Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Categories
- 965 All Categories
- 17 Games
- 1 aw2-mapbp
- 365 Richland
- SDHSR
- 4 two-detroits
- 96 aw2e-dvfp
- 53 ISS Tsiolkovsky
- 82 Fury
- Urban Shadows
- 24 LadyB
- 11 AnR
- 4 Junk World 2.0
- 68 PnR
- 23 DRYH
- Jeffland
- The Few
- 11 Other
- 11 General
- 576 Complete
- 12 burning-empires
- 8 aota-jam
- 17 Uncharted Worlds
- Uncharted
- 23 nullptr-veil
- 9 ajax-motw
- 2 tqy-am
- 52 NOVA
- 11 Serene Apocalypse
- jenn-soti
- 63 SWAW
- 13 Blades
- 2 Fall Of Magic
- 12 Generations
- 25 LA Monsters
- tqy
- 32 nupocalypse
- 120 Snowpocalypse
- 136 Junkworld XIII
- 27 Big Maul
- 6 ESC
- 1 Murderous Ghosts
- 17 ANN_pilot
[Fury] Stop by the Yacht Club (Gates 6.2)
Gates,
Some time has passed since the encounter in the forest. You've traveled with your family to Safeco to work on a project for Admiral building some new housing for folks.
"Gates," Rei says as she wipes the sweat from her brow. "Shall we grab some drink from the Yacht Club?" She has that sneaky look she sometimes wears when she's got an ulterior motive. Stump and Jones were for the idea, so I imagine you didn't put up much of a fight.
Before you come into the club, as folks are being checked at the door, QuePasa lets you in on the big secret, "Gates, it's high time you speak with Valentine about what's on your heart. I don't know how ze will take it, but it's plain as day that you have words to share." She waits for you to move through the doors, as if she's a dog at your heels.
What do you do?
Comments
I turn to QuePasa, my eyes widening.
"Que, I...
Well, heck.
I sputter a little bit, embarrassed.
"Que, I jus', I don't know that I can. And... wait a second... am I really that obvious?"
Gates,
QuePasa makes a face, just for a moment, a curl of her upper lip. "I picked up on it early. Then Rei, and Ghost. The others, they were clueless. Until Rei told them." She pauses, then adds, "The Lord doesn't mind a little happiness between birth and death."
You spot Valentine standing by Admiral's table, chatting with HM and Admiral. Ze notices you, too. Offers one of zir many numbered smiles, but this one feels warmer than most.
What do you do?
I regard QuePasa.
I think of when I first met her, vengeance in my heart. I remember her eyes when I looked into them. All the fear behind them. All the worry. All the sadness. It was at that moment I felt called. Called to people like QuePasa. And Rei. And Ghost. And Easy. And Jones. And all of them.
Then it hits me. I mean, I always knew it, but it hits me like a rainstorm.
"You all have given me plenty o' happiness. In fact, Que... you saved my life."
Gates,
There's a moment, amid the noise of the Yacht, the music and the conversation, where you see QuePasa swallow. Her face softens a little from her normal countenance, "Father... you helped me become a person again. There's nothing greater anyone's ever done for me. I-I know I'm a hard woman to endure, but I'm always afraid if I ever slip, that I'll fall back into the monster I was before."
Rei comes up to pat your arm, "You alright, Gates? Need any help?" She's smiling as she offers, but you know it's genuine.
What do you do?
I smile at Rei.
"No, Rei. I'll be fine. I'll head in to talk to Val in a second. 'Preciate you all givin' me the nudge."
I turn back to QuePasa. "Que, you ain't never been a monster any more than anyone else. Iff'n I learned anythin' from the Lord it's that we all got a devil in us and we all an angel in us. You always had 'em both in you, jus' like I have 'em both in me. An' our job is to give each other reasons to be the angel 'stead o' the devil. S'all I do fer you, s'all you do fer me."
I turn back to Rei. "But enough speechifyin'. I should go talk to Val, shouldn't I?"
Gates,
Rei playfully pushes at your back and QuePasa shakes her head but doesn't rebuke her for it.
As you walk towards Valentine, ze moves away from the Admiral's table and hands off zir tray to Cigarette Girl. Ze continues smiling while looking into your eyes. You two meet at a section near the bar. "Everything dry, Gates? You look... nervous. I don't think I've ever seen you look nervous before." It feels like Valentine's playing with you, lightly.
I do my best to give Val a smile.
"Well, I don't get nervous much, Val, I s'pose. I mean, I'm older. I seen a lot o' things, kind o' stuff that scares most folks just rolls off my back at this point, truth be told. 'Sides, Lord said 'though you walk through the valley o' the shadow o' death, well, don't be afraid, cause I'm walkin' there too.' I guess I walked through the valley, plenty, an not bein' afraid has been jus' as good as bein' afraid, so.."
Course, I am nervous, so...
"How, uh... how things been, Val?"
Valentine slips zir left arm in yours, smoothly guides you towards a recently-cleaned booth, "Things are good, much better now that you're here." Ze sits beside you, turning to face you. That's when you realize Valentine has maneuvered you into the booth and then sat at the end, effectively trapping you. Ze smiles pleasantly, curious.
What do you do?
Huh.
I look back over at Rei and Que who seem to be deliberately looking away.
Well...
Huh.
"Well, Val, I jus' came by to see how you were doin'. Things have calmed down a bit and I thought I'd, well, thought I'd come by and say hi, see how the place was doin'. Missed you a bit, Val."
Valentine's smile slips a little as ze realizes how genuine you are in this moment, how personal you're being with zir. Ze looks at you for a long moment before replying, "I. I missed you, too, Gates." A beat longer, then, "If things are calmer, does that mean you might come around a bit more... frequent-like?"
"Well..."
I turn back to Que and Rei who are decidedly avoidin' eye contact at this point.
"I mean, the family needs me lots o' the time, but I'm sure that QuePasa could handle 'em occasionally. I mean, they're all good folks n' she's a born leader, so... Yeah. I s'pose I could come by more often. Iff'n you weren't against that."
"There aren't many things I'm against , as long as nobody gets hurt." Valentine says with a slow grin as ze reaches a hand over to touch your hand gently. "But having you around is something I'm most certainly for ." Another smile, a rare and unnumbered one.
I find myself smiling back at her in spite of myself. It's not... me. Smiling ain't my thing. My face doesn't do it terribly naturally. But here I am. Grinnin' like an idiot. Disarmed by the most genuine smile I've ever seen Val give.
Against my better judgement, but followin' my heart, I take her hand.
"Well, I do like it here. I mean, I could do without some o' the sin, but I'm fairly certain the Lord said somethin' about bein' forgivin' to folks who seek him out."
Valentine squeezes your hand again, the smile doesn't falter. Something between you has started to grow.
END SCENE