[MINGLE] Scout's Honor

[sixthiteration]

WHERE: Hot Springs
WHEN: 21 Sept, after sunset
OPEN TO: ALL - MINGLE
WARNINGS: Please warn in your subject line as needed
NOTES: Details found here

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It's been a strange, rough couple of months for our intrepid villagers — Bunkers, superpowers and clones, oh my! Perhaps the Observers are sympathetic to their plight, or maybe they just have a peculiar sense of humor. At any rate, they've set up a gathering space chalk full of summer camp goodness, no strings attached. Not that anyone knows that part.

Just before sunset, a cheery message pops up on wrist devices all across the settlement and beyond. The instructions seem simple enough, although one does have to wonder at what dubious gift awaits them all after everything is said and done.

Marshmallows are on the house, so grab yourself a stick, strap on a sash and get to roasting, villagers. Skinny dipping, sing-alongs and friendship bracelets optional.

Comments

[fooloftheking]

Upon seeing the message, Bobo honestly considers hightailing it to the farthest place he can find from all of this. Except that he knows if he wants to make all of this works, he's going to have to try. Damn but the idea of being social in a place where he's not the one they look up to is hard.

Sucking it up though, he heads out for the campsite. He looks damn skeptical, and the fact that he's wearing a long fur coat over red scrub pants and a grey tee definitely isn't likely to help him fit in. Not that he's looking to.

Pausing on the edge of the field, hands on his hips, he looks around with a frown. "Shit, really kumbaya isn't it?" Shaking his head as he hears someone near him talk.

And hating that he knows the answer.

He'll blame it on having watched a child grow up and maybe checking into things that were normal for kid. Not that anything in Purgatory is normal, nor was Waverly ever a scout but...

"They're so a bunch of brats can try and prove they're better than one another by proving they can do stuff their friends can't and getting like patches for it." That's accurate, right? "So basically they want us to play nice at pretend camp while like Bigfoot sneaks up on us or something."

[lastofthekellys]

He's one of the newer people, this man. She can't even place his name, which for the village's self-appointed innkeeper is a damnable absence of attention. Still, she can't help but feel at least slightly well-disposed towards him with that get-up. As a woman who insists on dressing as close to proper as she can, with long skirts and a corset under her blouse (although the latter is more practical than most give her credit for), and never mind what anyone else thinks.

Before she can ask what 'kumbaya' means, the man continues. She snorts faintly at the end. "Well, that's somethin' we're all used to here. They do this, throw us parties and give us presents. Our captors are the most fickle creatures.

But camp is somethin' new. Sounds like so much make-busy for children that not got enough proper work to do."

[fooloftheking]

Bobo doesn't expect the people behind this to be generous, to do anything for them. So this whole camping party really has him confused. What even if the point?

Shifting, turning his attention away from the summer camp program to the woman speaking, who had answered without thinking. He talks a lot without thinking. Taking his time looking over the outfit she wears. His posture changes slightly, still a man of his time even if those times have changed on him over and over again.

"They're cultivating some Stockholm games, I would imagine," he says, even cleaning up his language a bit. She's not like the woman in Purgatory now, and he can kind of remember his manners for a lady. As it suits. "Make us feel thankful to them. Especially given, as you said, it's not like there's a shortage of things to be done around, so why else encourage us to play?"

[lastofthekellys]

That slight well-disposition, mostly unconscious, deepens a little as he straightens. She hasn't always been shown respect in her life - too poor, too Catholic, too much from a line of Irish convicts who insist on continuing to steal - but there are standards for most people. Standards so few people here know, leaving her adrift and clinging to what she knows. She's been here for so long, but habits are habits, and she still responds to the posture and manners of others.

"Not heard of Stokholm games," Kate says, giving him a curious look. "But, aye, I'd agree with the makin' us feel grateful. If it's somethin' like a party, we can use the food and drink over the next few days. Helps stretch out our stores." Which is good. She hadn't put in place the daily meals at the Inn just to fill in the time: food is important. Making sure she and her fellow captives don't starve is very important.

"It's because of that it's hard not to agree to play, if you catch me meaning, sir," she goes on. "We rely on their gifts because we haven't managed to be self-sufficient here yet. Too many of us, and mostly folks from the cities or that fancy future where no one farms."

[fooloftheking]

There was a time when Bobo would never have spoken to a lady as he did. This place reminds him of those times, even if he's torn between the nature of what he is and who he's been. Falling into it though without thinking as he let's his hands fall from his hips, moving a step closer to let him lower his voice to a more considerate level.

"Stockholm syndrome." His nose wrinkles, making a face. "Had the words thrown at me a bit lately. It's making you want to care about your captors. Or, you know, you could actually come to care of them," he points out. Sure. He's talking about this place. Totally nothing personal.

He hadn't considered the idea of gathering up the items given for later, and he gives her an appraising look and a nod. "Shame they didn't put out hot dogs or anything more nutritious than marshmallows. Though they'd be good on those potato things growing out in the woods. Like that weird holiday thing with yams and marshmallows," he says, half to himself, having only just considered that.

That gets a chuckle, nodding once more. "Oh yes, Ma'am. I definitely understand. Don't play along and who knows what they start taking away. So either play along or suffer." Making a face then, glancing around. "Even now I still live in a place pretty far out, but I've lived without anything but what the community catches or grows."

[lastofthekellys]

"Ah," Kate says, and there's a wealth of meaning in that simple syllable. She'd have thought it just common sense to find shared ground with a captor, in the interests of getting them on your side. But just as equally, she can see the disdain for any captive who falls for it too much. The Kellys are a proud clan, after all. Proud and distrustful of authority.

"We're doin' much better now. Taken us a few years, with nearly everyone droppin' here without knowing anythin' practical 'bout food or how to get it. And we have a collection of leather and furs for the winter. Stores can get thin over winter. Unless in your livin' far out you've found some salt?"

She can be hopeful. She is, in fact, hopeful. Not with any great expectation, mind, but there's a trace of hope.

[fooloftheking]

Now she's saying things that have his attention. Many have talked about being here, but not for that kind of time, not for years. Shifting a bit closer, not invading her space but wanting to show the interest he suddenly feels at that admission.

"Years? Really? No one else speaks of having been here that long. Just how long have you been here, wherever here is?" He shakes his head, still wanting so many answers and suddenly realizing he may have found a source for them.

"Most seem to be from a time with only supermarkets and catering, and I'm curious to see what's going to happen come winter." Pausing only a moment and then... "I assume those winters are fairly harsh? I'm used to it where I'm from."

All of it. Even if it's been a lot of decades since he's had to care about making a living, but he's capable of it. He nods though.

"Already looking into tanning hides and doing the best I can to preserve things I kill. As well as gathering the tubers and such. Stew will get a person through a lot of cold winters," he says with a shrug.