bantorain | Fourteenth Wind - Locked to walking

[Balin's first indication that something's going on is Virginia's yelling and kicking the door. Ginny gets to see a repeat of what Balin did the first day he woke up in Mayfield.]

What? What?! I'm up! I'm—

[He literally leaps out of bed, trying to reach for his sidearm that isn't there ... and only then does he notice what he's wearing.]

—the fuck?!

[... Wait, this isn't even the master bedroom. Why's everything red—what the hell is he wearing—what the hell is this]

[Now aware of his surroundings, he notices Virginia in the room with him. At first he was going to accuse her of doing this, until he realizes that she was already trying to get out, herself. That must have been the loud banging that woke up him. So his only response is—]

... You gotta be shitting me.

Welcome to the Lourve Hotel. We get to stay here a whole night whether we like it or not, so you might wanna eat up.

[He stands up, still trying to understand this new situation into which he's been thrown. After Virginia explains where this is, he looks around a few more times.]

... This is a—you mean we're stuck in a—

[Aaaaand he loses it. It's the kind of choked giggle fit you'd hear from someone who can't accept the absurdity of a situation they're experiencing.]

Oh ... oh man, this is rich.

How? Why? I just—seriously, right after tryin'a make us kill ourselves with'a milk, then this ...

Welcome to Mayfield. -Said as she leans back in the chair, taking a bite out of her dinner roll.-

Wonder if'is has anythin'a do with'at weird phone call we got a coupla nights ago ...

[Balin sighs as he glances over to the mini-bar, then over to the food. Well, if Virginia's eating it without a problem, and she seems to have been through this before, it ought to be fine ... He walks over and sits down at the other side of the table.]

So this is a recurrin' thing'a town does? Stuffin' people in'a hotel for one night stands?

Happened to me last year... Annoying as it was, it wasn't terrible. -She got to know Itachi better...-

[Balin looks around again. ... So long as a murder machine doesn't bust in through the walls, yeah, he could agree with that.]

You wound up here with one of'ose guys you said was here before me?

Thankfully, no. The guy I was with was actually pretty nice, all things considered.

Heh. So'a town just picked someone else at random then—

[There's a look of revelation and slight horror on Balin's face as he realizes just how badly something like that could turn out, with the kind of people around in Mayfield.]

—oh. Oh damn.

Count yourself lucky. -She picks up a grape, popping it into her mouth.-

... Yeah.

[Well, he's actually eating some of the food now. One of the dinner rolls to start off with, like she did.]

... First thing I'll count lucky is that this food ain't poisoned. I hope.

[Yeah, he still looks about the Milkman's sadistic games from last month.]

But ... I'll admit, food in Mayfield's been a nice change from'a MREs an' rations I've been livin' off of for seven years.

It's not bad when you make it yourself, but most of the time the drones are bland cooks.

Pfft. Even their food's better than some of'a stuff we got back home.

I'll take coffee burned to'a glass any day over Coffite.

Do I even wanna know?

Prolly not. But it was'a closest thing we had'a real stuff after Earth fell.

One of'a popular theories is that'a few seeds taken from Earth to keep a crop going were used by some dumbass to brew one last cup of coffee. So we got stuck with'a crap'a Cormans've been makin' instead.

I think I'd die. Coffee is kind of an essential thing for me.

Tell me about it. If I need a pick-me-up quick I usually hafta get it from adrenaline shots. But that's not'a same thing.

[Beat. Then he adds a little hastily,]

Aaaaand they're not really meant to be used all'a time.

Doesn't sound like they would be...

[Okay! Change of topic! Before she gets suspicious!]

Heh, so—uh, bein'a Drifter an' all, you gotta go some pretty long distances without'a good inn or motel'a stay at, yeah? Whaddya normally do for coffee out on'a open range?

Boil water in the fire. Pour it into a cup. Mix in the ground coffee. -Like fucking Nescafe, man.-

[And now Balin feels very silly.]

Oh, um—so kinda like mixed drinks from ration packs.

Something like that. It didn't taste the best, but it got you up in the morning.

Heh, I'd say so.

[He's ran out of things to ask Virginia about in the time being, taking a moment to eat some more of that food. Balin figures if Virginia's curious about anything about him, she'll ask at her own leisure.]

Hmm... Wine. -She takes the bottle, curiously.- Yanno, I never drank much. Never had a taste for it.

Fourteenth Wind - Locked to walking_nuke

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*scatterbrained, had this written out but didn't hit Post*

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scatterbrained, had this written out but didn't hit Post