ataraxion | 004

[ Click. On pops the video feed, and Tommy is looking... Well, relaxed isn't quite the word for it. But there's something looser about him anyway, not as much of a weight on his shoulders, even if his posture isn't any better than usual. He's frowning, as per usual, but the frown doesn't seem quite as deep.

Sometimes having a drink's the best plan a guy can have, right? ]

When I was in-- [ Iraq, he almost says but stops himself and for the moment right after, his brows do furrow before clearing again. ]

Doesn't matter. Most of you won't have heard of it. When I was a soldier, we used to get new kids shipping in pretty regular. Some of them were excited to be there, and some of them were scared shitless. Me and a couple of the other guys who'd been there a while used to take 'em aside and tell 'em, "This is a fucked up situation you've landed in, and it's not your job to un-fuck it up." Because we all knew that's the fast way to fuck things up more.

[ It seems to occur to Tommy that this is more talking than he does basically ever, and the corner of his mouth twitches in the suggestion of a self-conscious smile. ] Now, I sound like I'm at some fucking VFW support group. Whatever, you get what I'm trying to say.

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[ She doesn't actually realize the video is on, one hand tucking some of her hair behind an ear -- an ear that, coincidentally, has one of her silver wolf earrings as decoration today. She's frowning though, staring at the screen with her brows furrowed before shaking her head.

No. Not Dominic. No matter how much she'd like him to be. ]

[ There's a slight clink! of dog tags as Reaper shifts to get a better look at this guy. ]

We might've heard of it.

[ Tommy's not exactly a jewelry kind of guy, but he recognizes the ones she's wearing because you don't forget that time you thought you might be a werewolf. He juts his chin out a little, lips pressed tight but not quite frowning. ]

What?

[ Well shit. Jaye tenses, jaw setting; of course she accidentally turned the damn feed on. She doesn't reply for a moment, trying to catalogue the differences; there are fewer here than there were with Eames.

Eventually, she shakes her head. ] You look like someone I know.

[ There's a pause. It's strangely hard to say it still, even with a stomach full of alcohol and not much food. Hilarious. ]

Place called Iraq?

[ There's a nod. ] Heard of it. Been there a few times, too. [ RRTS gets sent out everywhere. ]

We're not all from someplace that isn't Earth.

[ Tommy laughs, mostly rueful, not a lot of genuine amusement there. ]

'Course I do. Someone you know here or back there? [ He tips his head slightly, as if "back there" is somewhere to his left. ]

[ There are plenty of facetwins on board the ship, but only a few of them matter. Dominic's face matters. ]

Back there. [ It'd be nice if it were somewhere to his left, to be honest. ] ... Well. Here too, but he's older [ and pudgier ] and we've only really talked the one time.

But isn't trying to 'un-fuck it up' what soldiers do? Fighting for a cause, and change.

Edited 2012-08-02 20:12 (UTC)

Somewhere else, the future, same place but different universe. [ Tommy shrugs both his shoulders and looks off, up at the ceiling. ]

Last few months taught me not to assume.

Or the past. [ It's hard to tell if it's the same universe for him with a lot of people, since anyone before 2026 wouldn't know about Olduvai and he doesn't remember the entire history of the UAC. ]

Army or something else?

[ Tommy nods a few times in a row. ]

Yeah, I've met that one too. [ He's got nothing against Eames himself, really. It's just one more fucking weird thing to try to deal with when he'd sometimes just rather not deal. ] So that makes four of me.

Where's number four? [ Because if another one pops out of the woodwork she might actually lose it. ]

That's what they tell you when you sign up. [ It comes out harshly. ]

Marine. [ Was. Never earned it. ] Staff Sergeant Thomas Conlon. [ He snorts like that's a funny joke. ]

[ Now it's his turn to snort. ] Same. Staff Sergeant John Grimm.

Disappeared. Maybe he went home, maybe not. [ Like lots and lots of others. Tommy sucks on his teeth for a second. ] Who the hell knows?

What was his name? [ She leans into the camera a little more. She has to know -- what if it was him? What if he was here? ]

Please feel free to expand regardless.

[ Tommy lifts his eyebrows in surprise. The guy seemed military, but he wouldn't have guessed marine or the same rank. ]

But you've only heard of Iraq? Future or different universe.

Said I've been there a few times, too.

[ But he shrugs. ] Year's 2046 where I come from, which seems to be the future for most and the past for a few.

[ Whoever she knew was obviously important to her. Tommy guesses he'd be the same in her shoes, if there was anyone important who could show up. ]

Said it was Bob. He was English. [ Rhetorically: ] Why're they all English?

Bob. [ And she deflates, nodding. Another one, then. Not Dominic, unless he'd started calling himself 'Bob' while she wasn't looking. She hasn't asked about his past, but assumed names weren't that uncommon -- the deities took them, after all. Still, she shakes it off (literally, hair falling back down over her ear). ]

Feeling left out?

[ Oh, you. ]

We told 'em that because you run into things thinking you're gonna be a hero or fix things or save people or get home again, you make it worse or you die. Or both. End of story.

[ Hi, boo. ]

Optimistic lot, aren't you? [ Though it does seem fractionally better than any rally speech back in his own day, things more along the line of being a group of bastards and to be mindful of where you toss your grenade. ]

Basically you're saying that we ought not to do anything while we're here. Am I close?

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