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WHO: Gene, Carolina & Wash
WHERE: Carolina & Wash's apartment
WHEN: the evening of his network post
WHAT: dinner and introductions
NOTES OR WARNINGS: n/a right now! will add if anything comes up.

[ Now that Gene's offered to bring dinner, Wash doesn't have anything specific to do so he spends the time answering messages to his post and tidying the apartment. Lucky that the implant means he can do both those things at once. They don't have much to worry about picking up but there are some dishes in the sink and they've been lazy about leaving shoes at the door so he focuses on the kitchen and living area. It's a small two bedroom with no one in the second room and no personal touches -- that's just what happens when you have two people not used to having their own space.

Carolina should be home from work soon but he's not sure how long a casserole takes to make (or really what constitutes one but he'll find that out tonight) so it's anyone's guess who'll arrive first, her or Gene. He's just about done cleaning when there's a knock on the door. Wash puts the mop back and heads to open the door. ]

Hey Gene, sorry I didn't change yet... Come in.

[ He opens the door wider and steps back to welcome him in. How does one do hospitality? ]

Can I take anything for you? Get you a drink?

[ Nailed it. ]

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( as it turns out, the casserole was already in the oven. gene's got a tendency to make a rather alarmin' amount of food on the days he ain't volunteerin' with preserve. it's a fine fair way to keep morale up among the displaced folk, an' he mostly brings it by the safehouse when he can. this one, a simple chicken an' mushroom with some manner of sauce he whipped up on the fly an' likely won't be able to exactly replicate in the years to come, is pretty simple but hearty enough.

he grins at wash's awkwardness some, an' holds the casserole dish out for him to take. it's still plenty warm on the bottom, so he gestures expansively towards the winged handles jutting out from the sides as the point of contact to make. )

Beer if'n you got it, tea if you ain't. Nice home you got here, fella.

( a soldier's place. gene's made his little one-bedroom place homey with plenty'a thrift shop things that feel older than this modern world. helps some, bein' so far removed from what he knows. but at least this apartment has that lived-in feel of someone really tryin' to make a go of it. civilian life an' all. )

[ At least people seem to think his awkwardness is cute these days instead of making fun of him? Wash will take it.

He nods and accepts the casserole dish from Gene with a smile, turning to lead him in. The kitchen and dining area kind of flow into the living area, the table currently serving as the barrier between the two. Wherever Gene chooses to sit they'll hear each other fine. ]

Thank you... we haven't really done much with it. Didn't even find it ourselves, a friend offered us the place. Have a seat, I'll bring you a beer.

[ He didn't have the foresight to set the oven to 'hold warm' but he knows it's on there and thought of it now!! Just give him a moment while he presses buttons. ]

Carolina should be home any minute.

Ah, just needs a little polish. But it's nice. Feels lived in, an' that's the more important part.

( a place can be dressed to the nines an' feel like a grave, lord knows.

he takes one of the chairs nearer the door an' settles in. )

Is she... you know, from your world?

[ Hey, he found the warm setting! The oven beeps and Wash gives a tiny triumphant 'ha!' as he leans down to put the casserole in, while Gene talks about their place feeling lived in. That's surprising but good to hear, honestly, Wash was worried that tidied it'd just feel empty. Hollow. Gene's right, it is the most important part.

Wash grabs them each a beer from the fridge and pops them open, tossing the caps into their recycling bin. ]

We're from the same world, yes. Known each other for ages, and I wouldn't have imagined this was going to happen but... we blame or thank the empathy bond, depending on the day.

[ He smiles a little shyly, coming over and holding a beer out to Gene. ]

Mostly thank.

( ain't no tellin' what happens to folks here when they leave. gene likes to think that they go home, but he knows it's wishful thinkin' to an extent. do they keep their memories'a this place, even? maybe there's a chance that david'll get to hang onto whatever peace he's found here if he ever goes home but it's hard to say. still, gene'll hope for it. )

Yeah? Guess it would... I don't know, simplify matters somehow. Cuts out the talkin' a bit.

( he still thinks wistfully sometimes of the gal he knew in new york. they'd lost track'a each other in the war between his deployment an' her movin' several times over, but lord knows he probably talked himself in more than a few awkward circles with her. maybe things would'a been easier to navigate with her, with alex, if he could just show 'em how he feels an' not rely on tryin' to articulate it so much outloud.

he takes the beer with a little tip of it to show his thanks, an' takes an idle, considering drink. )

[ Wash claims a seat as well, taking a drink of his own beer thoughtfully. Without even trying, Gene hit the nail on the head. ]

Yeah, it's.. neither of us are great at expressing ourselves and it turned out that we both just didn't want to ruin what we already had, but. It was there. We probably never would have started anything without it.

[ He worries a little what it'll be like without the bond, but they did alright in the SIM. Which. Is part of what Gene wanted to talk about, wasn't it? Wash snaps back to the present and focuses on his guest. ]

So are you alright? After everything that's happened.

( he ducks his head some. )

Ain't got any complaints worth mentioning. Hell, it ain't a war, right? So long as we've got a place to sleep an' hot water it ain't the worst I've been by a long shot.

( you learn yourself, in the trenches. an' he's got a remarkable capacity to endure. )

Ain't gonna say it was a picnic, but, you know. Surely ain't all bad.

I'd listen. I get being grateful for a lot of it but you don't have to say that because it isn't all bad there isn't some bad.

[ He isn't going to press what Gene went through in the sim, though. The other man gets a faint, joking smile. ]

Just don't jinx us that there isn't a war on, okay? That was my entire life back home.

( his answerin' smile is warm an' a touch shy. )

I know you would. I was speakin' in jest anyhow.

( there's a moment of curious silence, an' then he decides to go with it. )

You know Ephemera, ain't you?

( ignore his bad grammar pls. )

[ Wash is a heart on his sleeve kind of person, so it's impossible for Gene not to notice that he tenses up at the question, even if he tries to hide it. ]

I do.

[ He takes another sip of his beer, then offers a bit more because he isn't sure whether Gene is just asking if they're from the same place, or about their relationship such as it is. ]

We were on opposite sides for awhile, back home.

Hm.

( that's really all he has to say about it. opposite sides of a war don't mean much, human is human. they're both good men, an' havin' differin' ideologies is sometimes a natural consequence of that. )

Thought it might be somethin' like that. Y'all use the same words sometimes, things that speak on technologies they ain't got here.

( gene ain't smart, strictly speakin'. couldn't hardly read before the implant, an' he ain't all that good on the matter of arithmetic either, but lord knows he pays attention to words an' their use. )

[ Wash nods; it's not that hard to figure out if you know both of them, he was mostly worried that Ephemera had been spreading shit about the Freelancers. What he says is true, but it's not the whole story. ]

I figured you might've noticed the implants, too.

[ He turns away and lifts some of his now-overlong hair up at the back of his head, revealing a metal plate there. ]

Mm.

( he may not be an active duty medic any longer, but there's always things he takes pain to mind. )

He's a decent fella. Been real good to me.

That's good. For both of you, he needs people.

[ Wash says it carefully, like he's very wary now of what Gene might be getting at. Finally he just asks. ]

He hasn't mentioned us..?

Nah.

( he ain't nothin' if not truthful. )

I cottoned on early, but most he's ever talked about is his unit back home, an' I ain't asked about the rest.

( he tilts his head faintly. then: )

Ought he have?

[ Wash shakes his head, quiet for a moment while he wonders if this is too personal to bring up on someone else's behalf, but. He trusts Gene. Both to understand and to keep it quiet. ]

I'm glad he hasn't, actually, it might be a good sign... he blames my squad for killing his during the war.

( weren't a connection he'd have ever made on his own, but it does make him go still. gives david a curiously neutral look. )

Is that what you think about what happened?

I mean, literally speaking, that's what happened. We were following orders to take them out because they were in the way. The thing is, we regret pretty much everything about those orders.

[ He can only speak for himself and Carolina, not Maine, but they're the ones who lived through the aftermath of Freelancer and know all the details. And are the ones Ephemera targeted back on Chorus. ]

It's kind of complicated.

Hm.

( he's been at war. he knows the score. plenty'a german boys were just american-born germans answerin' the call. he ain't in a position to judge. )

Reckon there ain't much else but complicated in war.

He might be starting to understand that. But it's hard. For a long time all he thought about, all he wanted was revenge, but he didn't know us or what we were going through at that time. He does now.

[ Wash is quiet for a moment, taking another long drink from his beer. ]

It's harder to kill people when you know them as people.

Lord, ain't that the right of it.

( he exhales, steady, an' then shakes his head. )

Anyhow. When's that dame of yours gettin' home?

She's probably stalling because she doesn't know how to socialize either. I'll call her.

[ Hey Carolina hey! ]

[ she is indeed stalling because she doesn't know how to socialize, but at least carolina's accepted that she can't do that all night so she responds to wash as quickly as ever: ]

Hey. 3 blocks. Your friend already there?

Yup, and he brought dinner better than either of us could make, I'm sure. Better hurry.

You know we set the bar really low right?

Shhhhh.

🙄 2 blocks.

[ although, if pressed, carolina will always admit that wash makes more enjoyable food than she does, even if that doesn't take much.

she's not long after that, letting herself in with visual proof of an excuse to be late: a box from one of the bakeries nearby. the stop gave her a little more time to compose herself, but the nod she gives gene when she finally gets into the apartment is still undeniably stiff.

the little smile for wash as she toes her boots off comes a lot easier. ]

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