ABS FIESTA REDUX

[Mr. Hurricane]

"Hello," Jaakko replies.

He studies the chili mac, and decides to have a scoop dumped on the plate.

"Dog food for bitches like you Tippy," Jaakko quips in deadpan, "Wasn't this food actually good a week ago?"

[Ad Bot]

[Gojira]

Markus enters the mess hall to find something to eat, and spots Jaakko, Tippy, and Virvel. Having little else to do, he decides to join them, tray in hand.

[Tayasaurus]

"Dog food for bitches like you Tippy," Jaakko quips in deadpan, "Wasn't this food actually good a week ago?"

"No, its always been stuff. But through the power of placebo, naming it something fancy makes everyone think it tastes great."

[Badger]

"How am I feeling?" she repeats, looking over at Walt. Her face is a bit thinner and the dark circles under her eyes are still present. "Like stuff," Cualli sighs. "Same as ever."

Walter narrows his eyes slightly at Cualli for a moment before speaking.

"I know It's hard to forget about things you care about, but it doesn't stay like that forever-" He reaches over and gives her a light pat on her back for a moment before taking his hand back "If you ever want to talk, I'm usually around somewhere on this airship."

[carolcat]

Cualli holds her head in her hands. "Thanks," she says, her voice muffled. "But he's... I can't move on from something like this. I don't know."

[Badger]

Walter sits silently for awhile as he thinks about what to say before recalling what Arkhip had said to him

"He said you were strong, and that he knew you'd be fine. It's a lot to take in, but I think he didn't want to pull you down with all his personal troubles."

[carolcat]

"Pull me down? If he really believed I was strong, he would've believed that I'd be able to support him through his personal troubles," Cualli says, narrowing her eyes slightly at no one in particular. "But I guess my current state is proof enough that him and I didn't know each other as well as we thought. I didn't think he'd desert, and he thought I'd be able to handle him deserting."

[Badger]

Walter pauses a moment before slightly shifting the subject

"What happened to him on leave? It felt like he was forced into a corner he couldn't leave if he wanted to when I talked to him."

[carolcat]

"His dad was killed in an accident, his mom went into debt and killed herself, and he got stabbed in a parking lot when we were going to head home from the temple of Nebolai in Moratov. Some guys were trying to break into his car, I took one of them down, and Arkhip got stabbed trying to stop another one of them." Cualli shivers as she remembers the sight of Arkhip's jacket turning black as it was soaked with blood that night. "Things really went south for him and... I wasn't enough to pull him out of it."

[Badger]

"His dad was killed in an accident, his mom went into debt and killed herself, and he got stabbed in a parking lot when we were going to head home from the temple of Nebolai in Moratov. Some guys were trying to break into his car, I took one of them down, and Arkhip got stabbed trying to stop another one of them." Cualli shivers as she remembers the sight of Arkhip's jacket turning black as it was soaked with blood that night. "Things really went south for him and... I wasn't enough to pull him out of it."

"I think he was destined to leave, I was trying to help him in the little ways I could like extra cash or talking to him, but then you came along.  If it wasn't for you intervening in his life he would've snapped and left a long time ago."

Walter pauses for another moment and then looks at Cualli

"You can't do anything to change it, and you did nothing wrong. You're the best thing that happened to him in a long time, and he didn't know how to accept it because of all the wrongs within his life."

[carolcat]

Cualli holds her head in her hands to hide the tears she feels burning in her eyes at Walt's words. The best thing that happened to him.

"I guess," is all she's able to choke out.

[Badger]

Cualli holds her head in her hands to hide the tears she feels burning in her eyes at Walt's words. The best thing that happened to him.

"I guess," is all she's able to choke out.

Walter just remains silent for the time being, partially letting Cualli catch up with her thoughts while he catches up with his own.

[carolcat]

"Maybe if I'd been a pilot, if I'd been up there with him to talk to him... Maybe it wouldn't have happened. You get to feeling helpless sometimes when you're just down on the ground all the time. Sure, I help control whether a plane flies or not, but... that's it."

Cualli leans back and stares up at the ceiling. "I wish I could've been there."

[Badger]

"I think even if you were a pilot, he would've chosen a mission you weren't deployed on if he wanted to leave. He would've known that you'd try to stop him."

Walter studies Cualli for a moment

"Except that's past the point. You just wanted to say goodbye, right?"

[carolcat]

"I don't know. I guess. I wish there wasn't even a need to say goodbye," she sighs. "But a proper one would have been... nice, yeah."