Post by Pyro on Oct 21, 2006 7:52:45 GMT -5
TIMESTAMP: Day of Departure to NYC - early morning
It was extremely early morning.
John had finally woken up with his feet on the desk at quite literally the crack of dawn. His neck and back ached from the awkward sleeping angle and so he had taken a walk down to the beach where he'd sat in quiet contemplation for a little while.
Right now he was in his room, stuffing a couple of items of clothing into a bag and generally keeping himself busy whilst he waited for Python's OK on departure.
She hadn't gone down to the beach for kata that morning - she hadn't wanted to face Pyro. It was stupid, really, because Angie thought she was fine with them just being friends, but for some reason she still hadn't wanted to look at him and see his pity.
Which made her feel like a bit of a tool, considering that she was now padding down to his room with a pair of coffees. Well, friends could bring each other coffee, right?
"You're heading out straight away then?" Holding out the mug she hadn't already taken a sip from, Angie gave him a small smile.
He looked up and smiled warmly at her. "Hey," he said. "Thank you." He accepted the coffee and sipped it gratefully. "Yeah - early start, early arrival, y'know. The sooner we can get there, turned around and back the better really. It's gonna be so cool having some of the old gang around, that's for sure. I reckon you'll really like Dom, he's a cool sort of guy."
Pyro threw a few more things - including his replacement copy of Catch-22 - into a bag. She could see from the bookmarker that he'd almost finished it and didn't doubt for a minute that he'd read it again.
"It'll be good to have some new people around, especially if they're cool. He's around your age, right? Hopefully there won't be any delays - make sure to let Gill know or something, so we don't worry about you." So I don't worry about you. Well, friends worried, she knew that.
"I've got a couple of other books in my room, if you wanted something else." She pointed vaguely in the right direction - Angie's room wasn't in the same hallway as Pyro's. She'd never figured out who had put her in there, since she'd been passed out after Baltimore. Still, she liked her room. Close to the kitchen.
"He's a couple years older," said Pyro, screwing up his face with the effort of recall. "But he's cool as. You'll like him. We used to have a really good laugh together." He lingered with his hand on Catch-22 and then nodded.
"Something else to read would make a change, I've already read this four times in the last few days - not that it bothers me, it's a great book. Whatcha got?"
It would be good, Angie thought, for Pyro to have someone around that made him laugh, rather than all the pressure to be so leader-y all the time.
"Oh, mostly fantasy - a series by this one Aussie author, Traci Harding - it's called the Ancient Future trilogy. You might not like it, though - it's a bit girly, strong female lead and all that. Erm... A few classics, Lord of the Rings, a couple of Raymond E. Feist... Oh, and 1984. I like to read it every now and again." It reminded her why she had no faith in the government - it would be all too easy for things to be manipulated like that, as Angie saw it.
"Haven't read 1984 in a while," said Pyro, his green eyes lighting up in enthusiasm. From what she'd learned about him, he had a voracious appetite for reading. He'd said, in passing, that it was probably to do with the fact that he'd been starved of literature during his years on the street. "Could I borrow that? Good ol' Winston Smith..."
He then almost immediately launched into a discussion of 'Animal Farm' as well.
He was, she realised, rather excited.
"Of course. Drop in a grab it before you head out, I'll leave it on the desk for you if I'm out of my room." Well, it was possible that she'd be in the kitchen or something. She didn't spend all her time sitting by herself.
She couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.
"You're really looking forward to this, aren't you?" It was odd - Angie had liked getting off the island, but she'd been so worried that they'd end up arrested or something that she hadn't really been able to enjoy it so much. She knew that she was going to worry the whole time John was gone, too - his face was all over the news, where hers wasn't. It was hard to keep down her paranoia.
"Like you wouldn't believe," he enthused, happily. It was hard, very hard not to get caught up in his mood. "I just have a really good feeling about this. I don't look anything like the photographs of me that are all over the place, I'm keeping to the 'shadows' as it were and I'm reuniting with an old friend."
He pushed his hair out of his eyes and gave her a huge grin.
"How could I NOT look forward to it?"
Smiling into her coffee, Angie nodded.
"Yeah, you've got a point." She could only imagine how much she'd enjoy meeting up with Nat or Read again. Of course, that would mean going to Australia... That thought stirred a memory.
"Oh, hey, we never did get a chance to sit down and take a look at that stuff about... you know, your dad." He'd asked her to help out, but they'd never actually chatted about it after she'd gotten back. It had completely slipped her mind.
His smile slipped briefly. "I sort of figured that it didn't really matter, y'know. In the grand scheme of things. It'd probably be too difficult, not to mention pointless. What am I going to do with the knowledge?"
At least I'd KNOW.
He shrugged lightly.
"Y'know. But hey - I still appreciate the offer to help. I had a go at going back through some records, but I didn't get too far to be honest."
"Well, you know, I can take a look. While you're gone or whatever, see what I can figure out. It's worth trying, right?"
Yeah, she didn't really know what he'd do with the knowledge either, but Angie could understand wanting to know. She hadn't been interested in a relationship with her father, but she had been curious about him. Aside from funding her trip to the US for the cure, he hadn't actually turned out to be that bad a guy. She'd even had an email from him the other day, but hadn't replied yet.
"I don't know, I mean... Well, if I can't find anything, then I can't find anything. No harm done." She shrugged at him, draining the rest of her coffee.
He surveyed her briefly, then nodded. "I'll show you what I've researched so far. I know quite a lot about my mother's family by now, the Collins family - but that's it. My dad could quite possibly have been an American, or an Australian, it's sort of hard to work out...but you'll see why when you see the notes."
Pyro took a long sip of his coffee, finishing it off.
"Thank you," he said, easily. "I appreciate that offer."
"That's what friends are for, right?"
It was amazing that she'd managed to say that without sounding awkward, although it was entirely possible that she'd just sounded like the biggest tool ever to walk the halls of the base.
"Thank you," he repeated again, smiling warmly at her, and then giving her an unexpected friendly hug. "You're the best. Make sure this place doesn't fall down while I'm gone, OK?"
Then he'd wandered off again.
It was extremely early morning.
John had finally woken up with his feet on the desk at quite literally the crack of dawn. His neck and back ached from the awkward sleeping angle and so he had taken a walk down to the beach where he'd sat in quiet contemplation for a little while.
Right now he was in his room, stuffing a couple of items of clothing into a bag and generally keeping himself busy whilst he waited for Python's OK on departure.
She hadn't gone down to the beach for kata that morning - she hadn't wanted to face Pyro. It was stupid, really, because Angie thought she was fine with them just being friends, but for some reason she still hadn't wanted to look at him and see his pity.
Which made her feel like a bit of a tool, considering that she was now padding down to his room with a pair of coffees. Well, friends could bring each other coffee, right?
"You're heading out straight away then?" Holding out the mug she hadn't already taken a sip from, Angie gave him a small smile.
He looked up and smiled warmly at her. "Hey," he said. "Thank you." He accepted the coffee and sipped it gratefully. "Yeah - early start, early arrival, y'know. The sooner we can get there, turned around and back the better really. It's gonna be so cool having some of the old gang around, that's for sure. I reckon you'll really like Dom, he's a cool sort of guy."
Pyro threw a few more things - including his replacement copy of Catch-22 - into a bag. She could see from the bookmarker that he'd almost finished it and didn't doubt for a minute that he'd read it again.
"It'll be good to have some new people around, especially if they're cool. He's around your age, right? Hopefully there won't be any delays - make sure to let Gill know or something, so we don't worry about you." So I don't worry about you. Well, friends worried, she knew that.
"I've got a couple of other books in my room, if you wanted something else." She pointed vaguely in the right direction - Angie's room wasn't in the same hallway as Pyro's. She'd never figured out who had put her in there, since she'd been passed out after Baltimore. Still, she liked her room. Close to the kitchen.
"He's a couple years older," said Pyro, screwing up his face with the effort of recall. "But he's cool as. You'll like him. We used to have a really good laugh together." He lingered with his hand on Catch-22 and then nodded.
"Something else to read would make a change, I've already read this four times in the last few days - not that it bothers me, it's a great book. Whatcha got?"
It would be good, Angie thought, for Pyro to have someone around that made him laugh, rather than all the pressure to be so leader-y all the time.
"Oh, mostly fantasy - a series by this one Aussie author, Traci Harding - it's called the Ancient Future trilogy. You might not like it, though - it's a bit girly, strong female lead and all that. Erm... A few classics, Lord of the Rings, a couple of Raymond E. Feist... Oh, and 1984. I like to read it every now and again." It reminded her why she had no faith in the government - it would be all too easy for things to be manipulated like that, as Angie saw it.
"Haven't read 1984 in a while," said Pyro, his green eyes lighting up in enthusiasm. From what she'd learned about him, he had a voracious appetite for reading. He'd said, in passing, that it was probably to do with the fact that he'd been starved of literature during his years on the street. "Could I borrow that? Good ol' Winston Smith..."
He then almost immediately launched into a discussion of 'Animal Farm' as well.
He was, she realised, rather excited.
"Of course. Drop in a grab it before you head out, I'll leave it on the desk for you if I'm out of my room." Well, it was possible that she'd be in the kitchen or something. She didn't spend all her time sitting by herself.
She couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.
"You're really looking forward to this, aren't you?" It was odd - Angie had liked getting off the island, but she'd been so worried that they'd end up arrested or something that she hadn't really been able to enjoy it so much. She knew that she was going to worry the whole time John was gone, too - his face was all over the news, where hers wasn't. It was hard to keep down her paranoia.
"Like you wouldn't believe," he enthused, happily. It was hard, very hard not to get caught up in his mood. "I just have a really good feeling about this. I don't look anything like the photographs of me that are all over the place, I'm keeping to the 'shadows' as it were and I'm reuniting with an old friend."
He pushed his hair out of his eyes and gave her a huge grin.
"How could I NOT look forward to it?"
Smiling into her coffee, Angie nodded.
"Yeah, you've got a point." She could only imagine how much she'd enjoy meeting up with Nat or Read again. Of course, that would mean going to Australia... That thought stirred a memory.
"Oh, hey, we never did get a chance to sit down and take a look at that stuff about... you know, your dad." He'd asked her to help out, but they'd never actually chatted about it after she'd gotten back. It had completely slipped her mind.
His smile slipped briefly. "I sort of figured that it didn't really matter, y'know. In the grand scheme of things. It'd probably be too difficult, not to mention pointless. What am I going to do with the knowledge?"
At least I'd KNOW.
He shrugged lightly.
"Y'know. But hey - I still appreciate the offer to help. I had a go at going back through some records, but I didn't get too far to be honest."
"Well, you know, I can take a look. While you're gone or whatever, see what I can figure out. It's worth trying, right?"
Yeah, she didn't really know what he'd do with the knowledge either, but Angie could understand wanting to know. She hadn't been interested in a relationship with her father, but she had been curious about him. Aside from funding her trip to the US for the cure, he hadn't actually turned out to be that bad a guy. She'd even had an email from him the other day, but hadn't replied yet.
"I don't know, I mean... Well, if I can't find anything, then I can't find anything. No harm done." She shrugged at him, draining the rest of her coffee.
He surveyed her briefly, then nodded. "I'll show you what I've researched so far. I know quite a lot about my mother's family by now, the Collins family - but that's it. My dad could quite possibly have been an American, or an Australian, it's sort of hard to work out...but you'll see why when you see the notes."
Pyro took a long sip of his coffee, finishing it off.
"Thank you," he said, easily. "I appreciate that offer."
"That's what friends are for, right?"
It was amazing that she'd managed to say that without sounding awkward, although it was entirely possible that she'd just sounded like the biggest tool ever to walk the halls of the base.
"Thank you," he repeated again, smiling warmly at her, and then giving her an unexpected friendly hug. "You're the best. Make sure this place doesn't fall down while I'm gone, OK?"
Then he'd wandered off again.
