[Closed] Live free or die; and all I can ask is why

[bothbarrels]

Characters: North and York

Date: Now

Location: York's residence

Situation: North has just arrived and is feeling lost and lonely since he's arrived without his AI, and doesn't quite remember what happened in his final moments before he was transported to Tu Vishan.

Warnings/Rating: None

[He wasn't familiar with the city, but luckily once he'd found his way out of his sector, he found that York's apartment wasn't far. This was definitely a different sort of area than the area where he'd been placed. He had kept an eye out for shops, since it seemed weird to arrive as a guest empty-handed, but then realized he'd left his juulan at home. He really was still suffering from the effects of waking up in the sea.

He had to content himself, in the end, with the fact that he'd arrived in a fairly timely manner, and he knocked on the door of what he hoped was the correct place.]

Comments

[bothbarrels]

Well, you're acting downright competent, York. What changed?

[ Yup, even North is capable of teasing. Just loosen him up with a little beer and watch him go. ]

[agentdork]

Hey, I was always competent, but it's not my fault you didn't know it before.

[ York grins, letting Kara take his sandwich as he sips at her drink. ]

[bothbarrels]

Hey, I was busy.

bluhh sleep now

[agentdork]

Wrangling South and the others, yeah.

[ York rolls his good eye, amused. ]

Good to have you back, though.

[bothbarrels]

Back, yeah. [ His tone is both amused and resigned. He certainly never expected any reunion between them to be like this. ]

So what do you get up to around here? I've been told about how everyone is expected to work.

[agentdork]

[ To be fair, none of them likely had.

York gives him a rueful look and smile, and shrugging. ]

Yeah, there's a handful of jobs out there- it's good for money, obviously. I just stick with fixing things up and doing odd jobs, mechanic work, that kinda thing.

[bothbarrels]

You ever do any volunteering?

[agentdork]

Off and on. More stuff to get money, though- which, thankfully, most of 'em are pretty good about payin' you if you're doing something useful.

[bothbarrels]

[ He nods and picks his drink up again now that he's finished his sandwich. ]

I feel like I only need enough to get by. I want to stay busy, though.

[agentdork]

Yeah, I--

[ A-awkward, admitting things in front of Kara that he doesn't really talk about, sometimes. ]

It gets hard to concentrate sometimes, when it's really quiet, with D not there. Pickin' up a few hobbies helps.

[bothbarrels]

[ He's been bucking up, but he felt the melancholy he'd felt upon arriving here sink back deep into his limbs. ]

Mhm, same thing. But it's not just that I miss Theta. It's that...

[ But he doesn't really want to talk about Maine, what their fellow-agent had become, the way he'd found himself here. He sets his bottle back down, looking, most likely, much sadder than York would ever have seen him before. ]

[agentdork]

's what?

[ He's not sure he wants to know, but at the same time he does, because it's their team. It was the people they'd fought with for years. ]

[bothbarrels]

[ He thumbed at the rim of the bottle before sitting back again. ]

...Just, not knowing what happened. To Theta, and to Lexi. To South.

Maine was hunting us. For a long time. Theta was so frightened. You remember how he was.

[ He means to continue, but he just sort of runs out of words there. ]

[agentdork]

[ Ah, buddy. :(

York scoots next to him and curls an arm around his shoulders, if the other man lets him. ]

I know how Theta was. I'm-- Christ, man, I'm sorry. We should have stuck together after everything.

[bothbarrels]

[ He moves his arm behind York's back to grip his shoulder. He's not used to being the one who needs comfort and reassurance; that was always the role he took with others. He's rather overwhelmed at the moment and while he's not on the verge of tears or anything, it takes him some moments to respond. ]

We did what we could.

[ Finding each other would have meant becoming trackable by using their radios, and escaping the Project would have been much harder had they done that. He and South had maintained radio silence for a long time afterwards. He doesn't know how they could have possibly tracked York down, considering the way it ended. ]

[agentdork]

It was a shit situation no matter what we did.

[ York doesn't regret what they had to do, but you bet he sure as hell regrets how things turned out, how badly they went.

He curls his arm a little tighter around the other man, dragging him in for a quick hug, and then releases him, sighing. ]

[bothbarrels]

[ He returned the gesture. It was almost as though he hadn't fully internalized the fact that they were both fully flesh and blood and he was momentarily frustrated. This wasn't what was supposed to be. They had an easy life here, but in the real world everything they had known had fallen to shit.

Besides, his situation with Theta wasn't quite what York had been talking about with D, because by now York had had some time to get used to it. He frowned and picked his beer up to finish it, muttering. ]

I'm barely processing the fact that he's gone, it's only been a few hours.

[agentdork]

[ G-guh, he wilts at that, too, knowing there's only so much he can do. ]

Keep busy, and keep it from being too quiet. Those were the two biggest things that ended up hurting when D was gone. It-- god, it sounds awful, but it gets easier.

[bothbarrels]

That's what I'm intending to do.

[ It was why he was already sending out feelers about volunteering and things like that. He didn't intend to spend all his time at leisure. ]

I'm mostly--

[ Really, it sounds foolish to say he's terrified of what Sigma will do to Theta, but that's how Theta had felt about it, and that had bled over, as those emotions did.

He cut himself off and stood.]

Could I grab another beer?

[agentdork]

Mi casa es su casa and all that. S'all yours, Drew.

[ He glances at Kara in concern, because this isn't-- this isn't North. He knows why he is the way he is but it's disconcerting, seeing him this torn up about Theta and while he understands it, there's only so much he can do from here. ]

I'm sorry, man. I wish I could help.

[knowsmadness]

[ kara is silent as the grave over here. she's playing a game of chess with herself and kicking ass and taking names, but she catches York's look and tilts her head, lips pressing together.

she doesn't know the details of what they've been through, and she can't comment. so instead she gets up and waves at North. ]

I'll get it, I'll get it. Sit down, Sasquatch.

i'm cry

[bothbarrels]

[ He tried to smile at the nickname but there's only a faint impression of one on his face. He sits back down.

He normally would have thanked her or even teased her for her remark, but the troubled feeling was growing like an ice ball in his gut and he wrapped one hand around the clenched fist of the other and held them against his lips. He was slowly but steadily losing a battle with his own grief. ]

;n;

[agentdork]

Ah, man, c'mon, North.

[ It aches, seeing him like this-- he's one of the few people here that York knows has his back and there's nothing he can do to have it in return.

He shifts, placing his hand on North's shoulder, and just holds it there for the time being. ]

D:

[knowsmadness]

[ she reappears a few moments later with his beer and stands in front of him, one hand on her hip and the other pressing the drink into North's hand. ]

Here. Numbs the pain, at least for a little while.

[ or at least, it does for her. why else is she an alcoholic? ]

[bothbarrels]

[ Just what the doctor ordered. He accepts it and tries not to be overly eager as he takes a long draft. After he tips the bottle back down there's several moments' pause before he turns his head slightly, looking at York from the corners of his eyes. ]

I'm sorry, man; I know I'm not myself.