savetheearth | (no subject)

Who: Julien and OPEN
Where: Pretty much anywhere works, please specify!
When: Idk, any time this week?
What: It passes for normal living.

Julien had a lot to do these days.

Early in the mornings he'd exercise in one of the parks, even during the worst of the cold snap. He wasn't the fastest or strongest around, but his endurance was startling. Sometimes he came back for more in the middle of the afternoon.

Some days he had shifts at the LSR clinic, often at the front desk, out shoveling snow whenever it was there. When he didn't have work he'd meander the city and frequent various places, sometimes in company and sometimes alone. Sometimes he'd find a place to read, sometimes he'd go back to the apartment for that. Now and then he'd ride his scraped-up secondhand motorcycle, anonymous in a helmet, just to be riding it.

Here and there throughout the day he'd stop in a park or somewhere else out of the way, including the odd rooftop, and feed pigeons, which were fearless of him.

By the time it was starting to get dark he'd usually head back to the apartment he shared with Blaine, since he was unable to see in low light. Sometimes instead he'd go to a party and be taken back in someone's car, making his way from there with the help of streetlights.

He was a short young man with a compact build, rarely seen in a shirt without a collar, with fluffy dyed-blue hair and slightly odd-looking blue eyes. Someone who'd known him for a while might notice stress showing around his eyes and the corners of his mouth, but he smiled enough, especially when watched, that usually it was hard to tell.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Julien shrugged]

I had a pulse that made me sick. Before that I'd seen memories about this plague whatever I'm turning into carried, that hurt humans. This wasn't it, though. This can't affect mammals.

And it ended up on the news, actually. A side piece here and there - cleaning up the bodies, wondering why it was only happening around Locke. It looks kind of like the flu.

Oh... that's horrible.

I hope you're okay, and the pigeons too. I've never had a disease or something come from an echo.

A lot of them died, but I think the disease ran its course. Sometimes I think the survivors aren't quite the same anymore, but I don't know, I didn't pay that much attention before all this.

As for me, I still have it, I'm just a carrier now. No symptoms. I guess there had to be an adjustment period where my body freaked out, though.

[To have a disease all the time... Rakka was shocked to hear it.]

I guess it had something to do with what you're changing into. Maybe whatever you are in the other world is immune?

I guess so. [The one he's carrying is starting to get antsy, so Julien puts it down and lets it join the others.] Apparently it can only infect things with the ZW chromosome system. I'm ZZ. Mammals have the XY system.

[A few pigeons hop around Rakka, now quite curious of the girl that was talking with the one they understood. She didn't care though.]

Oh, that's.... [She needs a moment to remember her science classes.] ZZ is the chromosome for... birds.

[He kind of flinches and visibly keeps from saying something, turns his head so she can't see his face. The birds, sensitive to emotions, get a little more wary.]

I know. But I'm not turning into a bird.

Uh...

[Unsure of what she said wrong, or what was going on, Rakka panicked.]

I-I'm sorry. I didn't m-mean to say something rude....

[Julien turns back to her with a smile. Nothing's wrong! Nothing at all. His pupils are a little smaller, so his eyes seem brighter than before.]

Sorry, sorry, I'm the one being rude.

Anyway, you've had some time to settle into this nonsense of being in the Numbers Club. How are you coping?

[Some small part in Rakka's mind tells her that something isn't right with her friend. She brushes it aside for now at least.]

I'm doing... okay I guess. I'm meeting a lot more people who discovered this thing, and I'm trying to keep up with all of the stuff going on.

Are you okay? Like, one of the last times I talked to you, you were shot.

[Julien smiles.] There's a lot! It seems like every few days there's something new to try and process. Or avoid.

I'm all right. Very keen on not being shot again, obviously. [he wrinkles his nose.] Really, I'm good at stress, apparently. I try not to worry about things I can't change, or what a lot of people think of me, and I guess that helps.

Hmmm...

[Rakka gives him a look, like she's trying to figure out just what he really is from his face alone.]

It sounds like a lot happens in this city, so I guess I'm happy that you take it well. I don't know how much I'll be able to handle really.

[Julien just looks sympathetic. His pupils have relaxed and gone back to normal. Hints of strain in his face just suggest that he's a little worn out.]

Staying away from some of the dangers might help with that. Of course that's easier said than done! Still. It does help to remember there are people around who'll help.