Shadowmark, Bastion, Sunday
Jun. 14th, 2020 02:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cypher_can_flyShadowmark.
Well, clearly the island wanted him to see more of Bastion. You couldn't get much further from - or much bigger than - Ponteix if you tried.
In some ways Owen liked the anonymity of the relative crowds of this city. Sure, it felt like all of those bloody statues kept following you with their big stone eyes, and yes, he'd had to sleep huddled up in a pile of blankets in a crowded shelter last night, but at least there were shelters! And blankets!
Better than Ponteix, at any rate. Not better than his cosy single room with his nice bed back home, but beggars couldn't be choosers, and Owen certainly felt like a beggar right now.
Since Fandom seemed in no rush to bring him back, he left the shelter early in the morning and roamed the city. There were-- well, there weren't always odd jobs for roaming Cyphers, or he wouldn't have had to do as much stealing as he'd done, back in Ponteix. But in a city like this? Surely there had to be a message that had to be sent, or, or a Freelancer who needed a hand-- oh, who was he kidding. What Freelancer wanted a runaway Cypher on their team?
"Owen? Is that you?"
He swung around abruptly. That voice!
... and those big brown eyes!
"Well," he said weakly, attempting to find his bravado again as quickly as possible. "Fancy seeing you here!"
The Freelancer-in-training-- Becca. Her name had been Becca. Becca looked at him, pole-axed. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
Distances weren't the same on Bastion as they were on Earth. When your only mode of transportation - bar a Freelancer's armor - were big, hulking metal vehicles, you didn't generally travel this far out. He knew that. He coughed.
"You caught me," he said, "I'm... stalking you."
"Stalking me," Becca echoed, dubious.
He laughed. It had an edge to it, but so did much of everything about him since Nina had dumped him via text. "Hitched a few rides on a few Striders, figured I'd see where I wound up," he said. "What are you doing here?"
"Had a training mission," Becca said, gesturing. "Then Haluk-- my mentor-- he just... sent me off to explore the city. So here I am. Exploring the city."
"Fancy that. So was I," Owen said, perkily, and not at all desperately thinking please stay for a while longer please stay. "Want to explore a bit together?"
It took them fifteen minutes to find the Freelancer job board. It took them seventeen minutes to come up with a really terrible idea.
He'd missed Becca. A lot.
[[ establishy ]]
Well, clearly the island wanted him to see more of Bastion. You couldn't get much further from - or much bigger than - Ponteix if you tried.
In some ways Owen liked the anonymity of the relative crowds of this city. Sure, it felt like all of those bloody statues kept following you with their big stone eyes, and yes, he'd had to sleep huddled up in a pile of blankets in a crowded shelter last night, but at least there were shelters! And blankets!
Better than Ponteix, at any rate. Not better than his cosy single room with his nice bed back home, but beggars couldn't be choosers, and Owen certainly felt like a beggar right now.
Since Fandom seemed in no rush to bring him back, he left the shelter early in the morning and roamed the city. There were-- well, there weren't always odd jobs for roaming Cyphers, or he wouldn't have had to do as much stealing as he'd done, back in Ponteix. But in a city like this? Surely there had to be a message that had to be sent, or, or a Freelancer who needed a hand-- oh, who was he kidding. What Freelancer wanted a runaway Cypher on their team?
"Owen? Is that you?"
He swung around abruptly. That voice!
... and those big brown eyes!
"Well," he said weakly, attempting to find his bravado again as quickly as possible. "Fancy seeing you here!"
The Freelancer-in-training-- Becca. Her name had been Becca. Becca looked at him, pole-axed. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
Distances weren't the same on Bastion as they were on Earth. When your only mode of transportation - bar a Freelancer's armor - were big, hulking metal vehicles, you didn't generally travel this far out. He knew that. He coughed.
"You caught me," he said, "I'm... stalking you."
"Stalking me," Becca echoed, dubious.
He laughed. It had an edge to it, but so did much of everything about him since Nina had dumped him via text. "Hitched a few rides on a few Striders, figured I'd see where I wound up," he said. "What are you doing here?"
"Had a training mission," Becca said, gesturing. "Then Haluk-- my mentor-- he just... sent me off to explore the city. So here I am. Exploring the city."
"Fancy that. So was I," Owen said, perkily, and not at all desperately thinking please stay for a while longer please stay. "Want to explore a bit together?"
It took them fifteen minutes to find the Freelancer job board. It took them seventeen minutes to come up with a really terrible idea.
He'd missed Becca. A lot.
[[ establishy ]]
