strangetrip | [GP/EP] We are programmed to receive

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[GP/EP] We are programmed to receive

Fifteen days into this particular strange trip, Kitty had redistributed alcohol supplies between the cafe, restaurant, and night club to make it possible to easily tend bar wherever people decided to gather. Today, as most days, she settled into the lobby cafe after chivvying the cook into chicken tenders and french fries (after convincing him it was a single plate meal). It was the closest she could get to "bar food" from him and someone would probably arrive sooner rather than later to make something else.

A few people trickled in after awhile, but none of them demanding. Like her, they drank coffee from the samovar she'd put out. And also like her, most of them had something else to keep them occupied. At the moment, Kitty had a notebook open (from the gift shop; she kept her school notebooks separate in case she made it home during the term) and was sketching plans to upgrade the hotel's computer technology. She needed more raw computing power to work out the energy requirements to do what Illyana did with a thought.

She lifted her head periodically to check for new customers, and had just seated herself at the end of the bar after refilling the samovar when the first new new customer arrived. Immediately, she flipped to a fresh page in the notebook and headed it "Day 15" and made a hash mark for one new arrival. Then she looked up from her notebook and offered one and all her best bartending smile.

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There was another snicker from Molly, "yeah, not so much, but you will be less freaked out about it. Sort of. You do look like you're taking this better than some. Used to having stuff thrown at you or the weird shit of life?"

She was curious as to what group he fell in to.

"Both." Wyatt said honestly. "Military background prepares you most anything but lately my life has taken a turn for the weird." He was curious about her though. Except for the current mission, he'd never believed in or knew anyone that had been involved in 'the weird shit'.

"What about you?"

"Not military but I've been in a war." Molly knew that he'd be able to see it in her eyes, any warrior would. "The war was definitely weird shit, so yeah, a little bit of both but mostly baptism by fire kind of shit."

Wyatt looked, really looked this time at Molly and not just the pretty face. He'd assumed her gauntness was through trying to be 'model thin' but now he realized that he saw the shadows in her eyes. There was death, determination and guilt. He was well acquainted with those expressions.

"Baptism by fire sucks. It's not just war that's hell."

"I'll drink to that." Molly took a long draw from the beer bottle. "So, Wyatt, clearly you're not a cowboy from the past. LARPing?" She motioned toward this clothes that were clearly not what she'd first thought. Plus it was a good change of subject from war and hell. Something she did not was to dwell on.

He appreciated the change of topic, too. Talk of war was just a little too close for comfort.

"LARPing? What's that?" He'd never heard of it before, but he did stick close to what he actually was doing. Wyatt had learned long ago to stay as close to the truth as possible. "I re-enact things from the past. I was in Texas before here so... Alamo."

"Live Action Role Play." Molly explained to him. "And you sort of are, just not in a nerd geeky way, but in a nerd history way." There was a flicker of amusement. "LARP, Re-enact. Tomato, Tomahto. I just have friends that dress up as Mages and Elves and you dress up as Davy Crockett."

That was about the only person that she knew was in the Alamo thanks to Disney.

"Point taken." Wyatt tried not to wince at the mention of Davy Crockett. It cut too close to the memory of Bowie. "And I am so far from a history nerd that you can get. I just like pretending."

"I'm pretty sure that you're closer to that line than I am." Molly grinned in response, "But it sounds like we both like to act." Or put on a mask. She'd felt that cagey emotion from him, but it wasn't as strong as others in the room.

"I haven't met a person yet that didn't like to act in some way." Wyatt arched a brow. "Shakespeare said something about that." Not that he was a big Shakespeare fan, but he had seen a few plays. At the insistence of his wife.

"Yeah, sorry. Shakespeare's not my thing. Well unless it's that movie with Denzel Washington, then I like Shakespeare." Molly winked at him, teasing. She wasn't a fan, but it wasn't personal, she felt Shakespeare was too much like homework for English Lit.

"I hear you." Wyatt said with another long drink from the beer bottle and a half laugh. "I only went to the plays for a girl." He wasn't ready to talk about his wife with someone he just met. "But I do remember some of the quotes. Works with Jeopardy." There was definitely a hint of amusement in his words.

Molly laughed, "ah, you got ensnared by the Power of the Boobs. They do have great power. If it's any consolation, I've done the same thing - yeah I can't even pretend that I'd like Shakespeare for a guy." Her eyes twinkled with her laughter. "but I have done the stupid for a guy. I ran away from home and quit school." She paused a beat, "Okay that was more because my mom pissed me off and I wanted to piss her off but a guy was involved."

Wyatt was a Special Forces soldier, he'd fought in a war and he'd been in an Alamo situation twice. One of those literally, but he still felt a blush begin to form in his cheeks at her candid response. Instead of focusing on the 'Power of the Boobs' comment he honed in on her running away. He'd hated his old man and had joined the military as soon as he could. That had been to make his grandfather proud, but it had also been to escape his father.

"I ran away to join the military. What did you run away to, besides the guy that was involved?"

There was an instant of pain at the memories but she pushed them aside and answered him honestly. "My destiny. How's that for cryptic bullshit?" Molly winked but went on to explain. "I was kidnapped and after I got my life back I experimented in things that I shouldn't have. I hurt people that I didn't mean to hurt and I broke a rule I didn't know existed. Unfortunately for me, ignorance wasn't a defense and I was sentenced to death. Someone else stepped in and defended me, got a reprieve but a life sentence of probation."

Not that Molly paid attention to that anymore. Harry was dead and she was considered a warlock. Nothing that she'd mention to Wyatt.

Wyatt winced, "damn. Sorry. I didn't mean to bring up memories." He'd been good at that lately, even his own he would have preferred buried. "But seriously, you were sentenced to death for breaking a rule?" Unless it was murder and Wyatt didn't see that in her eyes, troubled as they were, he couldn't see any reason for that kind of sentence.

"There are seven laws where I come from that you can't break. The problem with that is, they don't tell anyone what the rules are and you're screwed." Molly still thought it was stupid. "But on the bright side, they're not the boss of me anymore and they can kiss my ass. Plus, I'm here and they're there so it really sucks to be them."

Or her, depending on how it went here.

Wyatt was amazed by her bounce back even if it was a mask he was all too familiar with. "That's the attitude to have." He nodded. "One of the benefits of being stuck somewhere I guess."

"Yep, there's a silver lining in everything. Even this." Molly raised her beer bottle in a salute. "Granted, get back with me in about a month and I'll probably be bored out of my mind."

Wyatt chuckled. "A month, huh? I give it three weeks for me. That should be enough time to exhaust all that I can before boredom sets in."

"Nope, I'll stick with a month. Too many unanswered questions for me to get bored before then. Plus free beer. Can't go wrong with that." Molly winked at Wyatt.

"You can never go wrong with free beer." Wyatt had to agree with her.

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