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| Uh, hey there. I'm probably kinda busy at the moment, but leave a message and I'll get back to you. Oh, yeah, if this is an emergency, you should dial— Wait, fuck, it ain't 9-1-1 here, is it? ...Just call the cops and ask for me. [action/video/voice welcome!] |
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[ He gives it a meaningful look, since it is pretty much black underneath the foam. ]
Gonna say that one's a loss.
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I guess I'll just have to buy another one. Still, you stopped it before anything else could catch fire! [AT LEAST THERE'S THAT.]
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[ He sighs, then shakes his head before he points at the canister. The big brother is coming out now... ]
Now, listen, you need to get yourself another one of those, since they're pretty much one use only. And I mean, I didn't end up bad or nothin', but next time, you need to be callin' the fire department before the police, all right?
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Okay! Where do I get them? [...] And what's the fire department? I thought you were just supposed to call the police when you had emergencies...
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[ That bad, huh? He's briefly taken aback by the question, since it's so obvious to him, but after a moment's pause, he explains as best he can. ]
Well, no, not always. Police come to fight the bad guys, but fire isn't really a bad guy or anything. It's just fire. This one was pretty small, so it wasn't no big deal, but if you got a big fire, you gotta have people that are really trained to handle that kind of stuff.
[ He continues his explanation, which includes the number he should call, but after that, he reaches into his back pocket to pull out his wallet, and from there, a small, plain business card. But it's just the contact info they give for every police officer, and this one has Jason's name and contact info on it. ]
Anyway, here. This is all my info, so if you're in trouble, you can call me too. But if it's fire, call them first. [ a beat, then] ...Introducin' myself with a business card feels kinda weird, though, so what's your name? I'm Jason—Jason Stackhouse.
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Oh! I didn't know they had a separate group of people who dealt with that... [He just thought it was an all-encompassing thing! Like some sort of Emergency Defense Squad! But this makes sense too, because god knows how they put out their fires where he comes from but they could probably use an entire department dedicated to firefighting.
He'll listen to the explanation attentively though, nodding along and then reaching out to take the business card when it's offered. It's looked over briefly and then tucked into his shirt pocket.
AND THEN THE EXPLANATION IS OVER and it's time to make another friend aw yeah.]
I'll do that, I promise - and my name's Oz! ["And I don't normally set things on fire".] Have you been on the police force here for a while?
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[ Jason nods approvingly with a warm, friendly smile himself. In his mind, he's definitely thinking that he's going to have to look out for this kid, since he needs Help, but little does he know he needs GFantasy levels of Help. ]
But yeah, ever since I got here, pretty much. Been uh... Shit, two months, I guess? [ He looks incredulous for a moment, but then shakes his head as he realizes: ] Oh, uh, sorry about the language.
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Oz is well used to cursing by now, at lest, so he shakes his head.]
It's fine! [HE'S USED TO IT and at least Jason doesn't act like a cranky old man while he's swearing, so it works out. More importantly:] But two months? I guess you've been here longer than I have if you've been working there that long.
[CONGRATS, JASON.]
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[ He reaches up to rub the back of his neck a bit sheepishly, since that's not the happiest thing to think about, since Mary had just left, but he's leaving figuring that out to Naoi. He wasn't a detective, so figuring out where Mary went... That was better for Naoi. But all the same, Jason gives Oz a smile. ]
You don't live alone here, do you? I mean, not that I'm judgin', but just makin' sure you're safe. [ you did just set your kitchen on fire ]
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[Oz has heard many a tale... But he doesn't linger on it for very long either, being as sensitive as he is to the atmosphere, though he just figures Jason probably isn't entirely pleased about being stuck here for so long. Shaking his head!]
Thanks for worrying, but I don't live alone, so it's okay. Grandpa sleeps in that room over there, and Zara and Gil spend a lot of time here, too. We'll be fine! [BUT WILL THEY REALLY.]
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Ah... Yeah, I was. [ naoi ]
But anyways, that don't matter. It's good your grandpa is here, yeah. I lived with my Gran, er, my grandma, that is, before I came here. [ But that's a slip, so he adds after a beat and a sheepish look. ]
...Well, no, that ain't quite right. Back at home, I mean, since I was in another place before here, but the point is, that's good. He doesn't need any help around the house, does he? [ because jason is here to help actual grandpas... not the rest of my roster ]
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But Oz just nods along at that, blissfully unaware!]
Mm, nope, we can handle things around here pretty well. It's really nice of you to offer, though. [AND HE SMILES like a stupid sunflower because he really is happy that Jason's being so kind and accommodating... it touches him a lot okay...
But after a second of hesitation:] There seem to be a few people who came here from a place that wasn't their home, I think. That was the case for me, too.
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Yeah? Well, hope it was better than mine, then. [ He laughs, trying to play it off, but he does break eye contact as he starts to clean. ]
I've heard of some places that aren't so bad, but place I was at before this? Real messed up. So even if this is some Matrix shit, tell you what, I'm sure glad to be here instead.
[ He realizes that this towel isn't going to do the job though, so he steps back. ]
Got any more of these? I'll at least help you clean up before I head back.
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Ah— yeah, just a second!
[AND OFF HE ZOOMS, turning on his heel to go back to the closet and get more towels. He comes back with an armful, passing some off and keeping some for himself. Almost immediately, he gets started on mopping up the extinguisher foam and burtn... everything.
He forgets to give another thank you though, since he's trying to mentally sort out what he wants to say next.]
The places that I've heard... Some of them, at least - I'm not sure that I would have wanted to be there, either. [Especially the one that was drafting people in for a war.] But I guess we're in the same situation, since this place doesn't seem so bad to me, either. Not yet, anyway.
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Yeah, I ain't exactly itchin' to go anywhere but home. Every place I've heard of sounds just as weird.
[ the jamjar gods have a rude sense of humor ]
If you don't mind me askin', what was the place you were at before here like? Not every day I run into someone else that's done this before.
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I hope you can get home soon, in that case! [AH, COMPLICATED TOPICS. The next one sure isn't any better.]
I don't mind. [And he doesn't, at least!! He's not really reticent about his experiences, however traumatic they may have been. It's still much more difficult for him to talk about his home world than about DreamLand.]
—But it wasn't a very good place. A bunch of us woke up in an amusement park without being able to remember how we got there. It was abandoned and kind of run down, but everything still worked and there were canned foods in the kitchen and things like that. I learned how to make oatmeal there! [A CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT.
But he pauses for a second after that, since the next part is obviously much more weighted.] We didn't know it at the time, but whoever brought us there had put something into our heads. [His hand raises, touching his temple. There would be a pretty nasty scar there, but it's faded somewhat, aided by the warped body he inhabits.] ...So some of us ended up thinking that the entire thing was a game, and that they needed to "wake up" everyone else by killing them.
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...Wait, a game? No shit?
[ There's definitely recognition in his tone, which is why he looks concerned. It doesn't sound like that camp in the details, but the idea of it being a game where you're killing people, that's unfortunately familiar. ]
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Mm— Well, that's what they were told it was. In the end, no one really died, but it wasn't a "game". Calling it that... [He shakes his head, and the look on his face is one of clear, if not brief, disapproval.]
Toying with lives like that is never a game.
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[ Jason says it with an almost chilly tone, but it's not surprising why, at least. He tosses the towel between his hands as a thoughtful gesture, but ends up just sighing heavily. He doesn't like talking about this, since it is how he died, but for someone that gets it, he figures it won't be so bad. ]
Ours wasn't Six Flags or nothin'. It was a summer camp, like you'd go to for football camp or somethin'. It's like you said, though. There was a group of people killin' everyone, but it ended up bein' because they were possessed. They didn't really know nothin' about it, I don't think.
[ There's a small flicker of something, maybe guilt, but he raises his shoulders into a shrug again. ]
I was the only one that could find out if they were the bad guys or not, though.
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But before he can speak to it, Jason goes into a little more detail, and Oz's eyes widen in something akin to shock.]
Wait— you were the cop? Did you have a partner?
[Considering he was one of two, and that wasn't even counting the detective. He doesn't know how close their similarities are, but it's enough that he has to ask.]
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[ Jason pauses, startled himself at the shock in Oz's reception. He can read between the lines here, see what that shock might mean, but at the same time, part of him wants to reject it. There's a deep sympathy that pulls at his heart too, because in his case, he had wanted his role. It's why he wanted to be a police officer at all, to help people, and it just came in a different form than he had expected. And Oz was just a kid. He knows that the game doesn't play fair, but still, this is... ]
Well, we didn't call it a cop, if you mean what I was just talkin' about. It was a Detective, and... Well, no it was just me. I had people helpin' me out a lot, since they were way smarter than me, but the only person pickin'... That was me.
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[What a difficult situation to be in. No matter how difficult things got for him, no matter how heavy his role pressed down on his shoulders, no matter how lonely he felt at times, he at least had Belgium to turn to. Missile was a lot of help too, even if he didn't necessarily understand things to their fullest depth. He's not sure what he would have done without that support.
And Jason had come over on such short notice to help him here, too - it seems like this is just the sort of person he is, then. A kind, caring and sympathetic one. Oz smiles.]
...It's a lot of responsibility to carry all by yourself, isn't it? And it would take a lot of strength too, even with people to help you out.
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...Yeah. Guess it is.
[ A pause, then he asks: ]
You did the same thing, Oz?
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[There's a difference to be made there, after all, since he only had one night where the responsibility was resting on his shoulders and only on his.]
We had a detective, too. Missile! Um— he was a dog. [siz] But he was a really helpful one and he tried his best to find the VIPs. I was one of the buddy cops with my partner, Belgium, so I didn't usually have to make a decision all by myself. We had to pick from a list of names every night and it would show whether or not that person was one of the VIPs... Did it work that way for you?
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[ Jason does boggle a little bit at it being a dog, since, well, he's definitely imagining Lassie, but that's also a short-lived thought, because at Oz's question, he nods. ]
Yeah. Exactly the same.
[ He considers something briefly, then tosses the towel onto his shoulder before he steps forward to put a hand on Oz's shoulder. He's not quite to the hug stage yet, but it's clearly meant to be a comforting gesture. ]
Listen, don't know if it means much from someone you just met, but... It's hard, man. Even if it was helpin' people, it sure didn't feel like it sometimes.
[ Which is part of the reason he prayed every night, not only for the people that had been killed, but for the killers too. He gives Oz's shoulder a squeeze. ]
But you're all right now. [ He's totally assuming Oz died too... ]
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