Hadriel IC Inbox

[hardwearing]

[ voice, text, video, action ]

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[hardwearing]

You're gonna live that long, huh?

[ He squeezes her hand a little, knowing her friends probably won't last that long. She'll make more, though. ]

Maybe Donut knows who he is, then. He watches a lot of old cooking shows.

[evocation]

[It's something she doesn't let herself think about beyond flippant jokes like this. As usual, she doesn't let go of his hand. It's becoming habit, and she's not sure what that means, so she doesn't think about that, either.]

Donut? Do you really know a guy named Donut?

[hardwearing]

Yeah. Franklin Donut. He's the domestic one.

[evocation]

Wait, the domestic one? Does everyone have roles or something? What's yours?

[hardwearing]

Oh... I don't know what mine would be. I was Blue Team leader for a long time, now that we're helping lead a different army it's a little less clear.

They'd probably say I was the hardass.

[evocation]

Of course you were the leader. I totally would have guessed that.

[hardwearing]

I was basically the enemy for awhile before that. They took a chance saving me.

[evocation]

They sound pretty awesome. Who's on your team, anyway? What are they like?

[hardwearing]

There's a lot of them and they're all idiots, honestly. But good people.

I've already mentioned Carolina. She's sort of a leader, too, even if it's complicated... mostly she's incredibly badass, definitely our best fighter. And way more loving than she seems. Terrible sense of humor, though.

Blue Team is Tucker and Caboose and I guess technically Epsilon, but he's usually with Carolina. Tucker's sort of my. Protege, I guess. He's got a head for tactics even if he doesn't always believe in himself. I've been training him for years, he's got real potential when he isn't making stupid sex jokes. Caboose... doesn't. He's a moron, we don't even let him control his own weapon anymore. But he's got heart. And Epsilon's an asshole, but he cares about us. Especially Carolina. My relationship with him is complicated, though.

Red Team is Sarge, Simmons, Grif, Donut, and Lopez. Sarge is nuts, and really stuck in the past a lot of the time. He's definitely a career soldier, but hasn't picked up much of anything in a lifetime of fighting. Nothing he does ever works but they follow him anyway. Simmons is a giant nerd, and he's always kissing Sarge's ass, for reasons I don't understand. He's one of the better ones, though, he takes orders and he's capable enough with tech stuff. Grif is lazy as fuck, and messy, and eats into everybody else's rations. But he's loyal, and brave when it comes down to it. He's stepped up a little with training the recruits. Donut's... he'd rather play house than war. And I'm really lucky he still trusts me at all, after what I did to him, but he's always sort of just. Rolled with things. He's got a good throwing arm but otherwise is a terrible soldier. Lopez is a robot who sort of hates us all and doesn't speak English.

Then there's Doc, I guess, and Kimball and Grey... Doc's a medic that got wrapped up in everything way back in Blood Gulch, the poor guy. He hosted a violent AI for awhile so he's not exactly stable anymore, but he's usually on our side despite everything. Kimball's the leader of Chorus' army, she's tough but kind, and a really good leader. I think I've helped her a little? The Feds really didn't respect her when the armies united. And Grey is the best doctor I've ever met. She's a genius, just a little... eccentric.

[ He misses them. All of them. ]

[evocation]

[Kyna listens quietly until he's finished, and once he's done, there's a lot she could say, but she latches onto one specific detail.]

Wait, wait. Epsilon? Epsilon's still around?

[hardwearing]

It's complicated, but yeah, he's still around. Just not in me.

[evocation]

[She wrinkles her nose a little.]

Jesus, Wash. You never get a break, do you?

[hardwearing]

We're... alright, I guess. I only interact with him as much as I have to.

[evocation]

[Kyna clicks her tongue, a bit disapproving. It doesn't seem fair that he has to deal with the thing that sounds like it ruined his life, but she assumes he doesn't have a choice. More than that, she assumes he probably doesn't want to talk about this, so she shifts topics slightly.]

So Carolina's obviously your favorite, because she's the only one you didn't say anything bad about.

[hardwearing]

You think?

I mean, anything bad I could say would be about the person she was, really. She's come a long way.

[evocation]

[She smiles, rolling her eyes teasingly.]

You fucking sap. She's totally your favorite.

[hardwearing]

Alright, maybe. Don't tell Tucker, though.

[evocation]

Why not? Is he gonna get jealous?

[hardwearing]

He likes to feel special.

[evocation]

Your secret's safe with me.

[Kyna gently untangles her hand from his, then grabs the spoon she was using to stir and scoops up a bit of the sauce to offer to him.]

Try it and tell me how awesome I am.

[hardwearing]

[ Wash leans down a bit uncertainly, like he's not sure he's doing this taste testing thing right, but in the end it's not rocket science to take some sauce off a spoon. They've had their tongues in each other's mouths, it's not a big deal. ]

...that's probably the best thing I've eaten in years. Maybe a little more salt?

[evocation]

[She laughs again, softer than usual, then dumps the pasta in a different pot to cook.]

Now you're sucking up to me.

[She still adds more salt before turning back to him.]

But you can keep doing it if you want.

[hardwearing]

Yeah, but it's also the truth. Canned or not, it's better than MREs or the mess on Chorus.

[ He steps a little closer to her. ]

You know I passed a garden the other day, here. Down by the lake.

[evocation]

[The sudden impulse to pull him closer is hard to resist, but somehow she manages it.]

Yeah? I heard there was one, but I haven't seen it.

[hardwearing]

[ Impressive, Kyna. He's still close, though. Testing the waters. ]

Do you know whose it is?