Accept our Terms of Service
Our Terms of Service have recently changed! Please read and agree to the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy
Permalink

At first he tries to follow a waffle bar, but they can move at night and he can't. So instead he stocks up on as much fat and sugar as he can and follows the highways north to the Great Lakes, on the basis that any water source that big will have people near it and picking a direction is better than wandering aimlessly. There isn't much left in the corner stores and he doesn't trust his ability to run away from forklifts enough to try the big ones, but he stocks up whenever he finds a waffle bar, which isn't often, and takes duct tape and plastic bags and (it's an indulgence, but) a can of spray paint. 

(Maybe there'll be someone else who recognizes the signs his crew used to mark trees and fences and buildings — maybe he isn't the only one who survived and picked a direction and walked in it.) 

(He's not fooling himself. He saw the bodies, he knows he's the only one.) 

He meets a few crews on his way northward. They're not impressed by him, which is unsurprising, he wouldn't be impressed by him either. He keeps walking. 

Total: 685
Posts Per Page:
Permalink

He pauses, and then leans against Marlo. (...he's missed physical contact. He hadn't realized he missed it so much but he did.) 

"It's just what?" 

Permalink

He pulls Sasha closer, half-unconscious of it. 

 

"The anima works better if you have sex with more people." 

Permalink

 

"...how many people have you slept with who you didn't actually want to be sleeping with." 

Permalink

"I don't know." 

Permalink

Fuck. 

Sasha is so not qualified for this. 

"You're not going to do that anymore," he says, very firmly, and waits for Marlo to nod. "No sleeping with anyone unless you're doing it because you want to be sleeping with them, no kissing anyone unless you're doing it because you want to be kissing them." He waits, again, for Marlo to nod. "And you're going to hug me." 

Permalink

Marlo doesn't pause before he hugs him. 

(The hug is tight and warm and solid and more than a little bit desperate.) 

Permalink

Okay. That's — that's okay. 

(Sasha isn't sure when he started thinking of Marlo's well-being as his responsibility but he's pretty sure it was some time in the last two minutes.) 

He doesn't let go until the lunch bell rings, and then they walk into the dining hall together. 

Permalink

Loki waves; Chris is talking to a handful of other pilots and anchors.

Permalink

Alright. He is going to sit near Loki and he is going to have a normal meal and everything is going to be fine. 

Permalink

Marlo's unusually quiet; every few minutes he glances at the group of anchors and then back at Sasha. 

Permalink

Loki has never seen Ender's Game and she's really excited that they're going to wind up seeing it on movie night tonight!

Someone else, who has seen it, is complaining that it is a terrible movie and a complete waste of a movie night.

Permalink

Sasha, who has read Ender's Game but not seen it, is happy to talk about the movie and not think about whatever Marlo is thinking about right now! 

Permalink

After lunch Marlo thanks Sasha (he doesn't make it clear what Sasha is being thanked for) and then vanishes. 

Permalink

Alright. Sasha gets to work and considers what he knows about what being an anchor involves (he doesn't know much, but the anchors that he's seen seem — more stressed than is usual) and curls up in bed that night and wishes he had someone there with him. 

Permalink

When the next scavenger trip comes home, one of the scavengers brings him a sewing kit-- needles, scissors, buttons, a thimble, a tape measure, a seam ripper, and 24 colors of thread-- and a bolt of very soft purple cloth.

Permalink

...yeah actually he's pretty sure that he cannot leave this alone. 

He doesn't want to use paper for this so he finds a piece of tree bark and writes Can we talk? — Sasha on it and slips it under Lev's door. 

Permalink

The door opens up!

Permalink

"— Hi," because he was not expecting it to be that fast, and he steps into Lev's office and closes the door. "Um. I am definitely not complaining but I know I didn't requisition any of the things you've been giving me and I'm pretty sure this isn't normal for new people, what's up?" 

Permalink

"Uh."

Permalink

Sasha has no idea how to respond to 'uh.'

"If there's anything —" 

Permalink

"You gave me ideas for new writers to check out for whom the bookstores hadn't been totally picked over yet, and sewing kits are both light and useful. You can customize other people's clothes."

(He's lying.)

Permalink

"That's true but that's not why you did that." 

Permalink

"Yes, it is."

Permalink

He opens his mouth. 

Then he pauses, and looks at Lev's body language and face. 

Permalink

His face gets really tight.

"AndIwantyoutobehappy."

Total: 685
Posts Per Page: