nomans_land | Somewhere between July and December

Somewhere between July and December

1.
[ It wasn't the fastest car he'd ever driven, but it made better time than the old man's shitty station wagon had, and it was definitely faster than walking across the desert. None of the maps he'd found tucked under the seat had Hopeland on them, which was worrisome as all hell, but on one of the maps there was an orphanage marked, just off of a city called December.

The ghost he'd talked to on that mountaintop had told him he'd die in December, but that ghost had also ruined his last cigarette, so fuck that guy. If he died, he died, but first, he was going to make sure Miss Melanie and the kids were okay.

The sedan hums its way across the desert, kicking up a dust cloud that can be seen for miles. ]

2.
[ With a shudder and a hard jolt, the car comes screeching to a halt, the dash going dead as the engine seizes up. Wolfwood swears, punches the dash, then swears again when the solid dash nearly breaks his hand for his trouble. He'd managed to get the car hotwired, but apparently cars in this messed up version of Noman's were more different from the ones he knew than he'd realized. Is it out of oil? Out of charge? Not like he can do anything about it, whatever the problem.

Please ignore the man in black, standing next to a very dead car in the middle of absolute nowhere and screaming at the sky. It's therapeutic profanity, and it really is helping. ]

3.
[ Sunburned and exhausted, Wolfwood crests the hill and finally, there before him, sees the building that his map identifies as the December Orphanage. Even from a distance it's clear that the chaos that's affected the rest of the planet hit here, too -- there's clear bullet holes in at least one side of the building, walls that have collapsed, and the whole place seems as deserted as everywhere else he's been.

But he's here now, so he might as well have a look around.

He really wishes he still had his Punisher, though. ]

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[the question of saving anything has Livio pause in his tracks. does he...have any right to see what's left to save? sure, he had grown here, but he'd left, abandoned them, and then betrayed them?

he's going to have to check that spooky closet, isn't he. in case...of anything. Melanie usually kept the important things in a to-go bag in case of an emergency, but.]

Okay. Yeah, alright. I'll...

[he's also not thinking of that grave, twins!!!]

[ Livio seems stressed out, and Wolfwood can't blame him. Watching the orphanage flood out is messing with him too, although this orphanage is different enough from the one he's used to that he can put that worry aside a little. But it's still the place he grew up, still the place Livio grew up. There's still a lot of memories and feelings and all that shit tied up in this place, not to mention the body out back.

It's hard, wanting to protect something that you can't save.

But the kids are gone, safe, and Melanie with them -- he has to believe that. This place is just a place, and places can be rebuilt. ]

Hey.

[ His hands are full, so instead of clapping Livio on the back he bumps his shoulder into the other man's, grinning like he doesn't have a care in the world. ]

It'll be okay, don't cry.

[that almost makes him burst into tears, actually! the warmth in his smile, the attempt to reassure him. Livio somehow keeps it in, wringing his hands together again, helplessly.

there's nothing they can do about the memories, about the what-ifs. time is painful, it doesn't do more than dry little scabs on your wounds. and now it's being washed away.]

I'm not crying. It'll be fine.

[ It'll be fine! Here they are, dead in each other's respective worlds, but they've found each other here. Who cares what happens to a bunch of stuff, right? It's the people that are important.

Well. The people and the fuckoff big gun that he's got stored safely upstairs, out of the wet. ]

C'mon then, gimme a hand getting this shit upstairs.

[you're dead, I'm dead, he's dead, so who's flying the plane???

he nods, shoulders hitching up with some determination. he has to move on]

Alright, shorty, don't go overboard.

[ And you know what? What's everything's stored, once they've taken care of all their responsibilities here... Wolfwood's going back outside. Just outside the door, but he's got to see this rain for himself. Sure it's storming like nothing this planet's ever seen, sure the water's calf deep and rising, but c'mon! It's storming like this planet's never seen. It's a once in a lifetime event, they'd be fools not to go check it out!

He's gonna get soaked. It's gonna be great! ]

[he doesn't quite go over and join Wolfwood just yet. he stands just behind him, watching, a bemused smile curling across his face]

Think this'll last?

[ Enjoy the view, buddy -- Wolfwood's going to stand out in the full on rain until he's drenched head to toe, his face mostly turned up into the water. It's kinda cold, and the water's sweet, just clean and clear and fresh as Julai's finest. ]

I don't know what to think anymore. [ A shake of his head sprays water in all directions, like a dog, and it leaves his hair sticking up in a dozen weird angles. He looks delighted. ] I hope it lasts. I hope it rains for forty fucking days and forty fucking nights!

[ Enough to fill a whole ocean. Enough to wash this planet clean. ]

[Livio's smile widens as he watches. it's delight in that gaze, in that timid, timid step by step out into the rain--

he isn't afraid of it. he was just in it, out in it, in HERE in it--

but can this wash him clean too?]

And me without a couple of lions and an ark.

[ Nothing will ever wash all the blood off, but this rain might get close! Come stand in the rain with him, bro! Run in it, splash in it, whatever! Wolfwood's mostly just letting it wash over him like some kind of giant baptism, but don't let that stop you from having fun! ]

We might need an ark, if this keeps up. [ Which isn't a problem at all. They'll built a boat if they have to. They'll learn to swim. It's raining. There's so much water! He just can't get over how much water there is! ] It's unreal.

[ When he first showed up here, he thought he was dead. Miracles like this sure aren't doing much to dispel that idea! ]

[as though he's a timid little animal, he does eventually join Wolfwood out in the rain after a moment. it soaks into his hair, into his clothes. his eyelashes stick together.]

A miracle, if there ever was one.

[ An icy miracle, but a miracle nonetheless! The rain is getting colder, Wolfwood thinks, and it's not just because it's night and he's wet. He doesn't know the word for sleet, but that's what this is rapidly turning into -- somewhere in the sky a mile or so out, there's a great cold front moving toward them, turning the rain into a slushy half-frozen mess.

But fuck it -- if the rain is cold then it's cold. He's not budging. ]

What if this world's just different? [ He has to shout a little bit, to be heard over the wind and rain. ] What if whatever brought us here brought stuff from other places, too? What if...

[ It's a big, frightening thought, but oh it's a thought full of promise. ]

What if this is just how it's gonna be from now on?

You think this is entirely different? Like...not even our worlds squished together or something?

[that's what he'd thought this whole time. that things aren't completely out of their depths....clearly he just, was in denial maybe.

he doesn't like this...]

If it's normal rain, sure, it'd be nice...but not something weirder.

[ Wolfwood just shakes his head at that -- or maybe he's shaking the rain out of his ears, hard to tell. ]

Everything about this world is weird to me, pal.

[ And okay, brrr, standing in the rain was great and kinda holy and cleansing in a way he's not going to think too much about, but now that it's getting icy, he's done with it. Ready to head back inside, maybe wade through the kitchen in the hopes of a bottle of something in one of those cupboards they weren't supposed to know about as kids, and go see about getting warm again? ]

The food's wrong, the cars're wrong, the...

[ Okay, he was heading in, but... but there's a light in the storm clouds way over there. He taps Livio's shoulder with the back of his hand, and points -- does he see it, too? Blue lights, way in the distance, but definitely in the clouds? If planes existed here he wouldn't think twice, but they don't, so what in the hell...? ]

That's weird too, right?

[ That's not normal for this world, is it? ]

(ooc: the lights are a storm worm! they're about to be buzzed by a very big grand worm, like the big one they get swallowed by in stampede, only with blue-green lights like a plant. it's about to get much colder, and gravity might get wonky, so hold on!)

[it's weird to him too. he'd just...started to maybe think he can heal, can move on with his life, make a life for himself when all of this fell into his lap. fell on his head.

his hair drips in his face, he's positively drenched to his underwear. and out there on the horizon....something bad is going to happen. but-- but he can protect Wolfwood this time.]

It's all freaking weird. [a pause] The cars are wrong? How?

[ What is that? Did somebody cobble together enough lost tech to make a plane? Is it a balloon of some kind? He can barely make it out -- it's just a couple little lights way in the distance, like fireflies in a cloud. Or worm larvae, maybe? ]

None of 'em work right! [ He was heading back inside, but those lights are intriguing. Is there a better spot to see them? This courtyard's all just mud and more mud, and rain, and ice... could they get higher up? ] They all run on oil or somethin', except for that one I found. That one at least uses batteries like a real car.

[ The bell tower looks kinda rickety, but what about the roof! They could get to the roof, right? ]

Batteries....and not gas?

[no, that's wrong. there's something wrong there. there's something wrong....with all of it, naturally.

he doesn't like the looks of those lights.]

Think we should bunker down? Those are...coming this way.

[much as he wants to investigate-- only if Wolfwood wants to]

[ Damn right he wants to! Enough talking about cars that run on farts -- let's go check out the lights! ]

Bunker down? [ He slaps Livio on the back, heading for the house. ] Absolutely not! Let's go see what it is!

[ Walking through water is hard! High stepping doesn't work any better than shuffling through it, man. This stuff would suck to fight in! ]

How high up can we get from here? Roof of the chapel, you think?

[he really should have known Wolfwood wouldn't do the easy thing-- really, this was on him.

sighing, he follows after him, only slightly having an easier time with those longer strides of his]

If you wanna get hit by lightning, sure, why not.

[ What's easy about ignoring a great big light in the sky? His curiosity would eat him up for days, and besides, what if it's another attack, coming at the orphanage? Shouldn't they get high up -- inside, up the stairs, out a window maybe? Which way's the roof access, anyway? -- and see what's coming? ]

You're taller than me now, buddy. Either of us gets hit by lightning it's gonna be you.

[apparently Livio's used to the sky falling? or just the other shoe dropping.

he thinks he remembers where the roof access is...]

Hell no-- it'll go for the dumber of us.

[ He was just up on that roof fixing that big blast hole, right? Lead the way, little brother! ]

So what're you worried about? Like I said, I'll be fine!

[ He's gonna stop in whatever room upstairs he left Punisher though, and haul that big beautiful bastard up on to the roof with the two of them, just in case. ]

Hurry up, I don't want to miss it!

[his Punishers are already strapped on, and somehow (practice, elegance) he makes it back up the roof without falling off and falling on his head.

It's slippery up here, watch it. But the bell still looks mostly in tact, and the clock beneath it-- though it's stopped.

it's darkening up there]

You'll be fine, riiiight.

[ Yeah it is. Those lights, they aren't just a glider, or a balloon. There's something big out there in the rain, something too big to be flying.

He won't lie -- it's a little frightening. ]

Okay, just for the record?

[ A twist of his wrist, and the Punisher in his hand powers up. It's completely silent, but there's the faintest buzz of electronics when it's awake and ready, like putting his hand on the rubbery outside of a live wire. The sleet's entirely gone to hail at this point, tiny -- and some not to tiny -- chunks of ice falling out of the sky and spattering all around them, and god it's cold. He's never been this cold.

What an awesome adventure this is turning out to be! He wouldn't have missed it for the world. ]

This was a stupid fucking idea.

[ Here it comes. Hold on to something! ]

[he at least has long enough to hiss through teeth clenched so hard it hurts--]

THIS WAS YOUR STUPID FUCKING IDEA!

[but this is worse than watching the Ark fly around, worse than waiting for Vash to finish the fight with Knives, either to a triumphant win or death for all humanity-- he's here in the eye of the storm, and Wolfwood is here, but not his.

and he will do anything to make sure he's safe. even to the detriment of his own life]

This is gonna be bad.

[he braces himself, Doublefangs held aloft and ready, but he doesn't open fire just yet]

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