savetheearth | [OPEN]

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Who: Sam (

pumpkinbutt) & anyone!
Where: Locke City Hospital & nearby park
When: Monday Feb 3rd; late afternoon/evening
What: Getting her usual check-ups and enjoying being out of the house for a while.

[Park: Closed to Philip]
[ The first batch of appointments are done for the day, and honestly? Sam's ready for a breather. The constant being helped in and out of one of the hospital's cheelchairs, the exercises, response tests... It's a lot! So when she's finally given a moment to relax Sam knows exactly where she wants to be wheeled: a nearby park just a block or so off from the main hospital grounds.

It's huge or grand or anything but it's outside and the cooler, fresh air makes her feel better already. Ultimately she asks to be set near one of the benches along the paths that run through it, and it's from there she'll sit with a blanket over her lap and for the moment just enjoy things as they are. ]

[Evening: Hospital (OPEN)]
[ ...And then later it's back to a few more appointments. Mostly routine stuff followed by a consultation by her family doctor but it does take a while for everything to get compiled and set up so Sam decides to busy herself with her 3DS while she waits both between appointments and after, eventually winding up near the cafeteria. Her aide's run off to fetch something for her to eat (since ew, hospital food).

At least there's no more tests to be done by that point so she's able to wear her clothes like normal and sit at an actual table, chair folded up and off to one side. ]

[[ ooc; first option is closed but the second's open to anyone who'd like to meet Sam, prearranged or not! She is disabled and has to use a wheelchair to move around, just as an fyi *^*b ]]

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[Ravi's not actually hungry, but he finds himself in the cafeteria anyway because he needs a break that will actually be a break, instead of ending five minutes in with someone dragging him back out onto the floor. Why does the ER even have a breakroom? It's certainly not for the nurses.]

[But nobody's going to run all the way to the cafeteria to drag him back onto the floor. Genius. This is his third 12-hour shift in as many days, and he's got another one tomorrow. Can't blame a guy for wanting to take his full 30 minutes without getting it cut short.]

[anyway the point of all that is to say Ravi is wandering into the cafeteria for a cup of coffee and 30 minutes off his feet. but while he's trying to decide where to sit, he spots Sam and hey doesn't she look really familiar? it clicks when he sees the wheelchair.]

[normally Ravi prefers his downtime to involve avoiding human interaction on any level, but he's been feeling lonely enough lately that the prospect of spending at least part of his break with one of the recurring patients he actually likes doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. he comes over to her table, but doesn't sit yet. kind of rude before you've established whether or not the other person wants you there, in his opinion]

Ah--Sam, yes? [he would not even try 'guessing' her name if he wasn't already absolutely certain it was her.] I have not seen you around for a while.

Mister Savarna? [ The voice is familiar but doesn't actually click until Sam looks up and recognizes his face. Surprise flits across her expression and lightens quickly to something a little more pleased; he isn't one of her actual regulars and the few times they've actually spoken before she hasn't minded terribly. He's actually one of the few staff she doesn't actually think of entirely of staff.

The polite thing to do is close her DS, so she does and offers a nod when the latter half of his greeting comes. ]

Yeah, I was out of state for a while for treatment... My recovery's almost done so I was able to come back home.

[oh gosh is that somebody actually looking pleased to see him? this is the best thing that's happened to him all week!]

[his smile is small, but certainly genuine, as he takes a seat across the table from her. he sets his coffee down in front of him, fingers wrapped around the cup.]

[problem: he is really really bad at small talk. he realizes this when he gets her explanation and totally blanks on an appropriate response. noooo the tragedy of being an anxiety-ridden introvert who suddenly finds himself craving company! HOW DO PEOPLE DO THIS ALL THE TIME?]

Ah--where at? [the first thing he can think of that seems like a reasonable follow-up.]

[ Introvert high-five bro, introvert high-five. ]

Over in Texas. They had a big facility over there, so... [ Not to mention several specialists but it was a relief to be sent there instead of overseas somewhere like when she'd been younger. Much closer to home.

Sam shrugs a little. ]

We'll see.

[hm, what are the big MDA hospitals in Texas...? he's trying to guess where she might have gone, but he's blanking. it's not his state, and it's not his area of expertise.]

Ah--I did my combat medic training in Texas. [probably not anywhere near where she ended up, he figures. it feels pointless to have said, ugh, HOW DO PEOPLE SOCIALIZE.]

[he's just going to try to shrug it off and move on] It is not a bad place to spend the winter, at least.

[ HE'S TRYING AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS. ]

Does Texas really get winter? [ ...Because that's the easiest part of that to focus on, really. She doesn't know what to say about combat medical training. ]

Barely. [a smile and a shrug. HE HAS NEVER ACTUALLY BEEN THROUGH A TEXAS WINTER, but w/e man she doesn't need to know that. he's been through California winters, that's probably about the same.]

Are you glad to be home? Even with the snow.

Yeah... [ More or less. It honestly doesn't feel like she's even left by the way her parents had reacted. ] It sounds like a lot of things have been happening here while I was gone. Was the hospital busy after the earthquake?

[you don't know the half of it, kid. (except she kind of does, now that she's network too.)]

[but with all the shit that's been happening that he super does not want to talk about and also can't really talk about anyway in front of non-numbered company, his initial reaction is to disengage a bit. his eyes slide away from her and he buys himself a moment to consider how to respond by taking a sip of his coffee.]

[oh, the earthquake, yes he can talk about that, good. he looks back to her. it's subtle, but if Sam's paying attention, she could definitely pick up that he went from being reminded of something he didn't really want to talk about to hearing a much more unobjectionable topic of conversation that he could jump on to distract from the other.]

Ah--very busy. I work ER now, yes? So, very busy. I think I worked a sixteen hour shift that night. And then twelves again the next two.

[ It's definitely something strange she takes note of...but given the mention of the ER and his job in general she makes the much more logical assumption that it's related to normal every-day circumstances and not necessarily aliens ruining the lives of everyone ever with their bullshit B|

Weird that the ER seems to be a bit of a relief to talk about instead, but maybe he's just a guy that's really into his job. ]

That must've been hard...I'm sorry. It's not that bad now right?

['it's not that bad now, right?' it catches him off-guard. he freezes for just a second, looking at her like a deer in headlights. it's a very normal thing to say, and the obvious answer is that yes, things are no longer so bad, but suddenly he can't think of it. all he can think of is all the shit that's been happening related to the network lately. the farmhouse, the snakes, him accidentally getting someone killed and making a pariah of himself in the process, personality-changing echoes...]

[he knows he can't say any of that, but it's so pervasive and it seems so obvious to him in the moment that he can't even wrap his head around what someone outside the network would think the state of things in the city should be]

[fuck, he needs to answer, he has been quiet too long. it was only a few seconds but that can seem like so much longer in a casual conversation.]

Ahh--work... Work is not so bad now, yes. [that wouldn't be a bad cover if he hadn't taken so damn long to say it. fuuuck. he takes a sip from the coffee cup again, his eyes sliding away from her and the table, across to the far corner of the cafeteria.]

[when he sets the cup down, his next words come a little too fast, a little too insistent, like he's desperate to distract her attention and doing a poor job of hiding it] Do you watch the news? Have you heard about what has been happening in the city?

[the cover story was eco-terrorists, wasn't it...?]

Um...yeah... [ What the heck is up with that reaction? She can understand being stressed from stuff sure, but that was...well, it was a little eerie? And has her posture shifting to something a little more wary as she cranes her brain for anything that would really cause it.

Sam's mostly got a whole load of nothing though. ]

I've only been back for a little while but it sounded like there was a sabotage recently? But it seems like they downplayed it a little. [ Best to be vague because really, that's as much as she knows. Keeping up with current events seemed a little futile when she was kept away from them more often than not. ]

[he caught that posture shift. it puts him a little on-edge, because oh no did he just fuck up he totally fucked up what did he do wrong]

[breathe Ravi. it's okay. it's probably just because you took forever to reply to a simple question and she's not sure why.]

Ah, well, there was... [a sabotage...? he's not sure what that's referring to, actually. what does he remember from the news...?] Thunder Corp dumping chemicals in the city water reservoir, several months ago. They denied it but there was video. And the earthquake... And then a new gang showed up around the Dead District. They attacked the clinic I volunteer at.

[awkward pause where he realizes maybe he shouldn't have said that because that's...kind of a worrisome thing to say. hasty amendment: ] Ah--but I have not heard much of them lately so I think probably they aren't as big a problem anymore.

The Blood Keys? [ She blurts it out without really thinking on it; it's so common on the network, in the faq and posts, that she forgets to wonder if it's ever even been in the newspapers at all. It's been normal to just call them that for the last while. ]

[his attention snaps fully to her; he obviously wasn't expecting to hear the name out of her mouth.]

[were they mentioned by name in the news anywhere? he doesn't know either. whether she heard the name from the network isn't what he's concerned about, though. He's thinking about other reasons she might have made the connection so readily.]

You haven't had trouble with them, have you?

[HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HER THAT WELL but for some reason he always ends up feeling protective of his juvenile patients.]

Me?? [ For a moment it doesn't really click why he would ever worry that. She's in a wheelchair, confined to her own house most of the day. getting out is a rarity...but then he's not exactly privy to all that, and it's not like she never goes out anywhere. Just super-rarely. ]

Not...really, no. I mean I don't exactly get out... Or go to any sort of place like that. I always have Jeremy with me. [ Her poor poor aide. ]

[hey, he's seen plenty of patients who manage perfectly normal social lives confined to a wheelchair, he's not gonna be the guy who assumes she never leaves the house because of it]

[the answer puts him at ease and he relaxes slightly.]

Good. Don't go near the Dead District if you can help it. [not that he thinks she might ever have any business there, but you never know.]

[passing thought to tell her to make sure her aide goes out armed but uhhh that is probably crossing the line of ridiculous paranoia for someone who isn't familiar with the behind-the-scenes info on the city that being on the network gets you.]

Hah, don't worry--my parents would flip out if they even heard me mention it. House arrest for at least a year. [ She says it like it's a joke but...they probably would, really. The last thing they need is her to be seen in a place like that on top of everything else. ]

[It's delivered like a joke and he obliges it with a weak smile, but he can tell there was something not quite right in it. A less-than-optimal relationship with her parents, probably. He grew up in that position so he knows a little about what it looks like. But he doesn't want to be presumptuous and overstep his boundaries, so he will just file it away for future reference and refrain from remarking on it.]

Parents' wrath is not always a good deterrent. [leaning in slightly, like he's sharing a private joke with her] Speaking from experience.

[straightening again] But you are smart, so I think I don't need to worry about you.

Heh...thanks. [ Even if it's just a little bit of an indulgence Sam appreciates it. It's hard to imagine what exactly his might have been like but it brings a little more honesty to her smile as she crosses her feet at the ankles just slightly. ]

I try to keep a good head on my shoulders.

[there is a more genuine smile on his part, too. he's glad it made at least a little bit of a difference.]

[but then he checks his watch and it fades with a sigh.] I should get back to the floor.

[he moves to stand, bringing his coffee with him, and pauses before leaving to give her another smile and a proper farewell] It is good to see you again. Take care of yourself, yes?

Yeah, you too--I hope everything turns out. [ With his new position, and whatever's caused him to get so tense just now. She'll offer him a tiny wave. ]

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