HARK! How the bells, sweet silver bells...

[piper90npcs]

Who: Everyone
What: Holiday Events
Where: Piper 90 - The Rig
When: Post-Rose Tattoo
Warnings/Notes: Holiday cheer, smooches, tactical snowball action

It's the Holiday Season in the Gone Away World and on the Rig in particular! Though they claim to be open to any cultural celebration of this time of year, the dominance of Santa Claus, reindeer, and elves in decorating really kind of blunt that claim. But the PA system, when not blaring alarms or fuzzy announcements for working party C to show up at the maintenance bay, play Christmas tunes of all sorts at inconvenient volumes. Decorations hang limply from the walls. And every worker with children has been issued a shotgun and a bandoleer of shells loaded with pellets of cold iron.

Just in case.

Comments

[bothbarrels]

"I don't get sick."

A point of pride for him, and York knows it. He never, ever throws up. No matter how drunk he got.

He closes his eyes, though. That's not what York means.

"But I, ah...I'll need the support, I guess, yeah."

[infailtration]

"Okay. Just the one for me, then." He leans a little, letting North drink.

It's a good distraction, taking care of his friend, just not ideal that he has to in the first place. That something's so wrong.

"I'm sorry. I didn't say that yet."

[bothbarrels]

That's what does it. Just that simple thing. His eyes are still closed, so it may not be obvious to York immediately, but it will be when North replies in a thick voice:

"Thanks."

His mouth twists in a grimace and he rubs his face with one hand. He hates it when he feels emotions intensely enough to actually go and cry like this. He's the one everyone else knows they can lean on. He's not the one who breaks down.

[infailtration]

Oof, yeah, that's pretty obvious. Enough to get York to shift back into hug mode, though this one is less enthusiastic squeezing and more gentle support, cradling North's head should he turn towards York properly.

"You want to talk about it, or a distraction?"

[bothbarrels]

He leans into it a bit, tilting his head so that it can be cradled.

"I'm—"

He has to clear his throat before he can continue.

"Tell me about where you were?"

Distraction. North figures York'll know what he means—what point in time he came from before arriving here, what had happened to him since he'd communicated with North last, all that stuff.

[infailtration]

York grimaces slightly, glad that North can't see his expression. At least it's not evident in the hug; he manages not to tense, just rubs North's back with his other hand.

"D and I actually just met back up with Tex after all this time. No idea how she tracked us down but we're in the desert south of a sim base she was hanging out at."

[bothbarrels]

"Mm."

He clears his throat again.

"Was that Tex getting her way about something?"

It's said sort of affectionately, through the tears. Tex was a powerhouse and no mistake. Not just as a soldier. As a person.

[infailtration]

"It was, actually, she wanted help tracking down and infiltrating Wyoming's base. He's apparently up to some bullshit."

He hums softly.

"It was nice to catch up a little, with somebody."

[bothbarrels]

He stops leaning, just for a moment, long enough to take another short drink.

"Project bullshit? Or other bullshit?"

[infailtration]

York eases up, letting his friend drink and considering the question.

"His own bullshit, seemed like, but honestly I didn't dig too hard once Tex told me what was going on."

[bothbarrels]

"It just seems like it's always one of us fighting another."

Meaning Agents of the Project.

"I just hoped..."

He doesn't even know what he hoped. He frowns and continues drinking.

[infailtration]

"Yeah... guess that wasn't the best distraction, huh? But hey, I cracked a holographic lock for the first time since the Project. Take that, rust."

It seems like he's narrowly escaped the topic of his own death. North doesn't need to hear that right now.

[bothbarrels]

That brings out a smile—a genuine, if small, smile.

"Good. I knew you could."

[infailtration]

"What a coincidence, so did I." York grins back, looking almost triumphant. It's nice to have somebody believe in you, even if it's after the fact.

"Guess Allison did too, since she went through all that trouble to find us."

[bothbarrels]

"She's good at knowing things."

He's not sure if that makes sense, but it doesn't really matter. What matters is he's thinking about something else now.

[infailtration]

York blinks at that, then laughs softly.

"I'm not sure if that's deep or you're just drunk. Let's go with deep."

[bothbarrels]

"Well, she's something else."

Even with all this distance of time, he can remember that much.

"I'm glad you wound up with her. Give you something useful to do."

What, is he making assumptions that all York has been doing since the Project broke down is breaking into shops and engaging in petty theft?

[infailtration]

York forces his smile. Right. Something useful. Like getting her into the base and then dying.

That isn't something North needs to hear about right now.

He rallies to sound cheerful.

"What were you doing that was so useful, then, if you're going to criticize my lifestyle?"

[bothbarrels]

North laughs a little.

"I mean, we picked up a few missions."

Odd jobs, really, but they were something useful to do.

[infailtration]

"And I'm sure they were fully upstanding," York sasses, still preferring his 'stay off the radar' method of survival. He'd done a few odd jobs at the start using fake names, but it was risky.

[bothbarrels]

"Well..."

He pauses to take another sip of beer.

"We might have been slouching part of the time."

[infailtration]

"Sometimes you've gotta. No shame in it." It's survival.

"Was any of it fun?"

[bothbarrels]

"Oh, yeah," he says. "You know how we fight when we get going."

We. Him and his sister. The sister he's currently upset at having a falling-out with. He tries not to frown.

[infailtration]

"I do, yeah. Me, though, I've been trying to avoid fighting."

Except with said sister. Who North is having a falling out with. Hmm. He should probably change the topic.

"Hey, you owe me a tour of this place. I bet you're a hilarious drunken tour guide."

[bothbarrels]

North snickers and nudges York's hand.

"As fun as that sounds, honestly, I would rather go to bed soon."