would make the average person heave in disgust. roland had once been tasked with helping a soldier who's foot had been practically mangled from the ankle down after accidentally stepping in a bear trap. as expected, his foot had to be amputated and it had not been a pretty sight. roland has laid eyes on corpses mutilated beyond recognition, unfortunate victims to violent bandit or animal attacks. he's seen bodies shriveled up from starvation and dehydration and diseases and illnesses alike. the list of atrocities was endless but maybe it was different because he was the one experiencing the affliction this time. he should be grateful his leg was still in-tact. given the sheer strength possessed by creatures such as griffins, it takes little to no effort on their parts to maul their prey to death. he and jazmín are just lucky to have walked out of that encounter alive.
indentthe disinfecting process was not very long but time still somehow managed to go by excruciatingly slow. eventually, jazmín finished her task. roland's grip on the stool relaxed once he realized no more cottons balls were going to be pressed into his laceration. he mumbled something incoherent at her soft praise before meeting her gaze when she looked at him with a soft sigh. he reached over to gently run his hand against the side of her head. it was a brief motion. "mhm. surprisingly, that'll be the least agonizing step out of all of this. and, erm, thank you. for cleaning my wound for me. i'm sorry if i was difficult," he added uneasily. "it's just - well, you know." roland had resisted the urge to fight with her but still, it was always agitating trying to keep someone still and them struggling regardless. he was still battling the compulsion to withdraw into himself, as well. with the alcohol solution no longer being applied to his wound, the burning sensation has subsided completely. his breathing remained labored as he looked downward to peer at his leg. it looked much better compared to how it looked when they first entered the medical tent. the gash glistened from the alcohol solution. his leg was beginning to feel sore now but that was to be expected. "yeah, you could say that again." out of all the tending processes, the suturing would be the least painful. in certain circumstances it can be agonizing but considering they were utilizing top-grade suturing kits, there were probably some bottles of numbing agents inside they could use to help torpefy the wounds' surrounding area. with that being said, it was an uncomfortable experience at best. roland had no idea how jazmín was going to be able to stitch his wound effectively while he's sitting on the stool. he supposed it could done but it'd probably be an awkward process, if not somewhat tedious. he could always lay down on the cot. it'd help reduce the chances of an accidental slip-up. it would also probably be helpful to jazmín so she did not have to twist her body around to try and work on his leg. roland was sure that she was sore enough. "hey, i was just thinking, maybe instead of sitting on the stool i could lay down on the cot for the suturing so it's easier to acce-"
indentroland resisted the urge to jolt in surprise when he felt her hand on his shoulder. having been observing his laceration, he hadn't realized jazmín took a step closer to him until she standing between his legs. her whisper cut him off before she settled herself atop his left leg. her tone and choice of words caught him off guard completely. now, it was roland's turn to grow rubescent. "wh-what?" he stuttered. she was seated sideways, her sliced shoulder parallel to his chest. the position allowed roland to tend to her shoulder with ease although he wasn't quite sure what she was implying given one of her fingers had begun to trace the outline of one of the tattoos on his chest. the look she was giving him was one of a coquettish nature. roland has never been good at reading context clues but he knew inviting behavior when he saw it. he wasn't prepared for it, though hence his startled splutter. he was still trying to recover from the alcohol solution but the way she looked at him and the way she touched him... roland had to resist the urge to shift on the stool. the tense silence and the lingering provocation of her words rubbed him a certain way that he should probably not be feeling right now. there was a strange sensation of warmth in his stomach that began to beat upward and to his collarbone - a low, steady fervor that felt like it was beginning to claw up his throat. his heart was beginning to pound at an almost unnatural speed. roland could clear his throat all he wanted but it did little to change the fact he appeared visibly florid. it was unfair how jazmín could so easily manipulate his feelings without doing hardly anything at all. it's not like she was even doing anything right now but roland knew she was being coy for a reason. he wouldn't be surprised if she was trying to tease him as restitution for earlier. it hadn't been roland's intention to entice her but looking back at it, he could see why anyone would think he was trying to tease her. roland had been much more focused on cleaning her wound than trying to elicit a reaction out of her. he's been kittenish with her before, though which did nothing to help his situation no matter how genuine he claimed to be. he probably deserved it. it felt like an hour passed by before she finally clarified her earlier statement. roland inhaled deeply. his nerves were on fire now. he eyed her injured shoulder. yeah, alcohol solution and all that. right. right. roland could not help but feel a sliver of irritation at himself for getting off track so easily. still, he resisted the urge to shudder. "jesus christ, i'm gonna be dealing with a lot more than just an injured leg if you look at me like that again." he was unable to stop a sudden smile from gracing his lips. "you could probably help me with that problem, though. you've always been good with your hands." he regretted the inviting remark as soon as it left his tongue. he resisted the urge to cringe at his own lechery. what the hell was that? "erm, i'm s-"
indenthe cut himself off when he felt jazmín shift her weight on his knee. the apology died on his tongue. she was moving closer to him, so close that within seconds he could feel the warmth of her breath against his skin. roland's heart immediately began to race again, a familiar warmth creeping back up his veins as it did so. her lips molded with his in a matter of seconds. a groan of discomfort sounded from the man's throat but it was not because of anything jazmín did. in an unexpected haste, roland's muscles had tensed, triggering the ache that was beginning to form in his lower back. he could taste the remnants of blood in her mouth but it did nothing to sway him. his hands moved to find her hips although the kiss was painfully brief. her lips moved away from his in a matter of seconds. instead, she moved to press a few brief kisses down his jawline and scalene muscles. roland felt his body relax just as soon as it tensed up. there was something oddly soothing about her touch and adoration. he always felt subdued when she caressed him, like her touch or lips could just easily erase the scarring that covered his body. there was the undeniable feeling of desire beginning to build inside him, though and it was quickly growing to feel like salacity. he needed her just as much as he wanted her. jazmín was so damn fetching; how could he not feel this way? admittedly, he did feel some sort of discomfiture at his own behavior right now. it felt strange to feel such intensity right now when jazmín's own wound still needed to be disinfected. it seemed inappropriate to act so needy when they weren't even stitched up yet although that feeling was very faint right now. roland tried to rationalize it as their affections running wild because of the uncertainty they had faced earlier today but it was difficult. there was no shame in expressing your passion for somebody but sometimes roland struggled to realize that. he did not want to come across as needy or deprived. roland did not want his desirous feelings to be burdensome. there was just something about her that was so intoxicating and one kiss was just not enough. not only did his face feel warm but his entire body, as well and there was something clawing up his stomach in an attempt to escape. his covet for jazmín has steadily blurred the discomfort radiating from his leg. before he could reconnect their lips, the woman suddenly moved away from him, eliciting a dazed protest from roland. "jazmín," he objected, the hints of a plea in his tone. her concern for accidentally confusing him or hurting him did not faze roland. it was a perfectly reasonable concern - one they should be thinking about - but roland could care less about his laceration at this point. the pulsating heat inside his stomach did not falter and when he swallowed, his throat felt dry. "no, no, no, you're not hurting me, it's jus- hmph," a huff of frustration sounded from the man as she turned away. he removed his hands from her hips before he teasingly put his hands to her throat in a fake choking motion. "jazmín seco, you know i love you but you are killing me right now." he lowered his hands again. in all honesty, jazmín was being quite rational but now roland himself was all flustered and worked up. he knew it hadn't been her intention to confuse him but his body was certainly befuddled. he took the bottle of alcohol solution and cotton balls from her once she presented them to him. he smiled at her slightly. "pfft, i know, i know. i hear you loud and clear, officer seco. and no, you can't." he carefully set the supplies on his right thigh before pressing a brief kiss against the dorsal of her uninjured hand. it was not only a small display of his affection for her but also to reassure her that he was not irritated with her. jazmín was just being sensible. it's not like they can just choose to not tend to their wounds. roland had to swallow the scorn he felt building within himself for himself. it was so easy for roland to let instability control him when his carefully guarded walls of general nonchalance and amenity were gone. he was unsure if it was instability or just natural impulse but god, he needed to get a grip now. he beat himself up when he felt he allowed his emotions to control him beyond a reasonable extent. roland wanted to stay clear and levelheaded but it was so easy to lose that sense of control when he was with jazmín.
indentroland shifted slightly on the stool before he began to wet one of the cotton balls with the alcohol solution. he wrapped one of his arms around the woman's waist to keep her from thrashing about. "this is going to sting a little bit. i don't think it'll hurt as much as the towel but who knows. you can tell me if you want me to stop at any time. i'll try to work quickly but carefully," he told her reassuringly. in his opinion, the towel felt worse than the antiseptic. it stung unpleasantly, yeah and the solution made your nerves feel like they're on fire for a few seconds but the towel felt rough and like it's digging into your torn flesh and catching onto every sliced muscle in reach. he eyed her uncertainly before he raised the damp cotton ball to her shredded shoulder. his grip around her waist tightened slightly once he made contact with her injury. roland was not sure how she was going to react so it was better to be safe than sorry. what might not be painful to him might be painful to her and vice versa. roland tried to work as efficiently yet quickly as possible. he started at the top of her laceration and worked his way down to the bottom. he did not want jazmín to be in pain but he could not sacrifice meticulousness in this situation. the goal here was to clean their wounds to avoid the possibility of infection; the pain that came with that process would be for naught if they rush things. working on her wound helped distract him from his earlier frustrations, as well. he had to keep reminding himself that they were here for a reason and that reason doesn't involve a nice little trip to the cot. roland did not want his yearning to distract them from that. they can't afford to make a blunder during the wound tending process because it could bite them in the ass later on. lacerations are bad enough but when they become infected? that was a whole other realm of pain. roland was heedful to be firm yet careful with his touch as he continued to press the solution into the broken skin of her laceration. "see? you're doing so well, pretty girl," he told her delicately. keeping jazmín still was not a very difficult task in and of itself but it can be strenuous trying to keep anyone still when they're fidgeting in pain. roland was not exactly in excellent health right now either but it's not like he expected her to suddenly lash out. he had managed to keep her still to the best of his abilities earlier despite the fact she had squirmed during that process. still, he had expected that. the cotton ball he was currently utilizing was quick to soak any of the fresh blood still clinging to her torn flesh. he dropped it beside the stool before moving on to the next one. every so often, roland would pause for a quick second to observe her wound and allow the solution to sink in before resuming the task at hand. her shoulder wound was beginning to look a lot like how his leg did after jazmín applied the antiseptic; red, sore and irritated but undeniably clean. that was a good sign. occasionally, his attention would flicker to the woman to gauge her reaction before returning to her laceration. he made sure to go over the entirety of her wound as carefully as possible, his arm around her tightening ever so slightly whenever she would react to the solution. roland was trying to be as considerate as possible while avoiding carelessness. he did not want her to be in pain but if he did not do a thorough job, it could be disastrous down the line.
indentit was not long before roland had used up all the cotton balls. the first few had been utilized to coat her injury with the solution to begin with; the last few had been to go over the laceration again to make sure he did not miss any spots. he removed his arm from around her waist. god, sitting on this stool is really beginning to kill my back. "alright, i think that should do it," he told jazmín. "the worst is now over, eh?" he inspected her laceration again. it looked agitated but unsoiled. he had done a pretty decent job cleaning the wound and its surrounding area from grime and dried blood. with the alcohol solution now applied, she was considerably protected from the threat of infection. he wiped away some of the sweat that continued to build on his face before he reached down to grab the towel he had used earlier to clean jazmín's features. unlike the other towel, it was not soaked in blood or mire and still retained some of its dampness. "it looks good. well, as good as it's gonna look, anyway. here, just let me..." he trailed off as he carefully repositioned jazmín so she was facing him once more, rather than sitting parallel on his knee. he tried his best to not shake her up. much like roland, jazmín was also beginning to suffer the effects of what felt like a muggy tent. he was sure that tending to his wound and trying to keep his leg still did not help with that, either. roland began to gingerly clean her face again. he wiped away the sweat with a careful tenderness before doing the same with her neck. he remained quiet. if anything, he was just giving her some time to recover and wind down from the antiseptic application. moments of peaceful silence are not exactly uncommon for the couple. there were various different ways they enjoyed each other's company and it did not always have to involve touch or endless conversation. roland is the type of person who can go for hours without saying much and be perfectly content but he knew that was not always the case with jazmín. that's why they often bargain with each other's comfort zones.
indentroland drew the towel back once he had cleaned her up a bit. he eyed her wound again before he sighed, setting the damp towel back onto the covered floor. the man reached forward to gently place his hands against the sides of her face. "between dealing with what our overseer might do and the possibility of that file being held by some runaway rebels, our situation is not looking that great right now. i know your shoulder is probably killing you but honestly? griffins are nasty bastards so all things considered, i think we got pretty lucky. i'm just glad you're safe. i love you and i don't know what i would do if something happened to you. you mean far more to me than whatever our overseer wants us to retrieve." he could care less about that file and his career if it meant something damaging to jazmín. someone would just have to shoot him and throw him in a shallow grave because he did not think he could handle something like that. a small part of roland was always worried that something might happen to her. it was completely irrational and ridiculous but at times, it felt very real to him. he was nervous that something might happen to her and there would be nothing he could do about it. he knew that sometimes, it made him controlling and painfully stubborn but it's something he's never learned how to handle or grow out of. the consequences of loss had nearly killed him once which is why he's adapted such a closed off nature to begin with. the fact he's developed such a deep bond with jazmín only increased the protection he felt when he was around her. she meant everything to him - she was everything to him - and he would always do everything in his power to keep her safe. granted, those feelings often led to rashness on his part like earlier today with the griffins. roland would have probably got out of that situation feeling a bit better if he hadn't blown his cover by trying to reach jazmín in a moment of reckless panic. he had allowed the griffin to ambush him by doing that but he supposed it would have gotten its talons on him regardless of the way he acted. roland's touch remained gentle as his eyes searched her features. roland could feel the heat from her body against his bare skin. he could hear her breathing in the pleasant solitude of their room. slowly, one of roland's hands traveled down her cheek and against the side of her neck. he had no idea if it was because of the tension between them or their close proximity but the emotions he had felt earlier were quick to come crawling back. it was hard to explain but it felt something close to ravenous carnality. roland had no idea if it was even normal to feel what he felt right now. they had suffered a near fatal incident so... it's not exactly unreasonable, right? jesus christ, roland was acting like he's never touched jazmín before in his life. he was acting like he's been depraved of intimacy for years. there was just something... there...
indentroland was not sure what came over him but before he knew it, he was leaning in to kiss her. it was by no means a slow approach; it was full of zeal and fire. he could feel the heat return to his face as his lips immediately molded with her's. hell, he didn't even bother testing the waters. he jumped right into it. the officer's hands moved from their original positions so he could grab her hips and pull her closer to him. his hands then moved away from her hips to slowly snake around the curve of her flanks and slither down her backside. roland had pulled her close enough that their chests were now touching. he could taste the remnants of blood in her mouth but similar to before, it did not faze him. he was not thinking about their wounds or their aches or their mission or the medics and patients outside their room; he was just thinking about jazmín. nothing else really mattered to him right now. unlike jazmín's earlier kiss, his was not brief. his yearning was almost painfully apparent. in fact, his body was aching and he was beginning to think it was not just because of his skirmish with the griffin. and despite the way roland acted on a regular basis, he had little to no self-restraint in situations like this. he jus-
indent"excuse me, officer seco? officer yáñez?"
indentthe kiss was over as soon as it started. an awkward voice sounded from the other side of their room's flap. roland hadn't even realized someone approached the flap until just now. he pulled away from jazmín with a frustrated huff. "what do you want?" he snapped, obviously vexed by the interruption. and despite the intrusion, he was still unable to resist the temptation to press a few kisses against the woman's scalene muscles before traveling to her jawline.
indentthe voice on the other side of the flap paused for a second before responding. it was one of the medics. "ah, i apologize for the interruption. we just wanted to, um, check in and make sure the two of you are alright and don't need professional intervention. we're more than happy to help lend our services if so."
indentroland paused. he pulled away from jazmín once more. "no. we're fine," he said icily. almost immediately, he felt himself internally wince when he realized how crude he was being. he cleared his throat. "thank you," he added, a bit more lighter this time. damn, now he was the one acting like an animal. the medic responded after another pause. "alright but please do let us know if you need any assistance. we're more than happy to help. if you need anymore supplies please let us know, as well." the other man fell silent again before roland caught the sound of retreating footsteps. the couple was alone once more.
indentroland's attention flickered to the closed flap before it returned to jazmín. he hadn't realized how close he had pulled her in until now. admittedly, the medic's interruption had knocked some sense back into him. the officer could not help but flush with chagrin. he was absolutely ridiculous. they were injured and aching and here he was, acting like he had no damn sense. it was normal to feel the way they do after what they had gone through earlier today but it was irresponsible to be acting on such emotions when they both still need their wounds stitched up. jazmín had been in the right by cutting herself off earlier. meanwhile, roland was acting like an idiot who has never been touched by a woman in his entire life. he'd be lying if he said he was not ashamed by his own behavior. he was embarrassed by his own neediness. stupid, stupid, stupid. he needed to get a better grip over himself. why was he acting so ... ugh. he knew his behavior was not exactly anything debauched but it felt like it. it was not uncommon for roland to beat himself up when he felt like he did not have a grip over himself. he was painfully harsh towards his emotions, which is probably why he had so much trouble expressing himself on an ordinary basis because he attacked himself during moments like these. it was not a bad thing to express affection but roland found it impossible to figure out what is ordinary affectionate behavior versus what may come across as clingy. as a child, he was swatted or snapped at for acting too avid and now he felt that he was irritating whenever he acted like that. he himself found that behavior aggravating at times. "i, uh, i'm sorry," he apologized. they've said sorry to one another more in the past hour than they've had the past few months. he was apologizing so much one might think he accidentally burned jazmín's house down or something. roland was not really the type of person to apologize for his behavior, either but he felt like he did it a lot with those he was close to out of wariness. nobody wants to deal with a needy person. "i don't know why- erm, i'm sorry, i shouldn't be pushing it right now when we haven't even opened up the suture kits yet. i'm being ridiculous. i don't know why i did that - any of that. i don't know- i'm sorry, it just got out of hand. are you- did i-" he kept tripping over his own words, both out of mortification at his inability to control himself and their close proximity. there was just too much going on right now. "i didn't hurt you, did i? i'm sorry. are you alright? did i agitate your shoulder even more?" he retracted his hands from her body before observing her for signs of discomfort. he had been grabby with her and he was praying to god he did not accidentally press a thumb into a forming bruise or aching muscle. the mere thought of roland hurting jazmín or making her uncomfortable on accident is enough to make him want to feed himself to one of those war canines outside the tent.

[vaell]

ＪＵＬＩＡＮ　ＭＯＲＥＮＯ.

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa wastelander / future rebel. | unaffiliated. | tagged: valentina.
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indent"wha- come on val, you know how i feel about the whole bounty hunting business, so cut the crap! i thought we made it pretty clear that there is no 'in-case'!"
indentjulian grumbled incoherently as valentina emerged from the bathroom, the dim light of a lantern in her hand causing a gentle glow to flutter about the walls as she approached him. she was quick to get a move on too. "alright, alright, i hear you, he picked up his pace to catch up behind valentina as she made her way over to the door, mongrel skull and medical supplies in hand. "hey, maybe we better start thanking the akir that we got so much useful crap we can actually bring along with us. which one of 'em is the god of blessings and wealth again? oisin? wait no..that doesn't sound right..uh, mydas? yeah, it's gotta be. ah, whatever!" it was likely that valentina had tuned out his ramblings by now, much more focused on departing from their house than trying to decipher which god presided over which values. it was a good thing his mother hadn't been pushy about religion for even now he could hardly discern much detail about the different akir gods, let alone differentiate them. to be fair he had once tried to invest some time into learning more about his mothers faith but after her death that idea had been completely thrown out of the window. he associated the religion with her and in a way, his shortcomings as well. perhaps life would've been a whole lot simpler if he had just taken the time to try and put some energy into learning more about the akir earlier on in his life; maybe it would've made him a lot less of a pessimist in some ways. mostly, though, struggling to survive had changed him. him and valentina's lifestyle, it was a part of who he was today. he was sure that if he removed that part of himself, those experiences - all of the things they had to put up with their entire lives - he wouldn't be anything near like the person he was today. who would be? if you could enjoy the finer things in life rather than needing to hunt for your survival or barter at marketplaces just to put basic necessities on your table, anyone would be an entirely different person. hell, how could those two circumstances be anything alike in the first place? in a way, as often as he slandered the average capital citizen just as much as the next wastelander did, he almost felt some sort of pity for them. for being so sheltered, that is. there's not really much else to feel sympathy for when it comes to capital residents anyhow considering how they've quite literally been granted all the opportunities in their lives on silver platters. perhaps this knowledge was a part of why he didn't feel like running off someplace to burrow himself away from the world for the next ten years to avoid being caught by the conclave, because of this divide between wastelanders and capital residents. their experiences, their pain - it gave him and valentina an edge over people not so acquainted with the wasteland. granted they haven't visited every single region of the wasteland but the same rules still applied for the most part. in a sense he felt like any devotion to the akir itself was an attempt to sugarcoat what life out in the wasteland truly was. he supposed thats the other half of why he stayed away from it. its good to have some semblance of hope in your life but to try and fool yourself into thinking things will get better when they realistically wont? it just wasn't for julian. the whole concept felt like an attempt to escape from your crappy reality and as tempting as that is, its not something you can do when you want to try and stay alive. where were these gods that supposedly looked out for the very people that worshipped them in their times of need? he knew that valentina also shared similar sentiments when it came to religion even if they might have different reasons to be wary of it. their mothers had both been devout followers of the akir although they had each placed different emphasis on various components of the scriptures texts. whatever the case, he kept a good distance from it all. bringing his mothers white scriptures along with them was more for sentiment rather than actual dedicated readings of the scriptures, after all.
indentoutside of their residence the sun had retreated beneath the cover of the prosaic mountains of the wasteland, plunging the outside world into a state of tenebrosity. a few straggly night clouds dotted the darkening sky; there was little disturbance in the air save for the sound of insects chirping from the thorny bushes lining the damaged fencing of their lawn. julian followed closely behind his cousin as they made to approach mars, the stallions muzzle grazing along the ground in search for some fresh grass. he tucked the mongrel skull into the crook of his arm so that he could access one of the saddlebags closest to where valentina was now tying the bag of valuables she'd earlier uncovered from the floorboards onto mars' saddle. julian flipped open the cover of the saddlebag, careful not to be too abrupt should he alert the sand-cat lounging within. they'd already utilized a lot of the space they had available to them but a small medical kit was no trouble to find a spot for. he set the small metal container in the corner of the bag atop the small pouch of their cutlery. in this particular compartment, everything within was nestled together fairly closely; their mugs, a compact whetstone, a few miscellaneous supplies such as rope or their pouch of caps, and now their medical supplies. julian glanced at the mongrel skull in his hand, running a thumb across its uneven surface. a small film of dust managed to coat his finger even though he'd tried his best to rid the skull of any filth earlier. he looked back into the saddlebag. although this skull had definitely belonged to a much more matured mongrel, it still wasn't huge, not like how a sharpclaws cranium might be. so, lowering the skull atop the rest of their belongings, he was pleased to see that it managed to fit into the space without too much of a hassle after all. morris eyed him warily as he retracted his hand from the bag, the sand-cats large ears folding backward in annoyance as if he had just been woken from a brief slumber. poor morris. he was sure that both of their sand-cats would soon be able to stretch their legs again if they pleased to; they'd been stuffed up in the saddlebags for quite some time now, although he supposed they weren't exactly too discontented otherwise he and valentina would've known about it by now. the wide eyes of his sand-cat watched him as he drew the cover of the saddlebag back down, securing the bag shut. just like valentina, julian kept his rifle slung across his back rather than opting to surrender it to the scabbard holsters on mars' saddle. who the hell knows what they might encounter, after all. it was better to be prepared than be caught off guard so easily considering that they had to stay alert for both conclave patrols and any potentially unwanted run-ins with wasteland occupants. earlier today, that general had mentioned that taskforces had been deployed to find the file; how long would it be before they caught onto him and valentina? so far, they'd done a pretty good job of going undetected, or at-least in his opinion. first, they'd successfully smuggled themselves out of the bustling city of arcadia, and then they'd managed to find their way back to laurel oaks without being stopped by any conclave officials. they had just finished raiding their home of its valuables and now they were practically ready to set out. he was sure that they didn't leave behind any breadcrumbs, although to be fair it wasn't like he even knew what a taskforce might be looking for. if somehow the two of them were managed to be traced from the bodies of those rebels to further up west..? well, then he supposed they had their work cut out for them then. he and valentina have never exactly been hunted down by any conclave goons because for the most part they didn't exactly do anything that would suggest they were criminals of any sort. even that was different than their current situation, though, for the sound of a taskforce clearly indicated that these people were not just your everyday average soldiers. he knew better than to underestimate what lengths the conclave would go to in the attempt of ensuring this file was back in their possession, although he felt like they were doing a fairly good job of keeping themselves on the down-low right now. granted, again, he has never been a fugitive but he was sure that they were being pretty smart about all of this. he wondered, though, if things got ramped up and somehow the two of them were successfully identified, would they see their identities projected from government holoprojectors implanted into large cities? would they see themselves on wanted posters plastered to the columns of buildings? would there be some sort of a reward like a huge sum of caps in the event that someone rats them out to the government? he didn't doubt they would be hunted down vigorously should they continue to evade the conclave. its why he and valentina needed to be extra careful with just whom they entrusted their confidence in. they would also need to be mindful of all the places they visit or check-in at, like any inns or taverns; it would be best if they kept their heads down and managed to stay out of these sorts of establishments if their names really did end up being broadcasted to the public.
indenthe glanced over at valentina as she spoke. her eyes were settled upon their house. julian followed her gaze, also turning to face the decrepit building, looking into its darkened windows. he wondered how long - if ever - it would be that he looked upon their house again, standing there beside his cousin. this was it, though. the last time they'd be in laurel oaks for who knows how long. "i guess so," he spoke soberly, eyes moving up and down the length of their house and its walls. it was strange to feel like he didn't want to leave this old place behind, but a home is a home, hardly habitable or not. he and valentina had a ton of memories in this house and while not all of them were the greatest they did make the best of their situation. they'd grown to become well acquainted with the community during their years living here, and they knew some of the most clever hunting sights around the area. they've explored the surrounding countryside so much that they would never need the use of a map to navigate their way back to laurel oaks from a hunting expedition. sure they may not have been born here but the vast majority of their lives had been spent in this settlement, and leaving it felt so strange. he thought it was funny how the two of them always wanted to get out of here - although he supposed that was assuming they'd have a better life someplace else - but now he felt uneasy leaving behind all they've ever known. hell, they were assuming a huge risk in carrying this file and attempting to seek out the freedom trail in the first place. to pack up and hit the road was a whole other level of perilous. who knows what they would face out in the wasteland, be it the conclave or not? they had no way to predict what might happen down the line. all they could do right now was march on forward. besides, they'd stripped the house of what made it theirs -- they had taken all of their most valuable possessions and necessities, leaving behind only old clothing or trinkets that belonged to their parents. he had to remind himself that it was just a house now, barren of much trace that they had ever inhabited it save for what sparse items they'd left behind. it was almost a depersonalization process. he was thankful that valentina had been the one to speak up again for he wouldn't have been the one to draw them out of their short farewell. with his sights still set upon their house, he gave her a faint, distant nod. "yeah..you're right." when his cousin turned to mars, he had to forcefully peel his gaze from their house. he supposed it might be for the better; leaving behind their home, their neighbors and the memories they shared here. looking back on everything in life, people tend to look at things through rose-colored glasses; with rosy retrospection people often recall the past more fondly than the present. he had to catch himself from doing the same. not every memory they had in this house happened to be a positive one. in-fact, most of them were tainted with struggle. and besides, like his cousin had so mentioned, the longer they linger, the harder it will be to depart.
indentafter the two cousins shared their final moment looking onto their home, this time around valentina was the one taking mars by the reins. julian followed suit in the mounting the horse, glancing over at their house once again as his cousin began to lead the stallion from their yard. he watched as the dim glow of the lantern attached to mars' saddle lightly jostled back and forth as they departed. shadows licked at the premises of their home now, the entirety of their residency no longer lit up. he knew he shouldn't be taking in their house for the last time again but it was hard not to. he just couldn't help looking past his shoulder as the building grew more and more obscured by its neighboring structures as valentina continued to navigate mars across the cracked road down to the entrance of their settlement. he briefly looked forward to his cousin. she hadn't looked back, or at-least he hadn't seen her risk a glance. honestly he wanted to do the same, knew that she was smart for doing such, but he had to throw one more look over his shoulder. he could hardly see their home at this point. they couldn't risk hanging about the settlement much longer, for they not only posed a risk to their entire community but also to themselves if they happened to linger. it was very tempting. he was glad that they were heading off on mars now, for they then had no other choice but to continue their journey. he should feel somewhat unburdened - and a distant part of him did, truly - but right now it just felt so strange to leave this portion of the dixon wasteland behind. it was important that the two of them start a new chapter in their lives given the fact they really had no choice in the matter with the file on their hands and all. perhaps this turning of a page would help him settle some lingering issues he had from their parents' passings. maybe this would help them move on in some ways. and while they already had for the most part, simply because they were forced to do so in order to keep a clear head and survive, this might be for the better after all. continuing to live in a house filled with reminders of his parents and his aunt and uncle was something that would have eventually begun to wear at him even more. they never really had the time to dwell much on what had happened to their parents of course but it never felt entirely right occupying the house without them being there. honestly, leaving laurel oaks in general was something of a complicated matter. he was torn between wanting to leave it all behind in hopes for some sense of impossible closure, and wanting to stay someplace familiar to him where they'd spent the majority of their lives. as the two continued through the neighborhood, he could hear the sound of mars' hooves making contact with the boards of the wooden bridge arching over the settlement's stream, indicating that they were officially leaving behind the one place that they had called home for so long now
indentvalentina was quick to direct mars in a westward direction, avoiding the highway they usually opted to take to get to arcadia. main roads were much too dangerous right now; they'd likely stumble across a conclave patrol and that would be that. they'd be found having a rather incriminating object on their persons and the rest would be history. night had quickly crept up on the wasteland, or so it felt, considering how chaotic their day had been. the lantern at mars' side lightly swayed against the rhythm of the horses movements, casting a shaky flickering of amber to light up them and their immediate area. he noticed his cousin had uncovered a compass from her pocket as they begun their trek off of the trail and into the unmarked countryside. julian warily eyed their general vicinity, trying to make out the outlines of any boulders or trees in the stark pitch of night, feeling himself become a little bit apprehensive now that they'd truly abandoned any trails. danger was usually paired hand-in-hand with deserting the known streets; you never know what you might stumble upon out in the country, be it a territorial animal's domain or their den or a waypoint for bandits to reconvene at in some old house. staying off the highway would help them avoid any unwanted attention from conclave personnel, meanwhile heading out into the countryside would draw them into some potentially hazardous situations. either way they had some problem to look out for, but he'd much rather stay out of the clutches of the conclave right now more than anything else. besides, travelling this way only deterred conclave personnel for they would have to also make the journey out into the precarious wasteland; at a certain point their navigation systems and communications begin to fail the further they head into unknown country. he and valentina, they've never once in their life relied solely on technology to assist them in their journeys. they've come to know certain landmarks and areas through repeated journeying of the land; it was something of a second nature to them. they would not struggle nearly as much as someone who has hardly set foot out in the wasteland without needing their technology and digital maps. in that sense, the two cousins had some semblance of an advantage over any conclave goons trying to catch their trail. while in a lot of ways the conclave may be able to outdo the average wastelander due to their accessibility to different devices and weapons and whatnot, something they will never have is the ability to brave the wasteland without being almost entirely helpless when stripped of outside support. being able to use your wits and know your surroundings in the wasteland is a skillset that you cannot learn through conclave military training alone. you need to live it, grow up knowing nothing but the wasteland. while even he and valentina are very careful when it comes to traversing through unmarked areas, they were much more prepared than a conclave officer might be. sure they might not have the same weaponry or armor at their disposal but they knew how to avoid the threats -- something much more important than being able to actually withstand them. if you could avoid potential problematic situations, then technically you can go relatively untouched by any undesirables for the most part. in order to get the upper-hand on anybody seeking them out, julian knew that he and valentina could utilize their knowledge of the land and its inhabitants to their disposal if need be.
indentthe ground beneath them was uneven and rocky, causing their belongings to lightly clatter against each-other. mars was sure to slow at the signs of any crevices or obstacles more difficult to navigate as they travelled through the rough land. very few trees dot the surrounding area of arcadia and laurel oaks, so they didn't have to fret over ramming into some trees or something. the only true pain was navigating the precarious terrain, although again, luckily for them mars was pretty quick to alert them of anything that might be treacherous. in the distance, the noises of animals calling out disrupted the quiet. various different howls or shrieks sounded out from afar every now and then, causing julian to skeptically eye their darkened surroundings -- not that he could immediately spot anything if something did happen to be lurking about, but still. the afternoon heat had waned into a stifling humidity, a certain mugginess now hanging in the air. due to this, various different creatures came out from their hiding places after avoiding the heavy warmth of the afternoon for the majority of the day. one of his hands gingerly brushed the strap of the shotgun sitting across his chest. being in this sort of a situation is enough to make anyone nervous although he supposed the fact that they didn't have an exact approximation of what settlement they were headed to made things a bit more nerve-racking. they were travelling on the whims of passed word valentina had picked up during the time spent hidden away at arcadia's checkpoint. somewhere west..freedmen..surely they'd be able to find their way and if not through the navigation of their somewhat trustworthy map, then through the help of some locals perhaps. it shouldn't be particularly difficult to find the freedmen in the first place given how requested their services are, at-least. julian's attention to the unknown darkness around them did not falter, not even when valentina spoke up. she made sure to keep her tone relatively hushed given the fact that they did not want to attract any unwanted attention to their party. he was careful to do the same. "insane, yeah. you can say that again. i mean hell val, i don't wanna be some sharpclaws dinner or even worse..who knows what creatures are watching us right now," he narrowed his eyes in an attempt to make out what was going on in the gloom of the night although it didn't do much to help him. the mention of food however briefly caught his attention. he looked to valentina, feeling a pang of hunger in his stomach as his awareness of their lack of eating all day suddenly became more present. he really was famished and honestly had hardly realized it until now. all they'd been doing as of late is running about, scrambling to get their belongings and hit the road as fast as possible. that didn't include very much time to be thinking about food. but now that she'd brought it up, yeah, he was pretty hungry. "um..well, neither of those two options sound really appealing. you sure there's not a third choice where we could just magically stumble upon some fully staffed restaurant?" before valentina could grumble at his lack of seriousness, he was quick to give her an actual answer, "heh..i guess seeing as thats not going to happen anytime soon though, i think we should try and set up camp somewhere and then make an attempt to go hunting. yeah it's the more riskier option of the two but like you said who knows how long it'll take us to snare a creature in a trap? there's no way in hell i'm going to be staying up for another five hours or something just waiting for some creature to fall into our trap before we get to eat. maybe if we aren't successful within the first hour or two of our hunting then we could resort to setting a trap. i'm sure we'll be able to catch something or other, though. i mean i seriously feel like there's like fifty eyes on us right now, half of 'em being insects but still, you get what i mean. plus it's not like we're going to draw any other undesirables to our location anyway; we're usually pretty good at keeping quiet while we're hunting anything so that we don't scare anything off. what do you think? i mean, if you feel like its a bad idea then i'm willing to trust you." for once, he wanted to jokingly add but right now it just felt like a straight-up bad idea to be fooling around, even for someone like himself.
indentjulian usually found himself following valentina's lead -- and he wasn't complaining about that, either, but sometimes they did have their differences. for example, bounty hunting. his cousin has gone to him more than just one time to contemplate the idea of taking up such a job considering the fact that they were always in need of some more caps but it was an idea that julian always vehemently protested against. not only was it pretty dangerous but he wasn't going to risk his neck just to pluck off some undesirables for the local law enforcement. sure there is a wide range of different crimes committed by people but he wanted no part in it regardless, even if it did help decrease the amount of criminals in the dixon wasteland. he and valentina they were great hunters but going after humans - bandits, murderers, thieves, robbers, or anything else of the like - well, that was an entirely different sort of territory for them. if they took up bounty hunting they might get paid well but everyday they'd be putting their lives on the line. the biggest reason why he detested the idea was because he knew that if valentina entered the bounty hunting line of work, he would be soon to follow. the life of hunting down criminals and bringing them to justice? nope, not for him. around them, the calls of insects buzzed and chirped, causing him to cast the occasional apprehensive glance into the dark. he was sure that this area must be home to some mantises or even worse, to some stalkers. his eyes shifted to the ground beneath them warily, dimly lit up by their lantern. "any thoughts on what we might be able to catch tonight? no way we're gonna be able to score a doe or somethin'," he spoke up in a quiet tone. even if they did manage to find a doe or alike, it'd probably be similar to the one valentina had recently caught before selling it to zio earlier. scrawny, not much meat on its bones. honestly though its not like they needed something super filling right now but it would be nice to have something a tad more substantial. "and do you have any ideas of where we should try and set up camp anyhow? i'm thinking we should try and utilize as much of our surroundings as possible..not that theres a lot of surrounding in the first place. i just mean, if we come across some toppled boulder or something we could try and stop there. it might be best to try and get the most coverage as we possibly can, considering how theres not many trees here to start with. it wouldn't be much but at-least it'd be something, assuming we can even stumble upon one in the first place of course. i mean, for now we gotta get a little bit further into the wilderness but it wont be long before we can scout out a particular spot." surely they'd need to utilize their spit in order to properly roast whatever they might hopefully catch, and that would mean also starting a fire. in that case, they'd want to be as cautious as possible to keep the trail of smoke from bringing any undesired attention toward where they might set up. it would do them good to get some cover, though, as minimal as it might be. as much as they wanted to avoid staying an unnecessary amount of time out in the unprotected wilderness of the wasteland, it just wasn't realistic for them to try and travel all night. they'd grow much too fatigued and thus much less alert, which is the last thing they want to be right now. they've both heard the stories of travellers going missing and never returning; kidnappings from cultists or outlaws is a common message relayed amongst wastelanders alike, like a cautionary tale. if you happened to get kidnapped and brought further into the thick of the wasteland too you'd have to try and fend for yourself; local law enforcement doesn't do a particularly great job at trying to recover missing people. its usually up to people to spread the word through community notice boards and hope for the help of others. all they needed to do right now was get a considerable distance away from laurel oaks and arcadia before they could properly set up camp. its already been some time since they'd last seen any marked roads too. he was just hoping they might be able to come across a toppled boulder but of course they would have to deal with whatever they managed to stumble upon. they didn't have much of a choice. besides, he supposed you were exposed no matter what amount of cover you tried to get. it really didn't matter, it would just give them some peace of mind, imagined or not.
indentwhen they neared a small crevice, mars alerted them with a wary snort, his pace slowing down so that he could properly navigate their way through. some of the contents of their saddlebags clinked together, the pots and pans lightly rattling against the rings which suspended them on mars' saddle. he didn't want to think much about what might be stalking the area right now. giant preying mantises, maybe. they're not very dangerous but when they do attack it happens to be in packs. he supposed he would never know if they were hanging about right now; the insects tend to fit in fairly well with their surroundings; whether that be the rare wilted bush or stray patch of tall grass. he didn't like the idea of being bit by anything but mantises weren't exactly the most worrying thing out here. if you're not careful, though, they definitely could cause you ailment and potentially death. thats if you aren't cautious, however. he was more worried about the presence of stalkers. most insects are quite bothersome but stalkers tend to be a bit more aggressive than the average predatory insect. they like to burrow up from the hardened ground to strike unsuspecting travellers with their razor sharp mandibles. they're so irritating to deal with because of the fact they are quite relentless once they have a target in mind. they'll continually attack someone even in spite of repeated attacks from other people. they're a species unique to the dixon wasteland and its outlying areas so the cousins knew quite well how pesky these creatures could be. julian supposed insects in general weren't exactly at the top of the list for what they should be most worried about but still, the creatures were downright annoying sometimes. he fleetingly wondered what new sights they might come across throughout their journey to the badlands -- would they encounter some new creatures perhaps? above all else of course he would love to see something different than what they've grown up around their entire life, like perhaps enterprise hall or even dodger city. at-least if they did somehow end up over in those parts of the country during their journey they'd be able to say they got to discover some new sights. not that doing such should be a priority for them but still, they might as well make the best of their trek if they can. julian's eyes continued searching the dark as they managed their way past some troublesome crevices. he was hoping to make out an outline of a boulder or something rather than just the flat expanse they'd thus far been mainly greeted with. he glanced over to valentina, curious to know what she was making of their journey thus far. "it would be nice to see something different for a change. not that i'm complaining that we haven't been jumped or anything..but y'know. some form of coverage for where we set up camp would be great. i'm not even asking for much. maybe now we really should start asking the akir for help. or better yet, we should hope that we stumble across a shrine for eostre. that way we might not be cursed with a godawful hunt later." he tried not to cackle considering that they've done a pretty good job of keeping a low profile thus far. he didn't want to be the one to ruin that or he might never hear the end of it. he had pushed his luck enough earlier back in the caravan anyhow so there was no use trying to piss valentina off by endangering them. "in all seriousness, though, i think that once we finish hunting, assuming it actually goes well, we should look over our map just to get an idea of the area. obviously we won't know exactly what settlements are in the area 'cause you know how shaky the validity of that parchment is, but at-least we can sorta put some perspective into things. even though we don't know exactly where we're headed, you'd think we'd be able to find the freedmen fairly easily, right? i mean even if it does happen to take some stumbling upon other villages first, we'll eventually find our way over to-" abruptly, julian paused. he narrowed his eyes, the back of his hand lightly hitting the back of valentina's shoulder as mars let out a light snort of wariness. he slightly leaned forward, basically peering past his cousins head at this point. "is that a boulder!?"

[vaell]

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxaviation warrant officer two. | conclave military. | tagged: kai.
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indentwith some successive whirrs of the bots retractable arm, a few screws locked one of the cover panels back into place. the bot on mina's arm swivelled around to face her, giving her a small chirp to indicate that it was ready to move on to closing up the second panel that kai had been positioned at earlier. she obliged, shuffling a step or two over to the adjacent panel where bundles of neatly organized wires were still exposed. the assistance bot redirected its attention back onto the open panel as she placed her arm against the wall of the ship. with her other hand, she produced the panels cover and raised it atop the stack of cables so that the bot could set off to work. behind her, she could hear kai offer up what advice he had for her above the sounds of the bots tinkering away. she glanced over her shoulder at him as he spoke. the bright red screens from the aircrafts cockpit continued to flash with a hazard symbol depicting an armament malfunction, giving the area behind him an inconsistent glow of vermillion. when he suggested the idea of offering hayrmor as much of the truth as possible while implementing a bit of a white lie, she couldn't help the slight smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth. "honestly, i think thats the only way i'm gonna be able to get out of this mess alive," she huffed, turning her gaze back toward the bot perched on her forearm. "although to be honest with you i have a sneaking suspicion that no matter what story i feed him, his reaction will probably be pretty much the same. i just can't see him passing up the opportunity of giving me some sort of grand lecture on safety and attentiveness no matter the reason sydni had been messing around with the panelling. if there's one thing hayrmor is good at, its finding ways to reprimand people." one of the screws locked into the panel covering as the bot drove the slender metal shaft into its respective slot. she supposed she couldn't really do much about the situation but try and ease the blow of how foolish she and sydni had been back at that fort. hell, she actually did deserve some of the admonishments that were no doubt coming her way. she'd been so busy clearing supply crates at the cargo processing line that it never even occurred to her that she might need to double-check whether or not the gunship had been properly restricted off from public access. at the same time, though, why should she need to babysit her co-pilot? god, all of this was going to start giving her some major trust issues. obviously the other woman likely had no ill-intent but it was mina who was here at the hangar dealing with the consequences of her actions and not her, so naturally she felt a bit resentful right now. besides, even if she brought this whole ordeal up to sydni the next time she saw her, mina was sure that all she would get in return would be some lackluster apology for not being able to take the brunt of some of hayrmor's irritation. the truth of the entire situation might be a bit hard to explain so she felt like she'd be better off if she just take the route that kai had suggested; breeze over a few details, tweak some minor points. at-least that way hayrmor wouldn't be able to accuse her or sydni of being overly reckless - not that he'd be wrong, but she'd rather not admit that they had no particular reason to be fiddling around with the ships integrity besides the fact that they had installed a new turret. honestly, the worst part about it all was how they really couldn't excuse how the pygmy gopher had gained access to the innards of the gunship in the first place.
indent"ugh, tell me about it though. i should probably be a bit more pissed off than i am right now but at this point, i'm not even shocked that this is happening." it seemed that kai and mina both knew what to expect from hayrmor, too. its not like he was unpredictable. most people like him who have some semblance of authority tend to utilize their power however they can, and to be honest its usually a sign of personal insecurity in general. well, she knew that from her parents at-least and didn't doubt that the same concept also applied to her captain. sure him and her parents are on two different levels of terrible but a lot of people tend to have similar reasonings for the ways that they act. in hayrmor's case, he was just a man who carried some air of pretentiousness to him; that in and of itself isn't an uncommon sighting for people occupying ranks with even a bit more sway than your average soldier. it gave them the power to push other people around even if their careers couldn't possibly be compared to the military feats of commissioned officers or generals. she glanced back over at kai, catching the jest that followed his smile. she snorted when he questioned the bots, receiving but a short beep in return. "too bad we'd miss seeing him go out with a bang. but hey, blown up is blown up i guess; i can't much complain about that," she joked, slightly raising her arm so that the bot could access the top two slots of the panels cover. the assistance bot made quick work of the panelling, and after a brief moments, it had finished securing the panel shut. mina glanced down to the bot as it retracted its changeable metal arm into its back panel. with a satisfied beep of completion, it turned itself around to face her, its legs rotating around one at a time. mina took a step back from the far wall of the fuselage, observing the wall now that it looked just how it had prior to allowing the bots to mess with the innards of the two panels. everything looked fine; now they just had to wait for kai's own bot to properly locate the issue and resolve it. she guessed the whole process shouldn't take too long considering that the technological aspects of things rather than the mechanical are often much more fixable. the precision of an assistance bot was always something she preferred when it came to ship errors and this was exactly why. they had the ability to rummage through the gunships mainframe and find any corrupted or otherwise offline assets that should be running smoothly. so, now that she could divert their attention elsewhere, mina turned around and begun to approach kai as he started to explain to her the differences between the two most prominent models of androids. she came to a stop near the wall of the corridor, the assistance bot on her arm deciding to make the climb up to her shoulder. she leaned her unoccupied arm against the side of the wall, looking between kai and the bot he was supervising.
indentkai gave her what she would assume was a pretty simplified summary of both the organic and mechanical models of androids -- she'd been curious to know a bit more of the different prototypes and luckily he'd been willing to humor her. from what mina could make of it all, though, mechanical androids were the ones that looked like androids. they were easily identifiable as such, like when you pass by a gunner or even earlier when he showed her the picture of a venator. it's pretty obvious that they're androids and not humans. organic models on the other hand were quite the opposite. they looked just like humans. he made it pretty clear that they were still relatively new however and quite sparse due to the wastelander hysteria surrounding the androids. such an example of this model would be a recruiter, apparently. at-least kai spared her of what slip-ups she made when referring to the androids. mina made a mental note to differentiate models and prototypes, and that prototypes were variants of the two different models. "makes sense, makes sense," several clicks could be heard from within the inner panelling as the bot didn't show any signs of slowing down its tinkering. she frowned when kai mentioned the fact that recruiters were slowly being recalled due to the heightened paranoid surrounding androids though. "wow. um, that does sound like a mess. i mean i can just imagine how much that might be hindering the advancement of the newer organic prototypes, and i doubt that does much good for anyone in your field. how the hell do you even go about that? i know you're not the embodiment of the council or anything but i wonder how they're going to handle the situation, 'cause theres no way they're just gonna pull all of the recruiters from the wasteland or something..right?" her eyes shifted from the working bot and to kai warily. she herself didn't possess much knowledge about the complications regarding wastelanders and the organic models of androids out in the wasteland but it sounded like a hell of a struggle. they were killing not only each other but targeting military and government personnel all in the fear of suspicion. the whole hysteria phenomena only increased the dangerousness of being involved in the android utilization branch, she was sure. "you're probably right though; there's no way that'll put a longstanding pause to the development of other prototypes regardless. and i get what you mean too. its hard to navigate that kind of a situation especially when wastelanders are already rather..wary toward any sort of technology in general. if they don't like robots then androids are already a huge jump, you know what i mean? i guess that no matter what, some sort of obstacle will appear at some point when taking technological strides. if only it was as easy as wastelanders being able to accept the idea of change and whatnot. like, that's a really tough situation. it just seems frustrating. i'm sorry that your branch is dealing with so much crap in general." she didn't even know the half of what was going on within the android utilization branch but she had some understanding of their troubles thanks to kai. as much as she complained about being in the airforce and how stagnant their ranks tend to be, she supposed that his situation was even more bleak given the different problems that were being thrown their way almost constantly. at-least she was never a target simply based on what branch of military she was enlisted in.
indentthe sudden stabilization of light being emitted from the displays in the cockpit drew her attention. the intense glow of the monitor screens were no longer washing the walls over in a sequence of red warnings. she glanced behind her shoulder and down the short connecting chamber. it appeared that the screens had cleared up, the flashing red imagery now replaced with the same darkened screens just as they had been before. she let out a small sigh of relief. from inside of the panel, she heard a beep sound out from the bot as it trudged back through the cables and sought passageway onto kai's forearm. mina looked to kai. as much as clearing up the issue with the weapons systems was a good thing, it also meant that they'd have to deal with hayrmor now. whatever, i'm just going to zone out through half of it anyway. its not like it'll be anything i haven't heard before. the sound of screws being inserted back into place indicated that the bot was now closing up the panel; she watched as it retracted its metal arm after a brief moment of ensuring the panel cover was completely secured in place. "well thats that. i guess it's time for the moment we've been waiting for," she grumbled sarcastically, straightening herself out from where she'd been leaning against the wall. "i'll fetch hayrmor and then hopefully we can get this over with as quickly as possible. i just want to get the hell out of here. i seriously don't think i could stand the sound of bots beeping or buzzing with activity for much longer let alone hear hayrmor go on a tangent for the next twenty minutes." she offered her arm to kai's bot and this time it actually cooperated, making the switch from his arm to her own. as soon as it had gotten balanced onto her forearm it followed suit in taking up a position atop her shoulder just like how the other bot did. honestly she nearly forgot about the fact that they had left the two other bots outside of the engines -- its not like they couldn't handle themselves but hopefully by now they figured that nothing was wrong with the engines. "come on, lets head out of here." mina redirected their path back into the cockpit. after pressing a button at the front of the ship to ensure the cockpit's glass would automatically close after their exit, she promptly headed over to the edge of the ships frame to surprisingly - or maybe not so surprisingly - be greeted with the sight of hayrmor hovering about a gunship two aircrafts down. his hands were folded behind his back as he appeared to be scrutinizing a vessel. was he was getting impatient, wanting them to get the hell out of here, or did he just happen to be in the vicinity when the pair emerged into the cockpit? whatever the case, clearly she didn't need to go far to flag his attention. mina gave kai a quick grimace at the sight of the man before placing her hands on the outer frame of the ship. "not gonna lie, getting out of here looks a bit more daunting than getting in but thats just because we're higher up right now. just try and follow my lead and you should be good. i'm gonna use the turret to get my footing again before i touch the ground. you can kind of think of it as the same procedure as getting in the ship, just reversed." she placed a foot on the edge of the cockpit, easing herself up and over the short wall before turning to face the insides of the ship. from there, she slowly lowered herself down until she could feel the brief sensation of the bottom of her foot making contact with the gunships turret. when she knew where her footing was, she used the turret as a momentary in-between point to the ground before she was able to hop back onto the pavement below. she could feel the grip of the bots on her shoulders tighten as their feet clutched the material of her jacket in an attempt to keep balanced and not fall from where they were perched. mina glanced up to kai before giving him some room to join her back on the ground, shuffling a foot or two toward the nose of the ship. as soon as her boyfriend had climbed out from within the aircraft, the tinted glass windows that had been retracted for the past while finally shifted; they drew upward before sliding forward until the glass clicked in place against the frame of the ship, once more obscuring much of the inside view of the aircraft and effectively shutting its singular entry point.
indentwhether it was the fact that he had noticed the movement in the corner of his eye or if it was because their voices carried so easily in the hangar, captain hayrmor was quick to turn his attention onto the pair. without being on the ground for much less than a minute or two, he'd already began to approach them, deserting the spot where he had been earlier eyeing up one of the gunships of his squadron. the moment mina spotted him coming their way she gave him a salute and held the acknowledgement until he was before them. it seemed she didn't have time to go round up the other two bots at the back of the ship. whatever, that could be done later. "captain hayrmor, sir."
indent"warrant officer parekh." her captains eyes briefly shifted to kai. seeing that the matter wasn't concerning him, he continued on without giving him much thought. "will i be pleased to hear that your gunship is in working condition? it would be nice to avoid any complications for once, considering that we have another supply run scheduling in the next coming days." whew. at-least she could begin the conversation by telling him that there was nothing wrong with the ship. well, not anymore at-least. "yes, sir. i can confirm that the gunship is in perfect condition still, although it was not necessarily untouched. inside of the ship, one of the assistance bots found an issue with the ships weapons system. thats why i wasn't alerted of anything being wrong either, considering the armaments were offline. the pygmy gopher seemed to have messed with the cables designated for the front-most turret." even though she had some confidence in her explanation, the more she spoke, the more uncomfortable she was beginning to grow under his scalding gaze. it seemed like she already knew the next words that would fall from his mouth, too; how the hell did the gopher get access to such an important panel? well, a much more professional variation of that question but still, the sentiments would be the same. captain hayrmor didn't speak for a moment though, simply gazing up at the obscured view they had of the cockpit from where they stood. his lips pursed. she could tell that he was trying to make sense of the situation. she liked to think it hurt his ego that he couldn't begin to lecture her right off the bat. his eyes shifted back to mina and kai. "now that..that is most peculiar. i can't recall ever having heard of a pygmy gopher somehow bypassing the pilot and co-pilot of a gunship in order to access a panel that must be opened with a screwdriver or alike to access in the first place. no, i'm quite eager to hear you explain yourself. and forgive me if i am mistaken but is that not a newly installed turret? i can't help but wonder if theres some irreversible damage to this new installation, mechanically speaking. but regardless, do go on."
indentas tempting as it was, she tried not to look away from captain hayrmor. she wasn't going to let him completely intimidate her although admittedly he was about half-way there. mina swallowed thickly, already nervous for what might come. "yes, sir, it's not the most ordinary of situations although as you did mention, our turret is new. after we landed at the base, sydni took some of our downtime to ensure the stability levels of the armament were in working order while i was overseeing the processing of cargo out of the ships fuselage. she wanted to make sure that the turret was functioning in the event that we may need to utilize the armament since we did not have the chance to deploy any practice shots since gaining the upgrade." hayrmor eyed her carefully as she spoke. she was quite aware that he was dissecting everything she was saying for validity. she supposed that showed just how much he actually trusted his pilots. "the pygmy gopher must have got into the ship while we had the ramp to the cockpit erected. sydni and i went to the dining hall of the fort in order to get some lunch," she tried not to wince as she spoke, for now she named one of her most grave mistakes, "when we came back i spotted the creature just outside the nose of the ship. it scurried away pretty quickly. in terms of the overhaul itself, though, it looks like the mainframe of the ship detected but a surface level issue. the assistance bot was able to fix it without outside intervention and luckily the issue seemed to have been resolved. so while some cables had been meddled with by the gopher, the gunship is just as it were before. no long-standing malfunction, nothing. its like it never happened in the first place."
indentcaptain hayrmor wasted no time in boiling everything down to its raw facts. "so, correct me if i am wrong, you two left your gunship unsupervised knowing that one of the major panels inside were exposed while the cockpit was open for access from a ramp?"
indent"..yes, sir."
indentshe noticed the mans jaw ticked. it was hard to say whether or not he was exasperated, annoyed or just plain-out disappointed in her. probably all of the above. his features were majorly unreadable as he looked back and forth between the pair and her gunship. "and you aware that is a rather severe form of negligence, correct?"
indent"yes, sir. i do understand that."
indent"and yet here we are. come on officer," her captain shook his head, his voice growing more disdainful. "even i did not expect such disregard for your aircraft from you. might i remind you of your training back at the academy how many years ago? i'm quite confident that abandoning an accessible aircraft with no one else to be supervising it is something that you cover the first week and learn to address. to be quite honest with you, the problem i have wrapping my head around all of this is how distracted you must have been to let something like that slide. i don't want to be the one to lecture you but unfortunately for you, safety and precaution is a large priority if you're going to be flying in my squadron. you know this. i don't suspect you want to be retaking a course to flight and landing protocol, do you?" mina furrowed her brows -- technically, she did not deserve to be taking the blame right now, hence why she couldn't help the outward expression of what felt like was unfair treatment. being required to retake a course just because hayrmor was annoyed and wanted to prove a point would take her away from her ship for a few days and she felt like they could not afford to be temporarily without another pilot, not with the ongoing crisis up north. but she didn't say that. "no, sir. if that is your prerogative however, i will follow through. i just want to remind you that the ship is in fine condition."
indentperhaps she should not have said that at all. "oh, i'm quite aware. you don't need to repeat that fact to me. what i'm seeing is a lack of care; yes your gunship is not harmed beyond repair but it could have been. that is a possibility, you know. its not like you were guaranteed an easy way out of your mess, and you likely will not be in the future. thats not how you should be looking at life, convinced that you'll always be so fortunate to escape the consequences of your actions. consider yourself lucky for such an uncomplicated matter." he unclasped his hands from his back, taking a short glance at the watch atop his wrist. "i'll find a suitable time to arrange some form of reevaluation for you, seeing as its direly needed. right now, i want you two out of here in ten minutes. leave the bots at the nose of the ship, i'll collect them after you leave."
indent"of course sir. i apologize for the trouble, though. i can assure you this won't happen again."
indent"you can bet it wont."
indentmina watched the man as he turned on his heel to head toward the inner walls of the hangar, where a select few people were still tinkering about. for a moment she stood there, transfixed on his back as he walked away. did he think he was presiding over some sort of special air unit? well, she had news for him. he was acting like this situation was going to somehow tarnish his reputation or something; hell, he wanted her to retake a damn safety course just to ensure that she knew what she was doing. it was absurd. "well thats great. he barely even mentioned anything about sydni but of course i get all the crap. and really, retaking a course?" she looked to kai, trying to keep her tone down in the event that her voice may carry around the hangar to her captains ears. "you know what? whatever. he's an ass. i'm over it. let's go grab those bots from the rear-side of the ship and then we can finally be on our way out of here." mina's hands were quick to transfer the assistance bots from her shoulders and back to the ground below them. when she set them onto the pavement, they looked up to the two and gave them what seemed to be a final beep of farewell. not that they wouldn't see them again in a few more minutes but still. mina sighed. she gestured for kai to follow her to the backside of the ship where the two assistance bots had been busy working the entirety of the time while they were inside of the ship. she looked up to the two engines where they had left the pair of bots. both of the bots were sitting atop the lower engine hood and by now, they'd already reinstalled everything back into place after piecing it apart in the attempt to find anything wrong with the gunship. she offered her hand to the bot at the right engine so that kai could pick up the other one at the left engine. it clambered down onto her hand and situated itself atop her forearm. as soon as they both had retrieved the two bots, it wasn't long before they were headed back to the nose of the ship. there, they could set both of the two bots down to join the other pair, finally reuniting the four of them. she fleetingly wanted to snatch one of the bots up to piss hayrmor off but at the same time it didn't really affect him that much. it'd literally just implicate her ridiculous situation further.
indent"i wonder if our allotted ten minutes is close to expiring yet," she begrudgingly muttered, glancing back over at kai. "either way, since we've heeded to hayrmor's request now i think its about time we head out. its not like i want to stick around here much longer anyhow. that dumb bastard. what do you say, do you still wanna go and hand that file over to mateo? it looks like its getting late but you did mention earlier that he should still be in the district because he works at this time a lot. its your call." she shrugged.

[vaermina]

ＣＯＮＳＴＡＮＣＥ ＡＤＬＥＲxxx
I.xdemigirlx II.xthe rebellionx III. an entertainer known as dahlia


indentwith danny having left the table to make himself a bowl of fresh soup, the two were able to resume their conversation. "exactly! we need to start prioritizing safety. like you said, there's ways for us to find out what missions are absolutely necessary to the cause. it sounds like our colleagues were trying to steal a very important file from fort themus. i'm sure everyone was excited and restless for us to get our hands on it but judging by what maven said, it was a high-stakes mission from the start. it's not easy to raid a military fort. a couple of rebels against hundreds of soldiers with various technology, weapons, canines and androids? it sounds like a damn death sentence. i applaud our colleagues for their bravery, i truly do and i wish things had gone differently but they didn't and we need to learn from it. but it's just like what you said earlier; how many times must this happen before our superiors begin to realize this is getting us nowhere? we all want to find a way to cripple the government but clearly, we're going about it the wrong way. it feels like headquarters is growing impetuous. they see the conclave is steadily thriving and growing in numbers and it's making them foolhardy because they're getting jittery. i get their apprehension. i mean, the rebellion has been around as long as the conclave so it's been, what, a little bit over fifty years since the resistance began? i can see why people are growing antsy but we can't afford to begin losing our heads." constance paused to finish off the remainder of their soup. "i don't agree with treating people like they're disposable, either. it makes us no better than the conclave or some sort of foul bandit group. and yeah, we all know the dangers of this life but that doesn't mean our leaders should willing to throw us into doomed situations because there's a small chance success might come out of it. honestly, headquarters has been growing discontent with the rebellion's progress for years now. it seems like in recent months, they've really began aping up our tactics. i mean, the recent destruction of fort snow is a good example of that. sure, we managed to steal a good amount of resources and supplies from that base before burning it down but even that victory had consequences because now they've begun deploying military taskforces to retrieve stolen federal property. and if those taskforces happen to stumble upon said property being guarded by rebels? i'm sure they wouldn't hesitate to start shooting." no matter what angle you look at this situation from, the results are the same. violence. death. bloodshed. grief. misery. constance had joined the rebellion for a reason. they had admired their views and their passion and their desire to spread harmony and equality all throughout the united states. the rebellion represents what this country truly needs and that is unity, compassion, respect and concord. granted, some of its own members like declan don't exactly fit that picture but they were talking about the overall message here. the federal government does not care for the common folk. hell, they don't even care for their own followers. everyone is disposable to them. they don't care what they have to do to reach their goals and they don't care who has to die for them to satisfy their hunger. the top dogs send their minions to do their dirty deeds for them. you don't see government officials on the front lines fighting bandits and undesirables. they aren't the ones who are being ambushed out in the wasteland or mauled to death by animals. there's a fine line between conclave acolytes who follow orders versus those who go out of their way to spread destruction and misery throughout the five states. typically, the ladder are high-ranking commissioned officers with soldiers and resources to spare. it's not uncommon for the average soldier to act gutsy and arrogant but there's also plenty of them who do not behave that way. each one is different than the last which is something declan does not understand. he liked to group them all together and condemn them that way. admittedly, constance struggled with that themselves and it's taken a long time for them to realize that not every conclave follower is brewing with antagonism. they are born into a society where empathy is limited and the law is supreme so it's no wonder most of the conclave's youth join the military. the military is idolized in conclave society. plenty of young children want to grow up and be war heroes. sadly, constance did not think such a thing existed. war criminals, yeah, but not war heroes. nevertheless, it can be difficult to discern who exactly should be held accountable in the grand scheme of things. government and military leaders need to be, of course but what about those who are just simply following orders, the ones with little to no influence themselves? the soldiers who aren't abusing their power independently and outside of work? constance supposed there were no easy answers to that. morality is a hard line to walk in the world they live in. people die unfairly or get blamed for things that aren't their fault to begin with. society as a whole does a poor job wielding justice and the conclave itself is no better.
indentthe entertainer took a sip of her lukewarm water. she nodded slowly. "right, right. i hate the thought of losing access to their forts because how else are we going to get our hands on federal files and paperwork? god, we're gonna need to build a thorough case if we're going to argue against people like declan. we're not afraid of him, of course but you and i know how aggressive he can get when he's challenged. he's only gotten this far because he's manipulative, as well. he knows that headquarters and plenty of other rebels are growing frustrated and he feasts on that. we just have to try and preserve our line of work. now that i think about it, i don't even know why declan is trying to claim fort break-ins are pointless when his ambushes are only possible because of stolen base files that reveal all these patrol and transportation routes. you can't have one without the other, right?" at this point, it just felt like declan argued with people like constance and edwin because he perceived their opinions as threats to his mission. the former bounty hunter could care less about the resistance as a whole. he just used them for easy access to the conclave. hell, maybe they were all suckers for letting him drag the rebellion's name through the mud. she just despised how he did not care for anybody but himself. he'll sacrifice anyone and everyone to get what he wants and that's not the rebellion's way. they can't claim to be defenders of the common people when they're willing to risk innocent lives like the conclave. she and edwin have witnessed such carelessness before. the conclave mows down their opponents with no thought put into the consequences of their actions. wastelander settlements and towns that are unlucky enough to be located near gruesome conflicts between the military and enemy factions are usually destroyed in the carnage. the wealthy and the high and mighty do not suffer; it is always the common man who perishes. the people out there who are just trying to survive are the ones who fall victim to the many skirmishes between all these opposing organizations. constance did not want the rebellion to contribute to those numbers. it's awful enough that wastelanders suspected of aiding the rebellion or being rebels themselves are imprisoned or brutally executed. it was just frustrating. there are plenty of wastelanders who admire the rebellion in secret but there are also plenty who are beginning to grow hostile towards them because of the indirect threat they pose. the conclave has made it clear that 'treason' will not be tolerated kindly. wastelanders are beginning to grow apprehensive. they fear that if they aid the rebels in any shape or form, them and their families will either be arrested or killed. the government's fearmongering has begun to take its toll. they are unable to strike the rebels directly so they find other ways to make rebel operations difficult out in the wasteland. and all of declan's brutal methods and tactics? the conclave twists that to their advantage so they can paint the rebels as violent anarchists and communists. that notoriety not only increases the hatred the conclave's followers have for them but makes average wastelanders wary of the rebellion's true motives. declan was harming their organization in every way possible. why is barely anyone but them acknowledging and recognizing this? is headquarters beginning to grow so desperate for some type of advantage over the federal government that they're willing to risk everything they have built and accomplished the past fifty years? constance is well aware of the fact that things have begun to grow slow and lackluster but they need to keep on pushing. it's reasonable for people to begin feeling disheartened as the conclave continues to grow in strength and numbers but they can't give up.
indent"what?" constance turned to look over their shoulder when edwin expressed his disbelief at danny's deception over mikey. constance hadn't even noticed mikey's presence. oh my god. despite the circumstances, constance could not help but grin. "by the gods, i think we're gonna witness a brawl in a few minutes. we can't go one hour without witnessing violence in this country, can we?" danny deceiving mikey in such a fashion is not uncommon from him. in-fact, both men are notorious for pranking one another. they're both goofy as hell and relatively quick-witted so constance supposed that such behavior is only expected. sometimes, it made the demiwoman want to strangle them but they felt that danny and mikey had a good concept of when it's time to be sincere. well, danny more than mikey but the stout man had no trouble keeping the other in line. both of their hearts are in the right place. for the most part, though, constance did not mind their doltish behavior. it's refreshing to be around people who are humorous in nature because it's so easy to fall into periods of solemn discontent when you're out here in the wasteland.
indentconstance could not help but eye mikey's bowl of soup as the duo approached the table. as suspected, he had no idea that danny had played him. it was impossible to keep a smile from creeping on her lips when she realized that the two men were not on the same page about their outside endeavors. danny had claimed earlier that their intimidating presences had effectively kept any animals from breaching the church's courtyard; mikey nearly claimed different until he caught danny's scalding look. of course. the two men proceeded to sit down at the table as edwin questioned mikey's shower. it was impossible for constance to stop the laugh that escaped her at mikey's agitated grumble. she met edwin's amused glance. "oh, yeah? i bet you two really showed the monster out there that you aren't to be trifled with. say, you mentioned you saw a creature out there, right? did you find it hiding out in the horse manure?" she reached over to teasingly pinch mikey's arm, earning another irritated grumble in response. constance liked teasing the members of their crew just as much as the next fellow. given mikey's history of ridiculous antics, it was impossible for the man to go a few days without being affectionately teased by a bandmate.
indentthey pulled their hand back as edwin and mikey continued to speak. they met edwin's gaze when he circled back to their earlier conversation. constance sighed. "i don't want us to cause more suffering for wastelanders, either. but, i mean, we're already kind of seeing that sort of behavior already, right? the conclave has been arresting people suspected of being involved with the rebellion for years now. i guess it's just not been very, well, i'm not sure the right word for it. rampant, i guess? usually, those who are suspected of aiding the resistance are arrested because there's some evidence to back up that accusation. but massacres and nationwide raids? we haven't seen anything like that yet. and you know what? now that i think about it, that type of behavior and cruelty is already beginning to form across the five states. that general outside arcadia today? babette said he executed an entire group of villagers because they were suspected of aiding rebels back in new california. they were accused; there was no solid evidence and they were still murdered. declan's tactics, the assault on fort snow, our increasingly brutal methods; they're already beginning to impact the general population as we speak. it's only a matter of time before the conclave begins to throw away rationality completely and indict people on mere whims. i'm not saying they're brimming with virtue to begin with but you know what i mean. the consequences of the rebellion's actions in recent years have already begun to take a toll on the wasteland." it was difficult to talk about. they want to help people but it seems like the organization is only beginning to hurt people. these aggressive plans, these brutal tactics; they don't just kill rebels. innocent people die in the crossfire. it was just like edwin said. when two massive organizations lock jaws on each other's throats, it often stirs carnage on the side. constance did not want their actions to harm and kill innocent people. that was not their way; that was not why they joined the rebellion in the first place.
indentdanny remained quiet during their conversation. he appeared to be eagerly wolfing down his bowl of soup. the old man spluttered when edwin questioned his dubious actions concerning mikey and the old soup. mikey's eyes widened, having been about to take a sip of his dinner. "he- what? what old soup?" he eyed the rest of their bowls, seemingly realizing his own broth was indeed different. "hey, wait a mi-"
indentdanny puffed out his chest. "wh- why, by the gods! i can't believe what i'm hearing! the-these gross accusations! these atrocious allegations! what absolute lunacy! why, back in the old days, you'd get your tongue chopped off for defamation! i mean, jesus christ! you are a sad, sad man, edwin albrecht. a very sad man indeed. i joined the rebellion to fight for the freedom of speech, the freedom of the individual! liberty, justice, self rule, civil liberties! and here i am, being accused of absolutely heinous acts! you know what this is? do you know what this is? this is conclave behavior! these accusations, this verbal murder! you know what, mister vuledo? now that i think about it, how do we not know you're a conclave spy? i have a lot of people out to get me. how do we not know you've been sent by the federal government to keeps tabs on me all these years? i'm a dangerous man. i'm on every bounty hunters' tabs. you three wouldn't understand. it takes a real fighter to be that notorious. constance," he turned to look at the demiwoman next to him, who was watching him rant with a wide smile. "constance! i mean, come on, look at the man. the way his suits never wrinkle? do you know who's suits never wrinkle? the elites of conclave society! you know, i don't even think his real name is edwi-"
indentit was impossible for constance to hold back her laughter. "oh, lay off of it, danny. just admit you tricked mikey."
indentthe other man scowled from his seat across the table. "say, my soup is different than the rest of ya'lls. hey, what gives, danny? you tryna poison me or somethin'? a man gets his pride wounded by fallin' into some horse manure and you think it's funny to give him some rotten soup or somethin'?"
indentdanny stood up from the table right as the other man did. he fixed the collar of his shirt indignantly. "i demand my respect! i demand it! you know, you youngsters have no politeness towards the elderly nowadays. it's always 'stop doing this danny' or 'stop talking so much danny' or 'watch out for that obvious bottlecap mine in the middle of the road danny'. but you know what i am? i'm a survivor! mikey! mikey, come on. why would i knowingly betray your trust like that? and-and think of the benefits of eating old soup!" when mikey moved an inch or two, danny would move the opposite way. the two older men were obviously sizing each other up. well, it looked more like mikey was debating if he should swing at danny or not. it appeared like danny was pondering if he could outrun him. "do you know the benefits? well, i do! it builds up your immune system, makes you much more tolerable to the rest of the muck served out there. and-and ghouls won't want to devour you because who wants to eat a corpse with a stomach full of expired onions?" it was obvious mikey wasn't buying his good guy persona. he approached the situation differently. "actually, you know what? i'm helping you so i demand appreciation! it ain't everyday i extend a helping hand! i'm a tough guy, you see. just like i said earlier, i'm a notorious man. i'm wanted across all five states! those commandos and all those sniper squadrons the conclave rolls out? well, let's just say i'm considered a priority target in their eyes. you don't wanna mess with me. i'm a pariah, an infamous brigand! i'm a menace! i'm an animal! and-and those taskforces that general mentioned? why, i'm one of their biggest targets! yeah, i am! you know, back in the old days, i used to be a warrior on the battlefield. those conclave officers would scram when they saw me! send one of those big six foot somethin' officers my way and i'd crush them! it's all about agility when you face a larger opponent, you see. you gotta be quick on your feet-"
indentwhen mikey began to stalk around the table, danny danced away from him. he ended up bumping into another table located quite close to the kitchen's serving area. an old phonograph was sitting on it. it was playing a faint tune, hence why it's gone unnoticed until now. danny peered at the device for a few seconds before he reached over to change the cartridge to a higher output level. who's sorry now by connie francis was playing. danny straightened up his posture before slinking away from mikey, who was now eyeing him suspiciously. the old man approached constance and edwin again. the demiwoman could not help but eye him skeptically. how was danny so predictable yet so unpredictable at the same time? they did not understand it. "ah, connie francis! a classic lady! you two know her music, right?" he was attempting to change topics so he could crawl out unscathed from mikey's wrath. "you know, i believe i'm distantly related to her on my mother's side. i didn't get these good looks from just anywhere."
indent"how many mothers and fathers do you have? if my memory serves me right, you already claimed today that you're related to jockeys and gunslingers." constance swung her legs over the table's seat so she was facing danny and mikey, her back now towards edwin. she glanced down to look at her legs. it appeared like the imagery devices connected to her prosthetics were reaching their recharge levels. figures. it was strange how constance was hardly bothered by the loss of her legs these days. she has become so nonchalant about her prosthetics that she often forgot she had them in the first place. that's conclave technology for you. robotics and prosthetics have come a long way since the vaults opened. limb disfigurement and loss appear to be quite common in conclave society due to the overwhelming threats present in the wasteland. soldiers have their limbs torn off by predators, legs blown off by grenades and explosives, arms chopped off because of infections that have begun to spread throughout their veins. a number of men and women in the rebellion have even lost their arms and legs because of plasma swords. prosthetics are always in high demand, hence the incredible advancements and additions created by conclave prosthetists in the past few decades. neuromusculoskeletal prostheses are almost exclusively utilized by the conclave for its members who lost a limb or two. these prostheses are artificial limb replacements that extract control signals from electrodes implanted on viable muscle tissue; it stimulates severed afferent nerve fibers to provide somatosensory feedback. when attached to the bone and controlled by electrodes implanted in nerves and muscles, these artificial limbs operate smoothly and conventionally. the direct connection is mind-controlled and self-contained. it was pre-war technology that has been greatly amplified and built upon like with the addition of touch sensation. essentially, these artificial limbs acted just the same as organic limbs apart from the fact they're made of metal and wire. the surgery to install these limbs onto a person can be quite lengthy. once the initial stump and electrodes are activated, it's impossible to remove the artificial limb but as far as constance knew, that was not a problem for most people considering the other options are much less flexible. artificial limbs have been increasingly expanded upon to make them more durable to damage, as well. what may wound or decapitate an organic arm may do little to no damage on an artificial arm. conclave scientists have also begun to delve into the realm of making artificial limbs look a bit more, well, organic. obviously, that's easier said than done and extra steps must be taken if ones to try and make their prosthetic look real but that's what constance does. the process was actually quite easy. you first have to pull a covering of artificial skin over your prosthetics that matches the rest of your skin tone. you must then use an imagery device and hook it to your prosthetic so it essentially creates an illusion that makes the skin covering look far more realistic than it already does. constance was unsure how the device worked in precise mechanisms. she knew it involved perspective distortion but she was sure there were other things involved to help create the illusion. nevertheless, the imagery devices are a necessity for constance. if she strolled into a base without covering her legs, she'd draw unwanted attention because prosthetics like this were only available to members of the conclave. of course, the rebellion has managed to get their hands on them by ambushing cargo transports which is the only reason constance got them in the first place. that, and former doctors and technicians of the conclave have joined the rebellion in recent years to help perform these surgeries on hurt rebels. constance has long since come to terms with the loss of her legs. everything from the knee up was still flesh and bone but considering the artificial limbs worked just as well as organic ones, it did not hinder her ability to walk, jump, run and whatever have you. she was still able to wear heels like any other person due to the fact the prosthetic's feet were modeled to appear exactly like a woman's foot and not some sort of pre-war foot model. it had taken her only a few weeks to heal from the surgery but much longer to get used to the prosthetics themselves. she had gotten the surgery a few years ago, actually so she was sure that the conclave has created even more advancements to artificial limbs since then. with the amount of men and women who lose their limbs out in the wasteland - as well as the fact that the conclave revolves around militarism - prosthetics are quite a common sight over there.
indentdanny scowled at constance's quip. "well, you know, the appleton men, a lot of them weren't very faithful to their wives and- agh, you get the picture!" he looked to mikey warily before back at constance. he was obviously trying to avoid getting close to the man in fear of being pummeled as revenge for earlier. the old man was quiet for a few moments before he suddenly blundered again. "you know what? you know what?" he demanded, waiting for constance and edwin to look at him questioningly before he spoke from his dramatic pause. "it's been a long day and you know what usually makes me feel better after i receive bad news? dancing! come on, constance, get up and dance with me! come on, this is one of connie francis's best songs! you had your way, now you mu-"
indentit was the entertainer's turn to scowl as danny grabbed their hand and tried to pull them up from the table. "eh, i don't know. i'm not really in the mood right now-"
indent"look, i know things today didn't turn out like we thought they would but it's gonna do none of us any good to sit around and mope about it. our colleagues wouldn't want that. even though they died in a mission doomed from the start, they were trying to fight for our cause and they wouldn't want people sitting around and brooding. they would want to be remembered for the good they were trying to do. i mean, come on! we're rebels! we're freedom fighters! we're idealists! vive la révolution! we spread good will and a reason to live life to the fullest. that's what our colleagues would want us to do. and, either way, there's always time to set aside to grieve for our losses without losing ourselves in the process." his words caught constance off guard. he sounded rather considerate right now but constance supposed she had no reason to be surprised. danny had his moments where he dropped his moronic façade to express solemn thoughts, and constance knew that he had a good heart beneath all those layers of goofiness. he was just trying to help lighten their spirits. he was right, too. there would be time later to properly grieve without accidentally becoming submerged in it. they lose so many rebels nowadays that you either become swamped by your own anxieties and sorrow or become completely numb to it in general. they have to take their own feelings into consideration so they don't fall victim to either one of those scenarios. it appeared like constance and edwin have slowly grown to resort to the ladder, anyway. it was hard not to.
indentconstance wavered. "alright, alright but i'm not going to be dancing for an hour or something, okay?" the entertainer stood up from the table.
indentdanny pulled the demiwoman closer to the table with the phonogram so they had a considerable amount of space to dance in. the sound of the music played from the instrument like a low hum. mikey scowled at the two of them. with danny having snatched up constance, there was no way for him to grapple with the other man. "hey, we still ain't done about the so- oh, forget it! edwin! get your ass up!" he stalked over to the younger man, urging him from his seat. "it's time we show these two fools how real entertainers dance, how the classics did it. say, erm, you got good balance and all that, right? i'm still kinda hammered and i dunno if i can move my feet that well right now."
indentover near the table, constance eyed danny skeptically. "so, wait, how are we supposed to do this? you're shorter than me so do i just twirl you around instead?"
indent"what? no, no, no! come on, get with the program, constance! the man always holds his partner's hips while his partner drapes their hands over his shoulders. it's dancing one hundred and one! i mean, i guess i gotta be more gentle with you youngins. i have the blood of a talented singer in me, after all. it comes natural to one like myself."
indent"mhm, yeah sure but can you even reach my shoulders?"
indentdanny spluttered again. "jesus christ! yes, i can. see? you're not that taller than me. first i'm accused of poisoning and now this. by the gods, a man can't walk around an outpost without being insulted somehow, can he? "
indent"no, he can't," constance laughed. the pair did not move very fast as was custom with slow dances. connie francis's voice continued to sound in the background. she spared a glance over to edwin and mikey. the ladder appeared to be tripping over his own feet every three seconds. typical mikey. poor edwin. with mikey being more of a retired conman than any sort of dancer or entertainer, it was only expected to see him failing to maintain even a proper rhythm on the dance floor. constance could not resist swaying herself and danny closer to the other pairing before she let go of danny. she bumped into mikey, sending him stumbling backwards into a protesting danny. "i'm coming in!" it did not take much effort on her part to do so considering mikey was growing hungover from his drinking earlier. she was not very worried about mikey trying to strangle danny, either. the two of them have their moments of bickering but ill feelings never last long between them. they play pranks on each other all the time so constance was confident that within a few minutes from now, they'll be best pals again. for now, she decided to ignore their squabbling.
indentwith their hands now placed on edwin's shoulders, constance smiled up at the man. they weren't too far off in height although he was certainly taller than them. "well, you're welcome because i just saved you from having to drag mikey around for god knows how long. we both know that poor sucker can't dance. anyway, he and danny just need to bicker for a few minutes before they become best pals again. you know how it is with them." apart from the low hum of the phonogram and mikey and danny's scrape, the outpost was slowly declining in activity levels. lanterns across the basement were being dimmed as people headed to off to bed or sat together in small groups to talk quietly amongst themselves. the training and supply restock areas were empty. usually, such areas would be brimming with rebels seeking to make their departures in the morning but constance was unsure of what the next few weeks will look like for rebels out here in the dixon wasteland. the conclave's response to the break-in was telling enough. they had lost something important, something they were desperately scrambling to find. it's not often they act this way. obviously, the government does not take fort break-ins lightly to begin with but managing to put miles upon miles of communities, settlements and a wastelander city on lockdown while patrols are sent out to scout the roads in less than a few hours? it screamed desperation. constance would not be surprised if the conclave increased the number of checkpoints, city lockdowns and patrols all across the dixon wasteland in the coming days. the dixon wasteland is the largest of the five regions in the country so such a feat would be difficult for even the conclave to accomplish but given their determination already, it wouldn't come across as a shock. it was a bitter feeling. whatever their colleagues stole from fort themus was something of great value to the conclave, and to think they could of had something of that weight in their grasp... ugh. the important thing about it all though was the fact that their colleagues had tried their best. that's all that mattered. they had risked their lives for that file and while it felt like a hollow failure, they had done something very brave by breaching that fort. not everybody would put their lives on the line like that.
indentconstance leaned her head lightly against edwin's clavicle bone. her makeup was beginning to break down from the long events of today. her eyeshadow has since lost its bright pigment, her lip-gloss smudged off completely. to be honest, constance was rather tired. it's been quite the day. a pensive look came about her features before she spoke again. "so, say that the conclave does decide to limit who has access to their military forts and bases. we already discussed what that could mean for the rebellion as a whole but for us? what do you think we'd end up doing? i mean, i've already tried things like break-ins when i first joined up years ago and i don't think it's really my thing. i can only imagine that break-ins will grow more violent and less sneaky if the tides of change begin to start moving, too. hmm... there's also smuggling and companying missions. we've smuggled rebels through risky areas before and we've been tasked with accompanying dregs to certain checkpoints, as well. i don't think it would be that hard but you've heard about that one organization everyone's been talking about in recent months, right? the odawa syndicate? well, of course you have but even doing missions like helping dregs might get dangerous. you've heard some of the stuff that syndicate does out in the desert. they kidnap and destroy androids and any other prominent conclave technology they get their hands on. androids are a tricky subject in and of itself but those dregs are different than the newer ones the conclave are producing. i feel bad for them, you know? imagine waking up one day and your conscious and memories are stored in some robotic body but you can still remember your past life as an actual human being. it's kind of creepy when you think about it. anyway, i'm just trying to think of some outlets we would have to pursue if forts went under permanent lockdown. i guess our talents of singing and dancing and instrument playing don't really come in handy in any other field unless we want to be like those bands during the revolutionary war that played music while their soldiers got shot because that's how it's beginning to look with declan trying to spearhead us into open battles and raids and whatnot. talk about a crappy resume, huh? maybe we should just sell mikey and danny to some bandit slavers to get enough caps to hold us over while we're unemployed." she joked. for the most part, the rebellion's true enemies reside with the conclave. they don't really bother themselves with other factions seeking to overthrow the federal government or plague misery upon the wasteland. unfortunately, though, the rebellion's mission to help dregs makes them a target of the odawa syndicate. one of the revolution's biggest goals is to ultimately expose and ruin the conclave but they also focus on other human rights and violated liberties across the wasteland. one of those happens to involve the treatment of ghouls and dregs aka the 'undesirables' of wasteland society. the conclave and wastelanders alike treat ghouls and dregs poorly. ghouls that have not gone feral are treated like animals because of their appearances and savage kin while dregs are hated by the average citizen due to their robotic roots. the conclave wanted to destroy all dregs in general since they have advanced in their prototypes and no longer need them around. the odawa syndicate has grown increasingly menacing in the past few months to anyone they suspect may be helping, harboring or creating what they deem as 'god defying' creations. thus, the rebellion's attempts to help dregs have grown difficult. the resistance usually helped relocate dregs from hostile locations and aided them in finding more friendly areas to live in if they did not wish to join the rebellion directly. sometimes they would erase the dreg's memories of the conclave to help them start afresh if the dreg wished for that. with the syndicate ambushing and setting traps all across the desert, though, it's become hard to do these tasks safely. the odawa syndicate usually killed the humans in said parties and captured the androids to whisk them off to some undisclosed locations. constance knew that they also did the same for the conclave, too and targeted soldiers and officers accompanying android squadrons across the desert. it was irritating, to say the least. it was almost like a new faction or organization was popping up every other month to challenge someone or another. hell, maybe that was a good thing. the conclave has to deal with so many enemies factions such as wulfgang and the odawa syndicate that it helps lessen their focus on the rebellion. she had a feeling that the failed break-in at fort themus might change that, though.

[vaermina]

ＶＡＬＥＮＴＩＮＡ ＫＡＬＡＪＩＡＮxxx
I.xcis femalex II.xno affiliationsx III. a wastelander


indentthere are two versions of the wasteland. there's the countryside at daytime and the countryside at nighttime.
indentnighttime was by far the most baleful of the two. nocturnal predators come crawling out of their dens as soon as the sun sets in the horizon. it was impossible to see beyond the perimeters of your lantern, too. the waste offered hardly any tangible cover so it's easy to get lost if you don't keep a keen eye on your compass. they were surrounded by nothing but miles upon miles of dead earth and pearly plains. they live in an area where there is little woodland and few lakes. the trees in the area that survived the past three hundred years of nuclear fallout were cut down for lumber a long time ago. centuries of harsh weather and devastating storms have torn up the surrounding landscape and shaved down what were once sloping hills. in many ways, the dixon wasteland has become similar to the desert out west. it was an arid region with desiccated land. farmers out here can only grow dryland crops such as grapes, tomatoes, beans, corn and pumpkins. crops that require frequent rainfall never survive to harvest season. valentina was unsure of the exact name of this former area during pre-war times, too. there were dozens of green signs along the old highway that could give them some clues but most of the signs' lettering were faded completely. they weren't close to any of those large pre-war cities, that's for sure. most of the surrounding area is composed of wastelander settlements, small towns, abandoned boroughs and unique sites like the forsaken orange juice factory. their old settlement was located only a mile or so off of a large turnpike that appeared to stretch on for miles. if valentina had to guess, she'd say that the quickest way to find one of those ruined pre-war cities would be to follow that road. highways like the one they had traveled on earlier were usually patrolled by conclave soldiers to keep bandits and animals from setting up camp since both conclave and wastelanders alike utilized large roadways to travel on. the further you stray from roadways and cities like arcadia, the potential for trouble increases. valentina and julian are quite knowledgeable when it comes to the creatures that stalk the wasteland but they've never exactly gone hunting or traversing at night unless absolutely necessary. it's easy to find yourself walking into an ambush after dusk because you can hardly see what's beyond your lantern. she supposed that for conclave personnel, such dangers are hardly a problem when they're inside their protective vehicles. they don't have to worry about their mounts being killed. damn those conclave dogs. valentina and julian were doing pretty well for themselves right now but she was wary that their luck will dry out sooner than later. she did not much like the idea of task forces being sent after them. what even constitutes a task force, anyway? valentina assumed that those involved in said groups are much more capable than the average soldier but how much more adept are they talking about here? she despised being in the unknown, especially when it involves the potential of a huge threat. she supposed they kind of signed up for that when they decided to take the coroner's report.
indentthe woman looked over her shoulder when julian spoke. he attempted to weasel in a joke but quickly grew serious before valentina could scowl at him. he opted to go out hunting rather than set a trap. she pursued her lips in thought before looking ahead again. she supposed he was right. they might be up for hours waiting for something to stumble into one of their hunting snares but there was also the threat of being attacked by something while hunting. neither option sounded very appealing to her but there are certain risks you just have to take. "yeah, going out to hunt might be the better option. we're just gonna have to take the lantern with us. it might make it harder to track something since animals might see the light before we see them but we gotta be careful out here and watch our surroundings to make sure we're not treading into some predator's marked territory. i guess we gotta bring a lantern regardless 'cause it's not like we can see anything out here in the dark." she furrowed her brows. "we might have to drop the guns tonight and utilize the bow for hunting. i don't want us shooting off some rounds and alerting someone or something nearby of our presence considering it's pretty quiet out here. better to be safe than sorry, right? and let's just hope we can catch something other than an insect, too. i hate trying to cook those things." valentina despised the mutated bugs that can be found roaming the wasteland. she could tolerate the small, ordinary ones but the mutated bastards? the ones that can grow to be as large as dogs? it made her shiver in disgust. stalkers and giant mantises are more pesky than dangerous but they can certainly cause some damage if you don't eliminate them as quickly as possible. the more dangerous animals that can be found out in the wasteland are usually predators who mark certain areas as their territory. it's possible to avoid running into them if you can spot the signs of their territorial markings beforehand. shriekers, sharpclaws, griffins, nightstalkers, wendigos, giant insects, feral ghouls, mongrels, trolls, lycans; the list of potential threats out here are endless. some creatures are native to certain regions and cannot be found elsewhere while some animals can be found more in abundance in one state than another. valentina knew that the elusive snow owl tends to stick to colder regions, as well as the winged ophidians in the desert. her father once told her that there had been a time where direwolves were almost exclusively native to the badlands but their domestication under the hands of bandits have caused the species to spread across the united states. they're utilized as beasts of war and can hold the weight of an armored man just as well as a horse. luckily for the two cousins, they've hardly had to deal with bandits while living in laurel oaks. the settlement's close proximity to a city as large as arcadia has guaranteed them protection from such criminals. bandits do not usually attack residencies or towns located near large cities because cities like arcadia are swarming with conclave soldiers. not to mention, there was a military fort a few miles from laurel oaks that could deploy reinforcements if they caught wind of trouble nearby. valentina despised the conclave as much as the next wastelander but she could admit that their presence does guarantee a certain amount of security from bandits.
indent"nah, i doubt we're going to find a doe or anything like that. we might only be able to catch something rather small at this hour. there's gotta be some badgers, foxes and opossums out here. i know there's definitely gonna be some rodents scampering about but they might be hard to shoot in the dark." rodents and other small creatures would not really fill them up, too. "i doubt we'll find anything super substantial. hmm... if we're lucky, we might stumble across a wild boar. we haven't had pork in a while." wild boat meat is leaner than ordinary pork. it often has an intense and sweet flavor due to the creatures' diet so it's no wonder that their meat is sought after in the butcher markets. wild boars themselves can be quite dangerous as they're not exactly friendly towards humans. honestly, valentina just wanted something tangible to eat. larger kills are difficult to hunt, though so she knew she and julian cannot be picky right now. they had to be careful to not accidentally wander too far from wherever they decide to set up camp, as well. if they have to feast on something small tonight than she supposed there was nothing they could do about it.
indentdry brush and dead underwood continued to crunch underneath mars' hooves. the rocky terrain caused the contents of their saddlebags to clang together. valentina stiffened whenever she heard the distant call of an animal. it felt like a million eyes were burning into them as they continued to travel deeper into the wasteland. sometimes, they'd pass by the remnants of rotten homesteads and abandoned farmland. there were no major roads out here apart from the occasional dirt path which made valentina conclude that this was indeed some pre-war rural country. they'd sometimes pass what looked like the gloomy outlines of rusty farm machinery. most of the equipment were overrun by sparse thicket and weeds. a few looked like they had been stripped of parts. wandering parties have most likely passed through this area before. it's not uncommon to find pre-war machinery and equipment devoid of parts. machine modules can fetch you a pretty penny on the market. why is that? valentina had no idea. it's not like wastelanders have much access to electricity and gadgets to begin with. her eyes scanned their surroundings dubiously before her cousin spoke again. "yeah, we should probably try and find some cover if we can. i'm not sure if there's anything out here to begin with that we can even use as cover but it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye out," she agreed. the two cousins saw eye to eye on most things to begin with. they had little conflicting opinions when it came to survival but it hasn't always been that way. generally, valentina is a pretty hardheaded and controlling person. she liked to do things her way and it could make her something of a control freak when it came to planning. she can be bossy and temperamental when she felt a situation was spiraling out of control. valentina had a difficult time being a team player when they were younger. for as long as she could remember, she's always liked being a leader and not a follower. if she disagreed with someone's plans, she refused to follow them and that was that. naturally, that type of behavior led to quite a few scuffles between her and julian when they were younger. she had never been afraid to pop him, too which led to their parents' having to make her sit down and apologize to him on numerous occasions whenever they felt she had been too aggressive towards him. valentina has since matured from that behavior. sure, she could still be quite bossy and hotheaded but the almost childish refusal to listen to anybody else's opinions was no longer present. when their parents' died and the two of them were left on their own, valentina was forced to reevaluate herself. she knew that she had to open her mind. the two cousins had to rely on each other in a way they never had to before when their parents' passed. there was nobody there to look after them, nobody there to feed them. there was nobody there to help them survive. they only had each other to depend on but in this day and age, family is all you really need. you can't go around trusting strangers because you can never tell what people's true intentions are. valentina was not out here eyeballing every person suspiciously, no but she wouldn't say she thought everyone around her had good intentions. what if the conclave discovers their identities? there's no telling how that's going to affect their journey. there'd be an award for their capture, that's for sure. the government would not hesitate to utilize every resource and outlet available to them, and there's plenty of questionable characters out there who would turn people in in exchange for a handsome reward. they have to be cautious. a friendly face may not be so friendly if they're trying to trick the two cousins for some hefty caps. not all wastelanders are seeking to help other people. she knew that things happen to be quite tense amongst the general citizenry out west due to a lack of work and stable sheltering for most people. she could imagine that such conditions might make it more tempting for people to jump at opportunities for caps. yeah, we definitely need to be careful.
indentmars slowed down with a wary snort as they neared a small crevice. small rocks shifted underneath the stallion's hooves as he properly navigated his way through. valentina checked her compass to make sure they were still heading west. she could feel her cousin's eyes burning into the back of her head before he spoke up again. the mention of stumbling across a shrine for eostre elicited a small snort from the woman. those damn shrines... she swore they were everywhere across the wasteland. it's common for them to be covered in small offerings and gifts left by hunters, as many people believe that the goddess of the hunt will bless you if you show your appreciation to her. valentina's father had liked to visit one of her shrines located just a mile off from laurel oaks. the woman did not see the point in it herself but she supposed that it's different for the religious. she did not get a chance to respond to her cousin about the map and the freedmen before he cut himself off out of nowhere. the abrupt pause instantly made her wary. before she could growl at him that he best not be playing any games by pretending to see something out there, he hit her on the back of the shoulder. "hey, what gi-" the mention of a boulder instantly silenced her protest. "a boulder? what?"
indentjulian was right.
indenttheir horse slowed as the duo approached the large slab of stone. the yellow glow from their lantern submerged the side of the massive rock in gold before she urged mars to a stop. nestled directly in front of what looked like the skeleton of former iron fencing, it took her a moment to realize they were standing on the outskirts of a construction site. she could see the toppled remains of machinery and old buildings a few acres beyond the fencing. well, that explains the appearance of a random boulder. "huh. this is that old pre-war construction site we've heard about: boyer site work and development." she's heard of the abandoned construction site in this area before but they've never really had a reason to go near it since it was quite a ways off from laurel oaks and arcadia. the concept of exploring pre-war ruins sounds fun until you run into a pack of feral ghouls or some wild animal. she was sure that as long as they stayed outside of its boundaries, though, they'll be fine.
indentvalentina eyed their surroundings dubiously before she dismounted the stallion. she grabbed a hold of his reins to lead him closer to the boulder. it had to be over ten inches in diameter. its height? valentina was not so sure but it definitely towered over the two cousins. it would not protect them from rain or anything like that but it'll help keep their fire from going out because of a harsh breeze. it might help limit the scope of their fire's light, too but the woman did not think it would help hide the sight of its smoke. it can be difficult detecting smoke at night, though. either way, it was better than nothing. it was unrealistic for them to try and travel all night. they need sleep and they were a good few miles from laurel oaks and arcadia now. honestly, valentina wanted to try and put even more distance between them and that general area but she knew she was just on edge. she just hated the thought of being ambushed in her sleep.
indent"let's look at the map before we do anything else. i'm curious to know where we're at now that i know the construction site is right next to us. i think it's even marked on our map." the woman began to dig into the contents of their saddlebags to find the map as she waited for her cousin to dismount their horse. mars' ears were swiveled forward in slight prudence. valentina caught a glimpse of gideon and morris as she dug through their belongings. the two sand-cats did not look happy right about now. can you blame them? they've been stuck in the saddlebags for the majority of the afternoon. she did not trust gideon to behave himself, though. the sand-cat is notorious for his flighty and cantankerous nature. he'll bolt as soon as he realizes there's an opportunity to do so, and valentina was not about to be chasing him across the shadowy wasteland. she had to dig through a plethora of items before she finally managed to locate their map. it was quite the old document, torn and faded from years of exposure. they had purchased it from a mapmaker in arcadia a long time ago so it was pretty outdated apart from a few staple communities and sites like the construction area. she carefully unfolded it and held it out in front of her so julian could also take a peek at it. the glow from their lantern helped illuminate its surface.
indentthe map detailed every prominent settlement, town, abandoned site and unique landmark in the southwestern dixon wasteland. its detailing was rather limited since it was handmade but it displayed all the important information. it did not show the entire region or country so they'll have to buy a new map as soon as they leave this portion of the state. still, it'll help them at-least navigate their way out of this general area. valentina's eyes began to search for boyer site work and development. "well, there's laurel oaks," she pointed out the dot on the map that was circled in red. "and we've been traveling northwest so..." her gaze began to shift in that direction. "ah! right there," she pointed to a dot on the map that marked the construction site before she allowed her attention to wander to neighboring markers. valentina wanted to get a good scope of their surroundings. there were some towns and settlements she recognized and there were some she did not. a few villages on the map had been crossed out, indicating they were now either abandoned or held by bandits. south of the construction site sat an abandoned military camp that had been erected years ago by the forces of those stationed at the fort close to laurel oaks. it had once been a booming bivouac until it was overrun by sharpclaws. god, she remembered that story like it were yesterday. she and julian had been in arcadia with their parents' when she caught wind of the town crier hollering about it. apparently, a group of soldiers had stolen a few eggs from a sharpclaw nest that had been settled near the encampment. why they thought that was a good idea, she had no idea. they were probably looking to sell them since sharpclaw eggs sell for a pretty penny on the market. nevertheless, the military camp was attacked in the middle of the night by two very angry sharpclaws only a few hours later. the ambush gave nobody time to prepare. witnesses later claimed that the two sharpclaws were probably the largest of their kind spotted in the region in over forty years. they had tore through tents and knocked over vehicles in their rage. many soldiers and conclave personnel were killed and those who fled into the wasteland were tracked down and mauled to death by one of the beasts. as far as valentina knew, no steps were taken by the conclave to eliminate the beasts despite the massive casualties they caused so it was easy for the sharpclaws to completely take over the military camp and raise their hatchlings inside its walls. nowadays, a whole clan of the predators live inside. everyone in the area is careful to avoid the notorious encampment. of course, you still hear about an occasional scavenger trying to sneak inside to take what they can of the conclave's destroyed property or a haughty poacher claiming they're going to slaughter all the beasts but it never ends well for them. her eyes moved away from the bivouac. she gazed over some more towns and settlements before her attention landed on the large rock quarry west of arcadia, marion lime and stone company. ah, definitely gotta avoid that area. similar to the military camp, the quarry's open-pit mine is home to a fierce predator known as a nightstalker. they're far more large and dangerous than the average sharpclaw, though. the one that has taken up residency in the quarry has been in the area before valentina and julian were even born. it was quite an old beast, one that the locals have feared for decades. rumor has it that it was responsible for the destruction of the airship that bore the city of arcadia. others say that those who survived the initial wreck were picked off one by one by the predator. nightstalkers are unlike most creatures of the wasteland as in they're large enough that ordinary extermination parties cannot kill them. dozens upon dozens of bullets will mow down a sharpclaw or shrieker but nightstalkers can grow as large as the house she and julian had lived in. bullets do little but make them enraged. as far as she knew, they can also fly but don't prefer to do so because of their poor eyesight. her father told her and julian once that the beasts have such acute hearing they can detect even the slightest patter of their prey's heartbeat, which is why the conclave finds it so difficult to eliminate them because they can hear the sound of their machinery from miles away. they've been known to crush vehicles underneath their weight and ambush conclave patrols by bursting forth from tunnels they've made underground. jesus christ, she couldn't even imagine that. one moment you're driving or walking through the wasteland and the next, a massive animal suddenly bursts from the ground. she supposed nightstalkers are just scary to begin with because they prefer to be underground, and it's impossible to detect them in time. that, and there's not a lot of predators out here that can grow as large as them. okay, marking that down as another area to avoid.
indentthe wasteland is home to thousands of vicious species' who would not hesitate to tear a human apart. valentina knew that the presence of predators like the sharpclaws in the abandoned camp and the nightstalker in the quarry both helped and hindered people like her and her cousin, though. the conclave has made it clear they want to begin settling more land for their forts, bases and towns but the wasteland is difficult to tame. hell, she heard that man story's earlier while hiding in the caravan. the federal government is beginning to push farmers and ranchers out of their land by buying them out; if they don't accept their low-ball offers, they find ways to chase them off regardless. mutated predators like sharpclaws and nightstalkers made their lives hell, though because you can't just chase them off. most soldiers are not prepared to find themselves facing a massive creature barreling down upon them with exposed teeth and outreached claws. the animals of the wasteland have been around far longer than the conclave but federal encroachment on their territory has caused them to begin wandering into predominantly human-infested land. farmers have begun to struggle keeping animals from attacking their livestock or feeding on their crops and settlements have begun to grow more wary than ever of animals trying to attack their homes. the conclave's mission to settle more territory has pushed animals out of their natural habitats. valentina's father once told her that predators like sharpclaws used to be a rare sight in the wasteland since they preferred the solitude of the barren countryside. now? they're becoming an increasingly popular sight as they're forced to settle near civilization. maybe if we're lucky, the conclave dogs that'll be on our tails soon will get eaten alive by one. wasteland predators are such menaces but she did not mind them if they're going to attack conclave-affiliated bastards. be her guest.
indentvalentina pointed to a few dots on the northwestern section of the map. there were no towns or settlements directly west of the construction site. they were trying to avoid that rocky quarry, thank you very much. "so, we're going to be heading up here. there's a few towns and settlements in that area: captiva, saint george, bristol, blountstown and miramar. i'm positive that that group of freedmen those wastelanders were talking about have to be holed up in one of those towns. i think miramar and bristol are settlements so our best bet would be looking into captiva, saint george and blountstown. word of freedmen being in the area tends to travel fast so we could try and hit up the nearest saloon or something in one of those towns to get the exact location. a bartender would know since they're always catering to travelers." she held the map open for a few more seconds before she began to fold it again. "anyway, we can take another look later. as for hunting, i'm thinking we should take the lantern and go on foot. the sound of mars' in general and all the stuff we have packed on him will scare off potential prey. i can already tell we're not gonna catch anything large enough that would need to be transported on his back. i think we should try and set up camp beforehand, though. we need to take the lantern with us so we can see but we also need to try and make a fire so we can easily backtrack to the boulder just by looking around us. i don't think we're gonna venture very far but a fire will help keep creatures away from our animals and all our crap while we're hunting." she supposed that was the benefit of living in a region with little coverage and relatively flat land. it wouldn't be hard to keep tabs on their campsite if they make a fire; they could see the flames from a good distance off. well, that's not a relatively good thing considering they were going to be hunted down soon enough but there was nothing they could do about that. they needed a fire if they were going to cook whatever they managed to catch. valentina did not want to be spotted but she also did not really like the idea of eating raw meat either. "i'll get started on the fire. you can set up our bedrolls and get our pots and stuff. also? i think we have a little bit of beef jerky in that pouch right there. it's not enough to feed us but you can give some to gideon and morris before they try and claw our eyeballs out."
indentthis is not the first time valentina and julian have set up camp out in the wasteland. they've made campfires before. it's an easy enough process but sometimes it's just finding the right material that can be a pain in the ass. the woman was quick to retrieve their matches from one of mars' saddlebags before she unhooked the lantern from his saddle. she set it down next to the face of the boulder so the small area they stood in was lit up for their convenience before going to find some kindling for their fire. wood in general is difficult to find in certain areas of the dixon wasteland. they do not live by woodland so it can be difficult trying to find stable agents for a campfire. dry logs burn quickly but work great; green wood just ends up being a smoky hazard. luckily, there was plenty of kindling nearby. she gathered an armful of twigs and pampas grass before waddling back over to the lantern. pampas grass is highly flammable so they'll have to be careful to not accidentally burn down a portion of the damn country tonight. they don't have any logs, though so they have to improvise. she set her finds down carefully on the cool ground before she gathered up a small pile to start with. it was better to make it small and then add more seasoning to the fire that way so it was not immediately out of control. with her brows furrowed in concentration, she blocked any breeze from messing with her pile before opening up the box of matches. the woman used multiple matches pressed together to make a more powerful flame. once the match took, she met the orange flame to the kindling. it took a few minutes of building and tweaking with the materials for the flames to begin spreading. she carefully set a few rocks around the rim of the fire to help maintain the heat. due to their close proximity to the construction site, the ground underneath them was no longer hard soil but instead soft sand. it felt cool to the touch. she eyed the growing flames cautiously. she'd have to sit here for a few more minutes to make sure the flames weren't going to die out. she glanced over to her cousin. "you still alive over there? you better not get murdered by our sand-cats. i'm not about to get my ass kicked by a couple of conclave brutes by myself," she joked.