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Thursday Afternoon- The Park

So, yesterday had been... interesting to say the least, and Dwight felt like he had earned a day off to re-center himself. So he closed up the shop and left a note pinned to the door apologizing for closing up but letting anyone who came by know where to find him.

Pulling on his favorite ballcap and grabbing his fishing pole and tackle box he headed out for the park. He had heard talk that there was a decent pond area there and whether or not there were any fish to be caught, just the thought of sitting and relaxing while trying was sounding like a welcomed change from the madness of the last few days.

As he walked passed the school grounds, Dwight made a mental note to try and get a hold of the class schedule next semester. The summer seemed pretty slow as far as classes so he wasn't too worried, but once the full semesters started up, he'd rather be safe than sorry when it can to any firearms and weapons classes that might be going on. He had so far managed to keep his Trouble from raising its ugly head and he would prefer to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Once he reached the park, Dwight settled down under one of the shade trees near the lake and gave a soft contented sigh, just taking a moment to enjoy the cool grass, warm breeze, and peaceful setting before turning his attention to the fishing gear.

(open for whoever wants to stop by)

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"Are you fishing?"

So, granted, Faye had gotten kind of tipsy in class -- it was also just really fun to yell 'Roxanne!' while drinking, so that had been part of it -- but she'd also never actually seen a fishing pole in real life, so she was pretty proud of herself for putting context clues together there.

Also, there was a guy, and she wasn't so rude as to not at least lift her hand in a wave at him even as she was peering in curiosity at his fishing gear.

Dwight turned and smiled, returning the wave.

"Going try. Not sure if there's anything here but going to give it a shot. Name's Dwight, by the way" he said with a grin.

"Faye," she returned a little absently, crouching to get a better look. "I've never seen anyone actually try to fish in real life, huh."

Would he eat the fish if he caught one? (Gross?)

"Faye. That is a lovely name" Dwight said as he watched her stare at the fishing pole and gear.

"Fishing can be a lot of fun, if you enjoy sitting and waiting a lot" he said with a chuckle as he opened the tackle box and paused for a moment so Faye could look if she wanted.

"I mean, I don't, usually," Faye replied honestly, but she did take a closer look at the contents of the tackle box. "But it sounds...relaxing?"

For someone. Not her! But probably Dwight.

"More of a...action kind of girl," she added with a quick little smile.

"Yeah, I think most people who fish do it to relax more than anything. An excuse to sit and relax, outside, in the fresh air. Nice little change from the drama and chaos of the island," Dwight said with a chuckle. "Definitely not for everyone though."

Without another word he finished fixing up the hook and cast the line out into the water.

"So are you new?" Faye asked, watching him cast the line was though it were truly something fascinating. She'd never seen it done before! Just in, like, movies. "I haven't seen you around before, but I'm not going to pretend I notice everyone, either."

She shrugged a shoulder, adding, "Small island, though." And like, Dwight was kind of big. She felt like she would have noticed him.

"Yeah, just moved to the island about a week ago. First time making it over to this side of the island really," Dwight said with a smile. "But I like it so far."

"It's pretty all right." Which was the highest of high praise from Faye. "I've been here since...November?"

Which sort of made her antsy, if she really thought about it.

"Yesterday, I gotta tell you, was by far the weirdest day I've had since I've een here," she added. "It's weird around here, but not usually quite that weird."

"Yeah yesterday was a bit out there...nice to know that is some of the worse that can happen though." Yesterday HAD been odd but at least he hadn't gotten shot and no one had tried to kill him. "Things could get pretty umm, intense, in Haven where I am from. So weirdness alone I think I can handle."

"Where's Haven?" Faye asked curiously. "Different planet?"

She had a vague idea she might know someone from this place, but she also didn't pay great attention when most people talked, so. She wasn't a hundred percent sure.

"Pretty sure same planet... but different timeline than what we are in right now. I think that is how Duke described to me... I'm still trying to wrap my head around all that still honestly," Dwight said scratching the back of his head slightly.

"But Haven is where lived before coming here. It was special place full of people with special... powers and abilities. Like here in Fandom. Though Haven seemed to have a lot more dangerous things going on than here in Fandom. The Troubles, as we called them, were more likely to end up killing someone than they were to just be an annoyance"

"Hey, take it from me -- the more you just kind of accept things like the timeline being weird, the easier it'll be. 'Cause I'm from the year 2071," Faye told him sagely. The rest of that she was kind of digesting. "So...like, these trouble things are like curses?"

Well. That sounded kind of terrible.

Dwight let out a soft whistle. "You're the second person I've met so far that came here from way into the future. I evidently jumped ahead in time as it was late 2009 when I left Haven."

He gave a soft chuckle and smiled somewhat sadly.

"The Troubles could be seen kind of like family curses. They are just something- magical or paranormal or whatever- that tend to run in families. Children can get it from their parents though not every descendant will necessarily have the Trouble."

Dwight saw the questioning look on Faye's face so eh continued.

"My Trouble is that I am essentially a bullet magnet. Any gun that goes off within 300 feet of me, the bullet will change course and come right for me like a heat seeking missile. Which is why I wear this" he said, giving the bullet proof vest a pat.

"That's smart of you," Faye observed, and she was just going to not draw any attention to the pistol she carried with her, nope! No reason to worry the guy! (And while she'd weirdly shot a lot of things yesterday, it really didn't happen much.) "Lesson you learned the hard way?"

"oh that is an understatement" Dwight said with a dark laugh. "My father knew our family was Troubled but never said anything, kept it a secret. Even when I decided to enlist in the military. He would rather risk his son dying than admit our family was 'cursed."

Dwight stared out at the water for a moment then shook his head and looked back to Faye.

"See, the Troubles usually are dormant in someone until they get activated- usually by some big emotional or traumatic event. The bullet magnet Trouble activated when my unit was fighting overseas and we were captured. The stress activated my Trouble and every bullet that was fired, damn near 2 dozen of them, came right for me. And that was how I found out about my family's Trouble."

"And how are you still here?" Faye had to ask, eyes wide. "Holy -- I've been shot at, but not that bad."

Twenty-odd bullets at once was...survivable, she supposed?

"Yeah, miracle I survived it. Thankfully... in an odd way..." Dwight said with a slight smile. "many of the shots were at such close range there was not enough time for the bullets to fully change trajectory. Some missed, barely, others were grazing shots. I did have body armor on since we were in an active warzone at the time so that's probably what saved me. But even then they aren't actually bullet proof and I ended up with like 5 pieces of lead in me that day."

Edited 2021-06-03 21:47 (UTC)

"Well," Faye said thoughtfully. "If we're ever in a scuffle here -- it happens, from time to time -- I'll keep an eye out for you. Though you should probably stay inside if that happens. I use a gun, but I'm hardly the only one."

A pause, and, "You should also steer clear of the junkyard, since I think most of the ships are armed." And if they weren't, Faye's was armed enough for the rest of them.

"Trust me, I will be as far away from any gunfight as I can, with or without protective gear. But thanks for the heads up about the junkyard. Hadn't thought about that much just yet."

"Mine mostly shoots lasers," she added, thinking about it. "Is it just bullets or any kind of ranged weapon?"

Because there was a Hawkeye here, too, not that Faye knew him.

"As far as I know, just bullets... well anything that uses gunpowder and combustion. Can't say 100% about lasers and such as we didn't exactly have a lot of them in Haven back in 2009" he said with a laugh.

"Arrows are fine though as I hunt with a crossbow to avoid the obvious bullet issue. Regular tasers also don't seem to be attracted to me more than usual... so I think its pretty safe to say its just traditional gunfire that seems to be the issue."

"Well, in that case -- let me know if you ever want a tour of my ship," Faye offered with a grin. "I don't really take many people up in it -- she only fits one -- but it'd probably be a trip for someone from 2009."

"Well I can definitely say that would be a first time in a spaceship for me," Dwight said with a huge grin. "Would love to- will definitely take you up on that sometime, thanks!"

"Wildest ride I have ever been on was in Afghanistan during the war- got to fly on the Black Hawk choppers a few times."

Yesterday had been weird for Liam too, shockingly ~~albeit very handwavily~~. Today seemed fairly normal, by comparison.

"... Any luck?" Liam asked, curious.

Dwight looked over and gave a wave of acknowledgement.

"Nothing yet as far as bites. But definitely couldn't ask for much better weather."

Liam appreciated the wave. It meant he could get away with a nod in return, rather than offering a handshake.

"True enough at that," he acknowledged. "You settling in okay?"

Yes, he knew you were the new guy, Dwight. Small town, and also it was kind of Liam's job to know what people were up to.

"Yeah, for the most part. Meeting a few new people each day. Getting more familiar with the town and lay of the land and all that."

Dwight studied Liam for a moment before continuing.

"Seen you around I think... you work at the trooper station right?"

Liam nodded. “Liam Kincaid-Price. Sheriff in charge of said Trooper station, actually.”

Not that there was all that much crime to worry about, most of the time.

"Ah Sheriff. Cool, nice to meet you."

Dwight fell silent as he thought of how to pose the question he needed to ask.

"Got a question for ya... What's the crime level like around here? I mean seems fairly quite so far which is great but...like are there many shoot outs and such.... any major issues with gun violence? Kinda asking out of personal interest."

“Crime level?” Liam repeated, eyes crinkling in amusement. “Almost non-existent, most of the time.” A beat. “Shoot outs in particular haven’t been an issue at all, though some folks do like to use firearms during invasions.”

Had anyone mentioned the invasions yet, Dwight?

"Invasions?" Dwight asked, a clearly perplexed look on his face.

"Umm well, the reason I asked is... I have a bit of an issue, compliments of Haven, where I am from. See I am kind of a bullet magnet. Any firearm that goes off within about 300 feet of me, the bullet is going too..." Dwight pause trying to figure out a way to say it without it sounding totally insane. " It's going to change its trajectory and basically make a b-line right for me. So yeah... shootouts, not exactly my cup of tea" he said with a dark chuckle.

Dwight, you were talking to a hybrid alien-human who'd been conceived, born, and then grew to full adulthood in the space of less than a day. 'Totally insane' was par for the course.

"Yikes," Liam winced sympathetically. "I can understand why. And yes, invasions. We're honestly pretty quiet most of the time but every few months or so, someone or something decides to move in and cause trouble. Sometimes this results in a lot of physical violence." And sometimes the problem was solved with a dance-off. Go figure. "I myself prefer energy weapons," he said, moving his jacket aside briefly so Dwight could see the weapon holstered there. "Do you think that'd be a problem?" Not that he fired it all that often outside of aforementioned invasions, but. You never knew.

Dwight let out a short appreciative whistle. "Nice piece you got there. And no, as far as I know tasers, laser, energy weapons', those sorts of things shouldn't be an issue. Seems to be relegated to combustion projectiles. And its thankfully not every shot fired- just within about a 300 foot radius or so, yeah.... hence the vest" he said with a chuckle. "Glad to hear the invasions are not that common... they sound... ummm... interesting."

"That's sure a word for it," Liam said drily. "A lot of people here use energy weapons rather than traditional guns, so hopefully that'll work in your favor." The limited radius thing was also good, otherwise... well. It'd be all bullets, all the time, wouldn't it?

"Yeah. It could be a lot worse than it is... and Fandom seems to be a lot easier on it that Haven had been, so that's a plus. Just figured the guy in charge of the people with the guns should probably know about my *ahem* condition" Dwight said with a dry laugh.

"I appreciate it," Liam said. "Like I said, they don't see a lot of use around here but it's certainly good to know. I take the well-being of the people on this island pretty seriously."

Just you wait, Dwight. First time you got hit with friendly fire around here, Liam would be sneakily trying to heal you without letting on that's what he was doing.

"Well you seem to be doing a great job so far. Been a quiet first few weeks here so far."

Oh would Liam ever had had a freak-out spending one week in Haven with all of its insanity!

Oh, probably. Not so much the weird occurrences and freaky powers, that he was well-versed in after three years of service to the Taelons followed by four here in Fandom ~~with time off for being a little bit dead~~. But his overprotectiveness would absolutely have a time with the way people there seemed to get themselves into trouble.

"Aside from whatever yesterday was," Liam said with a sigh. Not that he- or anyone- had the least amount of control over when Fandom decided to get all whimsical.

"Yeah... yesterday was special... all the shirtlessness.... (oh so much shirtlessness). But whimsical and annoying I will take, keeps thing from getting too boring and monotonous" Dwight said with a slight chuckle. "But yeah, Fandom seems to agree with me so far. I think I'll be staying here for a while."

That attitude won you a few points in Liam's book, Dwight. Unlike some people ~~Nick~~ who remained convinced Fandom's weirdness was all some sort of weird fever dream or hallucination.

"Glad to hear it," Liam told him.

"Should be proud, you got a nice place here. I know it ain't easy to keep the peace with so many 'unique' types running around!"

Oh god did he ever know what it was like!

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Thursday Afternoon- The Park

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