(no subject)

[thecatinahat]

WHO: Cougar Alvarez
WHERE: Bungalow #22
WHEN: July 2nd - Day After Arrival
OPEN TO: OTA
WARNINGS: n/a
STATUS: Closed

---

It takes Cougar two tries down the well before he gives up. The sirens and the windstorm force him to move on and make nice in the inn, but when things clear up and the sun rises on another day, Cougar slings his pack over his shoulder and heads out to explore the rest of the strange settlement they seem to be in the middle of.

It's quiet.

Normally, Cougar likes the quiet. He's a taciturn man himself, preferring signals and gestures over words, but this is an eerie kind of quiet that he doesn't like. The homes are empty and that means something drove everyone out, but for Cougar's life, he can't figure out where they went. He tries to go to the edge of the cliffs, but he can't climb the sheer face. Returning back to the village, he finds a dark green bungalow near a forked path and knows that if he wants to get a better view, he needs to be in a sniper's nest.

More than that, he's going to need to set up base. Throwing his bag to the roof, he grabs for the porch and starts to lever himself up, using the windows and the shingles of the roof to scuttle his way along until he's managed to free-run himself up to the apex of the roof. He tugs his bag along with him (stuffed with a few berries he'd found on his exploration) and settles down at the top. High above everything, he feels at home even in this strange place.

He sits, cross-legged, and chews on some of the berries as he stares at the streets that wind below him. He'd prefer to be much, much higher, but this will do for now as he stakes his claim on this house as a base and keeps an eye on all the vantage points around.

Comments

[notabirdcostume]

From his vantage point, it would be easy for Cougar to spot a man of average height approaching from the direction of the inn. Sam walked with a sense of purpose. Not that he actually knew what he was doing, but he had a goal. He was going to start exploring every inch of this damn place until he could figure out more about it. That was a bit of a vague goal and even he knew it wasn't a lot to go on. But he also knew if he just sat around he'd start to think too much and possibly freak out like he almost had upon arriving.

He couldn't do that and he couldn't sit still. So, Sam had dumped most of the contents of his bag and slung the mostly empty pack onto his back. No sense exploring without something to possibly carry things back in -- if he FOUND anything useful that was. He changed his clothes up a bit as well, donning the baseball cap that had so graciously been provided in the pack. It was the only item in the bag that gave him a little bit of comfort because it sort of reminded him of home -- though he would have preferred a blank one or even a terrible Baseball team to the flame insignia that was on it's front.

He wore it all the same, figuring it would do some good blocking the sun from his eyes as he did his exploration today. He was heading down the road that lead to #22, though if he noticed the sniper on the roof it was unclear.

[thecatinahat]

Everyone in the same clothes is proving to make it hard for Cougar to make out familiarity. He can't look for Jensen's awful glasses or Clay's suits. The baseball caps only add to the difficulty when they obscure faces. Still, Cougar's perceptive to more than just looks. Maybe it's just that he's tired or still water-logged, but when he sees a man walking with a familiar gait, he thinks it's Pooch for just a minute.

Long enough to let out a piercing whistle that gives away his location. Sense gets him at the last minute, getting him to take cover and go back to working on the makeshift slingshot he's been putting together. No matter what, the whistle should get the man's attention and give him a clear picture of his face.

[notabirdcostume]

Sam's head jerks up at the sound of the whistle. Who was that? He'd already established there were only a few people here remotely familiar to him. His eyes scan the surroundings, going from ground to rooftops. Most people wouldn't think to look up, but he was a flier and a former soldier. You eventually train yourself to look up to avoid getting ambushed or sniped. He squints, wishing he had his goggles an also wishing his glaring red scrubs weren't so, well, red. It makes him a damn target is what it does.

'Relax, you haven't had any indication that anyone here is trying to shoot at you...yet.'

His eyes linger on the roof of #22. He's not at the best angle to confirm if someone is up there--but his instincts are now confirming he's being watched and he feels compelled to check.

"Someone up there?" He calls.

[thecatinahat]

Cougar shifts from his place to the edge of the roof where he gives a harmless looking little wave. From here, with the man staring up, he knows that it's not Pooch, but the disappointment is kept in check as he watches the way the man takes in the situation. He may not be Pooch, but he could still be helpful.

"Lo siento por la piña," he says. The man hasn't given any indication of Spanish, but it's Cougar's first language and he's notoriously stubborn, at times, about yielding to anything.

[notabirdcostume]

So there was someone up there. At least Sam wasn't going crazy paranoid on top of everything else. He relaxes a little, recognizing the man from the other day, though he doesn't recall getting the man's name either. Still, there were only 15 of them here so it was a little hard to forget a face.

He moves a little closer so he's not constantly shouting and looks up at the man.

Sam's brow furrows at the Spanish. He's a little rusty on his foreign language, though he'd been brushing up on it. Steve and some of the other Avengers often made him feel a little inadequate because on top of their unusual talents they could speak a number of other languages. He'd been brushing up on his Spanish since joining the Avengers -- hoping to at least match them at that level. Luckily, working at the VA, he'd had to start that process before he'd joined the Avengers anyway. Now he just had extra motivation to do so.

He's fluent enough to understand the sentence, though it obviously takes him a second for internal translation. He might be missing something, but is this guy asking him about a pineapple? Yeah, he's pretty sure that's not it. "Mi español hablado no es la mejor. Lo piña?"

[thecatinahat]

"Pinecone," he clarifies in English, pointing to the object that had suddenly come out of the sky in his direction. He keeps working on the slingshot, even though he's missing something that has enough bounce-back to be really effective. "You're from the inn," he says. "I don't know you."

That, said out loud, is all the reason he needs to be wary, he thinks. After all, without knowing each other, how can there be trust? And Cougar doesn't trust easy, either.

[notabirdcostume]

Sam blinks and without really thinking about it, catches the pinecone being shot at him. It hits harder than he thought though so Sam drops his hand with a hiss and a curse, but still clutching the object. He caught it dammit, so he's not letting it go.

Why he caught it -- he's really not sure.

He stands up straight, tossing the pinecone to his left. "Yeah--I think we all wound up there yesterday. Name's Sam Wilson." He shakes out his hand, "What's with the slingshot?" Even as he asks, he thinks he knows the answer.

[thecatinahat]

He doesn't give his name, just keeps carving. The question makes him give a curious look downwards as he arches a brow. If some of the team were here, they'd be able to interpret it as a full sentence: Wouldn't you be doing the same thing if you were in my shoes? As it is, he's able to get the brow upwards before he remembers that not everyone is so psychic.

"Will be hungry soon," is what he says, gesturing with a pointed gesture to the sky. "Fowl."

And defense, but he's not going to advertise that.

[notabirdcostume]

So he's back to running across people trying to make weapons. He's not against it. In fact, he's got a kitchen knife that needs sharpening in his pack. He hasn't found a tool to sharpen it with yet, but it's better than nothing. Still, the slingshot's a big step up from the broken stool leg the other man had been working with when they'd been stuck in the inn.

The guy can say food all he wants, but Sam didn't think hunters would go for hideaways on the roof and whistle to signal someone either. He's military, he knows the difference.

"Yeah...we don't have a lot to work with in the weapons department. Slingshot is probably the first ranged weapon I've seen...also points for creativity I guess. Beats a snapped off leg from a stool."

[teen_angst_bullshit]

The thing that scares Veronica the most about this place isn't the weirdness of being here to begin with, or the genuinely frightening weather phenomenon that had accompanied everyone's arrival, or even the isolated location and total not knowing where she is. Those things aren't exactly ideal, but what's really getting to her on this second day is the simple confluence of advanced civilization and primitive survival.

There had been a social order here. People had clearly lived in these houses. They had gardens and feather pillows and flushing toilets. But the group of them here now, they've got those same gardens and feather pillows and flushing toilets, but they're lucky if they can even feed themselves. It's terrifying.

Pants legs rolled up to mid-calf and emptied bag thrown over her shoulder, she's mostly wandering right now, trying to get some semblance of her bearings in a place that seems dead set on her doing the opposite. It's a stupid thought when right now they just need to hunt and gather enough to not starve, but she wishes she had some paper and something to write with. She could take an inventory, maybe, and find a way to keep her mind from running off in a dozen really upsetting directions.

[thecatinahat]

He recognizes the girl from his arrival, thinking that it's not a good idea for her to be out there on her own. Searching in his bag for something to wrap it in, he gets a few of the wild berries he'd picked in the baseball cap and lets it fly down when she's passing, landing at her feet when she's about to take the next two steps that get her to it.

Waiting, Cougar shifts so he's in view, lifting himself up from where he's lying on his stomach -- old habits being hard to break.

[teen_angst_bullshit]

To be completely honest, it scares the shit out of her. And not in an internally screaming while looking mildly startled way, either. That cap plopping at her feet scares Veronica in a completely undignified, completely obvious, nearly falling onto her ass sort of way.

Which naturally makes her feel like a complete idiot when she sees what it is.

Frowning, she glances around, only knowing to look up because she sees the movement out of the corner of her eye. Once she catches sight of Cougar, it all seems to make sense; she hasn't known him long, but he definitely seems like the sort of strange that hangs out on rooftops.

"Hola," she calls, shading her eyes with a lifted hand as she squints up at him. "Gracias. What are you doing?"

[thecatinahat]

"Watching. Waiting." He's not sure which is actually going to pay off, but he knows that if he's patient enough, he's going to see something or someone that Cougar can do something about other than sit here and think about wind storms from nowhere, strangers in a settlement, and all his things being stolen. He misses the steady weight of the skull ring on his finger, the shade from his hat, and the gun. Dios, but worst of all, he misses that gun.

"Did you sleep?" is his immediate concern, unblinking as he studies her.

[teen_angst_bullshit]

"Not much," Veronica admits with a wry twist of her mouth. "Call me crazy, but I don't find this whole situation to exactly be soothing."

She picks up the cap, considers the contents and then looks back up at Cougar. "Have you figured anything out?"

[thecatinahat]

He shakes his head, squinting in the light. The sun rises like it would anywhere, there is no one around, and no matter where he goes, there is something preventing him from escaping. "Houses, all around," he says. "Checked five. Unoccupied." His voice is rough, as usual, the lack of use making it sound like he hasn't spoken since he'd seen her yesterday (which isn't entirely a long shot).

"Found berries. Looking for fowl," he says, with a whistle and a tip of his chin skywards.

[teen_angst_bullshit]

"That could definitely be helpful." Just in the quick survey Veronica had done of their rag-tag group, she got the impression that Cougar was definitely not the only one capable of hunting in the group, but if they were going to feed everybody, they needed all the help they could get.

"Do you have a way of kill—" Her tongue revolted on her, pressing briefly to the roof of her mouth. "Catching them?"

[thecatinahat]

He raises his brow and notes the way that she stumbles on the word 'kill'. He thinks it might be the same if he spoke more and had to talk about fire or helicopters, but he's spoken even less since Bolivia and only the other Losers would know. He leans back to lift up the oblong stones that he's fetched -- enough to stun a bird.

The kitchen knife will do the job of ending their lives. With this and the farm animals nearby, he thinks he could feed at least three or four. "You don't like to eat meat?" he guesses, at her reaction.

[rangerbecket]

Raleigh doesn't know what to make of this place yet. There was the dizzying trip in through that fountain and then the wind and sirens that drove him to the inn. He's settled into a little house and it's nice and quiet but almost eerily so. He's waiting on the other shoe to drop, for something else to happen to give him an indication of how things are going to be.

Today, he walks through the streets of the little village, trying to acquaint himself with the familiar landmarks in case something happens and he needs to get out fast. It's better to already have an idea of the useful escape routes before he has to use one, after all, but it might be helpful if he knew what he'd be running from.

He doesn't look up to see Cougar in his nest but at a few inches over six feet, he's likely easily spotted from up high. Raleigh hasn't ever been someone to stick to shadows or hide. He'd rather tackle things head on.

[thecatinahat]

This one is new to him. Cougar's been cataloguing all the arrivals in his head, making notes about which ones to avoid, which ones to ally himself with, and which are generally harmless, but he doesn't have a read on this one yet. Clearly, that means it's time to start. Abandoning the slingshot he's been working on, he reaches for a pinecone and squints before letting the small thing fly, hitting the man in the shoulderblades.

It's exposing his position, but he's yet to see a weapon here that could take him out from this distance without some warning, so he'll take his chances. And besides, what better way to gauge someone than an attack from above?

[rangerbecket]

Raleigh feels the smack of the pine cone square between his shoulder blades and it's annoying enough that he looks up to find out the source of it. There's not a tree nearby, so it's not a natural thing, and his eyes find a rooftop and someone up there. Huh.

"You normally try to air raid people from above or is that just something you've picked up since we all got dropped in this place?" It's a little annoyed, yeah, but Raleigh isn't hurt. As projectiles go, pine cones aren't exactly the most effective of weapons.

"Huh?"

[thecatinahat]

Cougar listens to the question and keeps whittling at his slingshot as he debates his answer, finishing it up with a shrug like he hasn't really taken the time to care about how many people he sends pinecones at, especially not when it's not like Cougar's injured him (and he could've, he knows).

"Reaction," he explains. "Says much."

And judging by this man's reaction, he looks like he could handle himself plenty. Not too irritable to fly off the handle, but clearly not willing to let it go.

[rangerbecket]

"Are you testing on everyone who walks by?" Raleigh isn't sure whether to be impressed or annoyed by that but, given the weirdness of this place, he guesses they should all figure out and test the limits of it. How far can you go, what's acceptable and what isn't...it's the typical reaction of anyone to a new situation and they're all nothing if not new.

"Because you might end up getting something thrown back at you." Raleigh isn't prone to it, no, but someone might not be as laid back as he is about it. Then again, maybe this guy has thought that through. Only time can tell.

[thecatinahat]

He shrugs at the thought that something might come back. He's quick enough to duck a punch. A pinecone from at least twenty feet away is practically slow motion and shouldn't cause him any issue. "Yes," is his even response, meaning to the part whether he's testing everyone. He has to know who's here with him, because they're all strangers, and there must be some reason they're all here.

"You want to throw something?" he suggests, perching on the edge with a booted foot pressed to the eaves.

[rangerbecket]

"No, not really. I was just, you know. Wondering what the test was all about." It's a weird thing on the face of it but looking beneath, it's not a bad idea. Get the measure of everyone here, know who to press your luck with and who to be cautious of. Raleigh's just irritated that he hadn't thought of it himself.

"What's your name? I'm Raleigh Becket." Once, he'd been kind of a minor celebrity, as much as Jaeger pilots always are. They're the hotshots, the heroes. Raleigh had loved that spotlight, once, but for now he's content to blend into the shadows.

Maybe that's his way of getting the measure of this place.

[thecatinahat]

"Cougar," is all he replies with, letting his first and last name remain a mystery to these people. Names don't go on comms and names don't have to be known here, but he takes in Raleigh Becket's name carefully, catalogues it with the rest, and wonders who this man is. He's not anyone that Cougar's seen before, which could be a very good or a very bad thing.

He hefts another pinecone in his hand, up and down, and eyes him carefully. "What did you find? Anything?"