Reunion On The Dock

abluspy:

accidentalpyro:

“Oh, come on…” Arthur glanced over at Dell, then back at Philippe. “Come on! You’re kidding! After all that horseshit with animals and explosions?! God, it just figures…”

Raking fingers through his hair, he scowled briefly back at the Spy. “Nice hat…” Glowering, he looked past them at the cutter moored alongside the dock, workers hefting modest cargo crates aboard. “I guess that’s our stuff.  I thought it was fishy that we flew in here. I guess if we were, ah…you know. Changing crews. We’d have heard about that, huh?”

At the implication of shifting rosters, Shannon pressed a little closer to his side, and he gave her a reassuring squeeze.

“Ze teams ‘ave been cut down somewhat. Ze rosters I received only ‘ad eleven per team. I assume zis is due to ze new base’s accommodations, but zat was not included in ze information I received. Our two newest members are already at ze base. Zey arrived over ze weekend, so zey should be zere to greet us.”

Philippe looked around at his four team members around him and nodded as he leaned more against Dell’s side. This team was fairly tightly knit. No matter what the new base was like, they’d manage just fine. “We are only missing our friends who flew overseas. Hopefully, zey will arrive soon.”

The arm left around Philippe’s waist tightens somewhat at the mention of roster cuts, Dell wondering who’d been lost and who he’d come too close to losing and doing a quick head check of who was here now. He’s still a bit raw over the last loss and determined to keep the rest of his strange little family close to him.

“Jesus, another base… They give ya any idea what it’s gonna be like?”

reunion philippe arthur shannon geoff open rp
Reunion On The Dock

abluspy:

dellconagher:

Being forcefully dragged around the depot by a happily sniffing and marking Bonnie, an activity they’d been engaged in since they’d arrived just moments before the Pyro, Dell jerks his head up at the sound of his name and tugs the dog to a stop. “Yeah? Ya need my what?”

It’s then that his eyes fall on the tall, familiar figure in the fedora, and a grin splits his face. “Philippe! You- Shit!” Bonnie has spotted the Spy, as well, and yanks the leash from Dell’s hand with skin-burning quickness as she bounds across the distance to greet him, Engineer jogging after her.

Philippe’s grin matched the approaching man’s, and he squatted down to greet Bonnie in an effort to avoid getting his clothing too dirty. Who knew what mess she’d gotten into since she’d been here? Petting her happily, he kept his face away from her licky tongue and dog breath. “Oh, someone needs a bazh, do zey not, mmm, Bonnie?”

He looked up to see Dell still trailing behind her. “You cannot move faster zan zat to greet me? I should be insulted, mon ami.”

“That’s a real funny way t’ say ‘Hi, Dell, I missed you.’” Grin growing wider, the Engineer gently but firmly nudges Bonnie aside with his knee and steps forward to grab the Spy in a crushing bear hug.

“God, you even smell prissy. What th’ hell did they do t’ ya?”

reunion Philippe open RP bonnie arthur
Reunion On The Dock

accidentalpyro:

abluspy:

“I assume it is because we are not returning to our previous base.” Moving to the side of Arthur to which Shannon wasn’t clinging, Philippe gave his friend a brief one-armed hug.

“Well. You smell like Las Vegas. I trust your furlough was well-spent debauching yourself…?”

“Extremely well-spent. I’m still tired.” Arthur delivered a hearty thump to Philippe’s back. “I assume you’ve been made to feel sufficiently like a princess, otherwise you’d have figured out some way to take an extra week. Hold on a second— Dell!” He turned, gesturing to the Engineer. “Dell, we need your bullshit detector for a second—”

He looked back at Philippe, expression gone stone-serious. “Now say that part about not returning to base again so I can figure out if I actually missed you or not.”

Being forcefully dragged around the depot by a happily sniffing and marking Bonnie, an activity they’d been engaged in since they’d arrived just moments before the Pyro, Dell jerks his head up at the sound of his name and tugs the dog to a stop. “Yeah? Ya need my what?”

It’s then that his eyes fall on the tall, familiar figure in the fedora, and a grin splits his face. “Philippe! You- Shit!” Bonnie has spotted the Spy, as well, and yanks the leash from Dell’s hand with skin-burning quickness as she bounds across the distance to greet him, Engineer jogging after her.

reunion philippe arthur open RP bonnie

The temperature is already dropping by the afternoon, but not enough to keep Dell indoors. Being cooped up in hostile territory hasn’t gotten any less unpleasant, and freezing fresh air is better than no fresh air at all. The  continued concern of wayward radical hippies lurking in the woods prevents the long, leisurely stroll he’d prefer, prompting a long walk around the grounds with Bonnie. He wanders towards the BLU side of the base, close enough to determine that some progress is being made, but how much longer they’ll have to endure bunking with RED is still anyone’s guess.

When all potential walking paths have been exhausted, Dell isn’t yet ready to go back inside and heads up to the roof instead. It’s even colder up here, but the view of the mountains pretty good. And he hasn’t taken any pictures in quite awhile.

5Gorge 5Gorge rp open rp

Never again.

He’s never drinking that much again. Not unless someone is dead.

Over a week later, his room on RED still smells faintly of beer and self-loathing, though he suspects that’s more his overactive sense of guilt than anything. On the bright side, he can just about look Arthur in the eye again and overall feels… not great, but better. Improved. Less heavy. Like a good deal of toxicity has been purged from his system, metaphorically over the night onto paper and into Bonnie fur, and much more literally the following morning (seriously, he is never drinking that much again). Winters are hard, but they don’t last forever. Spring will come soon.

Though now that it’s easier to get out of bed and leave his room, there’s not many places to go or a great deal to do. The RED base is crowded and hostile, the air thick with the tension of the barely kept peace. It makes him restless, and without even a workshop to retreat to and no work to pour his nervous energy into, Dell finds himself escaping into the bitingly cold but blessedly fresh air outside as often as he can. It’s where he heads now, both hands tugging on the leash of a remarkably reluctant Shepherd.

“Bonnie, c’mon now. It’s alright. We’re gonna go for a walk, girl. You want a walk? Yeah, ya do, c’mon…”

Bonnie whimpers, her ears drooping in fear and her steps agonizingly slow. Of all the current inhabitants of the RED base, may be the one least happy with the arrangement and at least the one having the most trouble adjusting. And it’s the Engineer’s own fault, he knows. A lifetime ago at Double Cross he’d taught the dog to fear the color red, to distrust and sound an alarm at sight or smell of anything approaching from the other side of the base, a practical idea at the time and one that had served them well, but it was far less convenient to their current situation. She’d pitched a near constant fit the first few days on the base and still hated to leave the safety of their temporary room, even now her dark eyes darting and her head carried low as her Engineer gradually coaxes her downstairs.

“That’s it, baby, that’s a girl. C’mon, ain’ no one gonna bother us…”

5Gorge 5Gorge rp bonnie open rp status update RED base

“Jesus…”

Dell flops heavily on one end of the couch in the common room, grunting softly as the action jars sore muscles. “They were sure pissed off t’day…”

5Gorge 5Gorge rp battle aftermath battle 27 open RP

Well, the burger and beer hasn’t done anything other than make him full. Which he supposes is better than being hungry, but it’s still not the pick-me-up he’d hoped it would be. He doesn’t really know what he was expecting. It’s not like it would have changed anything that happened.

He killed Charles. He put Hotaru in a terrible position. And he shot at at least two or three of his new teammates. It was a perfectly disastrous and terrible battle. And it’s only the first of countless more to come. He’s not sure how he’ll handle even one more.

Abandoning all pretenses of socialization after dinner, Dell hermits himself away in his workshop, absently playing his guitar while Clyde amuses himself with a stack of blank paper.

5Gorge 5Gorge rp autobalance open RP

Dell silently debates which is more important to him right at his moment: his desire to hide away and avoid any potentially hostile new teammates; or the fact that it’s fucking freezing and the chair nearest the fireplace in the common room is empty.

…Not freezing his ass off wins. As quickly and quietly as possible, the Engineer shuffles over to plop himself and his Spycrab into the armchair.

5Gorge 5Gorge rp clyde open RP status update

The dark room doesn’t seem as nice as the one he left in his old workshop, but it serves its purpose just fine. When he’d finally dragged himself out of bed today, he’d gone straight to his shop to start developing the pictures he’d taken of all his friends and former teammates. There’s a whole roll of film of them by themselves, in couples or groups, with him, and in and out of Halloween costumes. He’ll develop them all, but the most important ones are up first, and soon he’ll have framed photos of Bonnie, Philippe, and Hotaru to keep him company.

Now his stomach is growling insistently and painfully, reminding him of how little he’s eaten in the last few days. He could probably use an actual meal instead of the snacks and scraps he squirrels back to his room when he thinks he can do so unseen. Grigori, Geoff, and that Engineer Hector mentioned having cooking duty this week, so maybe he’ll find a friendly face if he heads for the kitchen.

Keeping this at the forefront of his mind for encouragement, Dell emerges from the dark.

5Gorge 5Gorge rp status update open RP
Welcome to Mars

Everything looks the same. Dell could almost fool himself into thinking he’s back home. Just for a minute. And if it weren’t for the entirely alien feel of the place. He assumes that will wear off with ti- No, fuck that. It’s never going to wear off. But he might at least learn to tolerate it.

The brim of his hat is pulled low to discourage eye contact, and no one here really needs to know that he’s spent the last hour crying. Final goodbyes had been an absolute bitch. Saying them to Hotaru and Philippe had just about gutted him, and the less he even thinks about Bonnie right now the better. He needs to find his new room and collect himself for a little while. It’s the same number as his old room, so it’ll be easy to find, at least.

Old room…

Shit. Okay, time to hustle. Clyde’s cage under one arm and a duffle bag under the other, he heads for the second level.

5Gorge 5Gorge rp autobalance open RP
1 of 5