milliways_bar | (no subject)

Current Mood: sore

Entry tags:

ellen park,
yt

(no subject)

YT is in a booth with a mug of hot chocolate, a bruised right cheekbone, her left arm in a sling and a resolution to never ever take part in Black Friday shopping ever again.

[OOC: Lots of slowtime, but you can tag 'til whenever.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

"Oh, oh," says Ellen, Dogmeat at her heels. "That doesn't look good. What happened? ... I'm sorry, it's been a while, hasn't it? Hi, YT."

"I made the mistake of trying to shop a Target sale on Black Friday," YT says. "I thought I could handle it, you know? But it was a fucking madhouse. Not doing that again."

"........."

Ellen shakes her head rapidly, like a dog coming out of water.

"I'm.... going to have to ask what you mean by 'Black Friday'," she says carefully. "I really hope it's not what we meant when it came up in the Vault."

"Probably not," says YT, who would rather not know what the term means to Vault dwellers. "It's the Friday after Thanksgiving, kind of the start of the Christmas shopping season. The stores open at, like, 5:00 AM and they have big sales, so people line up to make sure they get a shot at the discounted HDTVs and such."

"Oh," says Ellen, "okay. Yes, that's different. That's- that's very different."

Pause.

"What's an 'h-d-t-v'?"

"High-definition television," YT says. "They're big, though. I was going for smaller stuff."

"Huh."

Ellen has to think about that for a while. She's seen televisions in the Wasteland, and TVs here- they're two very, very different animals. For one thing, the TVs here work. For another, they're huge. The screens at home aren't much more than 13 inches across, tops. The ones here, you could put straps on and wear as extraordinarily breakable shields.

"More computer things, or just- I don't know, small transistor devices?"

"Computer things? Well, yes and no. They were talking toys, for my managers' kids. So they had chips and stuff in them."

"It's always amazing to hear how common those are," Ellen says. "The chips, I mean. I think there used to be talking dolls, but people had to pull strings to make them say stuff. Kind of different."

"With these you just have to press their tummies or something," YT says. "Anyway, I got two - for two different kids - and some asshole accused me of hoarding them. He tried to take one out of my cart, so I tased him. Then his wife socked me." YT points to the bruise on her cheek. "A couple of security guys broke it up."

"Tase- oh, right, the electric shock knuckles," says Ellen. "The ones Gene gave me. I know what that is. Is that kind of fighting common?"

"On Black Friday? Hell yes. If you have any sense at all, you go loaded for bear. And wear something bulletproof."

"Sensible enough," says Ellen. "I wish I'd known. I'd've lent you General Chase's coat. It's been fitted down to my size, but it's reinforced enough to turn small arms fire."

"Thanks, but my coverall does that," YT says. "People shoot at Kouriers a lot. I didn't get shot at, anyway. I got pushed over when a bunch of people broke through a security line and I fell wrong. That was after I pepper-sprayed that guy," YT clarifies. "Luckily all I got was a sprain."

"That's good, at least," Ellen says. "Have you had it treated yet?"

"Got it in a splint and everything," YT says. "Lucky my job provides good health insurance - although the deductible is higher when you're not injured on the job." YT shrugs. "I've had worse."

The insurance comment goes right over Ellen's head, but she nods anyway. "Okay," she says. "That's good to know. I think, anyway."

"It'll keep me off the plank for a week, though," YT grumps. "Not doing that again. If I'm going to go to the hospital I want it to be for something less embarrassing."

"If you ever really need it, let me know," Ellen says, "and I might be able to spare a stimpak for something nasty that you don't want to take to the hospital. I try not to use too many myself, but they do a great job of healing bones on the fly."

"Sure. I can add to my collection of weird healing experiences. Did I ever tell you about the time Max healed me with magic? It felt kind of weird."

"I don't think so," Ellen says. "Who's Max?"

"Antillar Maximus," YT says. "He's Roman. Sort of. Well, I'm pretty sure he's descended from Romans. And everyone where he comes from can do magic."

"Oh," says Ellen, "yes. I know him. I fought alongside him in somebody else's world, once. He's ... impressive."

In a fight, anyway. Outside of a fight she's not sure what to think of him, as he's the only person she can remember ever attempting to flirt with her to the degree that she actually noticed.

YT thinks so too, but not for the same reasons as Ellen. And let's just leave it at that.

"One time he used this water magic thing to heal me after I got into a bad situation with some Narcolumbians," YT explains. "It was weird. The water felt warm and cool at the same time, and it felt like it was getting kissed by a bunch of little fishes."

".... how do you even know what that feels like?" says Ellen, blinking. "The fish part?"

YT scowls. "That's just the best way I can think of to describe it, okay? I don't exactly want to coat myself in fish food and climb into a tub full of guppies to test it. Because that would be gross."

"I'm sorry," Ellen says, "it's just that I've never even imagined that many fish in one place. It kind of stuck in my head."

"I should take you to an aquarium some time," YT says. "Even if you're used to fish, it's pretty trippy."

"That sounds interesting," Ellen says. "What are they like? Aquariums, I mean."

"Well, they have tanks everywhere, sort of built into the walls, and they have different kinds of fish and stuff in them. They can have things like dolphins and otters too." YT smiles. "Otters are cute."

"I think I saw those in a book once," Ellen says. "They crack shellfish with stones, don't they? Otters?"

"Yep. Cute and smart."

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only