Noah (hellboundlife) wrote in commandhq, @ 2018-04-28 23:51:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | calvin banner, orla applegate, p: mj, p: squid |
Who: Calvin Banner & Orla Applegate
What: Calvin’s trying to keep himself busy so he doesn’t cause trouble, Orla happens across him
When: Friday afternoon
Where: The Leisure Room
Rating: Low'ish
Cal had learned a couple things since getting his ass thrown into Limbo along with the rest of the Outsiders and one of those things was to always keep busy. If he didn’t keep busy then he was more prone to troublemaking than he would be normally. That wasn’t to say he wouldn’t cause trouble but he was trying, more for Alejandro than for himself. He had after all spoken to Cal about the merits of not giving this place an excuse to punish you. Not that the last time had been just a senseless act of asshattery because it had a purpose and he’d gotten what he needed so that was all that really mattered. Today was a slow day, an agonisingly slow day, and Cal knew himself well enough to know that he needed to find something to do. He couldn’t bother the other Outsiders because they were doing something, what that something was he had no idea, but he figured he was a grown ass man so he could keep himself busy. He found his way to the Leisure Room and he eventually set up at one of the pinball machines as those you could play alone without the need for a partner unlike the foosball and air hockey. He may or may not be something of a whiz as far as the pinball machine went but then it was cheap to play and he may have spent a lot of time in the arcade which had been close to the warehouse where the Outsiders had made their home. Making attempts to work out how to make amends with an estranged sister was complicated. Orla wasn’t sure if there was a way to mend the battered and burned bridges between she and Kathryn, even for Remi’s sake, but Orla was hoping for some kind of answer. She didn’t think she’d find it in the leisure room, but the idea was that if she could find something mindless to do, she’d be able to think. But mindless was hard in a place that just constantly reminded you that you were a tool, a thing, a below others being. And really, that didn’t help her think of ways to not hate Kathryn either, since it only reminded her how Claudia treated her. Wandering around Orla stopped short when she happened across Calvin. Her interactions with the Outsiders were rarely great -Sandy disliked her on principal, the others either ignored her or just sneered and Orla found it hard to treat some of them like the adults they supposedly were when they reacted like children to things they didn’t like. She was trying to make the effort, even though, in a roundabout way, they were the reason she was there -she didn’t think Paige even knew that Orla had gone to look for her, to see if she could help, if anyone managed to escape- and she was doing her best not to blame them for more than just Alejandro’s intense martyr complex flaring brightly to life. “Hey,” she did keep a bit of distance, mostly to avoid startling Cal, deciding on engaging rather than just turning around and throwing herself from a window. She wasn’t sure which one was safer right now. Cal was in the camp of generally trying to ignore and avoid Orla at all costs, especially as he wasn’t an idiot. He knew how she felt about him and the Outsiders, somehow thinking herself better and above all of them, so much so that they were somehow the devils in her orchestrated story about Alejandro and how he might not have done what he had if he hadn’t encountered them. Alejandro in Cal’s mind was a fully grown man old enough and wise enough to make his own decisions, good or bad. Of course ever since Sandy had told him about how Orla had helped her after the mission you could say that maybe just maybe Cal was willing to be a little less… Cal about this whole thing. That might explain why on this rare occasion rather than point blank ignoring her or making a grunting sound he actually acknowledged her presence, “Hi.” An acknowledgement was something at least, Orla had to accept that. She tried not to get overly involved in what was happening with Cal and Sandy and the others, because it wasn’t something she needed to get tangled up in to know that they disliked her. Attempts to talk to Sandy just went in circles because the telepath had decided what to think by now, so Orla figured why bother? The difference was the she could feel the others’ emotions, even when she made attempts not to, little things always filtered in. “How’re you doing? I heard through the grapevine there was an incident in the cafeteria?” She heard there’d been some kind of altercation, and signs pointed to both parties being punished, and then things got a little wild, which was how rumours travelled. But she didn’t see any injuries, and she knew that Alejandro would’ve told her if Cal have been ‘clawed good’ by some wolf man -at the very least, Sandra wouldn’t have been as calm about anything. “Although clearly some of that is blown out of proportion.” Cal blew out a frustrated breath when he epically failed to get the pinball to go where he wanted it to and he had lost his last opportunity to increase his high score. Instead of getting too fixated on that he focused instead on turning around to face Orla, arms folding across his chest. He wasn’t entirely sure why Orla was asking how he was because last he checked he was not her favourite person in the world. Not when he was the one who led Alejandro astray. Ha, as if. “Mmm there was,” he said with a nod. “Some guy knocked my tray all over me so I got into it with him. Next thing I know he’s wolfing out and throwing me across the cafeteria like a ragdoll.” He’d been bruised up to high heaven but he wasn’t about to share that, not when that was in effect admitting to vulnerability, which Cal was not big on. “And then I got thrown into solitary only it wasn’t solitary ‘cause my dumbass handler figured that was the time to talk to me.” Orla’s face scrunched up a little at the notion of someone thinking they could badge Cal into some kind of submission just by bombarding them with their presence. She didn’t know them that well, they’d been far too stand-offish about her presence for her to be at all comfortable around them for long periods of time. The frustration and anger always pushed at her control buttons, her hair tended to give her away when their emotions got too much for her. “Oh, and I’m sure that worked out fantastic for him.” No, Cal was about as stubborn as Alejandro and never one to let someone else out stubborn him. Least of all an authority figure who was trying to know better. “Sandy had it a little rough while you were locked up, she doing okay?” Orla tried not to care, Sandra had made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t interested in anything that Orla had to say, even when she said it, Sandy either ignored it or cherry picked what she wanted. And fine, normally, Orla would just move on. But they were confined, and she was worried about Alejandro and just how much he was pushing himself to play all the roles for these displaced kids. She didn’t need to approve of their actions to check on them and see if she could lighten Alejandro’s worries. Given how bad Sandra looked when she’d literally dropped the girl off at Alejandro’s door, she was genuinely wondering if she was doing better. His hands flexed around his upper arms as he resisted the urge to fidget as Cal was normally a bundle of unrestrained energy which if not controlled or aimed properly could be quite destructive. It was what had earned him the codename of Rocket amongst the Outsiders. “She’s doing… better,” he confirmed with a nod of his head. It was one of the many reasons he was trying not to get into too much trouble so he didn’t end up in solitary again. He wasn’t about to put Sandy through that again if he could help it because honestly what exactly had Alejandro done with the information Cal had given him? Nothing. He ducked his head, cleared his throat, and then exhaled a breath. “Thanks for uh you know looking out for her.” “Well,” Orla shrugged one shoulder, trying for nonchalant, but probably missing it and coming off awkward, “it’s what we’re supposed to do. Help each other, right?” There was an old saying about burying hatchets, but Orla wasn’t sure that was what all this was. She didn’t have beef with these kids -and she couldn’t see them as anything other than kids, raised without boundaries, helping each other, struggling on the streets for so long. They were kids, maybe not by age, but emotionally, developmentally. They’d lived through more than most adults, but never actually got to grow up past their teens. “And, in the absence of you or Alejandro, that’s what I’ll do.” Where Sandra would let her, at least. She was aware the telepath didn’t like her, and Orla could deal with that as best as possible. But she didn’t need to let the poor girl suffer for her own pride. “Although hopefully, we won’t be here too long for that.” Cal had been about to comment about how he wasn’t going anywhere but then she mentioned about hopefully not being here for too long and his eyebrow lifted. “Sounds like you enjoy here as much as the rest of us.” Which wasn’t much at all. “This place is bullshit,” he stated bluntly. “And the sooner we get out of here the better.” And solitary had been a small price to pay for finding out how far things needed to go before limiters would be activated. Though part of Cal found himself wondering at times if some of the other Outsiders actually wanted to get out of this place as so far nobody aside from him and Sandy had really shown an active desire to be free. “I like being in a cage as much as anyone else, Calvin.” Which was not at all. She doubted even birds liked being caged. And even if Kathryn wasn’t here, a constant thorn in Orla’s side with all of her snark and bitchiness, when Orla had tried nothing but to get along, like it was Orla’s fault that Kathryn’s mother was Satan incarnate or something. It was bullshit, that much she absolutely agreed with. “It is, unfortunately, it’s a bullshit that expects us to try and get out.” She’d said as much to Alejandro too. Expectations were on the trouble makers, the rebels, the ones who’d rallied against the cause; eyes wide open and focused. Especially when they spoke openly on a monitored network about escape. “And I’m sure you know what happens when people openly expect something from someone?” “Cal,” Cal muttered in response to the use of his full name by Orla. Nobody had called him Calvin in such a long time that it felt distinctly alien and uncomfortable to the ear. “Nobody’s called me Calvin in a long time.” He pushed out a breath as he adjusted how he was stood, shifting his weight as he listened and tightened his jaw in response. He knew what she was saying, understood it even, but didn’t mean he liked it. “So, what do you suggest we do? Play nice, act like we don’t hate every goddamn second in this place?” “Cal, then.” If it was something as simple as just using a shortened version of his name, she could do it. “I’m saying you need to be smart about this. Distract, get attention off of you guys. They expect waves, expect you to rally against them. They don’t expect you to go quiet, and I’m not saying you pretend to conform, no one would buy that.” It would only get more attention, but being a bit less obvious, a bit less confrontational. It just took people calming down to get attention elsewhere. “Bit by bit, let them think you’ve accepted it. You’re not happy, but you’ve accepted it. They lower their guard, the restrictions lessen, there’s more wiggle room.” It wasn’t that Orla thought they should stop, she just thought they needed to be better at how they approached things. The whole bust down the door, protesting the man and beating their chests didn’t work. Being petulant wasn’t going to get anyone anywhere. But looking at the others here, the ones who’d been here the longest, who’d adapted to this being their way of life, accepted that this place was better for them, they had much less scrutiny than those labelled trouble-makers or flight risks. “What you need is a strategy. One that’ll play them at their own game.” “Well you might want to talk to Alejandro then,” Cal returned with a pointed look. “Who do you think told me to go rattle cages?” He arched his eyebrow. “How I did it was up to me but regardless I was just doing what I was told.” Of course it had been his idea to see how far things needed to be pushed before the limiters kicked in but even with that Alejandro had been the one planting seeds. He had however been moderating his behaviour as of late, mostly because he had seen what had happened to Sandy when he’d been thrown into solitary. He wasn’t about to put her through that again if it could be avoided and it seemed that it was only himself and Sandy who were willing to push buttons to see what happened. Everybody else was “playing the game” and look how far that had gotten them. Nowhere fast that was for certain. “Besides, I’m behaving.” “Oh, I have.” Boy did she want to know what was going through his head sometimes. He wanted to protect them, but still fed into their recklessness, with his own amped up to compete. It was like school boys fighting to be the leading group, and Alejandro just let himself get tugged in and battled with tactics that he should’ve grown out of. She cared for him, she cared for him a lot more than she’d really believed she did, constantly unsure whose emotions were hers and where they came from. But she’d hated how he responded to things, and who all ended up within the carnage of it. “You are, but… I know you get restless, I understand it. You’re used to taking care of yourself and this place is everything you’ve all fought against. But we all need to be smart about this, not just short term.” Alejandro had to take a step back and see the bigger picture, hopefully he’d listen to her, hopefully she could help to influence the younger ones to a smarter, less of a sledgehammer approach. “I want to help you, all of you. But I’ve already been dragged into something by association, so this time, it has to be done with a clear and laid out plan of attack. No winging it and hoping it works.” She wouldn’t be one of them, she was always on the cusp. And she knew it was none of their fault she’d gone to find out who’d been missed, Paige, she found out later, and been snatched up that way. But if she was involved, she they’d have to think on their feet, rather than as a reactionary group. And she’d be sure Alejandro knew that too. “You don’t know me,” Cal pointed out. “Never made any effort to get to know me save for judging me for dragging Alejandro right along with us. Never mind the fact he’s a grown ass man who is more than capable of making his own decisions.” He shifted away from the gaming table. “But that said you did help Sandy out and that buys you some respect and you want to get outta here just as much as I do so looks like we’re going to have to figure out how we can work together.” And he hadn’t dragged her into anything, he was an Outsider, she was here because of her connection to Alejandro. “So you figure out the plan, I’ll do what’s gotta be done and make sure we have the others on side.” “You think just because I have an opinion, I can’t watch someone, I can’t feel them? You think just because I disagree with how you all went about things, I don’t care, or I don’t understand just a little about what’s going on with you lot? Sandy’s the only one of you I can’t read, but I don’t need to read her to know how she feels. She broadcasts enough.” They made up their mind the second she rolled her eyes at their insane plans to … what, change the minds of the masses by vandalising property? It didn’t matter that they fed into Alejandro’s complex, that they egged it on by responding the way they did. Truthfully, she blame Alejandro just as much as she blamed them for that. “You can dislike me, distrust me, all you want. But right now, I am trying to make it so that you all get out of here, together. Instead of getting shipped off to other facilities where God knows what will happen.” There was no way to tell for sure why Paige was moved -she was the last in, the least trouble, but the first removed from the group. A ploy or just the way the system ended up working, who could tell. But there was every chance it could throw a cat among the pigeons, and all it would take would be one of them to rile the others up. “Don’t let Alejandro talk you into any more dumb moves right now, he’s reacting, not thinking. And Sandy took the blow last time.” Cal simply watched Orla with that same heavy intense gaze of his as she spoke and to his credit he didn’t interrupt but rather let her speak and express herself. Contrary to her and a lot of people’s beliefs Cal was able to listen without just waiting for his moment to speak. “Oh, trust me, I won’t,” Cal assured her. Not when he had seen what it had done to Sandy, he was not putting her through that again. It was why he was trying to find different ways of working off his energy and letting out his aggression. Swimming laps being one of those things. “I’m done being the one who takes all the risk.” |