#corlacus

“we’re as smart as evolution made us.” — @corlacus.

❛ which, in theory, would make you smarter than me. not accounting for individual intellects, you’ve had more time to cook down there. ❜ but has he not evolved, too ? has he not grown and changed and developed just as much, if not more, than he ever would have done on earth ? perhaps, perhaps not. it sounds like they have their own problems going on back home, as opposed to his now pretty peachy albeit bittersweet life on erid. grace scoops a handful of sand — ashen, obsidian, like soot trickling through the hourglass of his fingers, nothing like that which he lives and walks upon — and watches the grains scatter into wind and shore. he is still coming to terms with what the man tells him, this allusion that he may be dead or near to it, that time passes differently here and that he may as well be in some sort of afterlife, atemporal and omnipotent in its hold. if this is it, what footprint has he left ? according to the other, a significant one. ❛ have we . . . evolved enough to figure out what happens next ? what lies beyond this. the beach. ❜

She's still getting used to it, hearing his voice again. It had been way too long since she'd gotten her drivers updated, her internal machinery cleaned up and refined. The augments are old now in the grand scheme of things; but they're still good, and now decently cared for too.

Idly she rubs her neck, fingers pressing against the port just under her ear that's still kind of itchy after use as she watches him. There's still a guilt there after dropping him like she dropped everyone else a few years ago. Guilt that she wasn't even the one to close the gap.

After everything, he was the one who still reached out first.

It eats at her. Maybe that's why she's inviting him out, her own way of trying to fix it.

"Such a ball-buster." Her hand drops and she flashes a grin at him, her own hands tucking into the pockets of her ostentatious jacket, too yellow, a warning quite literally on her sleeve. "Come on, it'll be fun. You game for dim-sum? Because I could fuck up some shumai right now."

She shouldn't have to think this early in the morning but the ocean was seemingly her only solitude to where she could be somewhat alone. The things she'd seen being done by her brother, the ending of lives that done him wrong, things she'd never seen before. They replayed in her head and caused her face to drain white, eyes staring off into the distance to try and wrap her head around them.

Thoughts were soon shattered as she heard something, or someone near her. Her grip tightened slightly against the cup, eyes widening slightly as the figure seemed to form through the denseness out of nowhere. "I... thought I was alone. Sorry." Kalia spoke softly, thick accent pouring from her still sleepy voice. "Can I help you... or am I disturbing something?"

Yeah, she probably should've known better...   Of course, to someone like  Emily Brass,  her little hypothermic tumble wasn't that bad. She's been through everything under the sun and then some. To someone like  Heartman  that cared, though?   Well, she might as well have told him she fell into the sun. All she can do now is lie down and accept that he cares enough to be concerned. The guilt might eat her alive, but that was fine.

Tired doe eyes watch as he comes up. She'd wince if she didn't know any better.   He really is upset.   Up her arm goes, hand landing in his. Despite all of her shivering, the coolness of his palm feels nice. It gets a little sigh from her before she brings her arm back under the blanket.

       ❝ Yes, sir, ❞   she sighs, feigning a sort of weak defeat while she tucks into all the warmth he's brought for her. Even with her show of attitude, she still might sincerely consider the offer. Maybe even try talking him into taking a dip with her. That's for later, though. For now, she wants to try rectifying all the worry she's brought.

       ❝ Well, yeah.   - Didn't have to get it at all, ❞   comes her cheeky reply, along with a smile that dimples up her cheeks. It's quickly melted down like the snow still melting off her boots by the door.   ❝ but I like when you light up. So sue me. ❞   Which at this point he probably could for emotional distress, but she's not bothered by that right now. Emily's a lot more bothered by the fact that she's still shivering, even with all the comfort Heartman's offered. A heavy sigh and she wraps the blanket around her tighter. Standing up, she attempts some pacing.   ❝ Got'a say though. Great action figure taste. ❞   Her eyes are on the floor as she moves, doing anything to try and get blood circulation through her system again.   ❝ Sucker's in mint condition, too. ❞

"A beach~? What is this beach you just mentioned that you visit?" Quinn inquired when he heard the stranger talk.

Chief slips into the building quick as his feet carry him, shutting out the Timefall pelting down outside. It's pretty, it very much is, but when it ages you at a rapid rate, it's best to watch from the inside, rather than out in the weather.

Adjusting his gear, the porter backs up to deposit his deliveries where they needed to go; a doctor he thinks, Heartman, and his first time being over in this area rather than keeping to the relative safety of his own shelter. Less BTs too, which is far more preferable to the condensed spirits that wander this side of the world.

We can't all be Sam Porter.

The load is removed; he shifts quickly through the parts to make sure everything is undamaged (though he does raise his brow at the few vinyls he found inside the crates) but who is Chief to judge life's little pleasures? After all, people need their own little bits of comfort considering the world they lived in today.

Something under his jacket wriggles, so Chief unzips the top so Daisy can poke her head up, to opossum letting out a snort that has a grin twisting across his face before he can stop himself. He plucks her right out of his jacket and, considering he absolutely wasn't leaving before the Timefall stopped, places her on her little feet so she can stretch her legs.

Just in time for Heartman to make his appearance too!

"Hey! Everything is here and accounted for." He gestures to the cargo in a grand, dramatic fashion, a wide grin on his face. "I don't suppose you won't mind if we linger here a bit 'til the Timefall stops? It's coming down pretty hard."

first dates during the end of the world. well hey, humanity has to keep on ticking, doesn't it? gotta keep just going and going until they know who's gonna be the last one standing among the weather-ruined remains. and he's not getting anywhere new in his calculations anyway. may as well give himself a break.

a generator light building that's half a home and mostly a lab for the self proclaimed scientist - and really, what else would he be? its not like they're handing out job titles anymore or offering college courses. mostly people are too busy trying to survive to think about those things anymore.

"hope my cooking isn't too terrible," canned rations found after treks through abandoned stores. meat from animals he could manage to find and kill - best not to think about what kind of meat it is, really. beggars can't be choosers anymore. "at least with the generator we'll be warm though."

@corlacus inquired: “i did not expect company in such a lonely place.”

strangers beneath the same sky starters. ⤷ Accepting!!

“It would seem fate had other plans,” Wanda nodded in agreement, as she too didn’t expect to run into someone here. She sat on a bench for some solitude away from people, but that was too much to hope for. This person that she had run into seemed different; she sensed it immediately. Wanda reached into the breast pocket of her trench coat to pull out a packet of cigarettes. She popped open the top, pulling out both a thin lighter and a cigarette. The filter was placed between her ruby lips as she flicked the lighter to life, bringing the flame to the end of her cigarette. "Would you like a cigarette?" She turned around, offering the cigarette case to Heartman.