milliways_bar | (no subject)

Current Mood: calm

Entry tags:

(no subject)

He may be new around the place, but there are certain advantages to having friends who've been in the bar before. One of them is knowing that it's safe to hang around for a while. Which is why Riley's curled up in an out of the way booth with a bowl of cold cereal.

Hey, it's a better meal than he gets most nights. And it's hard to find Froot Loops in zombie-infested grocery stores.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She shakes her head and rubs fatigue out of her eyes, "...Are you just in and out then?" She frowns, "...Hiding in an out of the way booth like this? Most people prefer the center-"

She points, "...Better to meet people I suppose."

"I like to keep to myself most of the time."

"....What, you're not after making new friends?" she raises an eyebrow, "...I'm sorry, that's just a welcome respite from the rest of the bar-proper."

"...It's hard to explain. Kind of."

"...You're stalker watching your ex?"

Vesper laughs, "A serial killer? There's no need to share if you don't want to. You look a little lonely though-if I can say."

This is not flirty!Vesper, this is, friendly!vesper. Now with bouncing girlish grin.

"The more friends I have, the more people I'm responsible for."

He fidgets, tracing his spoon through the leftover milk in his bowl.

Now there's a James statement.

"....A leader of men eh?" She raises an eyebrow, "...A wise man once said, surround yourself with people rather then principals."

....Actually, that was Mathis in the Casino Royale novelization, but it still applies!

"Somebody's gotta lead them."

His spoon makes a clinking noise. Still fidgeting.

"I grew up surrounded by people. It's overrated."

Vesper studies him for a moment, "....Most people do grow up surrounded by people. we're social creatures."

"But we also need space and time to ourselves," he points out.

"Where I lived, we didn't really have that."

Yes, that's quite true.

Vesper sits, uninvited, and waves a hand, ".....A London Apartment?"

No. He sounds American.

"....Insert the American big city of your choice?"

"The outskirts of a city, yeah."

Which in this case is basically a nicer word for 'slum.'

"It's kind of a long story."

And we know how much he hates those.

Vesper raises an eyebrow, "I've got all the time in the world."

And somewhere a red-head named tracy DIES inside.

"Okay..."

There's an unspoken 'You asked for it' taked on to that sentence.

Setting aside his breakfast-dinner, he tells her the story as briefly and clinically as possible, beginning with the first outbreak of the walking dead and ending with how he and his team came to end up on the road.

".....I'm dead, but I'm not mindless undead. That sounds like something out of those American movies-those "Night of the Living Dead" Movies." She saw a poster and nearly got sick. Ew.

That pours out of her mouth before she has a chance to consider what she's saying.

the movie reference sails right over his head.

"They're not really mindless. They're more like...animals."

He shifts in his seat and looks her squarely in the face.

"We were on a supply run the other day, and there was this kid, right? Couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen when he died. And right as I was about to nail him, he just gives me this..look. Like 'why the hell are you doing this to us?'

And I didn't have an answer."

"....You were saving him?"

...It seems like the right thing to say.

"I mean, when you hear about zombies, they don't have any sort of mental acuity at all-they're just...things. Maybe they have the vestige of conscience, but...they won't function at their level ever again will they?"

"I've seen 'em learn from their mistakes and work together. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I know they're not mindless drones.

We try to keep out of their way as much as possible, but everyone gets hungry."

Vesper nods in sympathy, "I'm sure."

She thought her situation was bad, "...Sort of puts things in perspective on my list of troubles at any rate. I mean-what can top the walking dead?"

"... mutant cows?"

Oh my god, he cracked a joke. Someone alert the media.

Vesper laughs.

It might sound a little dry, but that's from disuse.

".....Or bears. Oh god, that'd just be wrong."

"Imagine the mess."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only