strangetrip | [EP: OTA, MacCready] Probably gonna break this one

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[EP: OTA, MacCready] Probably gonna break this one

It wasn't a year, not yet. Coming up on one yeah, he was pretty sure, but fuck if he actually knew. It was messed up trying to keep track of one day at a fucking time when the calendars were kinda the same just shifted some and he didn't really know what day it was when he left in the first place. Still. November. End of November. Seemed about right for the time of year when he left, though you really couldn't tell it by looking outside. It didn't get cold enough. Not that it really snowed all that much in the Commonwealth in November either. Sometimes. They'd get flurries and crap. He'd heard stories of endless blizzards further north and tales from ghouls from back when the bombs dropped about a couple decades or whatever that everything was frozen. Not now. Not anymore.

Not here either.

Still, it was probably an anniversary of something. The day he met Blue? Shit, maybe. No. No, that was before Halloween. Close on about the time they finally raided Med-Tek though and Daisy's caravan set off with the cure for Duncan.

Close enough.

Reason enough to imbibe a little.

The months in the inn, the months of quiet, all this time with so little to shoot at...

Fuck, it chafed at him, and he sat in the slightly crisp morning sun, hanging out in the garden as he pulled an institute laser rifle apart, wondering if he'd be able to figure out something new from it this time, maybe see about actually making the damn thing quieter.

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Percy dropped down next to Mac without a word and set two mugs down along with one of the clever little heating carafes between them, full of coffee. From his belt, he produced Animus and his cleaning supplies.

"Seems strange that it's not snowing. It doesn't around here, at least according to the records I've found." In the library that the abrasive blonde girl was collecting, there was a book called a Farmer's Almanac. It had proved interesting.

Coffee pot. Fiberglass. Plastic. Steel if you were lucky. Couple springs, maybe a little bit if circuitry if it was one of the fancy ones. This one didn't look like it. Still, Mac couldn't shake the instinct of wanting to scrap something for parts if he needed it. He was thinking too much of home. Didn't do to get stuck like that.

"Never seen much snow," he said, glancing at the mug and shrugging before he poured himself a cup. Ceramic. Hard to break down, but doable if you knew the right people. "Ice usually. Winter tends to be dry back home. Little bit here and there, but not much. I heard further north and further inland gets big storms. I heard there's this one spot where the radstorms from the two big craters trap a blizzard in most of the winter, set it spinning sometimes and if it gets spit out it heads further north or just builds up steam over the water again 'fore getting pulled back in. Coulda been bein' fucked with though." Neither was out of the realm of possibility.

He took a swig of the steaming drink. Percy's subtle little hint was right. Way too early for liquor. The coffee felt right in his bones. Not so much on his teeth, but he could let it cool off a little.

"Where I grew up, we had snow by this time every year. Most of the places I've been since have as well." Percy flipped Animus open and emptied it of bullets, then took out a soft cloth.

"Here, the roses are still blooming." He gestured toward the bushes in the garden. It had been transformed since they'd arrived, with various guests taking it over for their own projects but the roses remained. He made a mental note to snip a few for Vex.

"We're way too far south," Mac said, tipping the rifle. All it did was shoot light. You'd think the Institute jag offs would've figured out a way to make the thing quiet. Unless they'd just figured hell, the light was gonna draw attention anyway, why fuckin' bother?

"But hey, we're in a magic hotel bubble, anything can happen." He winked a little playfully at Percy.

"Anything, indeed. I'd rather like snow for Winter's Crest." Percy smiled back at Mac.

"Did your world have a winter holiday that they celebrated?"

"There were a few," Mac said, taking another swig of his coffee and turning his attention back to his work. "Diamond City got itself all dolled up with lights and stuff for Christmas. I'm not really sure what it was supposed to all be about. Back in Little Lamplight, we had a tradition where the older kids used to go out and get stuff for the little ones about this time. It was all a big secret surprise kinda thing where they'd wake up to presents." He leaned back a little, inspecting his work.

"The Children," slight emphasis so that maybe Percy would get he wasn't talking about actual children, "used to have this big parade thing praising rads a few years back 'fore they got too close to the common and pissed off Swan." He laughed a little to himself. Psycho bastards had earned it, really.

"That's a nice tradition, the gifts from the older children. Gifts are part of Winter's Crest too." Percy changed to another cloth as he cleaned. "Winter's Crest celebrates the turning of the season. It's a time when the veils between planes are thinnest. Many of the traditions revolve around that aspect, as well as the path out of winter."

"Seems weird to celebrate the path out of winter when winter's barely started when you celebrate it," he pointed out. He unscrewed a wad of circuitry and looked at it critically, gingerly checking the wires. Maybe that was it the issue? There were enough phones in the place he could probably pull some wires from those if he needed. Or a lot of other things actually. He tapped the tiny screwdriver against his thigh while he thought.

"You talk too much like that though and one of the blondes is gonna rope you into party planning." He glanced up at Percy. "Unless Caro already did and you're fishing for ideas."

"I am absolutely not willing to engage in party planning." Percy checked over his shoulder, just in case the unnerving blonde girl who lurked in the lobby was nearby. "It's merely on my mind because of the season. The last Winter's Crest was the first I'd spent at home in...several years. It's a good memory."

"Might not be a palace and there might not be snow, but you got your girl and a chance to make new memories. Seems like a pretty good start to me." He shrugged a little. He knew that wasn't the point, but he wasn't sure what else to say. Nostalgia never got him anywhere and he didn't have a whole lot to look fondly back on anyway.

Percy considered that and finally nodded. "You are absolutely correct."

The past, after all, was a disease. A trap. He'd always believed that it had destroyed his future as well.

With Monstah Training finished for the morning (there was no way she would be at anything but peak performance when Grog eventually showed up), Pike happily made her way to the garden to do a bit of cooling down and praying before the day got fully underway.

Dressed in a simple (if too big) sweatshirt and trousers, she happily hummed one of the dozens of Scanlan originals that she couldn't have forgotten if she tried.

She was used to talking this particular path through the garden, but on most days it was empty. So she was pleasantly surprised when she saw that today would be different. "Mac! Hello!"

They'd only spoken once or twice, but Pike knew how much Percy liked the other man and wanted to find a way to know him a bit better. "How is your morning going?"

"Hey Pike," Mac said around the little screwdriver between his teeth, barely thinking about the usual effort he made to hide the state of his mouth around anyone. He was too deep in thought to worry much about what the people around him were thinking.

"Decent. You on more of your holy shit?" he asked, glancing up at her, nothing but fondness in his eyes as he winked. He didn't get the whole religion thing himself. His world didn't lend itself to believing in anything. Seemed to work for them, though.

"Not yet. Still haven't decided if meditation will happen or if it will just be a nap in the grass." She laughed, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "Training was kind of intense today."

With a curious eye, she looked over at the bits scattered about. "What's all this?"

"Well," he started, sitting back a little so she could see better. "It was a laser rifle. I'm trying to figure out how to make it quieter. Made it louder last time, but it did basically vaporize the target I had up so kind of a trade off." More power wasn't really what he needed. He was a good enough shot.

"Fuck were you doing that was that intense?" He took a swig of his drink, hissing just a little under his breath as the cold liquor found a particularly sensitive spot.

"Laser rifle?" Her brows furrowed. "I don't think I know what either of those words are, but it sounds fancy."

"Have you met the really really big guy? Pete? We've worked out this thing where he throws me up in the air and I come down on a target. He calls it the Holy Hand Grenade Fastball Special." She mimed swinging her mace over her head. "It's pretty epic."

The sound of pain caught her attention. What kind of healer would she be if she didn't? If she had to guess, it was a sore tooth. "Are you alright?"

In response to that, Mac picked up the institute pistol he had next to him and fired a light tap into one of the fence posts, enough to char it just a little, but not to do a whole lot of damage. They were by his plants anyway. Only person he'd be pissing off was himself. "Like that but bigger, longer range." He set it down again.

"Sounds cool. I'll have to come watch you guys sometime." Not that he really needed an excuse to watch Piotr do anything.

"'S nothing," he said, "Wastelander mouth, don't worry about it." Distance. Keep distance from it and no one would ask too much and maybe not even look too closely. Better still when he just kept his mouth shut, and some dark part of him said that'd be doing the whole inn a favour in more ways than just not having to look at his teeth.

"Whoa-ho-ho!" The word was elongated as Pike laughed, impressed. "That was so cool!"

Pike's head fell to the side. "Oh no you don't, mister." She watched him try to shrug off her concern, but wasn't having it. "I'll not have a member of my family in pain when I can help."

It was nice when people were easily impressed like that. Especially when they were people who could do shit like it seemed like everyone from their world could. Pulling a trigger was nothing. Still, with enough time and quiet like the inn seemed willing to give, might be that he could make one from scratch.

"It's fine," he said. "I'm used to it. Just gotta be careful, that's all." And then. "Family?" His brow furrowed. Guys like him? They didn't get family. They got death and then they learned to stay away from people so no one else got dead who didn't need to be.

Before she knew what she was doing, Pike gave Mac the kind of look that was usually reserved for Grog. "It's not fine. Let me help."

Taking a step closer, she sat down next to him with an air of finality. "And yes, you're part of the family we've made. It's what happens when Percival Frederickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III actually likes you." She dusted her hands off on her trousers and gave him a radiant smile. "Vox Machina is a package deal and that includes their healer."

Edited 2017-11-28 20:46 (UTC)

"Percy only likes me because I gave him a gun and let him talk as much as he wanted the first night he was here," Mac pointed out, a little fond ribbing.

He sighed and set his tools down. "Fine, ain't gonna refuse any of you, but if you can't fix my mouth don't stress yourself over it. Save your blessings or whatever for someone who needs 'em."

"It takes a lot more than that to earn Percy's respect. He's very picky." She laughed.

"I'm not on call at the clinic today, so I don't need to save my power for anything." She slipped her holy symbol out from around her neck and set it down between them. "If it will make you feel better, I'll start small and work up from there?"

Without waiting for an answer, she closed her eyes and placed her hand on his arm and cast Cure Wounds at third level. A warm, golden aura traveled from her fingertips and surrounded him. Pike always felt Sarenrae's attention on her when she used her healing, but this felt different. She just knew that Sarenrae was particularly pleased. This was someone that her goddess thought deserved her help.

He still wasn't sure at all about having Percy's respect, but he wasn't going to argue it. Arguing with Pike seemed to get people precisely nowhere anyway no matter how small she was.

The magic felt warm and weird and he didn't much like it, but he held still for it anyway. Everything anyone had ever said told him he was supposed to trust Pike and that she wasn't going to hurt him.

He was still pretty sure he didn't deserve this and whatever thing gave her power like this was gonna realize that pretty quick and turn it back on him.

“How does that feel?” Pike opened her eyes and smiled. It had been such a long time since she’d felt her lady’s presence like that. This was right. “On a scale of one to ten, where was it and where is it now? Be honest.”

Edited 2017-11-28 22:49 (UTC)

"Fuck if I know," he said, looking away and clearing his throat. "Hurts about as much as it did before. It's just there. How're you supposed to rank stuff that's always there. Don't think you can heal what's dead anyway." That was what was wrong with his teeth, right? Decay? Whatever. She was wasting her time. She'd figure it out eventually.

Pike sighed a little, the lifted her shirt to show off the nasty scar the crossed her entire midsection. “I was literally cut in half once and my goddess and her clerics brought me back.” Her brows furrowed in concentration. His teeth were worse than she’d realized if her earlier spell had no impact. “I can do this.”

Pushing up her sleeves, she took her symbol in one hand with the other touched his jawbone gently. Instead of casting Cure Wounds again she opted for Regenerate. She’d only cast a handful of times, but also kept prepared.

As the power left her body, she felt it travel through her arm and focus on Mac’s teeth. Her earlier spell would have cured any wounds to the living tissue, but she could feel the teeth begin to reknit, closing cavities and cracks and bring life into the core of each tooth. A moment more of concentration and the nerves simultaneously reignited and calmed, as she found a balance within his body.

“Ha!” She whooped, throwing her fist into the air. “That had to have done it!”

He'd been about ready to argue with her again when the magic hit him harder that time. Deeper. He blinked a little dumbfounded as his tongue gently prodded at places that had been raw gum for years and now suddenly had tooth again.

His mouth...

"How the fuck..." Magic. It was always magic with them. Always magic with all of them. And there he was, the one guy without it.

He dropped his gaze, feeling humbled and unworthy about the whole thing in his little bitter way. "Thank you," he murmured.

The way everyone had spoken of Pike before she showed up, shit the way they still did... she definitely earned it.

“If you want to know more about how, I will gladly tell you later.” She patted his cheek gently and smiled. “But for now, I’ll just say ‘you’re welcome.’” Pike could literally feel Sarenrae’s pride in her and it made her a bit giddy. Reverently, she picked up her holy symbol and hung it back around her neck.

Tucking her finger under his chin, she urged him to look up at her. She was not going to let him treat her any different because she’d worked a minor miracle on him. “You can repay me by letting me fire that lasery thingy a few times.”

"A few times," he agreed, "Just a few. Ain't like one of Percy's guns. It's way harder to make ammo for these things." He almost offered to put back together the rifle for her, but that'd be way too big and she was barely bigger than Duncan as it was.

"Lemme put this one back together and we can go somewhere where no one's gonna yell at us for shooting at their crops or experiments or anything else, alright?" he offered, giving her a little smile to kinda like her see her handiwork.

"Nice gun." Mary had come upon the man taking apart a gun as she had been on a walk. She felt restless and still guilty from knowing she was dead back home and her sons did not have the life she had wanted for them.

Still a little shaken from Pike's stupid (amazing) magic trick (probable miracle,) Mac didn't have much room in his head to get annoyed that anyone was calling the bullshit institute laser rifle he had nice. It wasn't nice. He had nice guns. This was just the one he could fuck around with and not feel bad if he broke. Usually.

"Thanks," he said instead,

Being from 1983, most of the guns she had seen at the Inn were ones she wasn't familiar with. She, herself, felt a little naked without any weapons at all though she tried to pretend it didn't bother her since she had decided to leave the hunting life behind when she conceived Dean.

"What's the range on that?"

"Well, when it ain't in pieces on the ground, about four hundred feet or so, give or take. Now, I'd say about zero. Could start a neat little local fire with it, though. It burns this weird green-blue. Dunno why. Science crap, I'm sure." He cocked his head a little at her. "Loud as shit, though."

"Loud is only useful when you want to scare a lot of things at once." Otherwise, Mary preferred stealthy weapons. "How fast can you put it back together?"

MacCready let out a heavy puff of air. "Shit, um, this hunk of plastic? From this? Probably about 20 minutes?" State it was in, it was going to take some time to put back together. "It's old and fidly. Most of my other pieces about five minutes tops."

"So from what I'm gathering this is a piece of shit and you have nicer guns." More of a statement than a real question. This guy reminder her of some of the hunters her parents hung around with in the south. More rough around the edges and not a lot of social decorum.

"It's situationally useful," he agreed. "Somethings take a bullet real well and energy weapons less well, but yeah it's a piece of trash and I have better guns." He extended his hand up to her, "MacCready."

"Energy Weapons." She repeated it and tried to visualize it, but failed. Mary gave his hand a strong shake. "Mary" She gave him a slight nod. "I'm not from the same time as a lot of people here.... what does an energy weapon do?"

Now, a normal person probably would've answered that question with a reasonable answer. Mac, however, didn't really know the science bullshit behind it. So, he shrugged and pulled out a laser pistol, fired it once into one of the wooden posts and put it back. "That, basically," he said, the post slightly smoking and with a small divot in it, but whatever. The only plants there he was in any kinda danger of harming were his own.

Mary tensed a little, but surprise even herself by not actually jumping. It didn't quite make the same sound as a regular gun. She walked over to where the laser hit the wood and inspected it with interest. "How does it kill things that aren't human?"

Out for a run, Kash paused when he encountered Percy's friend Mac tinkering on the lawn. The thing in his hands looked to be a weapon of the same class as Percy's 'guns'. Since he had no interest in being shot accidentally or otherwise and no interest in healing someone else he accidentally got shot, he cleared his throat and dropped out of a jog before approaching from beyond Mac's peripheral vision.

"Loaded?" he asked, the word sounding somewhat tentative on his tongue.

He'd been at the inn long enough to sort of have a general idea of who was who based on sound even if he hadn't actually spoken to them. Problem was, he hadn't been out of the wasteland long enough to always remember he was still probably safe when someone started talking at him at a shit angle like that. He couldn't stop the way his mind ran through anything else he had on himself to fight with if he needed to even as that little paranoid nugget in the back of his mind reminded him that a raider or a gunner wouldn't've bothered asking him if he was hot or not.

"It's dry, you're clear," Mac said, finally catching up to things enough to note the hesitance in the other guy's voice.

The guy's body language was subtle but not so subtle that Kash didn't read the tension in it. Figured one of De Rolo's friends would be jumpy. Anyone who'd done the kind of surviving they had would be. So Kash stepped into his line of sight and gave him a nod, hands free so he could see they were empty.

"I don't know what 'dry' means in this context, but 'clear' works."

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[EP: OTA, MacCready] Probably gonna break this one

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