fandomtownies | Abandoned Warehouse District, early Tuesday morning

Entry tags:

Abandoned Warehouse District, early Tuesday morning

Marcus didn't sleep much. Hadn't, since his first night on death row, but stuck on this weird ass island the tendency had grown more pronounced. A few hours a night and he was done. Left him with a lot of free time.

Except he couldn't leave and he didn't have anything he had to do. Was a time when that would have led directly to trouble, but not now. Not today.

He was still bored, though. Which would be why the early hours of Tuesday found him walking around town, watchful and silent, sticking to the shadows from habit, constructing a mental map of the island: every street, every alley, every bolthole and escape route. Never knew when that sort of information would come in handy.

His path took him past some old warehouses, and he studied them briefly before turning to look out over the water. It was the one thing he actually liked about this place.

[This post is open, though sore afflicted with extreme slow play after 8:30. What Kyle and Marcus discussed NFB, please.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Apparently yesterday's run around the island for Professor Bond's class hadn't been enough. Kyle was up early, as he usually was, and out running. Before coming to Fandom, he ran to survive. Now he ran to avoid feeling restless.

He almost missed seeing Marcus as he ran along Serendipity Place, but caught a glimpse and doubled back to see what was he doing. He slowed to a jog and then a walk, hands on his hips as he caught his breath. "Your cloud's gone." So was everyone else's, but theirs didn't amuse him like Marcus' did.

Marcus turned away from the water to glance at what he was beginning to think of as his own personal shadow. "Observant, aren't you?" he said dryly, eyeing Kyle. "Being chased?"

Kyle shrugged. "Not by anything that can kill me. Small island. I get restless sitting around."

Something with which Marcus could empathise. "Yeah, know the feeling," he said. "That help?"

"Nothing does," he shook his head. "It's something to do though. What are you doing?"

He eyed Kyle again, considering, then with a mental shrug, replied, "Learning the territory." A wry twist of the lips that couldn't quite be called a smile, although it might be a very, very distant relative, and he added, "It's something to do."

"I did the same thing when I got here. Preserve's easy to get lost in if you don't mark your trail."

He nodded briefly in acknowledgement. "I'll remember. Anywhere else I should watch out for?" If Kyle was prepared to share information, Marcus would take advantage of it. He'd still have to check for himself, but it could put him ahead of the game.

"If there's trouble, stay away from the park. The clinic and the bar on Apocalypse Avenue are safe places. The school dorms are pretty defensible. Other than that..." he trailed off and shrugged again.

Marcus got the message. "Right." Upgrading the junkyard, or at least part of it, to be defensible would at least fill his time. He eyed Kyle again, considering. He had one pressing question. Evidence suggested Kyle might be the person to answer it, but Marcus was weighing up whether to ask.

Kyle noticed the look and got suspicious. "What?"

Marcus continued in his silent study for another moment, two, then made up his mind. "Weapons," he said simply, calmly. "Know where I can get one?"

That Marcus didn't already have weapons surprised Kyle. He understood the need for them, but he was still wary about handing any over to Marcus. "Not here," Kyle replied. "There's a gun shop that doesn't sell guns. I thought about breaking in, but the mayor runs it and he's not the kind of guy you want to get the attention of." He made Kyle nervous. "You'll have to go to the mainland."

Marcus had already decided he wasn't interested in meeting the Mayor. Someone who ran a gun shop which refused to sell guns was unlikely to be someone he'd hit it off with. His mouth thinned, eyes darkening with anger at the reminder he was stuck here. "Not an option."

Kyle was confused. "Why?"

"I can't leave." It was flat, emotionless, and Marcus turned to look out over the water again.

"The island won't let you?" Wouldn't have been the first case he'd heard of.

"Something won't." He wasn't going to mention the pain, the weakness, the dread when he'd tried to leave, not to anyone.

And Kyle had an inkling what it might be. He wasn't about to say so though, so he brushed it off, perhaps a little too conspicuously. "Then you'll have to get someone to go to the mainland for you and get what you want." He wasn't about to say anything about his own cache of weapons either.

And that had Marcus turning to look at Kyle intently, one eyebrow raised in obvious question. "I'll make it worth your time."

Another place and another time and Kyle would've handed over his own gun. Now he wasn't sure he could trust Marcus. "How do I know you're not a threat?"

Marcus almost smiled. "You don't," he said calmly. "And if you really do know me, you know I'm a threat, with or without a weapon. Am I a threat to you?" One shoulder moved in a slight shrug. "I can tell you I'm not going to hurt you, you've got no reason to believe me, so there's no point. It's up to you to make a call."

Not intentionally, he thought. If he was programmed, there wasn't much he could do. Still, Connor's letter told him a lot, even though there hadn't been much to it. Plus Marcus was right. With or without a gun, if Marcus wanted to kill him, he could and he would and there wasn't a whole lot Kyle could do about it.

He stopped thinking and started talking. "I'll think about it. Give me a list."

It was not the answer Marcus had expected, and he spared a moment to wonder why the kid was even thinking about it. But only a second. Gun, ammo, good knives. He knew what he wanted and listed it out for Kyle. "Let me know what you decide."

Kyle nodded. "I'll let you get back to loitering."

"Hate to miss a minute of that." Marcus gave Kyle one last look, then turned away, gazing out over the water.

A shake of his head and a check of his surroundings later, Kyle kept running. He had more to think about now.

Perhaps there was no need to patrol the island quite like there had been in Ankh-Morpork. And perhaps there were people working beneath him that were supposed to be doing this.

But there Vimes was, walking the streets of Fandom at this ungodly hour like it was the best time of his day. Which it very well might be.

The odds of seeing someone else out this early was strangely high*, so consider him interested. "Hello!"

*The teal deer did not count

Edited 2010-04-20 22:55 (UTC)

Marcus glanced towards the voice, and then kept on looking, considering the new arrival. "Morning," he replied after a moment, friendly enough, but not what anyone would term inviting.

"Morning," Vimes replied, walking a bit closer.

Inviting tended to mean something was terribly wrong. Or they were talking to Carrot.

"New in town?" It was a guess, but that didn't show on Vimes' face.

It drove home to him once more just how small the island was (not that he'd been in any real danger of forgetting). He nodded, once. "Been here a couple of weeks."

"I take it you've been introduced to the quirks since you're not hiding behind anything at the moment."

He was still getting messages about that damned chocolate rain. Luckily Vimes didn't answer his phone. He made Ralph deal with that.

"If being followed by a cloud counts," and he grimaced slightly at the memory, "yeah, I've met the quirks."

"That was one of the more mild ones," Vimes replied with manic sort of cheer. "Wait until you think you're someone else for a weekend."

Marcus eyed him, definite hints of skepticism in the look. "Run that past me again?"

"You'll know it when it happens." Well, actually, after it happens.

"Right." The look got no less skeptical, but he wasn't prepared to dismiss anything out of hand. Not in this place. Not with the 'impossible' things he'd already experienced. "Name's Marcus," he offered.

Vimes nodded in general approval of the skepticism. "C--Sheriff Vimes."

Marcus' attention sharpened. He'd been wondering when he'd meet the local law, figured the island had to have some. Not that he'd been in a hurry for it to happen. "Place keep you busy?" he asked easily.

"Only in complaints." Did you know that chocolate was horrible for tulips? Vimes hadn't. Not had he wanted to know. He turned his head to look out at the water, only watching Marcus out of the corner of his eye. "Settled in then?"

"Pretty much." He studied Vimes very briefly, then joined him in staring out over the water. "Guess the island's too small to support much of a criminal element."

"So far." He held hope that it was out there.

Little did Vimes know it was standing right next to him, even if it wasn't currently what one would call active. Marcus simply nodded in response.

Not even a little active crime? Jay-walking, perhaps? Hell, he'd take malicious loitering at this rate.

"Well, I'll see you around," Vimes said in that cheerful tone that tended to strike fear into the hearts of even the most lawful citizen. Because somewhere, deep down... they know they're going to commit a crime in the future and then promptly get caught at it.

"See you," he replied, not bothered by the tone. He'd heard its kind before, but it did tell him that Vimes was someone to keep an eye on.

Then he went back to ~~loitering maliciously~~ watching the water.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Abandoned Warehouse District, early Tuesday morning

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject