savetheearth | [Action]

Who: Julien and OPEN
What: Jules returns to Locke and meanders around trying to get his head together.
Where: Pretty much anywhere reasonably quiet and not dangerous.
When: Backdated to May 30, latter half of the day.

On the bus back towards the city Julien had crossed some invisible line and thought back to his own puzzlement about why all the shirts he'd brought had been kind of loose in the trunk, and the couple comments he'd gotten about looking more in shape, and then Colette's call. Then a white feather had somehow ended up under his clothes on his back, and a few minutes later he'd had to fight to breathe until something in his chest gave way and his altered ribcage strained his new shirt with each breath. Then he'd remembered why, and... the rest had gone from there.

So that had happened. He'd spent the remainder of the ride, and part of the afternoon, debating with himself about whether it would be better to move out of town. Leave and forget, be safe and unconcerned, or stay to this uncertain future and the simmering thought that he wasn't useful to the others here in Locke. Eventually, with difficulty, he'd decided that he would stay.

Then his pulse had run faster, and unlike the alien memories he'd recovered before, which had come as unusual dreams, this one had been a full-on waking vision. It had left him standing sightless and unmoving in public until it ended, leaving him shaken.

Whoever it was who'd had that memory, Julien was not him. Even aside from not being human, the other him... was clearly someone stronger. Better? That's how it looked, anyway. It made him feel ashamed for wanting to leave. And that awful secret, whatever it had been...

He had the quiet suspicion that if the other him had forgotten whatever it was that weighed like an albatross, that man would have become a lot more like Julien.

Well, one thing at a time. He had to call Colette and ask her to meet somewhere. Some things were better done in person.

[Julien got off the bus at around 11, went home, walked around in a wooded park and had his Echo there, then spent the rest of the day walking through/stopping in quieter parts of the city, ending up in a bar in the evening. As usual he smiled at anyone who made eye contact and was willing to chat, but he was more subdued than usual.

...also he has a fading black eye. Went to a wedding that turned out kind of exciting, not a big deal now.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Looks like you ran into something. [Riku taps under an eye, shifting his bag easily.]

Hmm? Oh! [He laughs.] Something like that! Wrong place, wrong time, flying elbow... I'm not a brawler, but I ended up sitting too close to some people who were. These things happen, unfortunately!

Your friend hits like a horse. You should take one to see them.

Edited 2013-06-03 03:14 (UTC)

You should've seen me a few days ago. Swelling all over the place. I was starting to wonder if I should start answering to Quasimodo.

Since it went down again, here's my actual name. I'm Julien!

You'd have to find a church tall enough, first.

[A pause, then he nods, pronouncing his name deliberately.] Riku.

I'm more a runner than a climber... maybe I could start off with one of the smaller ones? A training church.

[He makes a note.] Riku! So how are you doing on this fine afternoon? Anything particularly on sale? My sister'll likely put me on a grocery run soon.

Your family lives around here? [Curious, but he shrugs and lifts the bag a bit.] Didn't check, just picked up some stuff that ran out.

Edited 2013-06-03 04:17 (UTC)

Yeah, my sister and her kid! She puts up with me, I babysit and do a lot of the shopping. It works. [He shrugs too, lightly.] That's fair!

So I literally just got back from out of town... out of state, really, I tried to keep up with people's facebooks so I know nothing huge has happened, but it's hard to keep up completely! City didn't slide into the sea, I guess. No new popular statues?

[A snort at that.] You've been out of town, alright. Those things have been posted all over the newspapers and tumblr. They put up some statues at the museum. Same guy with the snake fetish.

I'm a bit more up to date than that, heh. I was out there when that exhibit opened, it was certainly a hit. [He wrinkles his nose] Not to my tastes, which seems to be the minority opinion, but, so it goes.

They won't be releasing anything else while the art snobs are still eating the stuff up with their eyes. [A shrug.] But there's been... a little talk about the coal mine they got the stone from. They say it's been abandoned.

Stone like that out of a coal mine? ...aah, I wish I knew more about the topic, so I could say if that makes sense or not. Coal is old compressed plants, maybe this is rock that was around those? Heh. Maybe I should ask around.

Exactly. It's weird and with all the fuss, some of the fans might've been down there to have a look, by now. Might take a few photos.

That's true. Of course, people don't really seem to act rationally about those statues. [Is he fishing? He might be fishing, but he does it casually.] Not sure going down into a mine is my style, but I know some people who might see it differently.

Who knows. I'm going to take a look tomorrow. I've been... busy.

Maybe not. Teacher? [Makes a wild guess at your occupation, right there.]

I know how that goes.

God, I don't think I could! Nah, I'm office tech support one place, and general dogsbody at the LSR. You?

LSR? [Riku indicates the battered satchel on his shoulder.] Freelance photographer.

Clinic near the Dead District! Not in it, but around. It's called that 'cause it was something else first, and those are the only letters left on the sign.

Cool, cool. Had much work lately?

Sounds like a pretty dangerous neighborhood. [See his interest perk.]

It's going to be June soon, plenty of weddings need an extra camera or two. [Not his preferred source, but income is income.]

It can be! Seems safe enough in the day, though. Well, it helps that people tend to respect the clinic, too.

Huh, I can imagine! Guess there's not much work in newspapers these days...

[Raised eyebrow at that.] I'm not paparazzi or a professional snoop, if that's what you mean, but I sell a few photos from time to time.

Nah, nah. Heh. I didn't mean to grill you about your work, sorry!

I'm starting to think you're after something, Mr.Office Tech Support.

[Hands in pocket, pausing for a bit.] I like finding new things. I'll go where that takes me.

Just curious! I know some people with a photography major, or who're hobbyists, but not many who live on it.

That's cool. Well, seems there's certainly no lack of those, lately.

[A shrug.] Dropped out.

You've found something new?

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